The day started with no power, as my car refused to start - the battery decided to die that day it would seem. At 7:30 a.m on a Saturday it was hard to find anybody around in the neighborhood to give me a jump start. So I pushed the car over to the corner intersection, hoping to do one of them starts where you coast down a hill and then jam it into gear and kick the engine to life, but that utterly failed. However this landed me directly in front of my neighbour Pat, who had his garage door open and was puttering around inside. He came over with a remote battery starter and got me going. Then drove way faster than usual, hoping to still make the 9 a.m. meeting time at Willamette Pass with the Sorenson clan. And I actually got there with 5 min to spare. There was some downhill race going on the next day, and a few racers of that ilk were messing around with their massive heavy bikes, clad in heavy armor, ready to do some practice runs. In the mean time, I pulled on my bright yellow team spandex attire, and tried to look tough.
The Sorenson's showed up, and presently we set forth on our expedition - a long ride that Walt had devised, which had us climbing up to the back of the ski mountain, descending via Maiden Peak, then climbing up the Gold Bridge trail to Waldo Lake. Then circumnavigating the lake, whereupon we would climb up the Fuji Mountain Trail, and then enjoy an awesome mega-vert descent.
We had lunch at Waldo Lake, and the mosquitoes were relatively tame. There are many legends of brave souls driven from the Lake by hungry hordes of the bloodsuckers, but it appeared that time had passed for this year. We continued around the Lake and at the opposite end decided to try a shortcut that would shave an hour or so off our journey - this seemed prudent, seeing as how we were at the 5 hour point or so. The trail was 'No Bikes' (hiking only), so we 'carried' or 'walked' our bikes, ever watchful for concealed Park Rangers who might jump out from the trees and write us $200 tickets for violating the rules. The mosquitoe count multiplied rapidly the further we got from the lake, and much swearing and swatting ensued. Soon the steep terrain forced us to actually really walk our bikes, and we were descended on by more and more of the blood-sucking pests. Rational thinking was impossible, and angry swatting the order of the day. After much anguish we arrived at the intersection of the bike trail we were hoping to intercept, but it appeared that the map failed us, and we became hopelessly confused, especially after the next couple of intersections which did not appear as they were on the map. Of course it could be that the goddam bugs prevented our brains from accurately analyzing the data at hand.
At last we seemed to have found our way up to the Mt Fuji Trail, and thereafter were greeted with steep climbs of immense proportions. Finally at the top, we now concluded we had gone the wrong way, and had to backtrack down all that hard-fought but useless elevation. Got on a high speed fun descent that we were 90% sure was right, and finally made it back out to familiar territory. The mosquito bites were ubiquitous and itchy, and several close-up photos were taken.
So what is 'mosquito power' ? Well it's the discovery of untapped reserves of power, when you're grinding up a steep hill in your granny gear, and you're totally spent and want to get off and push, but the knowledge that once you're walking your speed will be decreased such that the hordes of mosquitoes will start devouring you carnivorously at a much higher rate than they already are, so somehow you just stay on the bike and make the climb.
Back at our starting point, a small city has erupted, as masses of downhill racers have accumulated in the parking lot, and pitched their tents in the adjoining wooded areas. Heavy metal music can be heard eminating from several sources, and alcoholic beverages are being hoisted with abandon. Wow what a different world.
What a day - 7.5 hours, 50 miles, 5600 vf of climbing, and 20000 bites.
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