2nd Bi-annual Tree Planter's Epic

Almost four hours in and still goin strong!	Taking one of few breaks along the way.
NASA's plan to provide habitation on the moon is going well.	Testing the 1/6 gravity on the moon, somehow hills are still tough.

First I would like to say a big happy birthday to my dad, 53 years old and still going strong.

Second, Monday, Sades and I set out for our second take on the grueling 50 mile epic where the first 20 miles of climbing warm you up for 13 miles of harsh, non-flowing singletrack (still gaining elevation) and come out 16 miles above Hilo on Saddle road to fly back down into town. Two years ago, Doeman, Sadie and I set out for this very same epic, primed, carbed and ready to go only to have Sadie and I only manage to stay just ahead of the virtual sag wagon that was our energy. All but having finished that day two years ago, we hit the first stoplight entering town, not but 1 mile from home, and I sit down, refusing to move on until I finish my last power bar. My legs felt like jelly and I was certain my quads were at that point ochos. The total time for that trip was around 6 1/2 painful hours.

In our attempt to remain well-fed throughout this epic, we stuffed our packs with more cliff bars than we could eat in a day, watered our camels and poured the last drop of the sweet, life-giving nectar that is our Raspberry HammerGel and at the stroke of noon headed out to begin our adventure.

From the beginning it was clear that we would be taking a percieved slower pace and I admit that I thought it would take longer to complete the day's ride. We continued up the hill unrested for miles, only pulling over for seat adjustments and momentary pictures until we made it to Tree Planter's Road, which isn't really a road so much as a 13 mile long line where trees don't grow and trucks with 3' clearance sometimes go to look for pigs. A shot of hammergel, a quick picture or two and a cliff bar later we were off again, having logged 2 hours into our ride. Again, we rode casually without breaks, slowly sipping the hot rubbery tea from our camel's teet.

Then, about an hour into the trip, we found ourselves on the moon, and yes, as it was a cloudless day on the moon, we could look up into the sky as we held our breath and saw earth, silently spinning away, so we figured we should hurry up before our air ran out and peddled onward til we found trees again.

At 4:30 we found Saddle Road and without stopping, turned downhill to peddle for glory. At just before 5:00 from mile 16 on Saddle, we hit downtown-18 miles total in ~25 minutes, averaging 35 miles an hour with bumps above 40. We finished our ride in just under 5 hours total.

Next we are going to try Stainback up to Flume to hit Saddle then up to TreePlanters and back to Stainback for about 65 miles. We're going to need some more Gel!