Friday, December 30, 2016

Little Adventure Week

 It has been somewhat of an adventurous week for me.  Mixed it up, and missing the bike, but glad to get out and push my boundaries.  You just don't know what you can do unless you give it a try. 

Half way to the in law's house, I realized I didn't have the proper cold weather gear for riding.  Fortunately,  I always pack my trail running gear just in case. 

When we got to Roanoke, I dropped the wife and kid off and headed to the hills.   An 8 mile round trip to MacAfee's Knob was just what I needed to relieve the stress of the day. 

The next day,  I wanted to attempt both Dragon's Tooth and Tinker Cliffs but the dog needed some exercise, so I headed out to Carvin's Cove for another 2 hr run. I felt pretty good considering I had been sick the previous week and have not run in a long time.... 
 Fast forward to later in the week, and 40 mph hour wind gusts in the forecast.  I loaded up all of my sails this time and headed to Lake James to see what it was going to be like.  The whitecaps were pretty dense and the wind was blowing spray off the tops of the waves.   That is a lot of wind.  I was not sure if I could handle it so I rigged my 4.6 and headed out.  Nope.  Can't handle it.  I was getting worked.  I made it across the lake, and turned around,  wondering if I would be able to make it back. 

The 40 plus mph winds were crazy. 

I had a couple of back up plans and was prepared to go that route if needed.  I fell in, a couple of times and managed to get back up.  Once I got going it was ok, still getting worked, but making it back across the lake. 

 I got back to the beach and hung out for a few minutes,  allowing the burn in my forearms to subside.  Then there was a lull,  meaning the wind dropped down to about 20 mph.  I took off again and enjoyed 2 runs before the fierce winter wind kicked in again.  
 I decided that I had pushed beyond my limits, so I packed up and headed home.  Disappointed and excited at the same time.  This was the strongest wind I had ever sailed in!  

Now I'm watching for the next storm. 

No comments: