To Ride or Not to Ride…

… that is the question… 

My mind is fighting my heart.

Logic and naivety have entered both.

Take the risk, and ride,

Live with those consequences.

Watch from the side,

Live with those consequences.

What will hurt more??

Great Music

Joe Purdy…. Jay Nash….Chris from LowStars….Amazing night at Soiled Dove Underground….thanks Matt!

 

If you haven’t heard of them, check them out. You will fall in love from the start…

 

 

 

It’s a Long Ride Home

Or, it’s a long ride around the Front Range… Saturday morning around 10, I met Matt at the Mt Falcon trailhead to leave his car as a shuttle, loaded his bike and gear into my car, and headed over to the Chimney Gulch trailhead for a day of fun riding. We had discussed doing a long ride for some time now, and finally made plans to do it. Note to self: Do not go out and drink with friends till 1 in the morning prior to an all day ride. Not a good idea…

Through my dreary, somewhat nauseous state, I struggled to get ready for the ride, and even managed to remind Matt to make sure he had the keys to his car. Fortunately I have done the shuttle thing enough times, and have left the keys in the other car enough times, causing us either to hitchhike, walk, or get a cab back to the second car, to always remember the keys to the shuttle vehicle. So we remembered that, but then realized that neither one of us left a spare set of clothes or extra food in his car. Oh well, not much we could do about it at that point.

Once we were ready we headed up the hill. It was long, and it took me a while to get into the groove of things. And took even longer to start to feel human. I was having fun, just had some issues on the technical sections. We reached the top, stopped at the Nature Center for a bathroom break, and headed down the Lookout trail that meets up with Apex. It was nice to have some downhill! We cruised down to the intersection of Apex and Enchanted Forest and opted for Enchanted Forest. It was a lot of fun, and by the time we started, I was feeling a lot better and having a blast. Matt was flying over everything, feeling very comfortable on his new bike. It was hard, and actually impossible for me to keep up with him throughout the day. That was fine with me, I wasn’t trying to go fast, I was more trying to see how long I can stay on my bike, since the 12 hour race is a little over a month away.

When we got to the bottom of Apex we rode down to Matthew Winters Park. One of my least favorite trails in the Front Range. We were up for it, though, so decided to do it. It was just as fun as I remembered! Still not one of my favorites… After MW we crossed the street and headed up Dinosaur Ridge. I had never been on this trail, mainly because I never really heard anything good about it! It actually wasn’t too bad, some stupid technical sections, but for the most part ridable. We didn’t do all of it, we cut down Zorro on the other side. That was a fun descent and was over too soon. Once down, we crossed C-470 and did parts of Green Mountain, then headed down to Bear Creek where we messed around on a couple trails before heading into Morrison. We took a break at the river, soaking our feet and enjoying the time off the bike. It took a bit for us to want to get back on our bikes, especially with the thought of food and beer so close to us… We did finally get back on, determined to finish what we started. After filling up on water, we headed to Falcon, where we had another tough time, seeing Matt’s car in the parking lot… We pushed through it though, and headed up. I was definitely starting to feel my legs, so I slowly pedaled up. Amazingly I was still able to clear everything, except the first section of water bars. I was more than ok with that. I met up with Matt at the gazebo, and really wanted to lay down and take a nap. Clouds were moving in, and it was getting really windy. I ended up putting on my jacket at this point. Again I had another thought, that if we turned around now, we were only about 10 minutes from the car, and only 15 minutes from an ice cold beer. Matt was persuasive enough to keep going, so I got back on my bike and kept pedaling. We made it to the paved road and cruised down to Parmalee Gulch. It would have been a lot more fun, if I didn’t have it in my head that we would have to still climb back up it. We rode up Parmalee Gulch to the Lair ‘o the Bear trailhead. Here I let Matt go ahead, I needed a break, my entire left hand was asleep and my wrist was pulsating from the pain. After filling up on food and water, I decided to head down and meet up with Matt. The plan was that I was going to turn around whenever I caught up with him. It was about 3/4ths of the way down, and frankly it was a good thing we did this. We slowly made our way back up to the road, both starting to feel the hurt of the long day. Once we got back to the road, we realized all the cars had their headlights on. We both thought it was getting darker because of all the cloud cover. We hadn’t looked at the time all day, and at this point we finally did. 8:04pm. Are you kidding!?! Where did the time go?? At least we knew why we felt the way we did…

