No Pain; No Gain

Why Do I Do These Things to Myself?

I have been on a cross country, bike destination vacation for the last ten days.  We came home a day early, so I thought I might drop in on my biking buddies and cheer them on with our upcoming race.  When I got up this morning, I felt great.  Thinking that I was back at my standard elevation and no longer at 6,000 feet, I considered joining the race.  After all, it was part of the series I had vowed to race all of so why not?

Getting the hubby moving was a little tough.  He had been doing all the driving on our vacation and had logged 20 hours of driving in the last two days.  He was beat!  We hit the race parking lot at 8:30a and my race was at 9:00a.  With registration and final bike tuning, I had little time to warm up.  I used what I had but my legs were feeling like lead.  Too bad, I had already paid for my race.

3/4 of my racing buddies

I said “hello” to some familiar faces and made fun of the guys I race with as, once again, I had sneakily been there for a race nobody expected me at.  We started off up the road like usual but when we entered the single track; it was a short down, a U-Turn, and then a LONG up through sand and worn out trail.  Road?  Not sure, as it was wide enough to pass but too gnarly to try.  I was keeping up with the pack at this point.

At the top of this first hill, there was a young lady on the ground with her bike.  Everyone was going around her.  We last two ladies up the hill, stopped to make sure she was OK.  I helped her up.  Then the other lady left us.  I stayed because she reminded me of my daughters and she was a little teary from her crash.  I told her about my big crash from my first race, had her drink some water, and then proceeded to lead her down the trail.  She was shaky and cautious.  I knew this both from my own experience and the fact that I was sure she was a faster rider than I was but she was hanging back. 

She had me on the up but I kept catching her on the down

Riding through the counting corral started our count at zero.  I hung out with a lady in a lower age category for about a half mile or so and was finally passed by the young lady I had assisted.  She said a shaky thanks as she went by.  Then I hit the hill that I have hated from DAY ONE of riding this race series.  I have yet to make it to the top without walking.  I find it so frustrating and this time it was early in my race . . . not a good sign.  First lap, it was the ONLY hill I walked and I lost my ride buddy because she made it to the top and left me in her dust.  Lap 1:  35 minutes

Getting up a steep hill

A short, steep drop (FUN)

Second time around, it was getting hot.  I have concluded that I don’t do well in heat as I was miserable.  I felt motion sick on my bike.  I walked three hills and felt like I was being lapped by EVERYONE.  My only saving grace was all that riding through the rocks made me fearless on the bumpy downhill sections.  I dropped my heels, scooted behind my seat and let my bike do the work – downhill makes the ride up so ABSOLUTELY worth it! 

Cruising down the hill

Somewhere in loop two, I walked up a hill to find my husband hanging out to cheer me on.  He asked me why I was walking and I really wanted to cry.  I told him I was done with this race and I wanted to quit.  Like the wise man he is, he kept his mouth shut.  I got back on my bike and continued my ride.  The body was weak and didn’t like this loop AT ALL!  Lap 2:  41 minutes

Flying down this hill

When I cleared lap two, I was feeling a little better but I still had one more lap to finish.  I had hoped to see my hubby so I could cajole him into riding that last lap with me.  He never turned up.  About a third of the way through my final lap, I ran out of water.  Since I was close to the staging area, I dropped my water bag onto the side of the trail and kept riding (I figured Darius would see me drop it or if not, it wasn’t far to go to retrieve it after my race). 

Zipping through twisty, turny section

A slight breeze started up and I wasn’t feeling quite so queasy from the heat.  At about the half-way point around this lap, I saw a teenage size coyote come out of the grass towards me.  GOOD LORD, what do I do now?  I started shaking really hard and it took all my concentration to stay on my bike and keep moving.  This skinny, mangy coyote turns and starts jogging next to me and my bike about three feet away from me on my left.  I dared to glance over. . .he didn’t look like he was going to bite me. . .I snuck another peek. . .his tongue was hanging out. . .another glance to verify he wasn’t out for my blood and I swear he was smiling as he jogged next to me.  He was there for at least five minutes.  I hit a sandy section right before a steep uphill climb.  I had walked this during lap two.  NO WAY was I getting off my bike to walk it with a coyote next to me.  I dropped to spin mode and held my line.  I didn’t dare look at the coyote again for fear I would appear too aggressive.  I guess I was going too slowly up that hill, because he just traipsed off to my left and disappeared.  I kept watching for him as I continued to ride.  I never saw him again.

SO thankful to have finished this one!!!

