White Brothers

So I don’t know if they’re all brothers or even if they’re all white, but I do know that they know how to make one hell of a fork! White Brothers has been a great sponsor for Big Wheel Racing, and I recently got the opportunity to pick up a Magic 100 for the Intense (to replace my 2004 Manitou Skareb Platinum 80/100 mm fork) and a Rock Solid Rigid fork for possibly the Kind. Matt already has the Magic 100 on my bike, and talk about some sweet suspension!

Not only does this fork work well, it looks very, very sexy on my bike.

What I like about this for is its responsiveness. Not too plush, not too harsh. It gives you the type of ride where you don’t even really think about your fork. That’s the kind of riding I like. I’m no mechanic, and I don’t want to be thinking about having to tweak my friggin’ fork out on the trail. This is the type of low key, high performance type of equipment that I like to spend my money on.

I can’t wait to get the Rock Solid on my bike. More to come on that adventure!

Thanks Ergon!

I love Ergon grips. I’ve done posts before on these babies, but I gotta do it again because they’re just so great! Plus, Jeff just sent Matt and me some new grips. I got 2 pair of the GP1 Leichtbau for grip shift, which is the only way I ride with the dirt gears.

I already had a pair of Ergons on the singlespeed, so the new sets went onto the Intense and the Moots. Now my stable is complete!

My hands get numb when I ride, but the Ergon grips help this out tremendously. I know that some people don’t like the wider ends of the grips and state that they don’t get as firm of a grip. For me, this isn’t the case, and I have tiny hands. The majority of my gripping comes right between the grip shift and the grip, which is maybe why I don’t have a problem. I don’t grip at the ends of the bars.

The best thing about these is that if I’m riding something flatter, I don’t have to hold down tight at all, the Ergons encourage me to just rest my palms on the grips and relax the rest of my hand. I think this is the secret to the hand numbness problem I get. I don’t know what it is about these grips, but they give my hands nothing but love.

Craziness!

I don’t know what I was thinking when I thought it was a great idea to get two kittens. I thought they’d keep each other company, not try to kill each other. Turns out death isn’t the goal, just rough-housing. While time consuming, both Julius and OJ (Orange Julius) are complete and exhausting entertainment.

Hey look, a flying cat!

Matt’s been on travel, so it’s been just me here trying to keep the household civil. It’s amazing these guys don’t have whiplash from all the foot bashing against the lower chin.

All I hear throughout the day as I’m trying to work is kitten skulls clanking against the furniture or on the concrete floor downstairs.

At first it felt like a war zone around here. Then finally, the beasts had wrestled to complete exhaustion and passed out. They like to repeat this cycle endlessly. You think you’d get tired of beating each other up all the time. Today they got some time out because I couldn’t stand the noise.

Here are some photos when they are being good kitties…

Apparently separate sleeping arrangements weren’t good enough. You have to share body heat when you are a kitten, I guess.

Have you ever seen a couple of kittens spooning?

I’m glad I took 4 days off to deal with the new additions to the household.

Gray Julius

It’s Adopt-A-Cat Month at the La Plata Humane Society, and Matt and I are finally ready to add some furry companions to the house. There are so many cute kittens there right now!!

So here’s number one…GJ…

And here’s a sneak peek of his little brother, OJ, who should arrive on Monday. Not litter brothers, but bros at heart.

Do Over

Some things are just so great you do them over and over again. The CO Trail has become a do over for me. Rode it Wednesday night with the BoscoBikeGirlz.

Nancy tearing it up…

MaryJill

Lani

Theresa

Dinner at Gazpacho’s topped off the good times with the girls.

The ride was so great that I did it again today with Barb all the way to High Point. What a blast! It’s hard to get sick of this trail.

27.4 miles and 3567 ft elevation climbing. Ah yes!

Jones Creek to Hermosa Creek with the Girls and a Guy

A much belated post, but I’ve been lazy about getting the photos from Matt. Got a chance to ride an awesome Durango loop that starts with Jones Creek to Pinkerton-Flagstaff to Dutch Creek and ends with a descent on Hermosa. It’s so cool to me that I can ride such great trails and expect to see SIGNS at trail intersections.