I was kind of getting nervous, neither of us thought we would be out that late, so we stupidly didn’t bring lights. We still had the road to climb, as well as the Falcon descent, and our legs would not move us any faster. It got darker and darker on our ride up, to the point it was almost pitch black by the time we got to the gazebo. I will say, it is the most spectacular view I have had from up there, with the city lights aglow, and Red Rocks all lit up from the concert. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could, but panic was starting to sink in, knowing we had to get down the mountain. We have both done the descent enough to know where the rough parts were, but on dead legs, empty stomachs, overall tiredness and not being able to see, it was a very sketchy ride down. Super fun, but scary. Luckily we got to the parking lot without a crash, and were so grateful to be off our bikes for the day. It was a little after 9 by the time we were done, and the last car in the lot. It felt so good to get off the bike, and we were so happy to have made it down safely. Even though we had no change of clothes, or even sandals to change into, we couldn’t wait to have food and beer, so we stumbled down to the Morrison Inn. Although we struggled to even lift the glass, I think it was the best Fat Tire I have ever tasted.

Although I was tired, and more than ready to be done, we were out for long enough for me to be fairly confident I can complete the 12 hour race. Especially if I get real food in between… It was a good ride, with good company. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and plan to in the near future.  

Tagged

So I am finally getting around to answering the questions from being “tagged”. Here goes.

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

A Jamis Exile 29er Single Speed.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

I do have it, and I guess that is why it was my answer. I love this bike, although there are some things I would change about it. Overall, talk about a bikegasm…
If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

Hmmm. I would say Kokopelli trail, it is long, has all sorts of terrain and beautiful views.
What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to do for the rest of her / his life?

I have no idea, but it is wrong. Who would want to do just one trail when there are so many amazing trails out there??
Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrow minded?

I ride both, but definately prefer mountain. I think road biking is rather boring, and gives me too much time to think. I love mountain biking, because when I am out there, it is nothing but me and the mountain. Can’t beat that.
Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.

No, and there is nothing that would make me want to ride one. Ever.
Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?

Yes, for a couple of years. And then I realized how much I hated to train for it. I hate swimming, and it made me so miserable whenever I had to go. I hated having a schedule to go off of, it almost felt like a job. I never think of mountain biking as training. I love every minute of it. Realizing that is why I stopped tri’s. I have never tried strangling myself with dental floss, although I will admit if I stuck with Tri’s I might have at one point…
Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?

Ice cream. Hands down. There isn’t much out there that could compete against bikes.
What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.

Why did you actully take the time to answer these questions?

I have no idea…
You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?

Sing to it, and pray it runs away from my horrible voice.
Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.

An Epic Weekend Part 2

Seranno and I got up at 4am Sunday morning to head up Mt. Huron. I was still sleepy, and it took a while for me to wake up. I was wide awake and ready to go by the time we hit the trailhead at 8. There is a rough road we could have driven in to the trail head, but for some reason I was up for more that 5.5 miles, so I parked at the bottom of the road and hiked in. I knew I was getting a late start, but so far the weather was holding up, not a cloud in the sky yet. The road in was fairly flat, it was a nice warm up. Seranno, of course, was bolting all over the place, getting in at least 5 times as much hiking as me.

The trail started about 2 miles up the road. It was nice switchbacks through a dense forest. It was so beautiful, and I got to enjoy the chirps of birds and the sound of the stream through the whole section. There were a lot of people climbing, but I got to a spot that I was alone through the trees. The trail opened up above tree line to a large meadow full of wildflowers in every color. They smelled amazing. While I was taking pictures and soaking it all in, I thought that it would be nice to have something similar to a camera, but that captures smell. Seranno seemed to enjoy it as well, she was jumping around through all the flowers like a little girl in a fairytale.

