Ride For Your Life

For my aunt

2011-03-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

I kind of let this die. My aunt Linda asked me the other day why I never post here anymore. I'd forgotten all about this site. It's hard to remember to post here, to come up with new things to write about, to find the time to post updates.

A lot has happened. We have a new dog, he likes to run, go camping, and get dirty.

We've taken a lot of mountain bike trips.

I'm starting to get a glimpse of summer and I imagine that means more mountain bike and camp trips. Hard to plan for that when I was just up back country skiing in DEEP powder on Saturday.

Please stop

2010-06-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

My riding shoes have been damp for 6 straight days since it rains every time I ride. Really? Today all I could do was laugh on my ride home. It started out with a sprinkle and then just got heavier. Yay, wet gloves, wet helmet, went everything. Sigh. Maybe I'll drive tomorrow.

St George, Hurricane and Red Canyon

2010-06-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Old trails and some new ones greeted us in Southern Utah where we rode for 8 days. St George, Hurricane, and Red Canyon welcomed us with hot temps and plenty of sunshine. The riding in that part of the country is rocky and fairly technical with beautiful views. To me, mountain biking is about going new places, seeing new things, smiling as I ride through desert vegetation, across mesas, along ledges, into canyons. I hope some of these pictures can portray the beauty of the region.

Bear Springs Race

2010-04-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Bear Springs Trap race up by Mt Hood. I don't really race anymore, or train, but I still go to the occasional race and can still survive in the Pro category. I don't get first place anymore, but then what can I expect, these ladies are training and racing almost every weekend and I'm just hanging out having fun on rides.

Despite all this, I got third place and took home enough money to pay for dinner! I had a lot of fun, but suffered a great amount as well. It was a tough race and I just don't have it in me to ride that hard for that long.

2010-01-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

Last week was the first week of CSA and Derek did awesome using all the fresh produce in our magic bag of goodies. My favorites were the mashed potatoes with leeks, and beet risotto with spinach. Sooo good. When I was little growing up in Washington we lived on property with a giant lot that my parents filled with a vegetable garden. I remember helping to plant and harvest carrots, corn, pumpkins, potatoes, beets, peas, green beans, tomatoes...yummy

2009-09-02T18:54:00.002-07:00

A big group of us went camping last weekend out at Shadow Bay on Waldo Lake. It was a farewell to summer trip but somehow I don't think it will be the last riding adventure before fall sets in.

Group Ride

2009-08-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

I had the rare chance to ride with Tony Ellsworth as part of the Cogwild Ellsworth weekend on Saturday. I bought an Ellsworth Truth this past spring and have been totally loving it. The ride we did is probably close to my favorite in the area. Big climbs, lake views, long downhill descents with big trees...classical Oregon riding. We rode from Little Cultus Lake out and around Lemish and Charlton Lakes and a few of us splintered off and rode up to the top of The Twins and back as well. All together it was somewhere around 26 miles with at least 3700' of climbing and topped out arond 7100' elevation at the top of Twins. The group was made up of only people who rode Ellsworth bikes which was amusing. I met people from Alabama, Utah, Northern and Southern California, and Oregon. I didn't take too many actual ride pictures, just a couple scenery pics.

Here I am with Ellsworth founder Tony Ellsworth.

Views were easy to find.

Tony isn't riding an Ellsworth here..he's in the campground kids bike race!

Summer Vacation

2009-07-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

I took a vacation to mountain bike in Durango, CO. Derek had to work and couldn't join me so I went to visit my friends Matt and Katri. Matt owns Hermosa Tours and we spent the week riding high country singletrack in the mountains surrounding Durango.

The riding in that area is steep and technical with high altitude - some days were up around 11 & 12,000 feet. I took care to drink lots of water and the altitude didn't really bother me that much. The weather was near perfect and I had a blast. Most days we took the Hermosa Tours shuttle up mountain gravel roads and then spent another hour or two climbing and descending as we circled the mountain ranges. At the end of each day I was treated to an awesome long downhill.

2009-07-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

As the snow melts I get to head higher and higher to ride. We rode along Tumalo Trail, up North Fork and then across to Mrazek and Farewell. There was only one spot we had to work through snow (about 6 steps) and then there were about 8 trees down on Metolius Windingo. The weather was hot and sunny and the sights were remarkable. Flowers, snow capped mountains and beauty that can't be described. Summer is sure shaping up to be a whole lot of fun.

Change of Pace

2009-07-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about Bend is you are so close to everything outdoors. After work the other day, I met some friends to paddle. We packed up the car and were up at Sparks Lake in no time at all. Kayaking until the sun sets and then enjoying some beers. Good times.

