Test Track

Sue introduced me to Test Track on Sunday. It’s got some climbing:

Nice day! I think summer is trying to emerge.

Some cool pics of the area.

Next weekend is 12 Hours of Mesa Verde. I’m going to be crewing for my main squeeze!

Tired Legs

Rode out to Hesperus and back today (click on the image to see a better view on the stats). It’s a “nice” climb and then lots of downhill to finish off the ride. After the Bread ride yesterday, my legs were tired! I decided to top off the pain with the short steep up 8th Street back towards Fort Lewis College and then back home.

Matt ran into Ned today!

Work, work, work. It’s all good though. Love the telecommuting life. Got in a good 6 hours today, plus the ride. Good time management is something I need to practice more often.

Bread Ride

Another Saturday in Durango, and another ass kicking on the Bread ride. It was a good one today because we got some climbing in. Headed out from Bread to Needles and back. I think I got in about 57 miles. Not sure because I turned the bike computer off in Needles and forgot to turn it on right away after the ride. Doh!

I ended the ride with a Bread reward, of course. Today? Spelt Cranberry and Almond Scone. Mmmmm!!! Bread never ceases to have some delicious concoction behind the glass bakery shelves to tempt me after the ride.

Ran into Matt at the end of the ride today. He had taken off for his own MTB ride, and had finished at Bread about the time we finished our roadie ride. It was nice spinning home with him.

After a snack at home, we decided to bike down to the grocery store to pick up some odds and ends for dinner. Nice way to spend the day!

Tomorrow will be an early spin. It’s supposed to be beautiful, but I need to do some catch up for work. Having flexibility telecommuting can be good and bad…this is the bad part. Don’t get me wrong…I’m NOT complaining!

Early Season Battle Scars

Got in a great mountain bike ride with Sue. Lots of fun in the Horse Gulch/Telegraph Trail system. There were quite a few people out, but still not overly crowded on the trails yet.

I had a great time out on the trails, except for 2 minor incidents…okay, and I should preface this discussion with the admission of one of my shortcomings. I am a klutz. I trip over things, drop things, and am overall accident-prone. Beginning of the mountain bike season is the worst, and I managed to prove that this has not yet changed…

Battle Scar 1 (and I don’t think this was totally my fault!)

While riding a slight descent at a relatively fast pace, I managed to get a branch in the rear wheel. No rear derailleur damage, thank goodness, but I managed to do a really nice over the bar maneuver that landed me directly on my chin. I’ve got a nice bluish-purple bruise now, and luckily most of it is on the underside of the chin, so you can’t see it well if you are looking at me head-on. This was a fortunate crash, as I’m currently on business travel and was delivered a presentation to a large group of people today. Had I had the unsightly bruise just a little higher up, I would have looked like a battered wife (poor Matt, he gets blamed for my klutziness).

Battle Scar 2

So I picked myself up, and continued on the ride, relatively unshaken after I realized my teeth were still in my head and nothing was broken or bleeding. Sue and I continued on our fun adventure and WHACK! I ran into a tree limb sticking out into the trail. Caught it really well on the right, upper part of my arm. This left a nice flesh wound about 4″ x 3″ in size. At least I’m wearing long sleeves to cover that.

So, to wrap up a most excellent ride, Matt had dinner for 3 ready to go back at the house! Sue, Sophie and Uma (her furry pals) came over to the house and we had chicken on the grill, baked potatoes, and salad…mmmmmm!!!! What a great after-ride treat!

I’m now in Idaho Falls, ID. That’s all I have to say about that…

Can’t wait to get home!!!

All Things New

Life is about change.

It’s about experiencing new things.

Taking risks.

Enjoying what the world has to offer.

It’s carpe diem with some common sense thrown in.

No reason to wonder what’s on the horizon, when you have the opportunity to experience it first hand.

Saving for that rainy day? What if it never rains?

Riding with Friends

Durango has become my home. It’s a place where there’s always someone ready for a good ride. I’ve got riding buddies everywhere! Strange, I knew just as many women who ride in Albuquerque, but I rarely got to ride with them. Here? Not an issue. I love this place!

Today, a group of 5 of us got do do the Breen loop, heading from Durango to Hesperus and back on Wildcat. What a screaming descent! Tons of fun. You can thank Sue for the pics! The crew for today’s tour was Sue, Kerry, Tanya, me, and Jamie.

