Training Log Archive: phatty

Holy sh!t is Wee heavy now. I remember thinking that when I lugged her up a mtn in Greece last March but this 5k ascent back up to the car from the beach was anything but easy. I was sweating bullets as she swayed around on my shoulders, picking at everything that lined the trail. This hurt.

C • Wee 3

Got dropped off outside of Kona and ran the downhill back to the hotel...very slowly. I felt as awful and slow as I can remember. Wee really did me in!

Big climb out of Kona and then along the top road to the north. The route back down was fast and a little scary as these drivers really don't know how to function around bikes.

I drove to Volcano and left my car at the local golf course. I'm sure the players passing by didn't mind me changing out in the open. I was wearing a Rhone-Alpes cycling jersey so I play the Euro card if need be.

I started the long ascent up Mauna Loa and it's quite gradual. Through the trees, I could see the top area every once in a while and I really can't believe it's higher than 4,000m. That's only 800m lower than Mt. Blanc and Chamonix is well over 1,000m as a starting point. Quite a difference in incline! The views from the top were clouded in unfortunately but it was cool to see the vegetation and lava flows.

I headed back down and into the Volcano National Park afterward to see what I could see. In short, I was blown away (that was on purpose...I know, brilliant). The calderas were massive and the devastation of the various flows over time was remarkable. The last spot I checked out was a flat region of former forest that is now an expanse of 30cm deep lava blanket over everything.

I made the long climb back up and while much of the rise was in the rain, it was a good one.

C • Wow. I'm actually terrified... 4