back-marker

Rough ride on Saturday.

Seems life has been intruding on training lately, and I'm not where I should be, fitness wise, at this point in the season. Saturday's ride was a rude reminder of that fact. Most of the usual suspects showed up, and a lot of guys are riding really strong right now.

After a couple pulls, I quickly realized I didn't have it in me to trade pulls at the front, so I drifted back and mostly sat in, to avoid getting spit out the back. Even sitting in, the pace was high enough that I was barely clinging on.

After the sprint finish Matt and I got in a few extra miles and a good climb, while back-tracking, to search for his missing Garmin 305. Seems it had popped off at some point during the ride. After a bit of searching we found it and headed back to Redlands. 4 1/2 hours, and 77 miles for the day. Not too shabby.

Speaking of finding stuff: My weekend plans got a bit of an unplanned adjustment on Saturday afternoon. The plan was to head down to Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon/evening, to hang out with Diana, and either surf Sunday morning, followed by the LA Circuit race on Sunday afternoon, or ride over and do the Como St. ride on Sunday morning, and surf Sunday afternoon.

Seems chance had other plans in mind for my weekend, as I received a SAR page while I was preparing to leave. A San Diego man, and his son, were on a day-hike on San Gorgonio when the man fell down an icy slope and injured himself, and they summoned help via satellite phone and personal locater beacon. So much for Huntington Beach.

The rest of the day, and subsequent night, was spent in a snowstorm, on San Gorgonio, assisting in the rescue of the injured hiker. Fortunately for him, they encountered two other hikers, with overnight gear, who sheltered him in their tent and sleeping bag while waiting for help to arrive. We arrived at their location around 10:00, and as the weather precluded any assistance from Sheriff's aviation, had to wait for additional personnel and equipment to begin the extraction. Once additional rescuers arrived, with a rescue sled, the patient was bundled up in the litter and we began the long trek down the hill. Dragging the patient, who never uttered a single complaint, along the snow-covered trail.

No helicopter rides this time, but the snow was some help at least, as the lower portions of Vivian Creek trail were covered enough to drag, rather than carry, the litter all the way down the mountain.

We arrived back at the trailhead around 6a.m. on Sunday morning, nearly exactly 12 hours after hitting the trail. Consequently my Sunday was spent catching up on sleep, as opposed to riding, racing, surfing, or hanging out at the beach. It's a well-earned sleep though, and the prior night's activities were a good deal more rewarding than your average bike race. Besides, it's not as if I didn't get a workout.

It's been a busy month for the SAR team. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a cycling blog or a SAR blog...