2009-07-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Derek and I rode in Oakridge on Sunday - well worth the 1.5 hour drive. The trails in Oakridge are steep and varied. Some sections have steep rocky switchbacks, some are smooth with a jungle feel. This ride ended up being a bit over 4 hours with lots of great views and plenty of heat and climbing.

View down after the first climb. The trail actually started down at that water.

HUGE trees everywhere.

Here is one of the rocky steep switchbacks I'm talking about.

Can you pick out Derek?

Helens

2009-07-02T18:15:00.001-07:00

Last week a big contingent from Bend packed up and headed to the Mt St. Helens area for a few days of mountain biking and camping. It was PERFECT weather and I had a really fun time. I lived in Washington when the volcano blew back in 1980 but I was a little girl and was amazed at how much things had grown back. The trails were very different from Bend and we enjoyed the variety of terrain.

Mt St Helens big and bold.

That's the trail along the ridgeline!

That's Mt Adams in the background.

2009-06-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've written anything here. Summer is in full swing and I've been incredibly busy riding, spending time with friends, washing my bikes, and enjoying life. We started off summer on the wrong foot with daily thundershowers and sometimes giant hailstorms! I've ridden in the rain more times this past 30 days than in my whole riding career I think. Trail conditions are really nice right now and I'm writing this after having just returned from an evening ride. Here are a couple shots from my past rides. Darn camera batteries having been playing tricks on me lately. Everytime I go to take a pic the battery is dead. Grrrrr - I've missed a lot of good shots because of this.

I can't go overwhelming myself with all these words so I'll save some for another day.

Sometimes Life is Real

2009-05-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was girls ride night but we were cut short by an unfortunate incident. We came across a man that was unconscious on the trail. It looks like he was riding his bike up Phil's Canyon and just collapsed because when we came upon him the bike was still between his legs and he was on the ground. CPR wasn't able to bring him about and he never regained consciousness. I can't say I've ever had that kind of hands on experience with death. RIP Ray.

On a happier note, Friday night was the First Annual Bend Bicycle Film Festival and it was sold out! I love the cycling community here, everyone is so fun and supportive and the movie submissions were great.

Today was trail maintenance day so I helped out on a crew that worked on a section of the new trail Funner. It was tough work in the hot sun and we were treated to Phil's Trail Ale and a BBQ afterwards. Yet another chance for friends to hang out and enjoy life.

2009-05-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my first ride up to Bachelor this year. Derek was doing the bike leg for a PPP team so I rode my bike up to the mtn and then flew down. Along the way I caught up to a guy who was down from Seattle for the weekend to visit some family so we rode together and chatted. It was good to get out on my road bike and grind away.

Sunday I got a little lesson on fly casting at a park by my house. I definitely don't have it down yet...I'm using too much power and not enough finesse. No fish were harmed during this activity since we weren't even using hooks and not near any body of water! I don't know if I have enough patience for fly fishing but we'll see.

2009-05-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I left work and rode out of town to the bottom of Whoops trail to meet some friends. We had decided to move happy hour to the dirt. After a couple loops of riding Whoops we settled in to enjoy nice cold beverages the fine Friday evening. It was a busy place as rider after rider came down the trail and it was fun to see everyone back on their bikes after the winter.

Girls Ride

2009-05-12T20:20:00.001-07:00

I met up with some of my female friends for a ride after work tonight. It was a little bit chilly bit we didn't care. 6 of us flying through the forest was a cool site to see when I looked back. We started by riding Marvin's Garden in it's entirety and it is pretty cool. New trails are always fun and I'm lucky to live in a place where we get new trails.

This weekend I think I'll ride my road bike up to Mt Bachelor to watch some of the Pole Pedal Paddle happen. Derek is racing on a culinary team doing the bike leg.

2009-05-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Friday was the Epic Trail Ale launch party which basically meant hanging out with every mountain biker in town that I know. I love that about Bend - still a relatively small community and we all support each other as best we can.

Saturday I did a nice mountain bike ride and enjoyed the sunshine and heat! I'm ready for summer...just so you know. After the ride I helped out with registration for the Webcyclery Chainbreaker mountain bike race that took place Sunday. The race was a huge success with 312 racers of all abilities and ages. All the way from the itsy bitsy little kids with training wheels doing the little kid race, to World Champion professionals. It was a lot of hard work, but very rewarding to give back to this sport that has given me so much over the years.

I was even home in time to call my Mom to make sure she received my Mother's Day present!

Spit on us if you want

2009-05-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday I led a group of beginner mountain bikers on a ride of the upcoming Webcyclery Chainbreaker mountain bike race course. There were 17 of us! The weather started out nice enough but turned cloudy and even spit at us a few times. Nevertheless, we persevered and everyone had a great time.