As I breached my final hill, I started the funnest downhill of the course.  I startled a bird family that all took off in front of me and I started to think how surreal this final lap was for me.  Last week, I had been attacked by a cow that was supposed to be docile while today I was watched over by a coyote that was supposed to be a wild creature that didn’t act the least bit threatening.  My world was upside down and backwards.  Darius suggested my coyote spirit was sent to help me finish the race.  Either way, I shed a few tears at home for the most amazing vacation with my hubby and all the incredible beauty that nature shared with me this past week.  Lap 3: 37 minutes

Man, I’ve got to stop typing.  I have obviously lost it.  Lucky me, I took second place and am a little closer to getting high points for this race series.  Wish me luck!

Sawtooth Trail Revisited

A Chance to do a Little Better!

Sawtooth Trail, here I come! 

We were only doing a drive-by visit to this trail, today, so I had to change in the car.  I have become completely shameless in my desire to ride bike . . . OK, I had a blanket up to hide behind.  Geez!

Having already experienced this trail several days ago, and having ridden similar terrain for the last few days, I was READY to PR some trail (PR Stands for personal record on Strava).

SIDE NOTE:  Strava is this GPS tracking program where bikers, runners, and other sports fanatics can upload their times from their GPS Device.  Then other exercise freaks can compare themselves on different segments for these rides, run, etc.

This is what my ride looks like on Strava.  Then it gives you some extra data. 

You can see your elevation and even see your speed if you call it up.

Lastly, it shows you all your trophies and medals.  Trophies are given by placing in the top ten riders.  Medals are you racing against yourself.  It tells you this is a second best time for you.  And PR is what we all strive for because it shows we improved.  Unlike last ride, where I had no places scored, I did manage a few trophies this time.  I’d been practicing, heh heh.

Again, this is about a 9-10 mile trek through the mountainous terrain on single track trails.  Can you say, “a piece of heaven?” 

The ride was great and I went over and through all sorts of rocky stuff I wouldn’t even consider attempting last week.  We took a little different route, this ride, and ended up looping around to a final descent into the parking lot.  FUNNEST RIDE EVER!!! 

The best part was the weather.  It looked like rain when we took off, but the rain was courteous enough to hold out until we were done.  Once in the car and back on the road, MAJOR downpour.

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 8

I WIN!!!

Day 8 Original Plan:  Travel to Grand Junction, CO via Boulder, CO to visit our International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Friends.

New Day 8 Plan:  Drive back towards Truckee, CA and stop when we can no longer stand being in the car.

Due to the rather large, uncontrolled fire in Colorado, we decided to bypass that state.  That meant I got to go back to Truckee and I was THRILLED! 

Unfortunately, it meant some long days of driving with no bike riding until Truckee (sad face).  Oh well, I REALLY wanted a second chance at Sawtooth Trail.

We hit Green River, Wyoming, sometime around lunch so we swung in to a Subway and, like we typically were doing on the road, we looked for a local park near water with maybe some scenery to eat at.  As we were driving towards our water sourced park, the RAV4 stopped.  It refused to go any further.  Huh.  We both looked up and were surprised to see a bike park.  Our RAV4 sure knew us well.  

We both leaped out of our PARKED vehicle and forgetting our sandwiches, we walked around and toured the park layout.  Everything from green dots (easy) to blue squares (intermediate) to black diamonds (1 or 2 for advanced and expert) let you know what was designated easy and hard.

We ran back to the car and wolfed down our lunch and Darius pulled his bike down for a trial run while I took out my camera for some pictures.  We sooooo want one of these where we live!

Getting the lay of the land.



Intermediate Drop



Indermediate Ramp

Rock Overpass

Log Overpass

I would have ridden after Darius, except I made the mistake of eating a chocolate chip cookie (chocolate, duh!) with my sandwich – What was I thinking?  And on the road too!  My tummy so does NOT agree with chocolate . . . but I really wanted that cookie!!!  Ergo, no riding for me.

After we ate lunch and Darius played, we headed back out on the road. 

VERY Dry Waterbed

Passing through Salt Lake City, we discovered that things were a little dry on the salt flats.   Sadly, I have a picture of this same location from about 13 years ago, but the mountains are reflected beautifully on the water (which is missing in this picture).

Day 8 Results:  We made it to Elko, NV before we called it quits.  We had been in the car about 12 hours and were ready for a break.  A quick stop for pizza, and then hotel for some sleep.  Did I mention I am really tired of riding in a car?

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 7

Will We EVER Stick to the Plan?

