My New Favorite Route

Matt’s been telling me to ride this route for years and I’ve just now finally gotten to it. I’ve been missing out! Bill, TJ, and I took advantage of a nice, rain-free day last weekend. The route starts on Lime Creek Road.

View from Lime Creek Road

But this isn’t any old dirt road, it’s a very friendly grade all the way to the top with not too much car traffic. Plus the views all along the way are beautiful!

TJ biking Lime Creek Road

At the top of the road, we picked up 550 and climbed to Coalbank and picked up the Pass Trail. This is an all around awesome trail. Buff singletrack that makes you think biking above 11,000 foot elevation isn’t so bad. I think we managed to get up to 11,700. I love this trail!!!

Bill taking a rest before hitting the climb

We continued to the top and then headed down Engineer Trail, which is a blast. I’ve ridden this section before, but have always concentrated on looking at the trail. Today I decided to look up. I can’t believe what I’d been missing! 360 degree views in some places that simply took my breath away. I didn’t get any shots of those awesome views, you’ll just have to ride it yourself to take it in. I don’t think a photo could really do it justice.

This trail also brought me back to my Santa Fe riding days. The trail was quite plush in sections given all the rain we’ve had.

The Moots was my ride for today...

Lots of stuff to make me smile today.

Enjoying the day...

Thanks to Matt for suggesting this trail! He was out racing in in Wyoming and did quite well. It wasn’t until he took me hiking on Pass Trail that I finally got the clue that I needed to get myself out here. What a reward!

Read Full Post »

Good Times, Great Friends

I love this town and all the wonderful people I’ve met in it. Last weekend was an Animas ride with Barb and Amanda.

Nearly 360 degree views at the top.

Good times!

Great friends!

All smiles!

Read Full Post »

True

To some extent I’m still recovering from Mesa Verde. I was able to get out and do a set of intervals at my critical power…back to where I was before the race.

But this weekend, I ditched the intervals for some real riding. The fun kind…Horse Gulch, Telegraph, South Rim, Colorado Trail, Hoffein’s, Dry Fork. Some time to myself for thoughts and reflections on life and a then a nice ride with Barb. True.

Animas is flowing well, so all you water babies should be out their in it!

Read Full Post »

First Dirt

The first dirt ride for the season and I got to share it with my main squeeze, Lenny, TJ, Bill, Alice, and Katri.

The gang, minus TJ (thanks TJ for all the photos!)

We sampled both White and Red Mesas for a nice 31 mile treck. What a great way to break the legs into the dirty season. The White Mesa, as usual, had views from everywhere, and we enjoyed every last minute of it!

Matt leading the pack

Bath anyone?

Bill coming down the White Mesa

Jeni and Alice; still a little snow on the ground

Katri

TJ ripping up the dirt

Lenny

Somehow, we managed to fit 6 bikes and 6 people into the Honda Element. We got quite a few stares as cars passed us to and from the ride.

Alice, Katri, TJ, and Bill in the backseat happy with their beer.

The first dirt ride for the season and I got to share it with my main squeeze, Lenny, TJ, Bill, Alice, and Katri.

Read Full Post »

Cheating Winter

I feel like we’re getting away with something.

TJ towards the top of Animas

It’s December and there’s still no snow on the ground! Who am I to complain though. It has allowed me to stay off the hideous trainer and out on the dirt trails. This weekend allowed for a cold ride on the Sale Barn side of the Gulch.

I have a pair of Sidi Inverno winter mountain bike boots that I scored for $25. It was cold enough that my toes were ice blocks, even with these bad boys on my feet. My fingers were frozen too, but as long as I moved, I could still get some feeling. Temps were barely pushing 30 degrees F and the day was cloudy. But who’s complaining? We were riding on some of the greatest trail conditions we’ve had in a while!

Today was another ride out to Animas to meet TJ for some climbing. No bikers on this trail, but lots of hikers and a runner.

Lots of climbing that had the body temps shooting up quickly. I had the thermal jacket on and only a thin UnderArmour liner. I love this jacket! It worked wonders yesterday.

Temps today? My guess is around 35 degrees F. I had to roll up the jacket sleeves and the liner, take off the winter gloves, and unzip a bit for the climb. That did the trick to regulate the core temp until we got to the top where it was breezy and COLD! Then I was glad I had the winter gear.So, will we cheat winter one more day tomorrow? Will I be able to ride? We shall see!