Ridesssss

2009-04-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first ride of Storm King and CIA this year! All the trees are cleared thanks to COTA and the snow has melted. Derek and I had a nice afternoon riding. It's fun to ride these trails after a 4 month or so hiatus that happens annualy while the snow does its thing.

Me on a section of Storm King

Derek on a fun fast section. You can't really tell it's a downward slope in this pic.

Saturday night I rode to a birthday party with some friends where I pigged out on some excellent cake and cookies with a big gathering of friends.

Sunday was race day! I rode the course with Kevin while his girlfriend Angela raced. The trails at Bear Springs are soooo much fun and quite technical. We had an awesome time but didn't take many pictures at all. The course was waaay tougher than years past because snow covered the trail in at least 20 places. So much so that you had to hop off and run or try to do some sort of scoot-n-push method. Angela got 3rd place in her first CAT 2 race and we're proud of her.

Part of the course:

Angela tired after 2 hours and 35 minutes of racing/hiking through snow.

2009-04-24T08:35:00.001-07:00

I have completely fallen off the wagon posting here. I've been riding quite a bit lately, even got a new mountain bike! The new COD trail section is superfun with a couple challenges along the way. I still have to be careful not to crash since I am still on blood thinners though. My commutes to work have been challenging because it's 45 one morning and then 23 the next.

Derek is close to finishing up at Culinary School and he is loving every minute of his new profession. See, layoffs can be good! I'm incredibly happy for him and proud too! I only wish I was a worthy taste tester. But, I'm quite possibly the pickiest eater. The other day he and a friend made beef cheeks that were apparently very tasty but I couldn't bring myself to even try a bite.

I'll try to post some pics this weekend.

Happy Friday!

Mini Vacation

2009-04-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

We both had a few days off so we decided to drive up to Yakima to do some wine tasting and bike riding. The weather cooperated and we were treated to mile after mile of hillsides covered in fruit trees. This place is probably amazing when all the trees bloom. It was nice to climb some hills and see new sights.

We visited one winery that was out in the hills of Yakima and then a couple that were right downtown. We enjoyed a Reisling that we brought back to pair with some spicy Tikka Marsala, a Syrah, and a Red that we enjoyed.

Spring

2009-03-20T08:07:00.001-07:00

The last couple days have been a little sneak peak at the season to come. I rode in short sleeves with NO vest or jacket or anything on Thursday! It's still cold in the mornings so I have to bundle up for my commute in but the mts are amazing to look up at so I don't mind. I saw a few flowers poking through the frozen ground over by the amphitheatre, nobody told them that this is the false spring still. Still don't have any pictures but I'll get back into the groove.

Call me crazy, but I'd never been to karaoke before last weekend. Shilo Inn has it in their bar every Saturday night and so a group of us went to check it out. WOW, there are some really good people that get up on that stage. I had so much fun watching and listening to everyone else, it was hilarious. If you haven't been, it is definitely worth checking out. Free entertainment!

Duck Abuse

2009-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit that I like too chase the ducks and geese in the park to make them quack at me, but this was different. I was just enjoying an afternoon walk through the park when I witnessed a father and son heartwarming event. The father was throwing chips out in the river for the ducks who would then swim/swarm to get them. The son (I'm guessing he was about 11), would torpedo the ducks with pinecones when they got close. I'm not talking a soft lob of a pinecone in their direction either. These ducks were being fully submerged by the force of the pinecones! The father would then exlaim joyfully, "Good one, you got that one good!"

What a great parent.

2009-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't been bringing my camera with me as much as I used to, but I'm still out there enjoying nature. Thursday I went xc skiing with my friend Sherri and it was awesome. Hills of fresh powder glistened and called our names. Yesterday I skate skied up at Meissner and despite the relatively warm temps I had a pretty good ski. I'm getting better at V2 and really seeing the value of it. I think I'll head up again this afternoon. Today we're brewing a nut brown beer and I sure hope it turns out!

Yay beer!

2009-02-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

It was a soggy ride home today but I'm not complaining. Rain in town means snow at the mtn, plus, I figure it was punishment for skipping my lunchtime swim. It's just that I was craving a peanut butter chocolate milkshake and they just happened to have one at the Bend Burger Company just down the street from my work!

Ice Crit

2009-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Saturday night was the ice criterium up at Swampy Snowpark. We weren't racing, just cheering, and socializing. I think this year the costumes were a step up from last year and the crowds were very entertained.

2009-02-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

It's official, Derek and I are racing a tandem bike at the mountain bike race in Eastern Oregon this Sunday. It should be hilarious and fun all at once.

