@tkuhns & @AndyBaggott 
Running trails here – no ultras this year, but several a year for the past four – is what drove me to get a gravel bike. That it enables year-round outdoor riding is a plus. I’m very lucky that all of the rides posted here, except for the obvious where I wrote I drove to the Dolomites or took a train to Zermatt, are literally out the door. No car involved, just peddling out of the garage and a turn one way for trail or the other for road. Gotta take advantage and enjoy this while it lasts. It may only be available for a couple more years but I savor it like it’s going to end tomorrow.
This morning’s ride involved going after a Strava friend’s 5th place Strava segment placement. I had never done the segment (and I’ve never chased anyone’s place before), but I thought I’d give it a go. Now I’ve done the route a lot but in the opposite direction. This segment was going up where I had always gone up the other end and went down this way. The problem is, I didn’t load the segment on the Garmin and near the end, I realized I wasn’t sure which turn off the main trail to take because I was a bit confused where I was because it was all backward for me. I knew where I was going but I couldn’t remember how to get there. Making it worse, I did the end bit perhaps once in the past two years because I choose a harder option. As it happened, I turned too early and went well above target so I don’t know how I might have done. The segment I did do, at a hair over 5mi with 4.7% average grade for 1265’ of climbing, is shorter but steeper than what I intended (what my friend did): 5.3mi with only 2.5% average grade for only 937’ of climbing.
Edit: (And, bonus, I wrote that I got 5th, but it was 6th overall on what I did do, so I have that going for me… The guy who took 5th is the cyclist who filmed his buddies getting chased by an ostrich in SA.)
In the end, I’m not sure the second half of the ride counted because my power meter battery died. Fortunately, the failure happened after the segment above. The spike before the peak (where the first picture above was taken) was my mistake as I mistakenly thought I was entering the last turn before the grade dropped toward the finish. It was then that I realized I was in the wrong place and above my intended destination. Still, it was a good morning.
