MTB: Homestake CDT TT

Yesterday was all the things good about Montana....temps were in the high 60's, blue sky, snow on the upper peaks, the trails were nice and tacky, and it once again felt like I had the trail all to myself....mmmmmm, daddy likes!

I did my time trial up Homestake Pass from the CDT trailhead over to Pipestone Pass and back.  It was a good barometer of how the legs felt.  Considering that this is my 4 week on (rest week had to be forsaken given the BC Bike week and trying to taper for it), it was better than I expected.  The legs felt heavy but my time was surprisingly (within seconds) close to my fastest time last year.  The Garmin read 1 hr 55 mins for the out & back back to the trailhead.  I had to stop a couple of times to walk through a couple of muddy sections so all in all the legs took a good beat down for two hours and they held up OK.  Stats : 20 miles, 3,100 ft of elevation gain, and one BIG SMILE!

The views were pretty sweet (from trailhead looking at the Highlands):

The wifer and I car-pooled to the trailhead where she ended up going up the East Ridge CDT and I went the opposite direction to hammer (for me) for a couple of hours.

I got back to the car and she had not yet returned so I hooked into the East Ridge CDT and figured I would ride until I met her (figuring she was doing an out and back and was on her return).  I made it about a mile up the climb when sure enough we crossed paths and we turned around and rode back to the car together.  She had a big ear to ear grin on her face too.  It was a good day to be out on the bike.