I spent this past weekend doing a lot of skate skiing. I just love the snow and want to share this with everyone out there.
Tour de Meissner/Family Fun Race

Skippin work to ski

2009-02-11T17:08:00.001-08:00

That's right, I skipped out on work this afternoon to go skate skiing. Conditions were a bit soft, but still better then sitting at a desk. My teammate Rob and I slammed out a loop on Zigzag and then one on Woody's before we passed out. MORE SNOW!

2009-02-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday we met up with some friends and tested out their tandem mountain bikes. Tandem cycling feels quite a bit different then regular riding! We pedaled through the neighborhood to get used to it a bit and then we hit the dirt. Check us out!

2009-02-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

2 days in a row now I've ridden my bike at lunch. I just can't help it, it's in the 60's! If it isn't snowing then I'm happy it's at least riding weather. I wore short sleeves both days!!! My friend Angela joined me today and it was nice to have some company. After all that time out in the fresh clean air and nature, I walked back into the office to the stench of fish. Yes, fish. Someone had warmed up leftover fish in the kitchen microwave and the place stunk! Really? Who does that?

Ode to the windproof jacket.

2009-02-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

Without winter I am left to ride more. Yesterday afternoon after a lunch of homemade Chicken Tikka Marsala warm in my belly, we set off to meet my friend Angela for a ride. The roads are mostly snow free now in and around Bend. With temps probably around 50 we set off. The windjacket is a necessity on light spring days like this where the wind blows down off the Cascades and chills you. I can look up as a I peddal and see the snowy mountains looking down on me and I know they think I'm a traitor. After skate skiing probably over 50 times last year, this year is not the same. We didn't buy season passes this year so I've spent more time classic cross country. Without any real snowfall in a month now, I haven't been up much. So you see, it's not my fault I have to betray them. They are betraying me by not producing snow! In fact, I think I tweaked my neck last week when I was doing a snow dance.

Get me the duct tape

2009-01-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

It was so warm that I rolled my window down in my car the other day and it stuck down. Somehow it came out of the track. So, with a flashlight and a screwdriver, Derek took my door apart to fix it. Half an hour in I heard the dangerous words, "Get me the duct tape." I can't complain though, he fixed it and saved us money!

I think I'm opposed to the proposed law where cyclists don't have to stop completely stop at stop signs if a car isn't coming. I mean, it's not that big of a deal to me to stop and then start back up. I have a bigger objection to stopping at a stoplight when there are no cars around.

Ride on.

Mountain Bike Race in February?

2009-01-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

I'm toying with the idea of trying to race a new mountain bike race here in Oregon in...February! It's out east in Echo, Oregon and I think it would be fun to race it on a tandem with Derek. It would be more just for something fun to do. We'll see.

Last night we went to Webcyclery movie night and watched Bikecar. It's a movie about 4 snowboarders who build a pedal powered car and ride from Moscow, Idaho up to Silver Mtn, across Washington to some mountain, to Mt Hood in Oregon, and then on to Mt Bachelor here in Bend. It was just the kind of adventure that I would LOVE to do and I really enjoyed the film.

2009-01-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful week! My rides to and from work were under unseasonably warm temperatures and my lunchtime rides were down right warm. It's still slightly dark when I start out in the morning but the sun rises as I quietly spin through the neighborhood. Some mornings the colors are magnificent and it's those mornings that I pedal a little slower so that I can admire the lasting effects of the sunrise.

2009-01-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

Winter seems to have taken a break so with temps nearing 50 we we went mountain biking at Horse Ridge.

Last night we had dinner with a big group and everything was yummy!

2009-01-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

I'm sure the topic of conversation all over town is the weather so I'll spare the discussion other than to say...what the hell is going on and where is winter?

I passed by a new store in the Old Mill Marketplace...just says ELECTRIC BIKES. Pretty self explanatory what they are probably selling, but I'll have to go check it out.

So far I haven't noticed an increase in people swimming at Juniper but the gym sure looks busy when I walk by. I wonder if any studies have been done regarding the average intelligence level of people using saunas. I have the most interesting discussions in there - surely the average user is smarter than most people.

That's about it - is it Friday yet?

Awesomeness

2009-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were up early and went to Meissner to skate ski. The lot was only partially full when we got there and one of the high school teams was leaving so it was relatively quite. The conditions were pretty nice and we did the Tangent Loop with ease. Great weather, good skiing.

We bought some ingredients to brew an amber ale so that's our next project.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

New Year's Even was great - we met up with a bunch of people and cross country skied out to one of the shelters. With the wood stove going and the music pumping we celebrated. Good times.

Christmas Ski

2008-12-26T13:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday after some homemade pancakes in my belly, we went xc skiing. 4 hours of breaking trail in deep powder was exhausting. All we could do after is sit on the couch and eat. Perfect day.

