Work has been hectic and stressful for the past month. Lots of late nights and hours way beyond the normal 40 per week. I’m getting compensated with flex time, so that was the good thing. All the major deliverables are out of the way until the end of May. Then another wave in June. Regardless, the storm has cleared and today I took some much needed VACATION (in my backyard, which is pretty cool)!!

I was going to ride Animas, a trail that Matt recently introduced me to. However, Matt suggested that today, I skip that trail and do the Colorado Trail to Gudy’s Rest up to the intersection at Dry Fork, then take Dry Fork to Hoffeins Connection and back down the Colorado Trail. I took his advice, and am I ever glad I did! It was a windy day today, but I was sheltered during this ride.

I’ve been doing some mountain biking in the area…Horse Gulch, Test Track, Farmington’s Road Apple, Phil’s World…but something just seemed to be missing. Don’t get me wrong, these are great rides, but I kept coming back feeling slightly deprived. Today (and even yesterday on my partial ride in Animas), I found what had been lacking in my rides. I wasn’t getting the long, sustained climbs. I wanted singletrack that wasn’t totally sandy, loose, or covered in rocks everywhere. I wanted some trees overhead…some shade. I wanted to be blocked from the ever present wind. Today, I found my zen.

I did have one interloper on the trail, but he really didn’t bother me. We enjoyed the solitude together.

Matt wondered what took me so long on the ride today. It was my zen. When I’m alone on a ride on certain trails, there is a certain calmness and peace that I truly enjoy. Sometimes I just have to stop and look around, listen to my surroundings, and enjoy the silence.

Sometimes I’ll ride really hard until I can’t push it anymore. Some meditate, but for me, it’s more about being alone, and enjoying something that provides relaxation. For me, zen is doing rides like today, or chilling with Matt.

Now I remember why I like to ride by myself sometimes.

30.71 miles, 3399 feet of elevation climbing…ahhhh….

]]> http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/durango-mtbing/feed/ ojulius http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/12-hours-of-mesa-verde/ http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/12-hours-of-mesa-verde/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 02:16:00 +0000 ojulius http://jttrain.wordpress.com/?p=321

The results are up!

Cortez, CO!! Driving to Cortez in the morning, I was worried this was going to be a wet day…we drove through rain and SNOW! Luckily, as we rolled into Cortez, there was blue sky. The day was beautiful temperature wise, but definitely a bit on the windy side.

I crewed for Matt today and had a great time! We had an excellent team showing, and lots of crew folks to hang out with. Above is a combo Turgeon/Hemperley combo pit stop. Laura came later with Shady, a new family member.

Matt did well! 2nd place in his category (solo singlespeed), and 5th overall (yep, that’s against the gears too!). My sweetie is a stud. Big Wheel Racing did an awesome job as a team! You just can’t beat having a huge team at a race. It’s great karma and support. We got 2nd place for the team with the most members at the race.

]]> http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/12-hours-of-mesa-verde/feed/ ojulius http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/test-track/ http://jttrain.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/test-track/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 02:36:44 +0000 ojulius http://jttrain.wordpress.com/?p=320

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!

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.

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!

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!!!

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?

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.

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!

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.