Blue skies, but snow in the forcast??

Worst case, I get to use my new downhill skis at Purgatory or get some skate ski lessons on my new skate skis at the Nordic Center. Woohoo! I love options.

Read Full Post »

Phil’s on the Singlespeed – Nice!

I took the Carver to Phil’s World in Cortez, CO for a fun ride with Kerry.

Kerry climbing to the lookout

Wow, now I can really appreciate that rigid fork! It still hurts a little on the descents, but for climbing, the bigger wheel and the rigid fork make me feel strong! I was able to go over obstacles I haven’t been able to clear in the past, and the ride today was perfect. I’m really, really getting into this bike.

Beautiful views!

Perfect SS climbing

A few Fall colors left

Today is a ride in the Gulch from Carbon Junction. I think I’ll take the geared bike today because my knees are bothering me a bit, but what I really want to do is ride the SS!! I think I’m becoming a bit of an addict on that bike.

People keep asking me, “Why would you ride that when you can use gears??” I can’t explain why I like it, I just do.

Read Full Post »

More Carving

Decided to take the Carver out for another fun ride with Matt (no choice since the Moots and Intense had a flat!).

Matt showed me parts of Test Tracks I’d never seen before. I ride Test Tracks, but always mix it up with a College ride or the Gulch. I rarely spend more than an hour or so in Test Tracks itself. I don’t know the routes very well, but holy cow, I learned some new stuff today! Check it out…3 loops!

Perfect for singlespeeding, the trails are smooth dirt with lots of climbs. 2764 foot worth of climbing for today, although that includes the little climb back home too. Still, a lot of climbing on a singlespeed for me.

It’s awesome here, you get rides in the trees…

Then awesome openess where the sky never ends.

This place gives you variety everywhere you turn. The views are spectacular…you have to remember to keep your eyes on the trail for the descents though! Oh, and your butt behind the seat. That’s another good thing to remember.

I discovered Slimy Gulch today, thanks to Matt. This is a super fun little out and back. You can see it at the top of my map above.

This was the trickiest part for me today. Took me 3 tries to build up the mojo to get around the rock without thinking about riding off the ledge. I’m a chicken, I know.

I can’t believe I’ve never ridden some of this! Leave it to Matt to show me something new on the trails. Thanks too for all the photos!

We headed back into town after the ride and grabbed some coffee cake and coffee from the Steaming Bean. Matt took off for the Gulch for some more riding, and I went over to MBS for the Specialized women’s bike demo. I wasn’t planning on trying a bike, just looking at them, but ended up trying out the S-Works Era Carbon Mountain Bike and headed towards the Gulch for a little more riding. I think Jason, the Spez rep, told me that this baby weighs in at 22 lbs. A full suspension mountain bike, at that weight! I’m in love. It retails at $8800. I have 7 bikes. I think I’ll have to get rid of some if I ever plan on getting the Era.

Got home and Matt, me, and the boys had a nice quiet dinner together. I love this place. I love this life.

Read Full Post »

Virgin Voyages

The Carver 96er is built! This baby is awesome! Thanks to Matt for building up my fully rigid, Carver 96er singlespeed!!

The short first ride was in the Gulch…

This baby has some parts from two of the greatest sponsors we have: Ergon and White Brothers! I love Ergon grips, so of course Matt had to add some green love to this baby. The grips match my bike! The White Brothers rigid carbon Rock Solid is treating me well too.

The day after the Fall Blaze, Matt and I took off from the house to the Dry Fork trail head for a Dry Fork, Hoffein’s, Gudy’s, Colorado Trail back home ride. Awesome, we had perfectly blue skies!!

Even with tired legs, I could tell this is a great ride that I should do more frequently on the SS. This also gave me a chance to really try out the new bike since I had lots of climbing, and some great descents.

The rigid fork takes some getting used to…no more sloppy riding and just rolloing into rocks. Now the trick is finding the right line, which definitely requires some finesse. I find myself standing up a lot more when climbing with this bike. I think the gear ratio is slightly more difficult on the 96er than the 26er.

The fall colors are awesome right now! I know folks are hitting the high country, but I’ll tell you what, the Colorado Trail is definitely providing some great color right now too!

