Never realized how slow we usually go in our Muni group till I went on a ride (yesterday) with a DH mountain biker friend on a pretty technical trail in Ojai. Since he was always waiting for me at the next bend (except the times he had to walk around sections I could drop down on my muni–and not counting the three times he crashed and burned), I just tried to keep grinding it out. A few times my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest and my legs got so pumped theyalmost froze up. It’s super good exercise and a great drill to try and link many tech. sections without stopping but man, I was totally gassed at the end on a ride that usually is not all that strenuous. In rock climbing there’s a term called “flash ascent,” where you do the entire route with no stops and no falls, bottom to top. This is sort of like that–but top to bottom.
Maybe the next generation of Muni folk will start flashing the big rides in Santa Barbara (and elsewhere) with no stops and no falls. Hard to imagine that kind of fittness, but you know somebody’s gonna start doing this someday. It just ain’t gonna be me . . .
JL