 

Day 7 Original Plan:  Biking at Curt Gowdy State Park, WY and visit family some more.

New Day 7 Plan:  Bike Vedauwoo, WY in the morning and visit family in the afternoon/evening.

Newer Day 7 Plan:  HIKE Vedauwoo, WY in the morning and visit family in the afternoon/evening.

Where is Darius?

The big activity of the day was visiting Vedauwoo.  I had been there before on previous visits, so I put on some hiking shoes and off we went.  Darius’s family came with and we hiked a little over three miles on something called Turtle Rock Trail.

The guys were like kids and climbed many rocks while I hung at the bottom with Darius’s aunt. 

My first Moose Sighting!

There is so much to look at and enjoy here but my best part was my climbing a rock to look at the water and seeing this enormous moose on the other side.  He was as big as a cow (oops, different story).  As I was desperately trying to get my camera out, he turned and bolted but I did manage one not so great shot of him running off into the woods.

Turtle Rock Trail

Practically the whole time we were hiking, Darius was telling me how this trail was totally rideable.  He was working out how he would get over and around different rock sections.

Family Moment

Somewhere near the end of our hike, Darius and I got separated from his family.  I was really slowing down as I could feel a blister forming on my left foot.  I was frustrated that we had gotten so far ahead of the rest of our group.  We stopped at a bench and they still never caught up.  Finally, we return to our car and it turns out his family had taken a short cut.  My poor feet wished they had taken a short cut too.



We all went home for a nap and then Darius decided he wanted to go back and ride Vedauwoo.  I bowed out.  My blister was the size of my baby toe (really, I just needed a vacation from my vacation).  I convinced his cousin to borrow a bike and go with him.  YAY!  Uninterrupted hotel time for me.   A quick trip to the hot tub and then some photo organizing and catching up on these crazy messages I am typing to keep my friends and family updated on our FUN!  And maybe a few reruns of Big Bang Theory while I type.

Aaah, a very peaceful evening.  We hit the road again, tomorrow.  Still working the return to Truckee issue – hope I win.

Final Day 7 Activities:  Hiked Vedauwoo and hung at hotel while hubby went back and biked Vedauwoo is with his cousin. 

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 6

Long Lost Cousins Reunited

Day 6 Original Plan:  Hang out in Laramie, WY and visit family.

New Day 6 Plan:  Bike Curt Gowdy, WY in the morning and visit family in the afternoon/evening.

LOOK!  This sign says IMBA on it. . .

Yep, we got up early and went to Curt Gowdy State Park – the greatly advertised mountain bike destination.  This is a place EVERYONE should go (so I have been told). 

Scenic Trail Photo OP

After surviving my ride (and the cow incident) at Curt Gowdy, we headed back to Laramie, WY to hang out some more with our families.  By now, Darius’s nephew has arrived from Fort Collins, CO and his cousin has flown in from Hawaii so he has a whole bunch of family.  Me?  I have a long lost cousin from back in my childhood that is now living in Laramie.  Haven’t seen him in a loooooong time and wasn’t even sure if we were going to get along.  Had to admit that we were friends on Facebook and he has an adorable 2-year-old (who has a LOT of energy). 

Cousins Forever

We went to my cousin’s house and hung out with him and his three monkeys (I mean kids – really they were quite well behaved – QUIET really – guess Darius and I are kind of scary) and then went to dinner when his wife arrived home.  A great visit, actually.  He’s doing well and seems content.  Since I ADORE his parents, it was nice to get reacquainted with him.  Hope to see him again as these bike trips may have to become a habit. 

Poor hubby was falling asleep at the table at dinner so after our visit, we called it an early night.  Guess all this fresh air at high altitudes is starting to take it’s toll.

Another day gone by.

Stone Temple Circuit

You Just Have to Talk to the Cows!

Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming

Today we mountain biked at Curt Gowdy State Park which is a mountain bike destination that is highly touted.  We picked up a map, yesterday, at a local bike shop, so we were set.  The map was clearly labeled with color coded trails denoting easy, intermediate, advanced, and expert.  The trails also had copies of this map throughout and were VERY well marked. 

The start of Stone Temple Circuit

We decided to take an intermediate trail since it made a large loop around the park and back to our car.  We started a pleasant uphill climb on a nicely designed single track called “Stone Temple Circuit.”  Like my past three rides, the trail contained different sized boulders that needed to be maneuvered around and over.  No worries, I was now experienced with this terrain and feeling very comfortable.  The nice part about the trail we chose is that some harder loops left and returned to this trail so the hubby could get in some more advanced riding without having to wait for me to hike my bike through it. 