Once we got over our flower high we continued up the trail. It got steeper the further we went, but soon we were at the summit. It was 11am. Somehow, with all of the people, we got to the summit right after a big group left, and right before another group came, so we had the summit to ourselves for about 10 minutes. It was amazing, with some of the most spectacular views I have seen from a 14er.

There were some clouds rolling in, and it was getting rather crowded at the top, so Seranno and I headed down. Since everyone else was on the summit, we had the whole descent to ourselves for the most part. We of course had to stop and smell the flowers again once we got back to the meadow, I don’t think I could ever get enough of that. I could hear thunder in the distance, and the dark clouds were moving our way fast, so we pushed on, at least to get to tree line before it hit us.

Almost as soon as we were in the trees I could see lightning and the thunder was a lot closer and louder. It also started to rain. I would say it could not have been any more perfect. It wasn’t pouring, just a steady rain, beating on the leaves making the most musical sound. At one point I had to stop, and close my eyes to listen to the falling rain and rumbling thunder, while breathing in the smell of the moist dirt. Life could not have gotten any better than that moment, right there. It is for moments like that, that make me so addicted to the outdoors in Colorado.

Quite a few people passed me through the trees, running down in their raincoats. They must have thought I looked rather goofy, strolling along, head up to the sky, with still just a t-shirt on, almost soaked. I didn’t care, and neither did Seranno. She was feeling the same way I was.

The rain really started to pick up once I reached the road, so I did put on my raincoat at this time. It was a very leisurely walk back to the car from this point, and I took my time, taking in everything that I had experienced through the weekend. I feel so lucky during times like these. This is when all I have to say is: Life is Good. J

An Epic Weekend part 1

This past weekend was an epic one, and one that will never be forgotten. Saturday was Winter Park Race #5, the Crankworx Cross Country. They tied this race into the Crankworx events, so it seemed there were more participants. Somehow, when everyone else seemed to hate this course, I found it to be my most favorite race to date. Maybe it was because before the race I wasn’t feeling it, wasn’t really in the mood to race, my wrist was really hurting, so my thought was just to ride and have fun, this will probably end up being the other race I drop. So when they sent the very large group of Sport women off, I didn’t push, just pedaled at an easy pace. It didn’t take long to get passed by most of the girls, and I really didn’t care. Somehow, I had caught a lot of them before we turned onto Sunken Bridges, and even more on the steep climb. It was weird; I didn’t feel like I was pushing at all, just riding. Once we got to the road we turned right, and headed down a rolling dirt road for a ways, grateful that they made the Sport women turn with the beginners instead of climbing the nasty hill all of the others had to ride. Soon we turned onto Zoom and then Chainsaw, a super fun and fast single track descent. I caught a lot of girls on this, as well as a lot of guys from Clydesdale and Sport. I felt really good on this descent, too, picking good lines, and keeping my head in it. When Chainsaw ended on the road, I headed up to where Elk Meadow trail starts. It wasn’t a steep hill, but I passed quite a few more guys and girls who looked like they were standing still.

