Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Play and more play, how is that for a birthday?

Erik’s birthday was in the week. But unlike the other 12 hour days Erik spends at work (including weekends), his birthday had an online training class scheduled that started from 7am (east coast class) and ended at 3pm, so he took it at home. It happened to be my work from home day and my hours could be fairly flexible esp on hubby’s birthday. So after his training, we went over to Skeggs and had a little over an hour to play, and so we played. Since it was his birthday, I suggested and he agreed to get on a few of the more punishing climbs at Skeggs — First, the two steep kickers on Upper Steam Donkey, and then the notorious Lower Fir. With a couple of retries, Erik was able to clean the first kicker with consistency. It was fairly technical with ruts and roots. In the end, the only part that was out of grasp was the last steep and rocky wall on Lower Fir. Erik was satisfied and got the Mud Pie at Alice’s for rewards.

I had requested him not to arrange work this Saturday because we were going to do something special. Saturday came, we got up unusually early. Because I had been quite excited about the day ahead of us, getting up was not hard. Two hours later, we were parked at Henry Coe headquarter.  It was around 7am, but we felt comfortable in our riding gear.  As a matter of fact, we were fairly comfortable during the three hours when we knocked off this classic Henry Coe loop.

Next stop, Pinnacles. We met up with old friends and made new friends at Discovery Wall. We thoroughly enjoyed socializing while making ascents on Wet Kiss, Big Pucker, Verdict, and Broken Arrow. All clean ascents for us. But it was especially impressive to watch Erik style the climbs, with an injured shoulder, and right off the couch. Now, if only I could find the data cables for our various cameras!