Thanks to my better half for making this happen!!

Read Full Post »

Riding Blackhawk

It’s an awesome riding destination, but not something you want to talk about doing while drunk with your friends, lest you get accused of being a pervert. Just ask El Jefe about that one. Even his wife doesn’t leave him alone about that one.

Here’s me with a goofball grin at the top. It started snowing on us when we were up here!

My ride posse for Saturday was TJ and her other half, Bill. What an awesome ride! This (to me at least), is one of the best rides in Durango. The views from everywhere are spectacular, whether you are climbing or descending. Thanks to TJ, we even got some photos of those views since I forgot my camera.

Can you see Bill and me? We’re tiny little dots in this photo.

Here’s TJ, cheesing for the camera.

Bill and me smirking after checking out the remains of Graysill Mine.

At over 12,000 foot towards the top and about half of the riding above 11,000 foot, there’s a lot of gasping for breath, for me at least. A snack break was definitely in order along the ride.

Final stats? 5620 foot of elevation climbing, a starting elevation of about 8500, and a max elevation of about 12,000, about 25 miles total. We had a great loop that ended with taking Stage Coach singletrack trail back to the upper Hermosa Creek parking lot. This is super “secret” trail that really isn’t secret anymore, given how worn in the trail is now compared to last year when I rode with Jeet and Sue.

Thanks to TJ for leading another awesome ride!

Read Full Post »

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!

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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.).

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

A Week in Cali

I love hanging out in SoCal! I really like it here, despite the traffic. Actually, I’ve been in the San Jose and honestly, traffic isn’t as bad as in LA.

A software engineering conference brought me out here. I submitted a presentation to the conference and was accepted, so this got me a discount on the registration for the gig. Sweet! The conference was slightly dull, but I got to meet a lot of interesting people. The nice thing about software conferences, is that they draw a very global audience. You can sit at a table for lunch and hear 4-5 different languages!

The best part about my CA trips is that I usually bring my bike for a fun ride. This time I had debated on a few options: climb Mt. Hamilton, bike Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay on the PCH, or bike Carmel to Big Sur. After looking at the options, I finally chose the last, and holy cow, what a ride! It was beautiful, although I did have a few white-knuckled experiences along the way. There wasn’t a great shoulder in lots of places. With curvy roads, cars like going fast. Luckily, there weren’t *too* many cars, although the big-assed tour bus made me almost soil my shorts.

So I’m thinking…if I die and have to come back as a cow? I want to be one of these cows. Talk about a nice life…well, short-lived, unless you’re a dairy cow, but….

The water was so blue and the sound of the surf is always a neat to hear as you are climbing up a hill on your bike. I had the iPod with me, but didn’t listen to it a lot at first. I wanted to hear the waves!

Once I got up to Big Sur, the trees were amazing too. No photos of those, no way I was getting off my bike then…just hold on and keep going. Get off the bike and the legs might decide to get a little tired too!

This was a nice out and back. At the end of the ride, I cooled off my feet in the ocean. The waves came in a little harder than I anticipated, so I got a nice cold shot. Luckily I had the camera strap on my wrist, otherwise I might have dropped the camera in the water from the shock! Well, only a short bit back to the car, so I didn’t have to ride long in damp shorts.

Overall? 68 mile, 5001 foot of elevation climbing! I parked at the Crossroads Shopping Center, which is an outdoor mall of sorts. Parked right in front of the Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Company. The shopping center is very nice and has rest rooms available near the coffee shop. This was a perfect setup because I was able to change in the rest room rather than the car.

Read Full Post »

Hermosa Vista

Matt and decided to get off the road for our Sunday ride together. What a beautiful decision. Tight, twisty, singletrack everywhere.

Splendid colors.

Spectacular views.

The perfect way to end February and enter into the month of March.

Read Full Post »

Noodles

I biked to Needles today on the raod bike. I think they should change the name to Noodles. I like the word Noodles better than Needles.

Wow, it was beautiful out today! 50s, quite nice, and it’s February! Good enough for knee warmers for the legs, undershirt, jersey, vest, and arm warmers on top. Still need the booties and winter gloves though. I stopped by bread to get a cookie snack type thing. Ginger cookies….mmmmmm….I ate about 1/2 of it and planned to nibble on the rest later.

Biked “the valley” route toward Baker’s Bridge.

