Ow ow ow mountain biking is painful!

But before I get to that, I'll talk about the Cascade strenuous ride I "led" yesterday. (I say "led" because I was the official ride leader, but the slowest rider in the group. So I was actually in the back doing sweep, with a guy going through the certification process in front.)

I totally kept up without an issue on the downhills and flats, as usual; at one point, I was slow starting from a light, and had to push at 25, 26 mph to catch back up, and it actually felt good and fun.

Uphill is always another story. But they didn't have to wait too long for me. And man, it is nice to ride those hills with my road bike instead of the tri bike - the compact double makes a lovely difference on my knees.

On one of the hills, though, for some reason I was third up out of six! That felt amazing. Of course, it took me the next 5 minutes of downhill to recover from the push.

So, mountain biking. The guys from work have been bugging me for a couple of years to go with them, and teasing me about being a roadie. I had some excuses, of course: I couldn't afford an injury that would impact my training, etc. But yesterday, there was no excuse. So I borrowed a mountain bike and went out with them.

I told one of my roadie/mountain friends where we were going. He immediately said, "Bad idea for your first time!" He explained it started out with a 400 foot elevation gain in half a mile, then was all twisty turny and tight paths.

But I'd already told the guys yes, so it was too late to back out. Chalk that up to one of my many personality flaws.

I didn't even know how to shift the bike when I got on it - and I felt like it was a little big for me. It was also weird not to be clipped in - I don't have SPDs on any of my bikes, so I didn't have the right cleats for those pedals.

So once I figured out how to shift, we started up. The beginning of the climb was kind of fun, but then there were some sandy and really bumpy parts. I ended up having to walk the bike part of the way, but I found I could actually run with it, so I didn't feel that bad. Plus my friend had warned me I'd be walking.

Once we got up, the paths we were on are on a plateau, so it's up and down, but minimally. I found I could ride comfortably when the trail was open and flat, of course - and I was surprised at how well the bike handled in dirt and over rocks - but I felt much more freaked out when we were on the tighter parts of the trail, where branches grabbed my legs from both sides and tree roots came out of nowhere and threatened to toss me over the handlebars.

I eventually kind of got the hang of it for a while, and could ride over some stuff. Riding over tree branches and bumps was definitely satisfying - as was climbing all the way up a small hill. Downhill was terrifying, and some of the bigger obstacles caused me to get off the bike and lift it over.

I can't really say it was fun. Apparently you're not supposed to sit on a mountain bike as much as I was, so let's just say I was in pain from the saddle from about halfway through the ride until the end, and today it's a constant annoyance. I also got tired towards the end and did stupid things twice (not sure what), resulting in falls off the bike.

Oh, and one time I was sure I could make it over a tree root, but instead I slammed the front tire into it, jamming my forearm into my elbow or something. Anyway, my elbow hurts. My wrists do, too.

Coming down was pretty bad, too - it had started to get dark, and the steeper and sandier parts were really scary. Fortunately, the co-worker in front of me told me where I should just get off the bike and walk, so I obeyed.

There were a few times when the leader of the group offered me a shortcut or an easier way to do something; of course my regular personality flaw caused me to say, "No shortcuts!" as much as I might have liked to make it a little easier. I just had to do it all, even if I fell and hurt myself.

I guess I will do it again sometime. After all, the first time is always the worst. And I could tell in some moments how it could be fun.

But in the meantime, OW!!!!!

Oh, and my weight this morning: 140.6, despite dinner at 8:20 p.m. at Jack in the Box, of all horrible places. I was hungry. :-)