XC Ski Weekend

2008-12-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Saturday we were up early and went xc skiing at Swampy. It was a lot of trail breaking in deep powder since we were the first ones up to the Swede Shelter. Plenty of snow and relatively good weather. Sore legs.

Sunday we skied downtown to The Summit and joined some friends for beers. It was then settled that we are going to try our hand at homebrewing in the new year. That's an easy enough resolution to keep.

Sunday up at the shelter.

Derek on his way for beers.

Me skiing along the river on the way downtown.

Ski!

2008-12-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

The snow was so light and dry today for my first ski. Everything just felt right shoooshing along. Afterwards we stopped and snowshoed in for a Christmas Tree. It's always quite an ordeal to find just the right one. This time we went to Wanoga Snowpark and hiked back up in for a nice 8 footer or so.

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Delicious

2008-12-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

Last night's dinner was sweet potato tamales with goat and cream cheesed stuffed jalapenos and red snapper with a chipotle sauce. After that digested a tad we topped the night off with fresh from the oven Chocolate Lave Cake. I'm fueled up for today's adventures now.

2008-12-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Portland was fun - we spent the weekend watching cyclocross races, drinking beer at some new to us breweries, walking around, and having fun.

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-12-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

It was my birthday and Derek cooked me an awesome dinner and then for dessert, a Sacher Cake. It's a Viennese cake, probably the most famous chocolate cake of all-time. It consists of chocolate sponge cake cut into three layers, between which he put a homemade cherry syrup. The whole cake is then iced with a velvet-like chocolate. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

It was really nice weather for riding yesteray and took advantage of it and went for a spin after lunch. Fall keeps chugging along and I'll take it while it's here, but I'm ready for snow too!

Group Ride

2008-11-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

What another wonderful day for riding! Still no snow so we're having an extended riding season. The ride took us from Wanoga Snowpark into town. Great time.

Pyramid

2008-11-29T11:03:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was great! We loaded the Bob trailer and bikes up with beer, potato gratin, green bean casserole and chocolate bourbon pecan pie and rode over to Stu and Linda's.

Funner

2008-11-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

After a night of eating and drinking we slept in and then rode the new Funner trail up at Wanoga yesterday. We did it as a modified loop by heading down Funner and then up Tiddlywinks to the singletrack connector and then back up Funner. Fun stuff. It was the first time we've been all the way down the trail so we took a couple of the jumps pretty easy. Good times, decent weather and nice to pedal for a couple hours.

Movie Night

2008-11-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

Last night was Webcyclery movie night so off we went. We started with some beers by the outside fire at McM's and then headed inside for the showing of 9 Ball Diaries. Very entertaining footage of some unbearable weather!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey, Take a Hike!

2008-11-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

I hiked/jogged up Tumalo Mtn on Sunday. It was cold but very sunny as I started up the trail. The snow never got to be more than about 8" so I was fine in my hiking boots. The hike up was about 1.8 miles and gained 1,200 feet where it tops out at 7,779 feet. Brilliant views.

Mt Bachelor across the street and starting to get a bit of base.

2008-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

The last couple nights have been pretty chilly for my ride home. My observations: Jackson's Corner is VERY popular. Every night when I ride by it, the surrounding streets are lined with cars and it's buzzing inside. I need to try that place, seems promising. I saw that they lit up all the little trees in the Old Mill...looks nice. I love this time of year.

2008-11-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend for riding! We did a nice road ride one day and mountain biked the next. Just for the record....Happy Valley has a lot of snow still and that storm we had a week or so ago caused A LOT of blowdown on the trails. It's weird riding through snow when it's 70 degrees out.

The snow started to show up at the river crossing and it got thick for periods.

Sweet

2008-11-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Someone left this on our door while we were out drinking Friday night. It pays to drink.

2008-11-13T07:47:00.001-08:00

It swirls and whirls, leaves dribble along the surface then shoot up into the sky, this way, that way, chaos.

What a nice windstorm for my rides yesterday. Coming back from the pool I'd be humming right along and then BAM hit by a windgust and nearly stopped dead. Standing at the light waiting for it to beam green I watched the signals swaying in the wind and the trees being buffeted. It was comical to ride with the hands of wind pushing on my handlebars.

Where is winter?

The trails called and I answered

2008-11-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

More great fall weather this weekend. We got in a nice ride and apparently we weren't the only one with the idea because we saw more people on the trails Saturday then we ever have.

I always have to stop and look out across this open area to admire my surroundings.

Sunday I went swimming and sat in the sauna and steam room to relax afterward. I hope it doesn't snow/ice too much if any this week. I still haven't switched over my tires on my bike to the studded ones. Pretty soon I will be going through the morning ritual of putting on the balaclava, neoprene booties and extra heavy gloves to make the ride into work.