I knew there was the nasty climb up D2 and WTB, so I tried to save my legs on Elk Meadow, which wasn’t too hard. Soon enough D2 came, which was a long dirt road. I was able to climb in my middle ring and 3^rd or 4^th cog the whole way, which for me was pretty good. I passed quite a few more racers on this section, and I started to wonder if I was going to blow up at some point. I felt great, felt I still had good energy, and I wasn’t trying to push, I was just riding, so I kept the pace I was at. When D2 turned into a single track I stayed in a lower gear, just to spin and let my legs recover since I knew the tough part was coming. There was a group of racers that caught up to me at this point, but not anyone too far ahead. I knew I was in a difficult spot with the technical climb coming. If I wasn’t able to clear some sections, I would have a pileup behind me, and cause me to lose my calmness I had going on, but if I let them pass, I would have to worry about them not clearing something, causing the same result. I decided my best bet was to stay ahead and do my best to clear it. Good call. The person right behind me was not in a good gear when we hit the first root, so she stopped, causing others to move strategically around her. I was able to clean all of it, and by the time I got to the top, I could see no one behind me. There was still more to come. When WTB started I was pretty much alone except one guy ahead of me. I knew I had to focus and take it easy if I wanted to clear this section, so I stayed on his tail, but didn’t pass. He lost his balance on one section, and just happened to fall to the side I was on. I had to put my foot down for a second to move around him, but I was able to quickly get going again. Soon I saw a group of people ahead walking there bikes up. I caught up to them right at the top and passed a few of them. I was pretty happy with myself and knew at that point I could actually be in this race. The trail descended down D4 to Vasquez road, where I dropped quite a few more racers. (note: not all of these racers were Sport women. Actually most seemed to be Sport men) The route turned left to where we had to cross the river. I knew it was still running high from my pre-ride earlier in the week, and didn’t want to risk anything by attempting to ride it. So when I got up to it, I jumped off my bike, and carried it over my head to the other side. I thought it was a much better strategy. There was another climb up Tunnel Hill Road, where I passed another group of guys/girls standing still. A beginner guy caught up to me at this point, racing past to get to Chickadee first. He was the first person to pass me all race (except for the start). That didn’t last long, though, he flatted half way down so I passed him again. Once down the descent it started to climb again up Little Vasquez. I was surprised at how I was feeling, I knew this was the last big climb, and I was still feeling great. Once it dumped out to the dirt road, I passed a few more people, and got passed by one or two. At one point I was spinning along when I heard a squeaky toy. Oh no! Who is that?!? I thought, knowing it was either Marni, Matt, Mel or Scott. I turned and saw Matt with a huge grin on his face. We chatted for a while, he was looking really good on his new bike and all. It didn’t take long for him to gain ground on me. I guess I should have cherished the Firecracker a little more than I did. He is forever going to kick my ass now.

At the top of the road we turned down Arapahoe, which was fun single track for a while. One more person passed me there, and I passed a few more. Eventually there was only me and another guy winding through the woods. No sign of anyone else either in front of behind us. He kept a good pace, so I stayed with him, until the last little climb on Long Trail. He pretty much stopped at the top, saying I was pushing him to hard to stay in front of me, and he was about to die, so he let me pass. Sorry dude. I wound through the trees on Long Trail, no one else in sight. I shot down to the Boulevard, which I have come to love, with the wooded jumps and tight switchbacks at the end. I was able to enjoy it with no one else around. I finished in just over 2 hours. Good enough for 2^nd place. I felt great when I was done, and for once finished a race where I felt like I belonged. I am starting to get it!

Matt, of course, got 2^nd in his group, 10 minutes faster than me. Sandbagger. He will have to race Sport next time. Brett ended up flatting twice just a couple miles from the finish and was unable to repair it. He DNF’d. Marni did great, coming in 4^th again. She had a lot on her mind, she was picking up Chris right after the race, and her heart was more already with him than the race. She did awesome considering, it is scary to think of what time she would have gotten if she were more into it! Erik did really well too, even though he had to finish the last few miles on a very flat tire! He still kept people off his tail and finished with a good time. Scott crashed by wrapping himself or his bike around a tree, so he was hurting when he finished. Melissa did awesome, pulling in 4^th again. It is amazing how she can do it with not much training. Shawn did really well in his category, although I don’t think he wanted to admit it. I talked to him after the race and he pretty much said he blew up out there and didn’t do well. It wasn’t until later that I found out he was actually racing Pro…

Although no one else seemed to have enjoyed it as much as me, I was very happy with this race. Definitely my favorite so far. Especially the incredible lighting storm that started right when I finished that brought a downpour of rain. In a weird way when it started to pour, I wished I was still out riding… Luckily for those that were still out there, the rain didn’t hit them as bad.   Good times…

 

Racing Epiphany

I am definitely no expert at racing, actually I feel lost out there most of the time. I have tried different strategies, but it seems there has been some downfall to every race so far, whether it is being sick, to dealing with emotions, to having chain problems, to figuring out what works better; a camelback or water bottles, how much food to bring and when and what to eat, how to pace myself, when to push myself… the list goes on. Unfortunately I have learned the hard way in almost all the above, which has ultimately led to some not so great experiences. I am hoping by KOTR I will have figured racing out, but for now I am still taking every race one at a time, learning as I go, suffering from my mistakes and spending the weeks in between races debating on continuing, but talking myself into it by the next one, just to do it all over again. It has been a tough season for me, which has been very disappointing. I have been looking forward to doing the WP series for a few years now, but sometimes I wonder if I even belong here. I will continue to learn from my mistakes, and hope that next year will bring a better season!