How could anyone be afraid of this?

For years, I have been terrified of being alone in the woods but mountain biking has helped me be more comfortable so I had no qualms sending the hubby off on his side trail (Ignoramus and 2%) while I rode alone. 

YEAH!  You KNOW something happened!!!  Soooooo, I was riding uphill and around this left curve and in the middle of my trail is a herd of BIG HUMONGOUS COWS!!!  Three times the size of the ones at Toro Park, I'm sure of it.  There was also a lone cow on a trail a little lower than me to my right.  Not knowing what to do, I stopped my bike thinking that I would wait them out.  They couldn’t stand on this trail forever, COULD THEY? 

The lower cow started mooing REALLY loud and the whole herd in front of me turned around to face me on the trail.  WHOA?!  I, then, got OFF my bike.  I kept reciting to myself, “Darius says cows don’t run people down . . . cows don’t chase people . . . these cows will NOT stampede me to death.”  Then I see movement to my right and the BIG black cow is racing up the hill towards me.  <Bad words inserted here>

I dropped my bike and ran up the hill desperately looking for something to hide behind.  About 1/3 of the way up, I see a rock next to a tree.  I jump onto the rock and turn to look.  <More bad words here> The cow is still racing up the hill at me.  I proceed to climb the tree by my rock.  My chosen tree had dead branches at my level so as I was climbing, the branches were breaking and falling.  I was willing to climb with my fingernails if I had to. 

Once I was higher than UBERCOW, I turned to look.  It had stopped about five feet in front of my tree and proceeded to bellow loud enough for my hubby to hear it where he was (he admitted wondering what was up with the cranky cow after all was over and done) up in the higher elevations.  All of a sudden three small calves came out from the opposite side of the mean ubercow.  Once reunited with her progeny, she then turned back the way I had come from and led her calves away. 

Then all the other cows turned around and went up the trail the way I WANTED to go.  I was in a conundrum.  I waited and watched until the cows were out of sight then dropped from my perch and said some choice words about husbands who don’t know squat about cows!  Then I cursed the park for allowing these BIG MONSTERS on the trail system without warning city girls like me of the hazards – the least they could do is tell me what to do when I see one.  After all, we all know what to do when we see bears and mountain lions – why no childhood training on COWS?!? 

So I finally get the courage to head out on my trail.  I go another half mile and ANOTHER herd of cows are on the side of the trail.  I thought, “OK, I will get off my bike and walk by them.  They are all lying down.  I am fine.”  But NO, the BIG RED cow has to stand up and face me.  I was D-O-N-E!!!  I hated this place and this trail and this state and . . . so I left my bike on the trail to trip up any oncoming bikers (in an effort to get ANYONE to help me past those darn cows) and walked up the hill to perch on a high level rock. 

I attempt to call my husband via cell phone.  Well, APPARENTLY he had no cell service where he was and the friendly voice on my phone tells me to try again later.  GEEZ, didn’t she know I needed him NOW?!? 

After a few minutes, I hear a rider and pop my head up from my rock.  It is my lucky day; my hubby’s trail met my trail right where those stupid cows were hanging out.  I hailed him to my rock and relayed my story.  I was shaking so bad, I could hardly walk.  I had the best adrenaline high I’ve had in years. 

Together we walk by the cows and the SUPER BIG ONE starts walking towards us.  My hubby calmly says, “Go away Boss.”  And sure enough, that cow turned away from us.  He sure knows a lot about cows.  Me?  I now officially HATE cows.  It took me almost twenty minutes to stop shaking as we rode further along our trails.  FYI – I have been informed that you must talk to the cows and not stare at them directly – ooops – NOW he tells me!!! 

Downhill Section of Play Area

After the cow incident, we stumbled upon the first “play area.”  Turns out that all along these trails, little practice areas were set up so you can try your hand (OK, bike) at different styled, natural and manmade obstacles.  I managed to videotape the hubby on a cool rocky part and then we headed back out on our trail. 

Rocky Trail

We then come across an option to continue on Stone Temple Circuit or jump onto “Albert’s Alley.”  I was feeling pretty perky (still feeling that adrenaline rush) so I said sure and off we went.  This was still rated intermediate but seems more rocky that Stone Temple so I was forced to play hike-a-bike off and on as we rode.  I can’t even count how many times I banged my pedals on rocks – some were too close together and too high for me to get through so I now have bruised all up my legs from my pedals banging against the back of my calves as I hit yet ANOTHER rock (boulder?). 

