A Trail Tale!

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a Mt. Bike ride. So after lifting weights for almost an hour with Olivia, we loaded up the bikes and headed out to Oak Creek. I knew I needed fuel so I grabbed a banana and a muscle milk before we left. I thought that would be fine.

I started to have a glimpse of being in trouble on the endless gravel climb up to the junction of choices. My crankiness factor increased exponentially. Why is real biking so much more difficult than spin class? Once we hit the junction of choices, I was completely fried. 40 minutes of straight climbing took it's toll on Miss irregularly low blood sugar and I hit the wall. I bashed a perfect bolt pattern into my right knee trying to clear the down tube to get off my bike. That's when it happened.

I turned and looked in the direction we were supposed to head and I saw it. It came out of the shadows and stood in the middle of the road. It was probably 100 yards down the road. At first I thought it was a deer. No, wait, it's much bigger than a deer. Shit, look at how strong those back legs are. COUGAR! It just stood in the road staring towards us. I said to Sean "there's something down there." He looked, "where?" He couldn't see it. During this same time I'm fumbling with my new gloves trying to figure out how the hell to get them off so I can pop my sport beans into my mouth before I fall over. "It's right down there!" I say to him as I finally rip the glove free and shove beans into my mouth, assessing the situation. Clearly I'm not going that route anymore and I'm trying to pump fuel in before I have to ride like the wind once the cat figures out it can catch and kill me. Besides, those sport beans were delicious. Excellent last meal choice I think to myself and clearly the cougar would want in on the action.

Sean says to me "there's nothing there, Trace, you're hallucinating". Yeah right I think to myself, you'll be sorry when you're eaten and I'm half way back down the hill. But to humor him I say, "fine, but we aren't going that way, I'm tired and we can go to the top of Dimple Hill but I'm not going that way."

About this time, a curious thing starts to happen, my hand stops shaking and I gather enough courage to look down the road again. I can't really make out the cat anymore. Hmm, I think it must have moved. God I hope it isn't right behind me now. But then I keep looking and I can make it out again. Yes, yes, there it is. Yup, it is there alright. Probably just as it was in the first place. A shadow, down the road. Shaped like a cougar mind you, but just a shadow.

And so I hopped back on my bike and rode up to the top of Dimple Hill just before we took this picture. Of course, I took ribbing all the way up from Sean, about how if I would have eaten when he asked me too before we even started the big climb, I never would have hallucinated a giant bear trying to kill me.

Jeez Sean, don't exaggerate. It was a cougar dude, if it was a bear I would have been fine.