Matt VH and I did the Flag Rock loop in reverse today. It was a refreshing change and much faster. As it turns out, the south to north approach is much more technical (i.e. rocky) than the other way around. This slows you down quite a bit on the climbs. The other way is a little bit steeper (528' rise per mile north to south as opposed to ~450' rise south to north) but you don't really notice it because the trail is so much nicer. We made good time to the top - I got there in 43 minutes which is 6 minutes faster than yesterday and 16 minutes faster than monday. Matt was a few minutes behind due to a product delivery. From the top it was a quick cruise down the mountain and back to the start. I felt so good once we got to the top I felt like I was flying down the mountain. Once we got back to the road and down the steep hills we pushed the pace a little bit and I ended up breaking a 6 minute mile for about a 1/4 mile, even reaching a 5 minute pace at one point. In the end, we made this trip 6 minutes faster than the other way around. I think this might become the standard route. | 