2008-11-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

Fall is awesome. We headed out for a quick ride Sunday morning. I peaked out the blinds looking west and there were some spots of blue sky but the ground was wet and it had clearly been raining sometime recently. The sky to the South was grey with a big cloud bank. What the heck, we went for it. Up at Swampy Snowpark it was snowing ever so lightly, really tiny itsy bitsy pieces that were more like hail. They trail was damp and AWESOME as we winded up and around. About 15 minutes in we hit some actual snow that was sticking to the ground. It never got to be more than a dusting though. The air was soooo fresh tasting and smelling as I cleared the ridge and started downhill.

Thanksgiving Pies

2008-10-28T19:38:00.001-07:00

Help support the Central Oregon Culinary School by purchasing your Thanksgiving pie from them. They are selling Apple, Chocolate Pecan Bourbon, and Pumpkin for $12 each and all proceeds go to the 2009 Italy Culinary Trip. Really, all proceeds will just go to your belly! Pies can be ordered by calling 318-3780 or by e-mail at jdarwin@cocc.edu. They will take orders up until Friday November 21, 2008 for pick up after noon on Wednesday November 26, 2008.

Cache Mtn

2008-10-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had plans to meet some people to ride Cache Mtn but they called and canceled feeling sick. Derek and I soldiered on alone. We hadn't ridden Cache Mtn since the fall of 2004 as part of the Bend Fat Tire Tour. On that particular day we rode the 20+ miles in a heavy snowfall at times, rain at others. IT WAS FREEZING that day. This Saturday was a drastic difference. It was a perfect autumn day about 65 degrees, no wind, and spectacular color. Back in 2003 the B&B Complex fire devastated this area burning a total of 140 square miles. The regrowth is in full force.

Dance Stars

2008-10-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Derek!

2008-10-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

We're going to Hola for Derek's birthday tonight. Can't wait!

28 degrees for my ride in this morning. I couldn't find my extra strength warm gloves so my hands froze by the time I arrived.

Hard packed and tacky

2008-10-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

The phrase "hard packed and tacky" make any mountain biker drool. We met some people for an awesome ride from Swampy up to Dutchman and then down Flagline. The trail was perfect, simply perfect. Surprisingly, we saw no other riders out. Fall conditions are my favorite time to ride usually...as long as it's good weather.

There was just this one little patch of snow and then a little bit of mud in a couple spots.

Sunday we went for a road ride before pigging out on some homemade chicken tamales for dinner. Our ride took us out into the country.

Oh, and the tamales were good!

2008-10-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode out to the end of Skyliners and back for lunch. In 2 months time that ride probably won't be possible. Instead, I'll be cross country skiing out there. But until then I'll continue to put in the ear buds, hit play on the mp3 player and crank out the miles in the fresh afternoon air while watching trees fly by and squirrels scamper for safety.

2008-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

It snowed a couple flakes on my ride home the other night but it appears that this week is going to be back to fall. It was kind of just a peak a boo of winter. I think I am going to attempt a ski race this year just for something to do. I am not the best skate skier by any means, and I really need to take some sort of formal lesson to make sure I'm doing stuff right, but I don't care. It will just be for fun.

Saturday we went to Man Maid which was part of the Bend Film Festival. Pretty entertaining film though it probably won't win the Best of Award. It was shot in and around Redmond so that was cool to see. I'm really happy Bend has the festival, it's a great event to draw some art into the town.

2008-10-09T07:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning was a chilly ride to work - 29 degrees. The river water was warmer than the air and steam was slowly rising. I cruised along the trail and had to just stop and stare at it for awhile...what a great morning.

After work I went for a mountain bike ride at Phil's with a beginner rider who is looking to get better. We started at 5pm and rode until about 6:40 when we were nearly frozen! The sun dropped below the trees and with it, the temps dropped drastically. BRRRRR!

Camouflage

2008-10-06T10:53:00.001-07:00

This time of year I'm dressed in camouflage when I wear my Webcyclery team stuff with all the yellow and red. I'll have to get some fall color pics up. Don't be surprised if you see some snow on the hills in the background though. When I rode to work this morning I got a good look at what this weekend's mtn storms left behind up there and it looks white!

3" of Snow

2008-10-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, it snowed up at Bachelor today. I wasn't up there, but got in a 20 mile ride before calling it quits for the day. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to ride with my compression stocking on our not but I figure it can't hurt, other than to wear it out faster. It's tough, I went for my bimonthly blood test yesterday and my INR was down to 1.8. It's supposed to be between 2-3 so they had to up my Coumadin dosage again. My workouts cause my body to metabolize the medicine faster so now that I'm up to full workout I hope it will stabalize.

