dreadedmonkeygod . net

I took Friday off, and spent the afternoon exploring some more of Wildwood park. Last week I hit the eastern leg of the Lynnmere trail along the south edge of the park, and this week I checked out the Santa Rosa trail along Mount Clef Ridge. Since one of my explicit goals this weekend was to de-stress and have fun, I haven't gotten around to posting the map or pictures yet.

The trail is in need of some small repairs: the switchbacks heading up to the ridge are badly washsed out. They're super-sharp turns anyway, and trying to pull around them going uphill means sharp turns on technical terrain, and going down meant sharp turns on technical terrain with the price of a fall being a 12-foot drop into a stand of prickly pear. I have mastered the art of the "unclip and pivot on foot" method of negotiating switchbacks.

And the new tires were great: nice and grippy, and supple through the stony sections. Couldn't be happier.

The rest of the trail, though, is fantastic. Fast and swoopy and just technical enough to challenge me without pitching me off my bike. I can't wait to get back: I want to ride the western leg of Lynnmere, and maybe finally do the Santa Rosa/Lynnmere loop that the North Ranch Mountain Bikers have been riding.

Saturday was yellow belt testing at the Moorpark Krav Maga training center, followed by an orange/green belt workshop aimed at getting students ready for the upcoming tests. (A lot of ground work has been added to the Krav curriculum at the orange level.) I showed up early for the workshop, and got to help out a little with the yellow belt testing. It really took me back to my own yellow belt test a year ago. Those guys and girls worked their butts off on Saturday. Pass or fail, congradulations to everyone that tested on Saturday-- it takes heart just to finish.

The orange/green belt workshop was a chance for students looking to test for orange/green belt to review some of the things that'll be on the test. It was mostly a Krav ground work clinic, which was great. Jiu Jitsu class payed off huge: I had most of the basic moves pretty solid, and could focus on the Krav-specific details.

And I spent Sunday afternoon just being lazy. I did some laundry, ate a few cookies, fixed a few bugs, and watched Battlestar Galactica, and then had dinner with my parents. Just a great long weekend in general.

(Map: "Wildwood Park - Santa Rosa Trail")