The day was beautiful! Lots of blue sky, and temps that weren’t too bad either.

On the ride up to the “top” of Highway 160, Sue was distracted by a roadside object she thought was pottery. Turned out to be some sort of antique replica of a tin man, kinda round and fat like a gourd.

There was something inside this container, but none of us could open it. We left it on the side of the road, so someone will eventually discover what was in there. Interestingly, it ended up at Sue’s doorstep.

Yesterday I got in the Saturday Bread ride. These rides are killer for me, but great for training. My goal? Don’t get dropped. It’s a simple goal that, when obtained, usually leads to a 184 heart rate, numb arms, and the feeling like I’ll pass out any minute. My advice to you if you’re riding with me at this moment is stay off my wheel. I’m so squirrelly at this point because I’m pushing myself as hard as I possibly can. Should be great practice for the Iron Horse. Maybe I’ll be able to hang onto the pack until the climbs!

Later that evening, Matt and I went by Mountain Bike Specialists for their annual “Garage Sale.” Matt got a deal on some crank arms, and I got a new pair of Sidi mountain bike shoes for $100. Sweet! Didn’t need them, but you can’t turn down a deal like that. After shopping, it was dinner out, then over to a party with some other new cycling friends we’ve made in Durango. They were celebrating their 2nd year in Durango…woohoo! There’s a reason people try to get to this place.

Livermore Tour

I was in Livermore, CA this past week for work. Not a bad place to have to work by any means! I decided to head up the weekend before the work week. I was traveling with a co-worker of mine, Esther, who has friends living in Pinole, Mike & Marcella. Mike & Marcella were nice enough to put us up for a night, so I flew in Saturday and had a great century mapped out for Sunday!

The century turned into a 63 mile ride instead. I turned into a tourist and just didn’t get moving fast enough, but I think it was ALL worth it! Last visit out, I did a ride inland, The Hekaton Hilly Century, and it was easier to just crank out the miles since I was on long stretches of road with no stops. This time, it was urban riding for a good part of the way, with lights, traffic, the BART, the Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. I fit right in with the other tourists with my camera out, snapping pictures everywhere.

My blueprints for the ride came from the Bay in a Day Double Century, which is no more. Guess they canceled it after a couple years of really hot weather. I wasn’t up for a 200 mile unsupported ride, so I decided to do 1/2 of this. The 200 mile route sheet didn’t have the turns for the century I was going to do, so I had to make it up along the way. The Blackberry, with Google maps loaded on it, came in handy in a couple of places. So, I headed towards Berkeley and on to Oakland where I caught the BART to ride under the Bay Bridge since I can’t take the bike over the bridge.

Here are some pictures heading out from Pinole to Berkeley. You’ve really got to click on the images to see the enlarged, higher resolution views. The area is beautiful and my shrunken down pictures don’t do it justice!!

Most of the time it was nice pavement and great shoulders…

BART was fun, the only other subway I’ve been on is the Metro in DC, so this was cool for me. I traveled UNDER the Bay Bridge to get to San Francisco.

After getting off the BART and starting on Embarcadero, the century was history. I went speeding by the touristy stuff, seeing cyclists, joggers, walkers, everywhere. I had just past the end of this, heading out toward the Bridge when it dawned on me that I’d only spent about 5 minutes in an area I’ve really never experienced. What the heck is wrong with me?!? So I turned around and partook in the local tourist flavor. I checked out all the nice boats docked at the Fisherman’s Wharf.

Nice seagull posing for my picture…

Here’s a shot of Alcatraz in the distance…

Then on to the barking sea lions. By this time, standing along the pier watching the sea lions argue over who was going to be allowed on what pile of sea lions and where, I was freezing!

Can you tell I liked the sea lions? These guys cracked me up. I could have watched them for longer had it not been so cold.

I looked for the nearest coffee shop (should have been more patient) for some hot brew. After that, I found all the better coffee shops…oh well.

And some more touristy pics…

Oh, did I mention it was a windy day?? Geesh, I got my workout with those headwinds.

I continued on, heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I got in some urban riding, dealing with buses, cars and motorcycles along the way.