Beautiful place to have a snack.

We reach a little creek and stop for a break where I get some more biking pointers from my man (and maybe come cow pointers too).  Back on the trail again, we complete Albert’s Alley and jump onto “Crow Creek” trail. 

Things are getting really gnarly and I’m doing more walking than riding.  I would have felt bad, but the hubby was humping his bike over three foot rocks too and telling me that this was rideable by him but he would have to scope it out before attempting it.  Sometimes he would walk a sketchy part and go back and ride it after working out the logistics but I just kept lifting my bike up and down over these oversized boulders.  Later as we looked at the map, it turned out that the middle section of our trail was really rated advanced.  I wonder what expert looked like after dragging my bike through this part. 



The rock just keep getting bigger and bigger

 Gradually the trail became easier to navigate and I get back on my bike.  Funnily, I began taking bigger drops because I was getting tired of getting off and on my bike.  I still haven’t figured how to climb those big rocks yet but, hey, I was half way there. 

Narrow bridge

Just as my confidence was at its best, we found out one of our bridges were out and we had to drag our bikes across the creek or return the way we had come from.  NO WAY was I going back to the cows, so we did the creek crossing. 


SOMEONE has dirty knees

As I was pushing my bike up the bank back to the trail, the dirt gave out underneath me and I fell.  Guess where?  Just like Fort Ord, I found a bush to land in – so I thought.  When I tried to get up, I had a hundred needles poking into me.  ARGH!  I called to Darius to come help me – he very laughingly tells me I have landed in a wild rose bush.  <man my language was getting bad on this ride – drunken sailors had nothing on me>  

Darius pulls my bike off of me and we painfully maneuver me out of the rose bush.  Due to the heat, I wore shorts and I had rose thorns embedded in my knee (discovered when I finally was able to wash up) and I was all muddy from the river bank.  A little blood was seeping from my knee but I didn’t know this at the time – too much mud. 



Me rockin' some downhill

I was feeling pretty cranky after Crow Creek Trail so we decided to return to the car via an EASY trail called “Shoreline.”  It ran along the water just like you would think (name – shoreline) only the trail was several hundred feet above the water with lots of exposure.  I was so frustrated with my ride that I just got off my bike and walked.  I was a big, muddy cesspool inside and out.  When my legs were too tired to walk I rode again and managed to get back to the car in one piece. 

A break on Shoreline Trail

Curt Gowdy NOT my favorite place even though the trails were pretty cool.  Maybe if they got rid of the cows. . .

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 5

Invasion of Childhood Memories

Day 5 Original Plan:  Hang out with family in Laramie, WY.

New Day 5 Plan:  Travel from Jackson, WY to Laramie, WY with a pit-stop in Yellowstone.



The best pic until I stitch together
a panorama of these mountains



Today, I am so sick of travelling.  I just want to get to Laramie and hang out for a couple days.  We had planned to go to Yellowstone but after plotting the hours in the car, we decided to delete this part but take the route through the Grand Tetons (actually, I didn’t even want to go to the Tetons but am glad I did).

Snow - the temp outside is

dropping lower as the

elevation gets higher

 After a small stop to take pics of the super big mountains, we headed towards Laramie, WY.  Again, a long drive ahead of us, we tried to keep entertained by the scenery.  We even saw snow (ugh).

Then there were some pretty red rocked mountains.





SIDE STORY:  We were getting close to Rawlins, WY when we started to see bikers spread out on our little back road we were taking.  Darius thought this might be the people racing the Great Divide (we had watched a movie about it recently) so I grabbed my phone and Googled the race.  Sure enough, Rawlins was a pit stop during their third leg.  On a whim, we decided to eat lunch in Rawlins.  As we arrive at Burger King, we discover two riders are there eating lunch.  We talked to a guy in a yellow Arizona jersey and he told us the all left BANFF about twelve days ago.  He looked great for someone who had been riding over 100 miles a day for 12 days.  The other guy looked miserable.  We wished them luck as we headed out the door.  How cool was that? 

On the road again. . .we often saw antelope along the highway either in fields, alongside the road and even IN the road. 

  

Happily, we arrived safely in Laramie where the hubby got to reminisce.  We picked his cousin up from the airport and went to his aunt’s house.  Behind her house was a river that I was relegated with stories of the childhood shenanigans of the guys.

I got in touch with a cousin of mine, as well.  We arranged to meet the next day.  This should be interesting as I haven’t seen him in close to twenty years – man we were babes then.   

Another day of our trip safely completed!