Started out the ride with Shannon and Barb, then caught up with Matt, Gretchen, and Amanda who had all started before us. Matt did the ride from home, the rest of us drove to the Jones Creek trail head. Thanks to Matt for all the photos too!

It was a beautiful day with the sun out most of the time and we managed to escape the rain, minus one quick bout with something that was kind of like hail, but not really. Too soft for hail, but not really rain, not really snow either.

Lots of little creek crossings were scattered throughout the ride. The first time you get wet sucks, then it’s all good. Here’s me after riding through the water and Barb, getting ready to splash!

Wildflowers are all over right now, and yellow is a very popular color. Barb loves dandelions; I’m okay with them as long as they aren’t in my yard.

Stats for the day included 18.77 miles of singletrack trail, 4032 foot of elevation gain, and about 5 hours total time on the trail (includes breaks, yakking, etc.).

Why Does Albuquerque Suck?

So when we first moved from Albuquerque, I was sad to go. As I’m now realizing, the real reason I was sad was because I would miss my friends. Turns out, there’s really nothing about the city that I miss.

This last visit into town brought all kinds of nice blood pressure raising events.

Most of you who know me understand that I’m not a morning person. So when I clicked the keyless entry button on the keychain to get into the car, I thought it was odd that the horn beeped a few times, but didn’t think much of it. I sunk into the driver’s seat, threw my laptop bag into the passenger seat, and then I started the car. I felt a draft and thought to myself, why would I have left the windows down?!? Then I looked over at the window and saw this…

It had rained hard throughout the night, so the vehicle was damp inside too. Luckily the window hadn’t been totally smashed out.

And if that “Welcome to Albuquerque” behavior isn’t enough to make you hate that place, maybe driving to work every freaking morning and facing this might be enough to chase you away.

Someone is bound to go postal one of these days.

Perfection!

Perfection…thy name is Shower’s Pass!!

OMG, I got my women’s Double Century jacket in the mail today. It is awesome! For you tiny women out there (under 5′3″ tall, around the 100 pound range), we all know how difficult it is to find cycling and outdoor gear that fit us! This jacket is just for us. I’m wearing a size XS in electric blue. If you click on the image, you can get a closeup of the craftmanship. This baby has pit zips, a reinforced zipper and seams, and I can even get a hood if I want.

Of course, after all the bragging, it all comes down to packability. Will it fit in my jersey pocket? Well, see for yourself. Here it is rolled up and next to my ghetto, scratched-up crackberry (for scale):

…and here it is in MY size small women’s cut BWR jersey:

Holy shiznits, Batman!! That jacket is super tiny! Suhweet. So, this will be my jacket for the long hauls when I know I’m going to be out in the elements for a while, and there’s a damn good chance for rain. I’m also going to get the Shower’s Pass ProTech jacket for the races. You think THIS jacket is packable? Wait until you see the ProTech. Why 2 jackets? the ProTech is less breathable, and no pit zips. I’ll use that for a few hours in the rain, not the whole day.

Along with the jacket, I’m also sporting the Shower’s Pass Portland Cap. So far, I’ve worn this thing for the looks, not in the rain. It fits under my cycling helmet, so if it rains, my head stays dry. How do I know my head stays dry? Because I borrowed Sue’s (you can see a photo of Sue if you click on the Portland Cap link above) when we were running around in the rain on the streets of Portland!

I’ll send out another report after I’ve worn the jacket in the rain. If it’s anything like the ProTech (I stole Matt’s for the Gunnison Growler race), I won’t be disappointed!

I probably should have gotten the jacket in Hornet yellow to match the Big Wheel Racing kit, but I wanted something to wear on the street as well with my normal clothes. Blue is my favorite color. Enough said.

Boscobikegirlz

Funny, all my years in Albuquerque, I’d pretty much become a solo rider. I’d ride with Denise, Paige, and Sue (before she bailed and moved to WA), but for the most part, I was always on my own and had learned to love that. It’s really relaxing riding on your own. You have time to think, time to clear your mind.