Today we made a grand purchase...a Kitchen Aid mixer. The first thing to get mixed up - homemade banana cream pie completely from scratch.

2008-10-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately! I had company for a week and we spent a lot of time out and about. We walked around Shevlin Park and had a nice wine, bread, cheese, fruit picnic one day, we had a WONDERFUL dinner at Merenda's one night, enjoyed all the new seasonal beers at Deschutes (MY HOP TRIP IS BACK!!!). Now that Derek is in culinary school he is even more interested in food.

I'm still riding and swimming a lot. I won a subscription to WEND magazine as part of a commute challenge. I really dig that mag! I need to get a new rear fender for my bike so that when I ride to and from work I don't get the brown stripe on my butt when it rains/snows. That is coming you know. Today it rained for my swim. Nice and refreshing.

2008-09-26T08:03:00.001-07:00

Last night Derek and I went for a mountain bike ride after work and did a nice little loop up Phil's and then around and down Ben's. Coming down Ben's there was some asshat that thought the entire network was his and he was too good to yeild the trail. I saw him coming up behind us when we pulled aside to let a couple come up the trail. He slammed on his brakes and crashed into the bushes trying to get around all of us. Fast forward to a couple miles later and again, we had pulled over to let a group of 4 come up the trail. It's singletrack and there is not room to pass side by side in this section but dude tries to squeeze between Derek and the riders coming up the trail. We took off and left him in the dust after that.

Some people just ruin the fun of the world.

2008-09-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

I really hope that was it for awhile for the rain - where the heck did that come from anyway? Summer and warm to cloudy and then BAM rain. I have company in town starting Tuesday and I don't want it to rain for them. The streets were still damp this morning when I rode to work.

My book club just finished reading Blindness and I loved it. It's coming to the theater in a couple weeks and I know they won't do it justice, but I'll still go see it.

Cyclocross

2008-09-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Last night was #3 in the cyclocross series that Webcyclery sponsors. Here is Adam bunny hopping the barriers

normal people dismount and run over them

2008-09-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

I rode at lunch today under sunny skies and warm temps...oh, and a pretty strong headwind! It's been awhile since I've ridden South on Brookswood out to Knott/Baker. Last time I rode that way they were barely breaking ground on the little shopping area by River Rim. Now it's almost complete!!!!

Another pizza place is coming to Bend - Boston Gourmet. I don't know much about it. I'm currently backlogged with new places to try. Rough life, huh?

2008-09-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Bend Burger Company opened yesterday and I saw a line out the door when I passed by.

My commutes to work have been uneventful but still very nice. A few days of awesome sunrises, a bit of smoke in the air, cool evening colors.. there is always stuff to look at and admire.

Tonight is cyclocross in the lot across for Cascades Lake Brewery - come and race or cheer. Good times.

2008-09-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

What a nice weekend. Sunshine, warm weather, great trails, awesome beer... Deschutes has some new seasonals that are noteworthy. Fresh hop brews have started and there are more to come!!!!

Saturday we went mountain biking on one of my favorites loops. So many folks come to Bend and only ride Phil's or Mrazek and are missing out. Adventurous people are rewarded.

That's one GIANT mushroom!

Who needs on rv and hookups when you get a cozy spot like this with a nice view?

Sunday I did a big swim workout and then we rode down to The Summit to watch the Chargers play. AAAARGH, another action packed game that came down to the wire. FRUSTRATING!

Dustache

2008-09-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

It was another dusty night of cyclocross. I rode over early to help setup the course and then kept an eye on the barrier section of the course in case they got knocked down. I saw plenty of crashes through all the dust.

The run up/ride up. There used to be barriers at the bottom but they took them out this week.

Fire Sky

2008-09-09T07:49:00.001-07:00

Hope you saw the sunrise this morning. It was amazingly colorful, down to the point that it was slightly eerie!. I rounded the corner on my bike and was in awe.

A Joke?

2008-09-08T11:22:00.001-07:00

Unless it's a joke, I just read that Lance Armstrong will return to road racing in 2009.

Velonews Article

I'm King of the World

2008-09-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Went mountain biking today for a few hours - it was so nice to be out there. Caught sight of this little guy eating lunch high atop a rock outcropping like he was royalty.

We stopped in at The Summit Stage and Saloon afterward to watch the Chargers game. What a great game - down to the last seconds!

Aquabike

2008-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've always wished that when I cold run I had done a triathlon. That's out of the question, so I want to do a duathlon, only, it's not called that. This would be swimming and biking and they are called aquabike events. We don't have any in Bend that I know of or can find...or even Oregon for that matter. But, I think we should have one.