Killer Ride

Almost literally…

Yesterday I decided to get in a good, long ride. Unfortunately the Fuel is back in the shop, and I wasn’t in the mood for a road ride, so I took the SS out. I left from my house around 8 and hit the dirt trail across the street that goes along Bear Creek. I followed this into Morrison where I then headed up to Mt. Falcon. So far the riding was great, and the gear I had was good. I had not taken the SS on Falcon yet, and knew with the gearing I had, it would be a tough climb. It was tough. It kicked my ass. I usually spin up nice and easy on the Fuel in a low gear, not the middle ring in front and the 4^th cog in the back… I failed making the waterbars, which I expected, but I also had a hard time going over rocks. I got so used to the full suspension that I didn’t know how to take the rocks on a fully rigid. After almost falling off the bike quite a few times, I started to get the hang of it. I never could ride very far without stopping for air- I never knew this trail was so steep! I did manage to ride most of it, with all the stops I took… I was discouraged at first, and then thought of the very first time I took the SS out. I almost died on the first hill of Centennial Cone! Now I can blast up that without stopping or breathing that hard. So Falcon will just need some practice with the SS, and probably a different gear…

I had not done Falcon since they redid the top, although I heard about it, a lot. It was very disappointing to see. The only upside is that it made it more possible for me to ride the whole way up.

I got to the gazebo and had a snack, and then headed on to get in Lair ‘o the Bear. I have done this trail on the SS, so it got a lot easier after this. Even the uphill on the way back up wasn’t too bad. I guess I was warmed up and my legs were getting used to it.

I was out of water by the time I got back to Falcon, so I wanted to get home as fast as I could. This is where full suspension comes in handy! I am not sure what kicked my ass more, going up Falcon, or coming down. I did my best to pick good lines, but I was getting jarred everywhere. It was painful, and I was about ready to die when I hit the parking lot. I stopped briefly and my body still felt like it was shaking all around.

The rest of the way home was uneventful, but I will say, that was one of the hardest rides I have ever been on. It ended up being about 40 miles, and took me 5.5 hours. I still like my SS, and my goal still is to race it next year, or the year after, but I need to get used to it, or it is really going to kill me!

WP Races #3 and #4

Saturday: Valley Point to Point

Most of my team headed up Friday night to stay at Michelle’s family’s home in Frasier (thanks Michelle!). We relaxed, chatted and enjoyed looking at a magazine of child starts, then and now. It made me feel old… Who knew that Mark from Home Improvement was going to someday make cheese???

The next morning we all got up and had a yummy egg sandwich that Chris made everyone, before heading over to the resort. Once the bikes were ready to go, Marni took me on a long warm up ride. I have never done a long warm-up before, I was always afraid it would make me tired before the race even started. I wasn’t sure if it was going to help me, or hurt me, but I went along anyways.

We went to the start line with enough time to get in front, although I am not sure why… They sent us off, and I took off up the hill. Too fast. I have seen so many people take off too hard and burn out quick, shaking my head at them. Well, that day I was one of them, and I did shake my head at myself. I burnt out before the single track, feeling like I was going to puke on the side, not sure if there was anyway I could continue. I was mad at myself, and told myself there was no way I was going to quit because of my stupidity, doing something that I knew not to.

Another girl and I were pushing hard to fight for the lead when the single track came. She beat me to it, which actually wasn’t too bad, we were about the same speed. Not too long into the downhill we came across a girl who had wiped out around one of the corners. A guy had stopped for her, we asked if she was ok and kept going when she said she was. Eventually I knew I could ride faster than this girl, so I started to work on a strategy to pass her. She wasn’t having any of that, and refused to let me by. During a flatter section I saw her start to wobble, and lose control. I knew what was happening, and just watched as her back tire went flat. I flew past her, not feeling too bad at all.

