Mt. Herman loop (hike) & Palmer Lake (ride)

This weekend, I turned up the bike training a notch.  I realized that we are just 7 weeks away from Elephant Rock.  I needed to see where I stood, so I did my first 20+ mile ride of the season.  I rode from the house over to the Sante Fe Trail, then up to Palmer Lake and back (about 9 miles each way).  In order to get in a full 20, I did 2 laps around the lake itself.

 
I felt surprisingly good.  It must have something to do with all the other training activities I've been doing (hiking, Mountain climbing, etc) But I had no problems at all.  I still want to do some hill work, but I am genuinely happy where I am 7 weeks out.

On Sunday, I still wanted to get in a hike.  But with time constraints (today being Palm Sunday), I really only had about 5-6 hours.  So I decided to do a hike I'd done before: Mt. Hermon loop.  I was only able to get in about 8 1/2 miles due to time constraints, but considering that I rode 20 miles the day before, I still felt pretty good about it.

 

I figure as good as I feel, I think it'll be safe to take on one of the peaks soon.  As of right now, they are still buried in snow, and I have limited desire to try and summit them with snow shoes.