Thanks, Claudia, for the photo

It’s time to celebrate not having to go to work, woohoo! I love the winter holiday. Who doesn’t?? I get a week off from work as a holiday, plus I tacked on about a week at the front and end of that, giving me 3 weeks of freedom!

With the first week down, what did I do? I played in the snow every day, hung out with my main squeeze, and cozied up with my furry friends. Life is good.

I learned to skate ski…

Groomed course at Hillcrest for skate and classic cross country skiing

The new skate ski setup

I’ve been downhill skiing at Purgatory using my weekday pass (no photos of that, too cold!).

I’ve been snow shoeing on my own…

Heading up to Powerline trail

View from Powerline

and with Lenny, Claudia, Chaco, and Mojo…

Lenny on doggie duty

Cascade Creek

Last night Matt told me I should go out to the driveway one last time to shovel snow so it wouldn’t build up as much. I did that, right before bed. I even cleared the sidewalks. I was feeling like a nice person and the shoveling wasn’t too bad. Then I wake up to this…

So much for the nicely shoveled sidewalks you can't even see anymore!

The neighbor across the street won't be driving his car any time soon.

When I woke up it was still snowing hard. All that shoveling…well, I guess it could have been an entire 6 inches deeper. I can look on the bright side. Here was a look outside the front door in the morning.

View from the front door.

It was cold and extremely windy and the snow was still coming down hard. I decided to eat breakfast, drink coffee, and give myself a pep talk about going out to shovel.

The wind blew hard throughout the night. I thought maybe our furniture would be rearranged in the backyard. Luckily no, although apparently many folks in the area lost their power due to the storm. The wind plastered snow against most of our windows.

Snow on the windows.

It was still snowing when I started getting ready for shovel duty, but lucky for me, it stopped soon after and the sun even came out!

After opening the garage.

This was the least deep section of snow against the garage. I wish everything would have been this level.

Let the shoveling begin…

That's a foot and a half depth of snow...

I’m glad I shoveled before bed, otherwise I would have been shoveling 2 feet of snow. This is crazy! Time to get out the snow shoes, cross country skis, and skate skis! Wolf Creek Pass is closed, no skiing there tomorrow unless it opens in the morning.

So today was mostly work, shovel, and hang out with los gatos.

Julius and OJ

OJ’s new thing is chasing snowflakes through the window. He loves watching them and jumping at them. I’d love to see him outside, but he’s an indoor kitty.

Chasing snowflakes

If the boys aren’t playing, they’re sleeping. They are like two peas in a pod. Best buddies for sure!

Sleeping kitties

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.

The entire town was out mountain biking today. Who can blame them? It’s awesome out! Chocolate cake and beer at the end of the ride today, shots of Irish whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream on the trail. Ha-ha, what a hoot! A cold streak is coming through again soon, so everyone is taking advantage of the dirt while they can.

Here’s Gretchen nailing a nice rock drop on Raider’s Ridge:

Another ride with the girls tomorrow. This is so much fun!

Parting shots from los gatos…

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve made a post. I haven’t been doing any post-worthy rides lately. It’s all been short, local stuff. Still trying to get over the shingles. It’s managed to knock me on my ass. I guess it affects people different ways. For me, I got the shingles on my face, so one of the results is migraines and constant fatigue. I haven’t had these in over 10 years. They’re no fun. I was given a sample drug by a doc called Maxalt. It worked very well, so I asked for a prescription. Went to the pharmacy to pick it up and found that my insurance company doesn’t cover it. I asked how much (how bad could it be??)…$350!!!!!! WTF?!?! So I asked for an alternative. Hopefully it works as well as the Maxalt. Pharmaceutical companies need a smack down, like now! I can’t believe they can get away with those prices.

I have a friend who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). While I always had empathy for her, now I believe I can truly feel a sliver of what she goes through. I’m worn out all the time and generally feel achy like I’ve worked out too hard or am coming down with the flu. Simply working on the computer for my job is a serious, frustrating pain in the ass. I can’t seem to concentrate and I just redo and redo. Matt talked me into some vacation days. I definitely needed them.

So, on to better things…been riding the Gulch, at Thankgiving time!

Good grief it’s nice out. I’m thrilled, but at the same time, am semi-ready for snow. I got some new downhill skis and some new skate skis. I’m geared up and ready for the winter, but winter doesn’t seem to be ready for us. I can’t complain because the riding is great. Right now the temps are perfect for the Ridge! It’s hot to ride in the summer but this time of the year it is beautiful.

No reason to gross anyone out with photos. I was recently afflicted with what I thought were a few zits, that then turned into what looked like a giant spider bite, and was later diagnosed as shingles. For once I’m happy I work with a bunch of old people. The doctor at our company medical facility spotted the problem immediately upon looking at my forehead and reading my symptoms I’d shared with his nurse. I thought he was full of it when he first diagnosed me. I have a feeling he sees this a lot since shingles usually occurs in people over 50…hmmm, that sounds like most of the people I work with. Not that 50 is old or anything…

So, I get to take potent doses of Valtrex to get rid of the crusty nastiness above my left brow. In the meantime, since I have a very weak immune system right now, I’m supposed to take it easy. Not difficult since my body feels like it is going through the flu, plus I got hit with a migraine today, right behind where the shingles have laid to rest on my face.  This is lovely.

The weather is beautiful outside and all my friends are going for fun rides. Boo! I went for a neighborhood walk today, which was nice, but really not the same as riding the bike. I was pooped from the walk, so I guess that means I’m not ready for riding quite yet.

Snow?!? What? It’s not time for winter, is it? Arrrgghhh…well, I got in a couple good rides at least before it all came down.

Tonight was a spin class, first of the season. I did a lot better than last year. Last year, during my first spin class ever, I almost passed out on the bike. Now I wear a heart rate monitor to make sure I don’t go into cardiac arrest.

So I’ve been on a little staycation after a short visit home to see my parents. Upon return, the kittens were more interested in my bags than me.

Our favorite, furry felines love to trash the house and get as dirty as possible. Knocking over house plants is their specialty. The garage is their favorite place to create messes. I can no longer use the drying rack in the garage when the cats are there. Why, you ask?

Yes, he's going right after the one thing left hanging...

They got a new kitty condo for the garage. It’s actually called the “Kitty Jail.”

And tonight, they discovered the water faucet.

These two are endless sources of entertainment.

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.

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.