Once the uphill started again, I felt the pain from the long warm up and stupidly fast start. My energy was already gone, and I started to curse myself. It was at this point that my mind started getting to me, I was getting frustrated, and I was mad at myself for feeling like I did. I tried really hard to stop those thoughts, and just work on enjoying the ride, which worked for a little while. I got to the top of the hill where originally we were supposed to go right and cross the river, but the re-routed it since the river was running too high. I was overheating by this point and really wished we were going through the river. There was a nice long downhill on a road where I caught another girl, so my spirits started to lift a little. But then we turned onto D4 where more climbing started. My bike was fighting with me, not shifting when I wanted it to, and then shifting when I didn’t want it too. Frustration sank in again, and I was having a hard time concentrating. I was still feeling like crap, still no energy, and I could not focus. More than once I went to shift down to make it up a steeper section, but ended up shifting into a harder gear instead, so I ended up having to walk those sections. Frustration got worse at this point. When I turned around at one point I saw Marni coming up the hill. She looked strong and I knew it was only a matter of time before she passed me. I was looking forward to her catching up, I thought some chatting with her would lift my spirits. I was on the verge of throwing my bike off the trail and sitting on a stump crying.

Eventually I made it to the turnoff onto WTM, a very steep lose downhill. It was fun, but still hard to navigate. The trail continued to rollercoaster a bit through the forest, the ups hurt, the downs were a little better. I saw another girl on the side of the trail trying to fix a flat. I could tell she was frustrated, she started to smash her tire on the ground. I was about to tell her I know how she feels, but thought that would be inappropriate since I was still riding…

I eventually popped out onto a road where a guy said only 4.5 miles. Only. Ugh. I kept going though, knowing the end was soon. It didn’t seem like it was too long after that I came across another person who said it was only about another mile. Sweet!! Those last 3.5 miles went super fast! I was starting to ride faster, excited to finish. It was a while later that I saw the sign saying 1 mile to go… Hadn’t I already gone a mile?? I kept pedaling along, but more frustration came during this last section. I was trying to go fast but there were so many baby heads it was hard to pick a good line. Eventually I started to see cars and people, and then heard my teammates cheering for me. I was about done! Thank god!

If this were my first race, I would have probably quit, never wanting to race again. I did not enjoy myself, I let my mind take over, and instead of having fun just being on my bike, I took everything too seriously, and was really hard on myself. I thought about it for a while afterwards, how to take this experience and learn from it. I was even debating writing about it, thinking it might be better to just forget about it and move on. I think I need to work on just enjoying the ride, whether it is a casual ride, or a race.

Sunday: Super D

I took my own advice for this race, before really thinking about it, and decided to just have fun on this course. It was the Super D, and I will admit, I was kind of scared doing a downhill race. We got there early so we could pre-ride the course and see what we were up against. We had to take the lift up, which was one of the biggest challenges of the day! Marni and I went to get on, thinking the operator was going to put our bikes on for us. He informed us that we were responsible for loading our own bikes. Uh, ok, and how do we do this??? Marni and I did our best, and through much laughter and yelps we managed to load our bikes on before the chair took off with the bikes hanging off. I think the lift operator did it on purpose to get a kick out of us. He didn’t even slow down the lift for us!

Mel, Erik and Scott met us at the top, and we all took off on our pre-ride. Some of the crew thought we looked pretty cool in our kits, and all sporting squeaky toys. I am sure they were wondering what all of us were thinking, about to do a downhill race.

The course was fun, very technical in spots with large rocks to go over, lose sand and roots sticking out. There are a few uphills that we all felt after Saturday’s race. When we got to the bottom we waited for Chris to come down. He rode his fully rigid SS. Ouch is all I can say. He finished well, coming in 3^rd.

It was then time for Marni, Mel and I to head to the top, so we headed to the dreadful chair lift. There was a different operator this time, and he was nice enough to slow down the lift so we could all get our bikes on.