However, ever since I moved to Durango, things have changed. There are so many women to ride with here that I ride on my own much less frequently. In fact, I relish the time I get to spend on the trails with my friends. Today, we got the chance to have some fun on the Colorado Trail. Tanya, Nancy and I made up the crew of three.

It’s beautiful out there. Things are lush and green, and the wildflowers are blooming everywhere.

Tanya knows what this particular flower is called. I can’t remember!!

23 miles and 3100 ft of elevation climbing.

Gunnison Growler Success!!

Matt and I headed to Gunnison, CO on Saturday, late afternoon. Matt was planning to volunteer, since he’s still recovering from the back injury, and I was registered to race the 1/2 Growler. Last year was a not so good year for me at the Growler. I just plain sucked. This year, it was my goal to redeem myself. I was in a race against myself, to see if I could better my time from last year.

I think I had the smallest singlespeed bike at the race. 24″ wheel in back, 26″ wheel up front. The Kind Jeni is awesome!

This year’s course was run opposite from last year. Those who rode last year said it was more difficult, but worked for me. Of course, I have a knack for forgetting bad things quickly and only remembering the good. Anyway, we rolled out of town this year with a vehicle escort to pace the crowd. I didn’t start the Garmin until we actually hit the dirt at the “official” start to give me a more accurate comparison to last year’s ride that started in the dirt. My final results? 2nd place singlespeed, total time of 4:19 (4:37 from the in town start that included a vehicle escort to the dirt)! I managed to shave almost an hour off my time from last year! The even better news? I finished feeling great!

I started off mid-pack with Kera Durland, a great singlespeed endurance racer.This is a cool photo that Matt captured…2 little women on singlespeeds in a sea of tall men on gears.

Kera and I rolled out to the dirt together, chatting and taking it easy. It was a great way to get rid of the pre-race jitters! We hit the dirt and the separation on Kill Hill began immediately. I didn’t stress it and paced myself up the climb and pushed the 2nd half of it. Last year, I burned myself out on this hill trying to make the entire climb.

We got rain the middle of the 1st lap, and thank goodness Matt was kind enough to lend me his Shower’s Pass ProTech jacket. This lightweight jacket kept me warm and dry. I just had the jersey and a liner underneath. I didn’t buy one for myself, because they don’t come in my size, but after wearing Matt’s, I’m getting one anyway.

So once the rain hit, the geared riders (many of them) started flailing. Nobody, myself included sometimes, thinks to just leave the geared bike in one gear and ride it like a singlespeed when the rain comes and the mud builds up. So there were chains breaking and dropping everywhere. No problem for me!

I got to the finish feeling strong! Tired, but strong. I could have made it out on another lap. I felt I had the energy to muster that. Of course I’m glad I didn’t…Kera got nailed with heavy rain and hail on her 2nd. Course Matt says with my Shower’s Pass jacket and their Portland Cap under my helmet, I’d be just fine.

Matt has been coaching me through nutrition for a long time, and this ride, I actually was able to keep on top of it. There were enough dirt roads and singletrack sections that let me get the calories from the bottles. I opted for no Camelbak for the race. Based upon my calculations, I took in 900 calories. Probably should have done 1200 to be totally on top of things and still run strong for another lap, but just getting in 900 is a big feat for me. I hate eating/drinking on the trail.

Garmin Stats –
Total Distance: 30.34 miles
Total Time: 4:19
Total Ascent: 4337 ft
Avg. Heart Rate: 166 bpm

After the race, I rolled into the local KOA (thanks Dave) with a friend of mine, Catherine from Keystone, whom I met while out riding the race. We hosed down the muddy bikes before heading out on the road towards the ceremonial finish line in town.

After getting showered, warm, and dry, there was tons of free Fat Tire and cajun faire for eating and drinking. Ahhhhh, what a great way to end the race with all our friends! Here’s me sharing a table with Susan DeMattei, Mountain Bike Hall of Famer and Olympic Bronze Medalist. She rocked the 1/2 Growler in 3:15. Holy crap!! She and her hubby Dave, another Mountain Bike Hall of Famer, put on this race. Thanks to both of them for creating such a fun annual event!