But things quickly settled back down and I had a nice cruise towards the Bridge.

Apparently you can ride on either side of the Bridge, regardless of what direction you are heading. the West side is the fast travel side that most bike commuters take.

The East side, with the better views, is the touristy side that will require you to have good track stand skills or the willingness to just get off and push your bike. If I go again next time, I’ll take the other side, but since I’d never been on the Golden Gate Bridge, I had no problem moving slowly. I was snapping pictures too!

Lots of people in the water…

Now I’m approaching the end of the Bridge.

On the other side of the Bridge, I quickly entered into Sausalito, a very ritzy area. Beautiful homes and lots of boats.

I wanted to watch this plane take off, but he was too slow, I was getting chilly, and I had a time schedule to stick to now.

The roads here were the best! Primo, curvy up/down roads covered with canopies of trees and very few stops. From here out, I had to haul tail. Mike was cooking a prime rib at home and I had a dinner time in mind. I didn’t want to be late, so raced to the end from here, so no pictures.

I needed a lift back over the Richmond Bridge (no bikes allowed). According to Wikipedia, there was a study done in 2001 to make a third emergency lane a bike lane. While it was determined that this would be legal, there is still no bike lane to this day. Another interesting note about this Bridge, Jerry Garcia apparently conceived the idea for Terrapin Station while crossing it.

Anyway, Esther and Marcella, who were out taking a walk and doing errands met me and hauled me over. Amazing timing! I called about 15 miles out, they said they’d be there. They pulled in just as I did! Got a lift, then only about 12 more miles back to the house.

Back home, end of the ride, we had prime rib, baked potatoes, garlic bread, green beans with mushrooms, broccoli with cheese, and salad for dinner. I was treated like a queen!! Marcella & Mike were very gracious hosts. I forgot to mention that the evening I flew in, Esther and Marcella picked me up at the airport, brought me back to the house, and had a dinner waiting on the table for me. BBQ chicken and corn on the cob!

So I didn’t do the ride I set out to do, but I think I came out ahead on this one. I met some wonderful new friends and got to tour parts of CA that I’d never visited…on my bike. You can’t beat that!

Business

Today was a busy one. Teleconferences from 8 AM until 5 PM. I think I had a 30 minute break sometime in the day, but I can’t remember when. Matt comes home at the end of the day and I’m still in my PJs. I worked all day in them. Is that good? I don’t know. The day flew by though, I know that much!

I finished up the telecon and Matt suggested a ride to get rid of the work blahs. I did a quick change into the BWR gear and was ready to roll on the Surly. We did the Baker’s Bridge loop, but made it into a figure 8, coming back through town and up 8th street to the College for those of you who know this area. What a great ride! I nice slow spin for Matt, and a good spin with some work for me. My legs are killing me! The 2 days MTB and 2 days road, 1 day rest, then yesterday with a strength workout in the gym….youch. Maybe I shoulda rested 2 days. Oh well…

Got some fun planned for the weekend. I’ve got to go to Livermore, CA for work, so will head up over the weekend and do some riding. I’m planning on getting in a century and am eyeing the Bay in a Day Double Century route (will do only 1/2 of it since I won’t be supported). By the way, check out the guy’s website (Felix Wong) for the link with the route. Amazing! He’s posted a ton of route sheets for doubles, centuries, double metrics…it’s awesome! I’ll never have to search for routes again on my CA trips.

So, since I don’t have any pics once again, I’ll share this nice one from a friend of mine. It took me a bit to figure this one out. Once you do, you know why you will go to hell after laughing at it.

Singlespeeding again!

I got 2 great days of singlespeeding in the Foothills this past week on my last visit to town. Thursday evening after work, then Friday afternoon, after taking a 1/2 day vacation from work to hit the trails! Talk about good medicine. I needed to be out under the warm, sunny skies of NM riding the Foothills on the Kind, which was made for those trails. I had a blast out there! So much fun, my knees still hurt walking up and down the stairs at home right now. I need to get those knees back into SS shape soon!

I got back to D-town Friday evening, went out to Carver’s with Matt for dinner, and ran into Erik who was taking it easy after a ski day in Durango. We have “Buy 6 beers get your 7th free” punch cards. The food is great, but the free beers (once you’ve earned them) are even better!

Today was a group road ride with the Durango Wheel Club (we are card-carrying members now), starting from Bread. I rode with the “medium” paced group today. Folks couldn’t decide what level of “B” or not “B” they were, so they called themselves the LSD (long, slow distance) ride, which really wasn’t long, and it definitely wasn’t slow. I had a great time! Met 2 new women riders who are new to town as well. Even Kristin Danielson rode with us! It’s amazing how easy it has been to find women riders here. That’s one thing I couldn’t find in Albuquerque. The women riders were there in the Burque, but impossible to ride with. People’s schedules are just so bizarre, and they cancel at the last minute. Finding a steady riding partner in Albuquerque is almost impossible. Around here, people ride when they say they are going to ride, which is nice and predictable. Much easier to meet friends this way.

Tomorrow, I was thinking about heading to Cortez to ride Phil’s World with Jeff and Laura, but I’m just not in the mood to jump into the car to drive right now.

4 hours isn’t too bad between Albuquerque and Durango, but after doing the drive, I really have no desire to get back into the car until my next trip! I think I’ll try the Wildcat Loop that Matt has been talking about lately. Sounds like a fun one…then back to the weights. Yeck.

High intensity is coming up soon. That’s just painful stuff to folks like me who are out of shape. I’m sure it will get better after my body adjusts and remembers that pain is good.

Snow is melting here and it’s melting fast! That means mountain biking is on its way! I can’t wait…can’t wait…can’t wait! In the meantime, I’ve got Iron Horse coming up to keep me busy.

Riding with New Friends

This weekend was full of fun! Saturday was my birthday. Got a nice road ride in with a new friend, Kerry, in town. Then I got to hang out with Matt and sample some new Durango cuisine. We went to Steamworks for some good (expensive) beer and discovered that we need to start attending Thursday Pint Night. All we gotta do is buy a SW pint glass and then get $1 pints all day!!

So, on to my new riding friends. Sunday, I got to go riding in the dirt, which was a very pleasant change from the road. I did the Road Apple Rally course in Farmington with Sue (from Mountain Bike Specialists) and Chris O. I actually already know Chris, but this is the first time we’ve ever ridden together! The trails were great! Lots of fun whoopty doos and up/down fast single track. Surprisingly, we got in over 3000 feet of elevation climbing over 29 miles. The first 13 miles of the ride were wonderful with pleasant temps and a blue sky. The last part of the ride was just as great trail-wise, but the wind picked up in full force. There are some short steeps on this part of the course, with not much leeway on the sides. Talk about some scary moments as we’d do white-knuckled descents, throwing ourselves to the mercy of the sidewinds that would knock us way off our intended line. It’s bizarre to be heading straight down and suddenly be forced by the wind such that you are actually moving sideways.

Lots of fun out there, and we only saw people on the trails once at the beginning of the ride. We did run into 2 groups of very polite dirt bikers; otherwise, we had the place to ourselves.

I’ve already found some great riding buddies. Kerry is going to be doing the Iron Horse, and Sue likes to ride at high altitudes…can’t wait for the snow to clear and dirt trails to dry. This summer is going to be exciting!

Green Machine

The long awaited pictures…at least I’ve been waiting for them. It’s taken some time (well worth it) to get the Schwinn back up and running, but it is now complete! Mom & Dad, what do you think (click on the pictures to get an enlarged photo)?!? You saved it for me, and it’s still rolling.

My parents saved all of our childhood bikes and theirs. Their old Schwinns, my sister’s banana seat yellow bike, and my brother’s funky Schwinn all still sit, gathering cobwebs, in the family’s barn. My Collegiate 3, however, has had the dust blown off, a good spit shine, some brand new smoking wheels, and a smaller cog up front (the old one had 46 teeth). It is ready to ROLL! Everything is original except the wheels and the guts of the hub (I managed to break off some teeth in there!). The original wheels had to be replaced. My old/original tires suffered from dry rot, and I couldn’t find a new set that would stay on the rims.

Here’s the original:

My cruiser is suuuhhhhweeet, thanks to BikeWorks in Albuquerque. Dan Lucero and Dan Swinton are two of the owners (Charlie is the 3rd) at this shop. Swinton gave my bike some serious love as he cleaned it, laced up two superb pieces of art, and rebuilt the rear hub after Lucero found someone with some old Schwinn parts to spare.

