4/22/08: SIX PARKS 19.5 mi. 3 hours 6.5 AV.
Went down to the Cone today to check it out. It was so nice the day before I decided to just to wear shorts and a tee shirt and take my new rain jacket. After all it was suppose to snow this afternoon but I should be back before then. It was colder and windier than it was in Georgetown that doesn’t happen too often. I put on my jacket and was off, It was chilly I figured I would warm up on the first hill. The sun was out I was getting warmer and had to take my jacket off. Took a little time to check for TICKS last week I found one on me and one in me! The clouds were coming in I wanted to make it at least to the dark side to see if there was any snow left in the trees. I ran into some hikers they commented about the approaching storm. It didn’t look too bad yet and I was almost to the top! There was quite a bit of snow when I reached the trees but I was able to drag my bike through it only had to kick steps in once. Once past the snow it was a cruse down to the bridge. It still wasn’t snowing. I figured I would continue on to the rock outcropping or the parking lot if it didn’t start to snow, When I got to the rock outcropping I could see it was snowing in Evergreen. I decided to turn around and started racing down the hill. I was thinking my 1.4 slicks were going to hold out when I flatted in front. No problem? I had a tube and a pump! But when I went to use the pump I couldn’t get it to work!!! *#**#** I was 5 miles in and it was starting to snow, I kind of panicked what was I going to do? I thought I could drop over the hill an hook up with the bridge and save myself some time. That was questionable. I should have known better! Whenever I take a shortcut it almost always ends up in some kind of situation! This time was no different I ended up on a cliff. I managed to find my way to the bridge. It was 2 p.m. and starting to snow heavily I thought if I pushed hard I could be back by 4 if I didn’t freeze! I made it back at 3:30 p.m. The park has only been open 3 years now. It seems like every year something bad happens to me here 2006 2007 I don’t know if it’s a curse or not but that doesn’t happen everywhere else! Here is a photographic time log of my day: