Sailing ships....

All ships will eventually sail. Some find themselves with tragic endings. Others sail on to glory. Others still just sail through their lifetimes with nothing but memories and stories of the many passengers. The cycling season for 2024 is one of those ships.....

....and it is rapidly approaching an iceberg......

Many months ago I visited a doctor about tennis elbow. I was hoping they would do a simple injection and I would move on with my life. I guess they don't do shots in the elbow....and I guess the nitro patches I used for a month were not enough to promote the necessary healing. 

Elbow, in general, feels better. But if I used my arm in any fashion my elbow just aches. Silly really. To think that raking leaves back in October would still be causing me issues. In general tennis elbow will take 6 months to heal. And while I have seen progress, I am not healed. The aching and sharp pains take off from time to time. So I visited the ortho again and he sent me for an MRI. 

Those results came in as not great. I have a tear in one of the tendons. Upon receiving these results I started to do my own research. There are 3 or 4 likely routes to achieve success. 

1. Rest

2. Blading

3. Minor surgery

4. Major surgery

Option 1 didn't work. Option 2 isn't offered by my surgeon (and is a new procedure with mixed results). Option 3 is a less invasive option where they go in and clean out the area. Then they inject my own spun down blood cells into the injured area to promote healing. The success rate on the size of tear I have is generally 30-40%. Not great. So, option 4 it is. This means they go in and anchor the tendon to the bone. It is more invasive and the recovery time is clearly longer. 

3 months or so. That is the recovery time. I will be in a cast for 2 weeks, then a wrist brace for another 4-6 weeks before finally being able to slowly work back to normal activity. 3 months puts us around 4th of July. 

Season blown up. 

Life comes at us I guess. This is just another bump in the road. But I am getting fairly tired of the bumps. I know we all have them, and we all deal with them differently. 

Stress is up. Weight is up. Excuses are abounding. Mood isn't great. 

The road to recovery starts in a few weeks. 

Side note.....not sure how much longer Singletrack chronicles will be a thing. Could be time for this ship to sail as well.......

A lumberjack and a waffle....

 I am sitting here with a healthy helping of waffles. 

Not the real kind, but the decision kind where you can't make up your mind. I need to make a major decision coming up. I plan to make that decision by Monday. 

But what is the question?

What is this dude thinking?

The short answer is really a long and involved answer. 

I will start last June....at Lumberjack. I took what would turn out to be an emotionally devastating kick in the teeth. When the DUFF frame failed at mile 52 I knew I was in for a journey. I didn't fully understand what that journey would entail. 

It started innocent enough. I filed a warranty claim with Giant. I had misguided thoughts that they would honor their warranty and I would end up with a new and potentially awesome bike. That never came to be. They didn't find the same value in my Anthem SX that I did. Their offer just wasn't good enough for me to jump at it. Whether they didn't understand, or just didn't care, is irrelevant at this point. But, that weighed on me.

My riding dipped the second half of 2023. I let the situation with Giant get the best of me and I tanked. I tried to gain composure in August, but didn't even touch a bike in September or October. Not good for me physically nor mentally. You can see my calendar below. The year started off pretty good overall. I was making steady gains and actually riding my bike.

Not great, but a solid start to the year. After Lumberjack my motivation tanked. My focus was simply elsewhere. I was trying to sort out a new mountain bike. Work was bananas. Life, as usual, was happening at 200 miles per hour. So my riding got put on the back burner. I tried a few times in November but just couldn't get back into the swing of things. In December I tried harder again. Knowing I had to get my ass moving for the start of the 2024 season. No better way to kick start the year than to end the previous year on a high note...right? 

And the year did start great. I got spend a week in Hawaii with Christine. It was there she accepted my proposal. So the year personally has been good. I even did that crazy ass crater climb when I was there. All good things. Emotionally I was doing great. Physically.....well.....

Ending 2023 I didn't really ride the last 2 weeks of the year. Then I didn't ride again until the last week of January. Another 6 week gap off of the bike. So a few months off.....followed by a decent couple of weeks....followed by another month and a half off. Major physical losses. 

So the year didn't start off great. And that slow start bled into February. I was finally able to land a new bike. That should help right? Well yeah, new bike day is always good. But February being a light month meant that I was still losing fitness. Work stress has been gaining steam too, which we know isn't a great combo. 

High stress + low physical activity = not good

Where I should be using the bike to burn off that stress and build fitness, I am so emotionally drained at the end of the day that I just don't want to. Thus the downward spiral continues. Add in that I am an emotional eater and that spiral goes even faster downward. The only thing that has gone up is my weight. I am currently 20 pounds heavier than I was at LJ last year. It all keeps adding up.

So what am I saying?

Short answer is that I am about 70% sure I am pulling the plug on LJ100 for 2024. All of the factors have been adding up. I am not making excuses....just looking at facts to arrive at the inevitable conclusion.....

I simply cannot be ready. And if by some miracle I did manage to train hard for 3 months, I would still have the mental side of things weighing me down. Yeah, work stress will be what it is. But I have lost faith in myself. That is what pushed the scales far enough that I don't believe they will tip back, but just this year. 

I plan to make my final decision over the weekend, but its not looking good for LJ100 in 2024.

Mudhorn Shakedown Ride and initial review

 I was finally out of excuses and managed to get the Mudhorn out of the house and onto the trail. Here is how it went.

I loaded up and headed to Yankee Springs on Sunday morning. It was a decent 45 degrees with a decent breeze. The drive over was uneventful. I arrived around 10 AM to a fairly full parking lot. Its funny this time of year to see the lot full. With the race coming in a month a lot of people are getting their training rides accomplished. And you cannot beat the weather for March. I geared up and made sure everything was good on the bike. Pumped up the tires and it was time to head out.

The drop in at Yankee (in the red direction) is always fun. That initial little drop with some rocky flow showed me a bit about the bike. Right away I thought "bars are too wide". lol. That distracted me from anything else at that moment. But once I got thru there and hit the first little climb I was shocked at how fast the bike ramped up to speed. Well....my speed. 

Going from a 27.5 to a 29er doesn't seem like a dramatic change....but it really is. The last 29er I had was my Trance X. While I loved the bike (for the year I had it) it had it drawbacks. It had aluminum frame and wheels so it was a tank in and out of the corners. Ramp up speed was awful. That being said, the last ride I did on that bike was LJ100....so....I made it work.

I went into the first set of sandy corners at the top of that small climb and found the 2nd thing about the bike.....the brakes still suck. Of all the things SRAM does, they fall short here. But, lets think of a few other factors here too. This was my first mountain bike ride (on a mountain bike) since Lumberjack last year. A solid 9 months since being on a full squish bike with only a handful of fatbike rides mixed in....so that is one thing. Second and most important, I have never ridden this bike. Its going to take some time to get used to the handling. Lastly, its a 29er....and its been 8 years since I have had those big wheels. Those factors made the first part of the trail interesting. 

From there I tried to settle in and just think about riding again. How it felt to be out at Yankee Springs for the first time in forever getting miles into my legs and trail abuse into my body. Safe to say I have missed being in the woods. I am over the gravel craze and ready to spend a lot of hours in the woods where I belong. Even if I am riding alone, the woods are calling.

The riding goes on. I reached the ditch climb and decided to try out the suspension lockout. I snapped it LOCK and immediately was shocked to feel the bike stop bobbing. I followed a guy up the climb and was surprised to actually gain and hold his wheel to the top. A few other guys were coming up behind me so I let them pass. Then I opened up the suspension and started the next section. This section I am typically pretty comfortable and quick. Being on a new bike, I was a bit more cautious as I dropped in. The bike responded how I figured it would, but I was riding slower. I thought I heard another rider coming up behind me so I took off again on the flatter section. There wasn't a rider. lol. But, it did make me push a bit and open up the new bike for a bit. Its fast.....but the engine needs work.

I popped out of the woods to ride around the valley and again locked the suspension out. Got up the climb, opened again and tried to carry my speed across to the next climb. I caught another guy right there but wasn't closing the gap yet. I was just riding my pace and trying to get comfortable on the new bike.

The first real climb came into view. I actually closed the gap on the rider in front of me and caught him right at the Washington monument stone at the first level of the climb. My buddy Dwight passed and offered his encouragement. I hopped back on and climbed to the top. The gearing is awesome and the shifting was crisp. I like the big wheels when climbing. Seems to make it easier. I got to the top and tried to open the throttle until I got to the Pines. Still tentative on the corners I kept losing speed. But that is something that improve with more hours on the saddle.

I got through the pines and caught that same guy again on the climb out. I passed him and gapped him on that climb by mile marker 7. While the climb isn't easy for me....I was able to make the climb and keep going to bomb the next downhill section. I was coming in hot to all of the corners as I descended. Not sure if the bike is faster, or if I just wasn't setting up right for the corners but I was getting a bit out of control. I eased up and just took more of a flow than a bomb style of descent. Slow flow for now, fast bomb later.

A few other guys passed and I found myself on the climb out. In general this climb isn't terrible, but its gets super loose as the year presses on. I just kept climbing.....and that is always my weak point. This bike still climbs pretty good all things considered. The fact that I made all the climbs is a good thing for me this early in the year.

I finally got to the last stretch heading back. I decided to try to push my body a bit to see what I had left. It wasn't much, but the bike felt like it wanted more. The more I ride it the harder I will be able to push it and trust it. But being able to push in the sections I know, I like it. I got back to the lot and decided to hit the short section as well. A full Yankee Springs on dry dirt in early March isn't unheard of, but it is so welcome. 

Overall a great ride. Not fast. A few quirks. Just a great day to be out in the woods. I do want to give some impression of the bike and I will do that here. 

Suspension

   I could actually feel how active it was. Maybe the Anthem was just old and not functioning as well, but this bike I could feel the movement. It felt smooth and quick. It wasn't harsh or jumpy. So when I say I could feel it, it was just the bike coming back to normal position. Having a lockout for both front and rear is seemingly a game changer. It has 3 modes of operation. Open, Pedal, and Closed. Open operates as expected, fully allowing the fork and rear shock to do its thing. 120mm up front and rear both mean a lot of movement. Being a heavier rider I appreciate the movement. Pedal, this one is unique. It limits the travel while still soaking up the bumps and roots. Great on the flat sections with some roots where you still want to go fast. Closed was great on the climbs. It locked immediately and worked great. The twist motion on the Rock Shox lockout is ok. I would prefer a button, but I got used to the twist lock as the ride progressed.

Brakes

I wish SRAM would buy a better company....because these brakes are worthless. I hated them on my Anthem and I don't like them on this bike. They are surely something that I will be upgrading. They just feel under powered. Yes I am a heavy rider, but the brakes feel like they are barely working at some points. Plus this bike has a 4 piston on the rear and 2 piston on the front. Meaning the pull actions are different between the sides. The front moves so far that you are almost touching the bar with the handle. PLEASE SRAM....buy a better BRAKE COMPANY.

Handle Bar - cockpit

The race face bar is nice enough, but it will be one of the first things I replace. Its too wide, which is fixable with a simple cut. But the setup is ok. The grips are not my fav. I will be switching back to my ESI Chunkies when I upgrade the bar. Overall the setup isn't bad, just not what I prefer.

Wheels

The spec shines here. The DT swiss 1501 carbon wheels make this bike GO. As I said before my biggest grip on my last 29er was rampup speed. These wheels don't have any issues. They will go as fast as I can push them. The rear hub is super quiet too. Not a BEE style that we often hear in the woods. I won't be annoying anyone while coasting. Of all things on this ride, I worried about the wheels the least.

Dropper

This bike came with a Rock Shox Reverb AXS dropper. As I have never used a dropper I gave it a go a few times. Not really sure I like it....and I don't really need it for this area. I am likely going to take it off and sell it. Initial thoughts are that it would come in handy if you are riding enduro or super steep trails....neither of which I do. Kind of cool, but not really needed.

Handling, rolling, ramping

Like I said before, a first ride is hard to gauge the performance of a bike. But....I had less complaints than compliments on these aspects. On the corners that I actually trusted I was able to lean in and come out of the corners with some speed. The bigger wheels will take some time for me to learn, but I will get there. Initial impression is that I can be faster on this bike. It rolls better and it ramps up better than my old 29er, and seemingly better than my 27.5 (that I won't even speak the brand). The build spec is close from my old bike to this one, but the wheels are lighter (even though they are bigger). The overall weight is pretty much the same. So bigger wheels, means I carry more speed over obstacles and the bike just feels faster. More to come.....but so far so good. 

Overall Impression

Bike = Good

Engine = needs work

In all honesty, I just need to ride the bike more to get used to it. The more I ride the fitter I will get. The fitter I get and the more I ride this bike the more comfortable I will get. Ultimately, I hope to be faster than I was last year. That true test comes in June. Stay tuned.

70? In February?

 Yes, believe it or not it was 70 degrees on February 27th here in Southwest Michigan. It was short lived, as we are not under a Winter Weather Advisory. lol. Pure Michigan.

You can see the temps here....and I will take 50 plus all day long in March.

Already have plans for the weekend to get some Gravel endurance riding in, followed by getting the Mudhorn dirty on Sunday. 

But, last night I managed to get out right after work for a ride on the TCX. It was too nice outside to pass up a ride. It was a bit windy, but that was because of the big storm pushing in.

I headed out of town to get to the nearest gravel. These roads took me to the Allegan State Game Area. 

Had the entire woods to myself. 

This is technically a cross country ski or hiking trail, but people ride on it. I was shocked to see some other tracks and a fairly worn in path. It was easy to follow. Even riding it on a gravel bike I didn't have any issues with conditions. It was a nice quiet ride on crunchy leaves. 

Not a bad view of the Swan Creek Pond. This trail runs along a valley the entire way. 

It was pretty clear sailing until this section. A handful of downed trees and limbs blocked my way. I had to actually use the cross bike for the purpose it was intended. I threw the bike on my shoulder and traversed the obstacles. Cross is not for me......

As I got to the end of this road I was presented with the option of left or right. 

This was right....

and this was left.

I opted for right and found a section of singletrack to ride. This little loop took me back toward home. Its not as ridden in as I would have liked, especially on a gravel bike. Kind of reminded me of the farm sections at the Cow Pie classic....only worse....and narrow....like a mountain bike trail. lol.

Eventually I found this section. Its a little valley that has a wonky bridge surrounded by muck. Thankfully I was able to take that bridge across and make it out the other side with no issues. 

At the top was more trail leading to some gravel roads that I would take home. 

There was also evidence of some logging many years ago. This area reminded me of Hanson Hills and sent my brain back to some painful climbing there. I will miss the Hanson Hills 50. :(

Eventually that trail gave way to the gravel. I rolled along and made it back to the last stretch of pavement. I started to realize that darkness was chasing me. And the wind wasn't doing me any favors. It was a cross wind, but blowing more toward my face so I was struggling to hold speed. 

About 3 miles from home I spied a dog standing in a yard. He had already spotted me but was just looking my direction. Then he pulled the pin and took off toward me, with his owner screaming for him to stop. Having a Great Dane I know how fast a big dog can cover ground....thankfully. Because an Irish Wolf Hound covers some major ground fast too. He was running towards me, but he wasn't growing or barking. As he got close I simply moved left and he glided past my rear wheel with no issues. Never good to get chased by a dog. Always good when its a positive outcome.

Overall it was a glorious day in SW Michigan. Today...not so much. 

I plan to do an easy spin tonight on the trainer just to keep my legs moving. Got a big block coming up this weekend.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Keep moving forward. 

Back in the saddle

Just when I was ready to get back at it....sickness kicked in the front door. Thankfully I was only down a few days....but a few days here and a few days there are starting to turn into weeks that I am off the bike.

That changed last week. 

I was able to get some miles in on Zwift and even get outside with Tom for a solid gravel ride. So after a good ride to start February, then a few weeks off....I am finally back in the saddle again.

Zwift rides are what they are....and I will use them when I need to. It is February after all, so the temps here is SW Michigan are swinging like Austin Powers. We go from 2" of snow to 60's, back into the low 30's and today temps will touch 70. In February. lol.

The ride I did outside last week temps were in the 50's. Awesome. Tom and I headed out and got some solid base miles before he headed West for his training block. For not being on the bike in a few weeks, and a soft January, I was actually surprised at how good I felt. Problem is....that feeling only lasted about an hour. That is where my issue is starting. I have stamina for an hour, because that is how I have been training on Zwift. Its great, but I need longevity. And a scattered training plan with weeks off the bike don't help. Still....no unhappy with our ride. 

Last night I couldn't pass up the another 60 degree day. I left from home for a mixed bag of a ride. Legs felt good, just had some timing issues. Had to ride out and back to check on dinner. After that check I rolled around again to get about an hour of riding. I did push harder knowing that I was on limited time. Kind of funny how a flat ride can still feel hard. 

Tonight I am heading out again. Hope to get to 20 plus miles in and enjoy the weather before it tanks again on Wednesday. lol. Michigan. But its really ok. I am set up to keep my legs moving. With a cold day tomorrow I will just head to the trainer. Just have to keep going no matter what. 

This weekend we should have temps in the 60's again. Planning on some gravel base miles and then breaking the new bike in at Yankee. Training has truly begun.

I have felt my mindset shift. Things are coming into focus. Maybe its having a mountain bike again. Maybe its that LJ100 is less than 4 months out. Maybe the weather. Mental toughness is one of my biggest struggles. I waver. I let things creep in and chip away at the foundation until it cracks. I build it back up, but other things sneak back in to fill the remaining voids. Right now, today...as I type this....I feel pretty good. A solid week of riding always helps that. Its silly really. The key to being successful is riding my bike. I gain fitness, burn off stress, and get healthier every time I ride. And I simply turned my back on the bikes. Why? Lack of discipline maybe. But the main reason is I just let the stressors of life add up...and I didn't turn to the key to unlock the chains and release the stress. Last week I did. This week I am. I just need to remember to stay the course. Keep riding even when I just want to hide in a blanket fort. 

Last week was a good example of that. Long day at work had me worn out. I sat on the couch and was just ready to check out. Instead I drug my ass off the couch and headed to the trainer. It was the best decision I could have made....and the effects are still helping. I know I will have bad days. Setbacks. Life will happen. All I need to do is....

KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

Time to move....

 I didn't touch a bike over the weekend. After a solid ride with Lisa the previous weekend I once again didn't have an ounce of motivation. Was a crazy long week at work and still fighting stupid elbow pain. 

Right now we are about 4 months out from LJ100. I am signed up. I have an AirBnb booked. Those boxes are checked....but there are 2 big boxes left.

1. I don't even have a mountain bike yet. Yes I have some options but this keeps weighing on my brain. I don't really want to try to ride 100 miles on a borrowed bike that I have limited saddle time with. So borrowing a bike is a 'last resort' option. I do Albert. The properly named fat bike that I own. But the thought of riding that tank for 100 miles with a full rigid setup just makes me shudder. My arm started throbbing just thinking about that. So that is an option that falls just before the last resort. While both of these are plausible solutions, they are not the option I want to choose. 

What I am actually going to do is order a bike......Thursday. I have been crunching numbers and developing a plan of attack. That plan will go into affect Thursday. I should have my hands on a new ride by the end of the month.

But what bike did I decide on?

Will it be a Specialized World Cup...

Could it be a Scott Spark....

Maybe a Cannondale Scapel.

What about a Canyon LUX....

oh man....Obrea Oiz...

Specialized Epic Evo.....

Trex Fuel EX....

this list is never ending.....

However, I have some limiting factors. Available funds and inventory are the driving factors right now. I missed an awesome sale a few weeks ago from one company. I have researched and finally narrowed it down to a few options. Once I was there the funding created another set of limiting factors. But, when it gets here I will let you know what I get....because I am ordering on Thursday....that is for sure!

2. Motivation (or lack thereof)

I have used every form of distraction, excuses, and lies to keep myself off the bike. I will work through a few of those here to try to explain to myself why I am where I am. Here goes....

Work stress. Yes, work has been chaotic but that isn't really anything new. There are other wrenches thrown into that stress bubble right now. The company I work for was purchased by a conglomerate last year. As usual in any type of takeover or integration you will find the growing pains ever increasing. We are right in the thick of that. Added on top of a massive project. Stress is high. 

Family stress. Again, not really anything new. And this one isn't really what I think it is. I know my trip last month and the inevitable event of proposing was weighing on me a bit. Nervous stress is a better description for that. I wasn't stressed about asking, I was nervous and excited about it. However, a distraction none the less. That trip was amazing and exactly what I needed to start off 2024. But I used planning and preparing as an excuse to avoid the bike. When I got back, I used the "catching up with work" along with other excuses to not ride

Weather....ROFL. no way...it was 60 degrees and I still didnt touch a bike. dumb.

Lisa and I did get out for a ride the weekend before last. but now we are in the middle of February and the reasons to not ride just are not going to fly anymore. The time is now to get off my ass and get moving. 4 months to pile in miles and drop some weight. 4 months go get acquainted with a new bike. 4 months to get my elbow healed enough to hold onto the handlebars for 10 plus hours. 

4 months....

...that will pass in the blink of an eye.

Lets get moving.