Headed up Shalona hill and continued on to Noodles. Stopped at the gas station for a bathroom break and some calories (Red Bull, Gatorade). There were lots of skiers hanging out drinking beer at the restaurant next door. It was a nice day to sit outside for sure.

Matt’s been telling me to take in more calories when I ride. I’m one of those who grew up thinking you exercise to lose weight, why would you take in calories?!? It’s a hard habit to break, but a necessary one if I want to ride and feel good doing it. I made sure I got in 250 calories an hour this time, and what do you know? I felt good the entire ride, other than a little bloating now and then-I think my belly just gets full because I’m drinking my calories. This time I used Cliff Blocks so I didn’t have to drink quite as much. Maybe that’s what bothered the stomach. Who knows…

Great ride! I added in a couple college loops and I ride up and down Jenkins Ranch Road to get an even 60 miles, 4245 ft of elevation climbing.

Read Full Post »

Back in the Dirt

I’m missing the mountain biking now. I got a chance to escape to the Foothills once again and did a nice ride. I took off from the usual spot at the top of Spain, then headed north. I love the north Foothills. The weather was much warmer than I thought and the skies were blue. I ended up riding in just a short sleeved jersey. Coulda managed with shorts and knee warmers, but I had on the tights.

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the southwest landscape. It’s something I find very beautiful. Others call it “brown and boring”, but I just love it. I think you have to be right in it to appreciate the true colors that really do exist out here.

I was riding strong today, making many of the climbs I often struggle on when riding the singlespeed…except for one area. Every time it rains, this rock gets more washed out and more difficult to get over for me. You’re already climbing, and then this bugger comes up. Doh! One of these days…

So I continued on, heading to the water tower, and went down a descent that I told myself I didn’t completely remember. Then once I cleared it, I realized it was a descent that I’ve been chicken to ride down for ages! I was so proud of myself. I know, it looks easy, but confidence all in one’s head.

I continued north and headed over to the BOMB trail. They do great work!! I had to take in the scenery, plus I didn’t make the climb to the sign. Might as well snap a photo.

I continued up to the water tower and made most of the steep climbs (many I usually can’t clear on the singlespeed). I was feeling pretty good, so I thought I’d try the last rocky climb to the tower. Bad idea. This is stupid steep (for me at least) and I lost momentum in the middle, unclipped, but my cleats slipped on the rocks. I landed on the left knee right on the rock. OUCH!! Good lord that hurt!

I limped up to the top and then kept rolling. I figured if I kept moving, the pain would go away. It did for a bit, so I headed down to Dan’s Trail. I haven’t been on that section in ages. I ran into Jens who was finishing up a ride on his Moots. That bike is big.

By the time I was done talking with Jens, the knee started hurting again, so I decided to start the ride home. What an awesome ride!

Read Full Post »

Cold? Not Really…

Sunday, Matt and I decided to do our Sunday ride ritual–with a visit to Bread (can’t do a ride without stopping there–it’s yummy!). The forecast was 40 for the high, but when we rolled out onto the driveway, it was definitely warmer than that. Beautiful! Snow be damned….we’re riding.

We did the Baker’s Bridge loop and managed to get excellent weather until the tail end of the return when the wind really picked up and the snow started blowing. Actually, it still wasn’t that bad (especially when Matt pulls into the wind). I would much rather ride in snow than rain, I know that!

Rob from Bread gave us a gift to keep us strong and healthy. Steamworks $1 pint night glasses came in handy too!

1 hr in zone 4, 22 minutes in zone 5, and probably about 60 seconds in zone 6. I got my workout in.

Read Full Post »

Catching Up

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog. I found something truly horrible online that is a total waste of time, yet it is addicting – Facebook. So I’m trying really hard not to use it quite so much. Time to get back to the more substantial blog post rather than a sentence here or there on Facebook.

So, all sorts of things going on these days. I’ve been skiing at Purgatory, which was a blast.

Mostly packed powder, but I did find some loose stuff in areas.

In the meantime, Matt had torn down my Moots YBB so I could send it back to get some disk brake tabs added to it, plus a 3rd water bottle holder. Dave Dietrich told me to get the disk brake tabs when I first ordered the frame.

Hmmmm, shoulda listened to him in the first place! But what I’m really stoked about is the 3rd water bottle holder. It will make my bike rides so much easier now! The frame is back and it is so purty! It looks brand new.

