Jacob's Ladder

Yesterday I rode with Dot and did Jacob's Ladder for the first time. The ride was planned the day before and I was excited. I have heard about Jacob's ladder, but have not had the chance to experience it. Unfortunately about 10:30 am I got a migraine. I was at work when I got the migraine, so I tried to wrap up phone calls, applications and all other loose ends so I could run home and rest. I got home at 1:15 pm and by this time was feeling miserable. I went to the dark, cool basement and laid down. By 3:15 pm my head was still hurting and I was considering letting Dot know there was no way I could ride, but I just couldn't stand the thought of missing a ride. So I convinced myself my head didn't hurt, packed up and took off to the equestrian center to meet Dot.

True to form Dot was right on time and we took off up the hill towards Clark. I didn't tell Dot about my head, because I knew I would be behind her anyway, today may just be more than I would like (I hate to be the person holding up the ride). We took off up Clarks Trail. I have ridden Clarks one other time up and it was prior to the Draper race, so I didn't remember it at all. I don't know about you, but I have this mental problem when riding a new trail. If is dh I go extremely slow, because I don't know where the turn will end or what comes after the whoop de doo. If it is uphill (which I love) I sometimes will psych myself out that there is never an end and I should take a rest. This was somewhat the case with riding Clarks. Dot made the rule there would be no granny gear, okay, I'm up for the challenge, besides I always try to go in a harder gear when possible I think it is cool to see how I far I can go in the hardest gear. As we go up the trail it does not take long for Dot to disappear. I continue on making sure not to go in my granny gear. My legs are doing great, they don't hurt and they are climbing without any problems. I wish I could say the same about my lungs. No asthma attack, but the heavy breathing and hurting head started to make me dizzy. Ooops this can be a bad thing on a trail with an edge. Eventually I had to do the unthinkable and get off, bring my heart down and rest. This is where the mental part comes in to play, since I didn't know where the end was I stopped. Had I known I could have perservered a little longer, because of course I was almost to the end. Dot came back down and rode behind me, glad I could give her a little bit more hill climbing (someday I will not be that girl). We finished Clarks and continued on towards Jacobs. At some point as we were climbing the feeling of triumph and adreniline came over me. I felt elated and of course my headache was not noticeable (this is not surprising for me as I have often continued playing sports or dancing injured not noticing the pain until later....which of course is good and bad). I began to get more and more into the climb and felt like I was on top of the world. After riding for a bit we came to Jacob's Ladder.

Jacobs ladder was fun. It has rocks you ride down which I like, and some loose areas which I need to practice on. There was one spot I ended up walking due to an earlier skid that caused me to stop, so I lost my momentum. I am hoping to do the trail again and not walk this part. There was one part of the trail that was new. Apparently the old trail went straight down, but now there is a turn to the left, and not a very good one. They are going to have to do something to make it a good turn. The rest of Jacobs was loose dirt from a new trail being dug, which made it very difficult for me to do the remaining switchbacks. I would turn, hit loose, deep dirt and get bucked by my bike. I am sure most people could make this, I just need to get better bike handling skills.

Off of Jacobs we went down Ghost Falls. This is my second time on Ghost Falls and I did much better. Like I posted previously first time on a trail I always go slow and tenative. This time I went a little faster and felt much better about the switchbacks and whoop de doos. The whole ride was great, and I would really like a chance to do it again. Maybe next time I will go in an even harder cog up Clarks!

After the ride I got home, unpacked and sure enough there was my missing migraine back full and stronger than ever. It took me forever for me to go to sleep my head hurt so bad. I am still hurting, but I don't care, the ride was worth any amount of head pain I felt afterwards. It's amazing what the body can do. There are may times I have been able to push past the pain and do many things, but of course the after affects are not always good. Sometimes I am hurt worse than before. In this situation I don't think its the case, I get migraines and sometimes they stay for a couple of days, sometimes they disapper within a few hours, but I didn't want this migraine to stop my ride.