Mud season fun

November 7, 2012

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Mud season. Usually it causes groans or a last minute vacation to somewhere warm like Moab or Mexico. But for some, mud season also means the start of cyclocross season. And for the first time in the seven years I’ve owned my Kona Jake cyclocross bike, I actually used it for its intended purpose.

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Lucy learned to use a cowbell.

A cross race is unlike any other bike race – the course laps are short and require you to dismount and remount your bike numerous times (and not just because I can’t ride a technical section…). There are wood hurdles to jump over and super steep hills you have to run up with your bike slung over your shoulder. And you ride until they tell you to stop – typically about 45-55 minutes. The adrenaline is high and the spectators are rowdy. In short, it’s a total blast.

Herron 'Cross, 2nd Place, Women's B race.

I got a trophy! 2nd Place of 2 women in the Women’s B category! Sometimes it pays to be a girl. No competition.

Adventures with Lucy – Summer, Summer, Summertime!

September 28, 2012

Checking new routes.

Road Trip to Hood River? Check. Road Trip to Colorado for two weeks? Check. Skiing on Logan Pass in Glacier NP in June? Check. Weekend of camping and biking? Check. Climbing a peak? Check.

Summer is full of road trips, camping, climbing, biking and everything else to do in the mountains. The goal was to do at least one “adventure” a month for the summer to take advantage of where we get to live.

April: Long weekend to Hood River, OR, to visit some friends and do a road trip test run with Lucy. We took our road bikes and did a cool ride on the old Columbia Gorge Hwy. And saw lots of cool waterfalls!

May: Two-Week trip to Colorado. Biggest adventure was the transmission going out on the car a mile from Dave’s parents house… Wedding. Biking. Lots of friends and grandparents. Needed a vacation from this vacation.

June: Skied on Logan Pass. It finally stopped raining, so we took advantage of the last weekend in June and went to Glacier National Park with some friends. Lucy (9 months) and Cooper (age 3 months at the time) took their first ski. Lucy slept in the backpack the whole time. We were all quite the sight at the visitor’s center – skis always get double takes in the summer from tourists, but add two babies to the mix? We got more stares and pictures taken of us than I think the bears did that day…

July: First attempt of a camping trip in Helena. Successful if only because we got to camp so late that Lucy was already asleep. But she slept all night! Laura watched Lucy on Saturday so Dave and I could go bike the Helena Ridge Trail. The next weekend, Patrick and Loni came up from Bozeman and we went to Stone Hill and did a full day of climbing and kid wrangling. Camping attempt #2 was foiled by not remembering the tent…

August: Grandparent staycation! While my mom was visiting, we planned a mini getaway which ended up just being a full day in the Park. What we thought was a simple summiting a peak (like one with a trail…) was a full day of scree scramble on Mt. Siyeh. Hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was stunning, amazing, and I never have to do it again. Then a more manageable hike to Link Lake. Lucy spent lots of time swimming in lakes in August, and had a rash to prove it.

September: Lucy’s 1st Birthday party, but even bigger was the CINO HEROICA! We’ve been trying to do the Cino ride from Kila to Hot Springs for 3 years now, and finally pulled it off. 110 Miles of mostly dirt roads. Dave road 60 miles, and I road the return at 50 miles. The Land Cruiser was one of the support vehicles so whoever was driving still got to be involved. Lunch of salami, cheese, bread, wine and tiramisu was awesome. The next weekend Dave adventured on a bike epic with a friend, so Lucy and I had our own adventures at home, including a bout with the flu. Then we climbed Mt Aeneas in the Jewel Basin for Lucy’s first peak.

And there are still three more days left until October!

30 Days of Biking

April 5, 2010

Some dude named Ryan decided to do a Twitter challenge to ride your bike every day for 30 days, and then tweet about it with the hash tag of #30daysofbiking. I didn’t get wind of it until April 2nd, a day after the challenge started, and of course April 1 happened to be the only day I didn’t ride my bike after work due to a necessary trip to Costco (I am determined to do this on a bike at some point though…). But better late than never, right? So to help keep track of my 29 days (I’ll bike May 1st too to get to 30), I’m going to keep track of my days here as well as on Twitter. As well as what bike I rode to make sure all 5 get some sort of love…