I got a new YBB, new stickers, and a new head badge too. Woohoo!

Today Matt and I did a fun road ride together.

Matt’s been riding in Durango ever since the snow cleared from the pavement. Me? I’ve been woosing it out at yoga and spin classes, but today, I thought I’d join my buddy.

What fun! It was supposed to be mid 40s, but it definitely felt warmer. I had the BWR thermal jacket on, which is the most awesome jacket in the world!

We biked out to Falls Creek Road after a nice warm coffee and scone from bread. Then Matt showed me Rock Ridge on the way back. We chatted with Barb for a bit since we passed her house and she saw us biking by…then finishing touches (for me at least, Matt kept riding) at Steaming Bean. Ahhhhh….great way to end the weekend.

Read Full Post »

Happy Trails

One last ride in the Burque before heading back home. I hit the Foothills with Lyn before saying adios. We started the ride from her place, where Kasen was getting a story.

The day was overcast, but still “warm”. I totally overdressed!

After the ride, it was back home to this…

Poor Matt got the fun job of shoveling snow.

Read Full Post »

40+ Degrees is Warm!

It’s amazing how the temperature outside is all relative to what you are used to. When we lived in Albuquerque, I really didn’t want to go out and ride in anything under 50 degrees, but I did. Yesterday, I was downright excited about the whole thing.

Rita was wanting to ride, since she’s getting ready for a 4-woman 24-Hours of the Old Pueblo race. She talked me into road, so we met at her place and got in a great ride!

I rode with a long-sleeved underarmour layer, short-sleeved jersey, vest, arm warmers, and brought along a jacket, just in case for the top. The bottom layers were just shorts, knee warmers, 1 pair of socks, and my neoprene booties. It’s all I needed, and I ended up taking off the arm warmers and rolling up the long-sleeved layer so expose my forearms. The jacket helped on the descents, but otherwise was stuffed in my back pocket for the ride.

3 hours later I had 40 miles and almost 3200 ft of elevation climbing under my belt, all just riding east of Tramway and Tramway. I love riding road out here! It’s so easy to mix things up. You know you’ll get climbs, steep ones too if desired, but they are all short climbs. Short enough that you can tell yourself to push it to the top, no matter how tired you are.

No recovery drinks around, so I went with the natural recovery meal. Protein, carbs, fat….yummmmm!

Read Full Post »

Sunsets

I love sunsets, and there is something absolutely wonderful about the sunsets in Albuquerque that set them apart from all others I’ve seen. I think the best view you can get is in the Foothills at sunset. This used to be one of my favorite past times. Get off from a hectic day of work, race home, and then take the bike out to the Foothills for a ride and a view of the sunset.

Claudia and I got a chance to do just this on Wednesday evening. The temps are getting chilly now, but what an awesome ride!

It looks like I captured a falling star in this picture, doesn’t it?? Check it out…

Sandia (watermelon) Mountain.

This last shot is blurry, but the city lights against that amazing sky was unbelievable last night. We stood shivering in the parking lot at the end of the ride, just taking it in.

Read Full Post »

Animas

A 2000 ft ride from the house, perfect break in the day. I especially like the beginning of this climb.

At the top you get some great views.

And those views don’t stop unti you get to the bottom.

It was a short-sleeved climb, but the arm warmers and jacket came on for the descent.

Read Full Post »

Turkey and Biking!

Got to go to a pre-Thanksgiving party at Nancy’s this afternoon. I think just about the entire Wednesday night ride group was there along with their significant others and kiddos, plus a new puppy for the Campbell family.

To work up an appetite, I went to Fort Lewis College to watch the cross races and then went riding with Barb and Cindy. The races were a lot different from what I saw in Portland, but they did build in a couple of obstacles to make it interesting. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures! I did see Ron of King Cage watching the races. King Cages are the bomb!

Here’s Tom Ober at the end of the race chatting with Barb.

Cindy and Darcy were watching the races before we took off for the ride too. Darcy met her husband at the Gulch and then took off with him.

Cindy, Barb, and I had another great day in the Gulch, riding all over the meadow trails. Youch, some of those climbs are killer on the legs, especially on Mike’s Trail! The weather was great! While it was chilly watching the races, we immediately stripped off the clothes for the ride.