I’ve known Dan & Dan for over 5 years now. I first met them when they worked at Fat Tire Cycles. They were supporters of our Save Otero trails push (which still continues on today) and showed up for the original ride to the Fire Tower before Kirtland Air Force Base shut it down to the public.

These two are still bike icons in Albuquerque and now run their own show. It’s great to see these guys doing well in their new shop! If you haven’t stopped by, it’s definitely worth the visit. You’ll get excellent bike service, a selection of bikes for the true bike connoisseurs, and a great selection of cycling gear and clothing. Oh, and if you’re extra nice to the shop guys, you get a beer too.

I can’t wait to ride the Iron Horse Cruiser Crit in May; the Schwinn will get a workout!

Nada

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I guess I just don’t have a lot to report these days. I’m definitely getting used to working from home. I’m definitely wanting the snow to melt so I can start mountain biking! In the meantime, I’m a roadie.

Going to hook up with the Durango Wheel Club weekly Bread ride on Saturday. They can definitely count me in as a new member! I hear the perks are great, plus, everyone should be supporting their local bike clubs and advocacy groups…if you aren’t, what are you waiting for?!?

No pics lately, but I promise some are coming. I have my old Schwinn that has come out of retirement with some smoking hot wheels built by Dan Swinton at BikeWorks. I’ll get pics of that beauty on the blog soon. I’ll do a write up on this great shop soon…in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at 2 of the 3 owners:

I need to get pics of my new BWR gear on the blog. That stuff is awesome! The material is fabulous, and there is reflective piping on all the gear. Having that on the back of the jersey will be really nice for those dawn and dusk time rides.

Saw this on Matt’s blog, and had to post here too…it’s Steve! Otherwise known as Duder, and an original supporter of Save Otero. It’s a small, small world.

Back at it

Well, I got 2 days on the road bike–outside!! The Ritchey cross bike has become my steed of choice these days. Got some fat cross tires on it, and it’s a little more upright in its geometry, making it easier to negotiate dirty, sandy shoulders.

I did a great “fat burner” kind of loop to Baker’s Bridge. Matt has been talking this one up, so I thought I’d try it. I liked it so much I did it 2 days in a row. Saturday, I did the loop, then headed out Florida Road a ways. I finished the first part of the loop when I got the call at noon from Matt…”I’m okay, but…” I’m just glad he really was okay; this could have been way worse.

Rita, Lyn and Kasen were in town with friends. Got to give them a quick tour of the house, and Kasen liked it so much he decided to leave a little part of himself near the front door. Poor guy, he was so excited today, bouncing around like a little pogo stick, I think the movement was more than the stomach could handle.

Today…it’s snowing!!

Still got snow

Still getting more of the white stuff, so I figured I’d snow shoe again. I’m enjoying it, and who knows how often I’ll get the chance to do this! I decided to hike through the neighborhood up to Pipeline trail and then head towards the Telegraph Trail System.

I got to make first tracks all day, which was kinda fun. There was lots of fluffy white powder to start out the hike, which was loads of fun.

I took the high road and found some spots that didn’t have a lot of snow. These trails are going to be muddy for a long, long time with all this snow.

Saw a couple of old abandoned cars on the trail today.

Telegraph trails have some great maps that mark intersections, which is helpful for the directionally challenged.

Stopped for some snacks on the way back, and found that nobody had walked over my steps.

Kinda surprised others weren’t out today. The temps were great! The snow did get a little heavy at the end of the hike though. Not quite so easy to move in the wet snow as it is in the powder!

Enjoying the New Place

Matt & I decided to do some snow fun today. I took out the snow shoes and Matt took out the cross country skis. It was really nice out today…warm weather, blue skies…all the stuff you want on a snowy day of fun.

Drove out towards Mancos and did part of the Madden Peak Road.

Had a nice snack on the trail, prepared by Matt.

It’s amazing how beautiful the weather was when just yesterday, we had a dumping of snow. Here are some shots from my office window.

And a nice shot from the front door…

So tonight, as Matt and I hang out in our nice warm home, many of our BWR teammates are working hard at the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo. We’re watching their stats live from the 24 HITOP website. They’re doing great. Go team!!