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(Map: "Rosewood Up, Space Mountain Down")

The first time I looped up Rosewood and down Space Mountain, I set a relaxed pace, took lots of pictures, and completed the loop in 1:38:57. A few weeks later I pushed the pace, clocked a time of 1:17:40, and speculated that I might one day go under an hour. At the end of June I set a new personal record at 1:06:17, and felt great.

When I clocked 1:08:59 last week after setting a comfortable pace and stopping to take pictures, I felt like finishing the loop in less than 60 minutes was in reach. All I had to do was push the pace, not stop, and not blow up.

So I headed out last night to do exactly that: complete the loop in under an hour. Just to see if I could.

I clicked into my big ring heading down Ventu Park Rd, and ended up behind a convertible that was only doing 20mph or so. The driver sped up a bit, and grinned when he saw I was still with him. He actually pulled over to let me by!

I reached the Rosewood trailhead in about 11 minutes, two minutes ahead of schedule. My quads were definitely heating up, and I worried that I was burning all my matches at once. I chilled for a few minutes while the trail edged between housing developments, recharging a bit until the climbing began in earnest. All the way up I was just below my red line. I had to remind myself not to push too hard, to save something for the climbing on Los Robles.

I was thrilled to reach the peak above the picknick bench in a little over 34 min. I was right on track. Now I just had to follow through. I'd still have to slice two minutes off my previous best time home from the picknick table, but that was do-able, especially given recent maintenance that made Los Robles much speedier. The only place I knew I'd dab was at the top of the first switchback after crossing the access road.

So I geared agressively, powered up the switchbacks, and let my bike run on the downhills. I hit the top of Space Mountain at about the 45 min mark, and remembered that I usually do Space Mountain and the whoops in about 17 min. I hadn't picked up any more time since passing the picknick table. I'd have to go faster.

So I stayed smooth and attacked the switchbacks: brake late, lean hard, then crank like a demon. Befor I knew it I was hitting the bottom of Space Mountain and headed for the whoops with just over 6 minutes left in the hour. I hit the trailhead on Greenmeadow at 58 minutes, and knew I had it if I could just get up that last paved hill without blowing up.

Final time: 00:59:39.

I got really lucky. I only met one person going up Rosewood, and he only held me up for a few seconds. Likewise going down Space Mountain. I crossed paths with a few hikers and bikers, but always at wide spots on the trail where I could proceed safely. If I'd hit traffic like I did back in June, I'd have lost any chance of going under an hour.