Barb cheesing…

Me cheesing for the camera while Cindy takes off all the winter gear in the background.Trail conditions were great and the weather perfect! Another great day in the Gulch.

Read Full Post »

It’s Good to be Home

I’ve been on the road on and off for the past 4 weeks (Portland, Denver, Albuquerque, Las Cruces), and this is my first time home in a while. I’ve lost my routine, but today really helped me get back on track. This morning I started out with a food-free Hot Vinyasa Yoga class. It went really well, and no queasy feelings this time. Lesson learned, don’t eat before you do hot yoga. I got back from yoga, made my breakfast, and then got ready to go riding with Tanya and Kerry!

It was so wonderful out! Mid 50s, perfect riding weather. I got by with a SS jersey, vest, shorts, and knee warmers. We met at Kerry’s and rode the trails around the college (Lion’s Den, Rim Trail) and then went over to ride the Gulch. We stuck to the meadow area this time though, no bad mud! One detour off Lion’s Den though which was so much fun! Kerry showed us an old, overgrown cemetary and her geocache site. This is the neatest thing to see. I would never have known this was here unless Kerry had shown this to me.

There were many grave sites if civil war veterans, as well as others. Sadly, many grave sites were for young children. In one case, there were 3 children resting together. I can’t imagine the sadness their parents must have felt.

Kerry pointed out a geocache location. If you look above her head, you can see that tombstones are scattered all over the area.

We also found what seems to be remnants of a tram and an old rail car.

Rootrints…

Tomorrow should be another fun ride, if I stick to my schedule. Nancy is having a pre-Thanksgiving party at 4 PM, so maybe we’ll be able to make that. It sounds like fun!

Read Full Post »

Post-work Relief

I’m at a training workshop that really isn’t too bad, but you can only handle so many hours straight with a bunch of engineers before the nerd meter starts to send you into a frenzie. So, end of the day bell rang, and I was out the door in a flash. Biked back to the hotel room, got a change of clothes, then biked over to the TriMet MAX Yellow Line. It took me down towards Danielle’s house where I was to meet her, Sue and Abra for a Cross Crusade quest for the Grail.

There was some pumpkin carnage upon arrival at Danielle’s doorstep.

Portland is sporting some serious Fall colors around here.

Sue had to bail on us for another late night at the office, so Danielle, Abra, and I headed out to follow some of the Grail route. We spent some time in Pier Park until it got too dark.

This, by the way, is an AWESOME park!! Danielle and Abra displayed their cross race skills throughout the area. After sending Abra on her way for an evening “Young Professionals” meeting, Danielle and I headed over to the Dancing Bare (take a look on the map), then over to Columbia Park and then Paul Bunyon. No clues to be found. Doh!!

We met Sue at Danielle’s after our ride and then walked over to a sushi restaurant. Mmmmmm…..

Here’s Sue getting her daily dose of Omega-3s.

Tomorrow night is calling us out for some microbrews. Gotta figure out where we are going to go!

Read Full Post »

Hog’s Back…not!

Rode with Jamie out at Test Tracks. We decided to get some climbing in and headed towards Hog’s Back. That’s lots of climbing out there! Nice day, and then when we were finished, we headed to Yoga Durango for a free yoga class!  

Read Full Post »

CO Trail…Ahhhhh…

I rode the CO Trail today with Tanya, Kerry, and Theresa. We met up at Tanya’s and headed to the trail from there.

Wow, what a perfect day! Of course I think I say that a lot when I’m posting my blog pics. You get a lot of “perfect days” around here.

We grabbed a nice snack and soaked in some sun at Gudy’s.

Tanya and Theresa took off at Dry Fork and Kerry and I continued on.

Nice…

Read Full Post »

Test Tracks

Will I ever figure this one out?? Rode with the Wednesday night group, what a blast! The new trail sections makes it super nice. Thanks Trails 2000!

Read Full Post »

The End

Well, it’s a happy end to a very nice, week-long staycation. Saturday, Matt and I finished our third Durango Fall Blaze Century together!

Thanks to Matt, we did the whole 100–he pulled some strength out of me that I didn’t know I had! Lesson learned? Eat more frequently. Easier said than done! Team Turgeon completed 2 back to back centuries+ with the 133 mile M2D last weekend and the Blaze this weekend. Ouch on my legs! We had a cool start, and I wore my jacket and arm warmers for the majority of the ride, but the temps were great!