Special thanks to my sponsors that really helped me get through this race:

Showers Pass – for keeping me dry and not cranky during the rain and mud

King Cage – for my great titanium water bottle cages that kept my bottles where they belong…on the bike, not the trail

Kenda Tires – for my Small Block Eights that shed mud fast and kept me rolling in both the wet decomposed granite and the funky, slick clay stuff at the end of the race

Ergon – those grips are awesome–no more numb hands

James Slaman – my dentist who fixed my 2 knocked out front teeth and now keeps my smile happy

Sock Guy – for those awesome red and green BWR socks

Gunny Growler

Getting ready for the 1/2 Gunnison Growler this year. Last year was my first show at the race, where I attempted the 64-mile double loop, but didn’t make the cutoff. This year, I’m entering with humility and will attempt something a little more realistic for myself…the 32-mile course, singlespeed. By the time I was done last year, I said I’d do this again with gears, but what can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment, so me and the Kind will taking another shot at this baby.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for dry weather! I’ll be looking for Matt’s smiling face along the trail too. He’s going to be volunteering for the race since he won’t be able to ride. El Freako is riding in his place. Carney should be there too. Go BWR!

Animas Climb

Not sure why,  but there aren’t many bikers on Animas. No argument here, I get the trail to myself. What an awesome ride. The wildflowers are blooming and the views from the ridge are super. I love this climb!

First Time…This Year at Least!

Hit the CO Trail for the first time this year with Barb. What a great trail! You can never get sick of the climb on this baby. Ran into a few guys who had been at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde and they were asking for Matt. Since we were stopped, figured we’d ask them to take a photo of us.

Barb lives closer to this trail and this is her primary stomping grounds. Not too shabby if you ask me!

This time of year is great because the water is running high and you can hear it rushing while your riding up the trail. It’s such a peaceful sound, that you almost forget you’re climbing.

Took a quick snack break at Gudy’s and enjoyed the view. Lots of people out today, but why not? It’s beautiful out! Gotta take advantage of this.

Seasons pass more quickly than you think, as does time and life in general. Enjoy what you have while you have it, and don’t wait to do tomorrow what you can take advantage of today.

The Big Scare

The 12 Hours of Mesa Verde ran so well. Matt had a solid placing in the solo singlespeed class and headed out on his last lap. I started packing up, and was planning to pour him a beer and have a nice hot plate of Lotsa Pasta spaghetti ready for him as soon as he’d rolled in and changed.

Things changed when Matt was 10 minutes past the time I expected him to roll in. I kept waiting at the gate where the riders check in, looking for him on the horizon, but nothing. Then the reports started coming in about an injured rider. I was worried that it might be Matt, but the descriptions of the injured person just didn’t fit him. I thought maybe he was out there helping someone. Then the report came in about a second rider injured in the Rib Cage portion of the trail. I became more concerned. A few minutes later, Stephen Barnes came over to me and told me that one of the injured people was Matt. My heart dropped into my stomach. The 2 separate injuries were confusing. One person was much worse off than the second. The 2 injured people turned out to be just one, Matt.

Frustration is probably an understatement. Perhaps it was fear, worry, frustration, and a touch of terror going through my mind. Stephen was describing where Matt was located on the trail to someone on the phone. He kept getting back on the phone and explaining. I couldn’t get any details which was difficult to deal with. Eventually Stephen took off on his own, and got to Matt. Thank goodness for that, because then I was able to hear how he was doing.

About 3 hours after I first heard that Matt was hurt, he was finally rolled into the ER on an ambulance. Jeff was kind enough to come with me, which definitely helped calm my nerves. It was great to finally see for myself that Matt looked okay. Not great, but he was safe and coherent.

Matt’s status report is here, so I won’t repeat. I’m just happy he’s not as seriously injured as he could have been. Thanks BWR team and others who have shared their concern for Matt. Mike, thanks for taking care of the bikes for me. That was huge. You all are great!!

Climbing to the Top

Sometimes it’s serious,

but other times,

it’s all

about the

fun.

Now get out and ride!