April 1 – slacker
2nd: Recycling Center & Post office (Xtracycle)
3rd: Grocery Store for Easter Dinner prep (PowderGirl)
4th: Church for Easter (PowderGirl)
5th: 7-Mile Cross ride (Kona Jake)
6th: Yoga in the AM (PowderGirl); Cross Ride to Jake & Yvonne’s for bible study
7th: Met with mortgage lender (Xtra); Cruised downtown for shopping (PowderGirl) and friends house for a BBQ (Xtra)
8th: boo, no riding. at conference from 7am to 10pm
9th: Downtown on Powdergirl for errands
10th: Does going to Canada to ski count?
11th: PowderGirl to church; Xtra to store and gym (wow, this is kind of repetative….)
12th: Bowling! (Xtra)
13th: To Yoga in the AM (PowderGirl)
14th: Xtra to Super1, then to the gym (all these are under 1/2 mile, geez)
15th: Few miles on the Xtra today to the Chamber after hours event, and then downtown for Telluride MountainFilm! And the Xtra met some new friends.
16th: Xtra to yoga then an evening Fixie tour around Whitefish with margs, pizza, and impromptu hanging out
17th: Mountain bike ride finished with a cruiser ride to the brewery to fill up the growler
18th: exploring more mountain bike trails
19th: Cruiser ride for one
20th: 8 miles to work = 1:03. 8 miles home = 21 minutes.
21st: Took PowderGirl to meet a finacial planner to set up my 401k
22nd: 8 miles to work = 1:00:51! Home? Downpouring so caught a ride. But then Xtracycles to downtown for the World Indoor Golf Championships.
23rd: Got a haircut with PG
24th: Cleaned the ‘Fish with the Xtras in tow
25th: Xtras to brunch
26th: fixie to Dairy Queen for a butterscotch dipped cone
27th: Cold cross ride to work, and a wet ride home
28th: Xtra to the Northern for Jim’s going away party
29th: raining still – xtra to breakfast at Loulas
30th: and still raining. Biked to the gym to swim. Then to friends house for dinner on the Xtras
1st: rain rain go away – but did bike related things like trail work and bought fenders for my cross bike. I then I stuck a sewing needle through my finger so spent the rest of the evening on the couch… So we’re adding one more day:
2nd: cruiser ride to church and then an epic-style 30-mileish 3.5-hour mtn bike ride. Then cruiser bikes to dinner. Think I made up all those skipped days in 1!

Giving Kids a Little Hope

December 27, 2009

August was my third time as a volunteer for Big City Mountaineers, an organization that takes inner city youth on backpacking trips. I always explain it as a combination between Boys/Girls Club and Outward Bound. The kids are all part of a local youth organization – usually after school programs. But some of the kids are from group homes. One day I would like to be a foster parent, and so I’ve been delighted that two of my three trips were girls from group homes and most of them in the foster system.

From BCM – A Kidz Hope 2009

Now that I’m in Montana, and not near any regional programs, I’m not sure the next time I’ll get to go on a trip. But since the organization is one I’m passionate about, I’m helping where I still can, and I know there will be another Summit for Someone in my future. And even though I’m not on the PR team anymore, I will help where I can editorially. In December, Women’s Adventure magazine posted an article on its reader blog’s page of my experience:

The first day is always a bit intimidating. I’ve arrived at headquarters and met the trip leader and the other volunteers. We start sorting gear and loading a car. Then the van shows up. Five teenage girls tumble out (yes, tumble would be extremely accurate). After more sorting and passing out gear, we’re on the road to the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. And so starts one of the most rewarding weeks of my summers.
Keep Reading: http://www.womensadventuremagazine.com

Cool Stuff – Plum TV Interview

February 25, 2009

I got to go on PlumTV Aspen for an interview about Big City Mountaineers, one of the organizations that I do pro-bono PR for through Backbone

Viewable through VodPod here: (hopefully some day it will be embeddable!)

Plum Interview

Bike to Work Week

May 12, 2008

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race” — H.G. Wells

This morning was event #1 of Bonedale Bike Week. Dave, Tracy and I served coffee and handed out t-shirts to bike commuters. Tonight is a clinic at the bike shop for basic bicycle maintenance. So far people have been excited for a bike event – its obviously something Carbondale has needed for awhile.

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Bonedale Bike Week

May 7, 2008

My friend Tracy and I, along with a few others, are starting a new Carbondale tradition: ‘Bonedale Bike Week. May is National Bike month, with May 12-16 being National Bike to Work week. We’re going to have free coffee, bike polo, cruiser ride and lots of parties!

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