At the end of the ride, we were rewarded with Steamworks beer and the famous potato bar. The coolest thing about this event this year?? We rode from our house to the event start, and then rolled back home after the finish. That was awesome! I love this place.

After getting cleaned up back at the house, we took out the town bikes and rolled down to the end of Oktoberfest. All the beer tents except Carver’s were out of beer–yikes!

The most entertaining thing for the event? Watching a drunk kid break a wood board with his head. Then a lady working the event (it would suck to be sober here), ripped him a new one for ruining a $12 piece of wood (that had been laying on top of a trash can).

Matt and I finished with some dinner at Home Slice. Mmmmm, love that pizza. And the garlic rolls? Yum! Oh, we also saw the Mark of Brendan while there, right against the soda machine. An interesting event while enjoying our pizza and beer, a girl outside Home Slice was swinging as high as possible on the restaurant ski lift chair swing. She got high enough to fall right out of the thing, and landed on all fours, wondering what the hell happened, until the swing came right back and knocked her on the back of the head. After seeing that she was fine, and watching the parents take her away, a drunk guy enjoying food and beverage with his friends whispers under his breath, “That was so f#*king awesome!” Okay, I got a good laugh out of that, at some kid’s expense, but it was quite a scene.

Yesterday was a short hike to loosen up the sore legs. We went out to Shearer Creek Trail and hiked until the rain came in. Turned out it was just enough. What an excellent way to end the vacation.

Thanks, Matt, for enjoying the week with me!! We’ll have to do this more often.

Read Full Post »

Last Official Vacation Day

Oh man, this is it, end of my week-long vacation. Well, technically it’s Sunday, but I only consider it a vacation when I’m intentionally avoiding my coworkers on days they have to show up for work. I’m going to take this vacation out in style. Yesterday, Matt and I rode the Gulch and got onto the secret trail for some fun. First time riding that. What a blast!

Today was a nice ride up and out of Jones Creek Trail with Barb. The weather was great heading up, and the views, excellent. Colors are definitely changing, and Fall is in the air!

We had a few interlopers on the climb up, but thankfully they were gone for the fun ride back down.

The return gave us some light sprinkles, and a very fun descent back to the car.

Tomorrow…the Fall Blaze! This is the 3rd annual event, and we will have ridden all 3 of them. Pretty cool!! This will start with a party tonight at registration, and will end with beer and a potato bar tomorrow. Then we can get cleaned up and roll downtown to the Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest will continue on Sunday at Ska brewing, with 13 other CO brewers planning to be present. Now THAT’s the way to take a vacation. Not sure how smoothly Monday will roll around, but who really cares.

Read Full Post »

Monday – Ahhh…

We got back from the M2D road ride pretty late (or technically, early since it was after midnight). Sunday was sleeping in and getting the bikes ready for Moab…again!

Another early 3 AM wake-up call. If you know me, you know I’m not much of a morning person! So I jumped back into the loaded up Element with Matt and we started towards Moab. I slept most of the way this time, and by the time we got there, I was good to go!

We met up with Matt’s riding buddies for the day, Thane, Ryan, and Ed. Their agenda? White Rim in a Day.

Me? Hey, this is official first day of vacation…I’m gonna go have some fun! So I headed over to the Sovereign Singletrack. My legs were still a bit tired from the 133 mile ride from Telluride to Moab, so I packed a lunch, put on a small Camelbak, and planned to have nice, leisurely ride. I headed towards the slickrock first!

After playing in the rocks, it was time to go hit the Sovereign Singletrack proper!

I rode on lots of green soil out here. The colors were amazing!

I decided to take a detour on Cedar Mountain and was able to get up to the top of a mesa. Great views from here!

Ahhhh, it was a good day. After the ride, met Matt and the crew and we all ended up at Moab Brewery for dinner.

Read Full Post »

Blackhawk

Today was a bad day to forget the camera, but a good excuse to ride out to Blackhawk again soon! Sue took me out and showed me what CO high altitude riding is all about. We had a super, rain-free ride that topped us off at 12,020 ft elevation at Blackhawk.

Here’s the profile…click to enlarge it.