Koko Crater climb

 When I learned that we (Christine and I) were heading to Hawaii I started poking around for things to do. Dolphins, turtles, luau, Pearl Harbor, yeah yeah.....all those main stream things. I wanted to know about the other stuff...hikes to water falls, mountain biking, lava flows, and blow holes. My initial search for Oahu adventure brought me very close to our hotel in Honolulu. The Diamond Head Crater is a prominent feature on the Southern coast of Oahu. Then I stumbled across the Koko Head Crater and started to look deeper. I didn't really know the journey I would go on.

First, some other highlights from the trip. We did visit Pearl Harbor. I cannot describe the feeling of being in the exact spot where Japan launched an incredible attack that drew the United States into World War II. Mixed emotions between "this happened in the 1940's" to "so many people died" to "it had to be unreal here, in this exact spot....with planes, bombs, explosions and death....where today it is so quiet and peaceful". 

We took a short trip to Halona blow hole on the southeastern coast. Beautiful views and blue waters with some sea turtles were on tap here. But we had to head back for a dolphin encounter. Christine had never swam with them, so I booked a special one for her. With her distracted by the porpoises I had a plan to pop the question. Kolohe (our dolphin) delivered a pelican box with the ring and she said YES. So that was a fun day!

But the Koko Crater loomed. We had driven past this feature on the way to Halona and back. Seeing it in person I started to have doubts. These are the pics I took on our way past the crater. Big imposing hill. No real understanding of what I was in for.

When the morning arrived I ate some breakfast out on the balcony and mentally prepared. I called an Uber and made a very quiet trip to the trailhead. The driver was not interested in chatting. lol. When I got delivered I took the picture below. Nerves added to the "what the hell am I thinking" started swirling around my brain.

Then it was time to start. Kicked on some music and started the trek.

The first few steps make you figure out your approach. The spacing made it interesting. Longer legged people can take one step at a time, while everyone else has to take a step up and then a step forward before stepping up again. 

I found a spot here to stop and slow my heart rate down. I was feeling ok, but my HR had spiked into the 160s. In general, that doesn't happen when I am racing my bike full tilt. So a quick pit stop was in order.

Diamond Head Crater in the distance. 

Never Surrender.....EVER.

Getting to the top was half the battle....but the views were totally worth it. 

Back side of the crater.

At the top....you have time to take in the views and catch your breath. Then you look down this and know the battle isn't done. Getting down unscathed was just as rough as getting to the top.

The need for a crab walk was definitely necessary. Running low on gas and having a high HR, it was a better option sometimes. Just to give my legs a little break. Arms took some of the weight so I could keep going! 

I was surprised to see a cactus....

This sign! 

So many people were out. Much like cycling, you could see the varying levels of fitness and drive behind people. One guy was seemingly on his 3rd trip down the crater....while others were taking the 10 steps at a time approach. They would take 10 steps and stop to rest. Repeat. Repeat. I was on the 30 to 40 steps at a time approach as I got closer to the top. I do a similar thing when climbing on the bike. I count down how many pedal strokes I think I will hit until I reach the summit. Keeps my mind from focusing on the pain brewing in the legs. 

The markers were counting down to the top. Started at 25 I believe. At this point, I was thinking 'whew, only 5 to go'

Diamond Head crater. I was planning to get up there too, but legs were torched after this climb. The taller buildings to the right of the image is where our hotel was. Amazing that its under 10 miles from crater to crater....but took nearly 25 minutes to Uber between them. 

Even when I got to the 'top' there was another segment to get to the 'tippy-top'. I reached what I thought was the summit only to find another segment. I rested for a minute and then pushed up this short stretch to the top. The additional steps were worth it as the views were unimpeded at the very top.

There is a segment of the trail where the land falls away a bit. You can see thru the railroad ties and it does throw you off a bit....but not super high. Just another twist to the climb.

A much needed rest. Letting the legs rest while taking in some views and letting the mind relax.

Stopping to take a breather.

It feels never ending at the beginning.....

Steep is a good word to use here.

Overall this was an interesting day. It was surely a mark off the bucket list type of event. I knew I would reach the top, even though I doubted myself at times. I just kept pushing onward and upward until I got there. Maybe not as major of an achievement for some, but for me it was a very rewarding trip. I am happy to say that I did it. I did however pay the price. My legs were wrecked for about 4 days afterwards. Worth it. If you find yourself on Oahu, head on over and check this out. There is a lot to see, but this adventure gives you a different experience. You get the accomplishment of climbing an iconic crater and you get rewarded with amazing views.

It was kind of hard to put the experience into words. Its something you have to do yourself to understand. I am happy that I was able to.