We watched Scott take off in the group before us, and soon all that were left were the women. 11 total between Beginner and Sport. We had about 15 minutes before we were to head off, so we all started chatting, being silly girls. We found out how old everyone was so we knew who our competition was. It turned out there wasn’t much for anyone! I think all 11 of us got on the podium. Melissa was the only one in her group, so she automatically got 1^st, and it was between me and Marni for our group. It made the start more fun, knowing we could all just have fun in this race.

The race started Le Mans style where we staged our bikes about 100 feet up the road which we had to run to. Once they sent us off I got to my bike pretty quick, but for some reason could not get on it! I was struggling so hard to get my foot even on the pedal. Melissa was right beside me, and I think she was having the same problem because she wasn’t moving any faster and we could not stop laughing. We were pretty much at the back of the pack by the time we got on our bikes. No worries, though. I caught up to quite a few of the girls up the hill and rode with the front of the pack for a while. They lost me pretty quick once the single track started. They always stayed in sight, but I never caught them, not that I was trying to. I ended up right in the middle of the fast girls and the slower ones, so there was no one around me for the whole race. I had a blast. I was cruising down, singing along to my music, just having fun. This is what racing should feel like.

I came upon the rocky section, so I downshifted and was able to ride right over them. It flattened out for a while so I was about to push harder when all of a sudden my front tire turned and I went flying off my bike, sprawled out across the trail. I have no idea what happened, there were no rocks or roots to grab my tire. I got up, found I had no severe injuries, got back on the bike and continued down. I never saw the fast group after that. I came to the final switchbacks, bummed that the ride was about over. I finished in about 27 minutes, good for 1^st place. J A few minutes later we saw Marni and Melissa coming down the switchbacks. Mel good for 1^st, Marni for 2^nd. Turned out Scott got 2^nd in his class, so it was a day of success. It was a lot of fun to stand on the podium beside Marni, and I am sure that wont be the last, she has gotten super fast I am struggling to stay ahead of her! Erik pulled in a great time, but he was in a large class. Brett did great also, and would have had a great time if he didn’t crash so bad.

I am really glad this race followed so closely to Saturday’s. I got my spirit back, and I am looking forward to racing in 2 weeks. Go Team!

Mt. Elbert

Yesterday I started the day early- around 4am- to have some breakfast and coffee and then headed out to the Mt. Elbert (14,433) trailhead. My parents were at our condo in Frisco for the week, so I was able to stay there and get an extra hour of sleep and a shorter drive in the morning. It was a little over an hour to the trailhead; I was there a little after 6. I knew Chris and Marni were already a ways ahead of me, but I knew I would see them somewhere along the trail. I got mine and Seranno’s packs ready, and we headed out a little before 6:30. It was a nice hike, the first few miles through dense trees and not too steep. There were lots of people on the trail, but I somehow managed to be very alone through this section, which was very peaceful, other than all the mosquitoes. I had never seen so many on a hike before. Pretty soon we were above tree line and the trail started to get steeper. I passed two couples at this point, and was then in the middle of a bunch of groups. I steadily climbed while Seranno ran up and down the trail. She was loving life! It continued to get steeper the further we climbed, but nothing that bad. Eventually, around 9:30, I reached the summit, where I saw Marni, Chris and Turbo. Seranno and Turbo were very happy to see each other. Chris and Marni had been at the summit for a while and were getting cold, so we chatted briefly, and then they started heading down. I took in the summit, enjoying the feeling of freedom and lack of thoughts of life back at home. It was amazing to stand on the highest peak in Colorado. In a way you feel invincible when you are above every other point you can seen. I have never gotten over, or used to the spectacular feelings, views and contentment I experience on the summit, as well as the trek to the summit, of mountain peaks.

I took some pictures of the spectacular views, ate some lunch, signed in, and headed down. I met back up with Chris, Marni and Turbo not too far down, and we continued the rest of the way together. It worked out perfectly. I had my serene time to myself to start the hike, and finished it with good company. Seranno and Turbo had a blast, wrestling and chasing each other almost the whole way down. We got back to the cars around noon, where Seranno jumped right into the car and didn’t move until we got home. It was a good morning to a good day.