The 10 AM “morning” ride started from the upper Hermosa Creek Trailhead area. We hopped onto Bolam Pass Rd and climbed up to Celebration Lake. You really do want to celebrate after climbing the steep 6 miles on Bolam. That was 2243 feet of elevation climbing out of the way. From Celebration Lake, we picked up the Colorado Trail, which provided us with nature’s eye candy for the rest of the day. The flowers are blooming, the mountains are green, the creeks and waterfalls are flowing, and the snow is still melting in a couple of spots. Absolutely beautiful!

By the time we got to Blackhawk Pass, it was snack time and pull out the camera phone time (since we both managed to forget our cameras today). Some good gossip, answering some phone messages, and snapping pictures took up some time. After having fun at the pass and snarfing down some food, it was time for some descending! The trail was in beautiful condition. Bob Rule and company had been out there yesterday doing some awesome work, making the entire trail “rideable” for those with strong lungs and strong legs. We continued the ride on the CT until we hit dirt road. Left would have taken us to Hotel Draw Rd and back to the vehicle.

However, we happened to run into Bill (?) and Ranjeet Grewal, finishing up a day of trail work. Ranjeet was about to head out on some singletrack that would get us back to the car without having to take the roads. Talk about some sweet trail! Lots of descending, beautiful aspens, the perfect way to end the ride. Today was epic. This will definitely be a repeat ride for the future. Next time, we’ll have cameras!

Stats for the day:

Miles: 24.38

Climbing: 4625 feet

Descending: 4456 feet

Read Full Post »

Missionary Ridge

Another blog with no pics. Sorry to disappoint! Today was a dirt road ride day. I’m trying to get ready for Breck100…a little late for that, I suppose, but at least I can start riding terrain, distance, and elevation levels that are similar. I’m glad I’m doing this as a 3-woman team! Lyn and Sue will be fun teammates.

So today, left the house and took pavement to Missionary Ridge Road. I was tempted to try Steven’s Trail and Halfin (sp?) Trail, but glad I didn’t. Matt siad they are pretty much dead trails now. Anyway, just rode up Missionary Ridge Rd and Matt came sneaking up behind me. He let me ride for 1 hour, then came riding after me. Didn’t take too long for him to catch me! We road together up the road for a while, then dropped back down to find some singletrack back into town. The idea was to take an old, abandoned FS road to Missionary Ridge Trail, to Halfin and back into town. Hail and rain stopped that plan, so we did an immediate turnaround and flew down the trails back into town.

The ride was lots of fun! Ended up with 48.84 miles and 4923 feet of elevation climbing. Legs are tired now, but very fun!!

Read Full Post »

Lots of Biking

Just home from the almost 2 week trip to the parents’ home, and I decided to get back to the real biking, no more MO gravel roads!!

Thursday I rode Animas Peak. Great climbing, good workout on the legs.

Friday was a huge group ride organized by the local Durango bike-n-beer group, an informal group that loves to bike and imbibe some hoppy happiness afterwards, usually at Steamworks on Thursday for $1 pints! So we shuttled out to the May Day trail head and began our 10 mile climb that gave us roughly 3000 foot of elevation climbing, almost all over 10,000 ft. Can you say ouch?!? Good grief my body was revolting that day. The goal was to make it over Kennebec Pass, then get some great descents, plus a little more climbing thrown in for good measure. The day ended with 37 miles, 4801 ft of climbing, and 6849 ft of descending. Lots of fun!

Saturday was a recovery ride. Took the road bike out and road the Trimble loop. Nice, simple, and happy, except for the bee that flew into my inner thigh and stung me! Well, it hurt just a little at first, but as I continued to pedal, the pain grew to some serious intensity. I pulled off the road and quickly lifted the leg of my shorts up to check out the damage. I’m sure I was great entertainment for people passing by in their cars. Anyway, wanted to make sure the stinger was out, which it appeared to be, but damn if that thing didn’t hurt like hell all the way back to Bread! I stopped and got an ice pack, which brought down the pain. Figured I might as well eat a cookie too while I was at it.

Sunday was back to the mountain bike. Got to ride around Horse Gulch, Raider’s Ridge, Mike’s Trail, Stacy’s Loop, Cuchillo, all sorts of fun.

Now it’s back to the official grindstone. Work will begin once again. I wish I’d win the lottery.

Read Full Post »