I rode down to the pool and swam about 2200 meters yesterday before riding back home and boy, was it nice out. Such a perfect way to spend a nice summer day. Today we're going to hit the trails and mountain bike. I talked to my doctor and Friday and she said that as long as my leg doesn't hurt I can do whatever I want...except fall and get hurt. The pressure is on.

Thursday Night Fun

2008-09-04T20:18:00.001-07:00

Last night was the first of the Webcyclery cyclocross races and I rode over after work to help out while Derek raced. It was dusty as usual, but that didn't stop all the racers from having a great time. I had fun cheering everyone on, it's such a cool local event that they cycling community comes together for. I was in a hurry this morning so only had time to throw two pics up.

Just a tad bit dry and dusty.

Fake mud - well, it's real mud, but put there by a water truck. This sure ain't muddy cyclocross like the rest of Oregon.

2008-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

I found out where my neighbor works by racing her this morning. She was driving and I was riding. It's about a mile from our house and I got there faster riding then she did driving. It was another cold morning. I keep riding to work in jackets and leaving them here because it gets so warm in the afternoon and I forget about them! I now have three here. Something needs to be done about this.

I'm addicted to Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare. It's a BBC show where Chef Gordon Ramsay goes to a restaraunt and tries to help them get back on their feet by redesigning the menu and working with the kitchen staff. Hey, it's that or the "New" 90210. hahaha - no, dont worry, I'm not watching that crap.

What is that?

2008-08-31T08:05:00.001-07:00

The heater went on yesterday morning and I couldn't figure out what the noise was since I haven't heard it in so long. I had to put my wind vest on to ride to the pool for a swim workout in the morning. It was cold out but when I jumped in the pool and got going I was actually hot. It's funny the things you hear when in a locker room. Yesterday there was a group of girls (I'm guessing they were 17 or so) that were complaining about how broke they are. One had a car payment due that she said she didn't have enough money to pay this month. She was worried what would happen if she didn't make it. Her friend said she thought that it would be ok for awhile and she could try to make it whenever she had the money. They decided that was a good idea and that they should go get their nails done and go shopping. hahaha

I don't have anything new to write about really, I'm spending my free time swimming, doing a little riding, and next week I think I'll start back with rowing. I don't like to be in the gym when I can be outside, but I'm running out of outside stuff to do. So I think I'll put together a ride to the gym and then a row and ride home or something like that.

Crow

2008-08-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

It was a nice night for a concert so we rode our bikes down for a beer and then to listen to Sheryl Crow. There were a TON of people out for the event and the restaraunts were all hopping.

Me, I just love the river at/after sunset.

Attack of the killer bike shadow.

2008-08-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for the Bend Burger Company to open downtown. I don't eat hamburgers, but I'm a sucker for a shake. Not those lame ass ones that fast food restaurants have...a real one.

Today was my weekly anti coagulation appointment and I'm right in the appropriate INR zone! Woohoo! I've been commuting to and from work and the pool by bike without any problems and even rode at lunch a bit today. It's such a nice time of year to get out and ride or swim.

That's about it for me.

Fall is Creeping In

2008-08-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

It was a little chilly for my ride into work today. Fall is around the corner indeed. I've been faithfully wearing my compression stocking to help my leg feel better. It looks really great with my riding shorts. It is so nice to get out and ride again after a little more than 3 weeks off. Commuting to work and the pool and back isn't much when I was riding 5-6 hour days just a month ago, but hey, it's a start right? The rockchucks appear to have gone in to hibernation or something, I haven't seen them in awhile.

Next week is the start of Webcyclery's cyclocross series! It sure would be nice to see some new faces out there. Are you at all interested in a good 40 or so minute workout? Nobody really cares what place they get, just show up with a bike and a good attitude. I'll be volunteering in some form.

Yesterday was our team pool party and BBQ. We had a good time playing around in the pool and pigging out on food.

One Day You're Fine, the Next You're Not

2008-08-23T09:13:00.001-07:00

All these vacation posts were fun to look back at. We love to travel and ride in new places. However, the second to last day my right leg started to feel some strain again. It felt like just a really tight muscle that needed to be stretched..it kept kind of cramping up. We actually ended our vacation early and headed for home. Monday when we got back I went to the doctor because my lower leg was swelling. They diagnosed it as a re-injury to my calf/hamstring but sent me for an ultrasound just in case. Turns out I have deep vein thrombosis (blood clot). So, I spent two weeks giving myself injections into my stomach twice a day of a "blood thinner", as well as taking a pill each day. Also with that, I've been going to the anticoagulation clinic twice a week so they can monitor the levels of medicine in my blood. It's scary. I'm done with the injections and left with just taking Coumadin for possibly 6 months.

I'm back to riding some now that my muscle has healed, and swimming is still a strong part of my exercise.

One Day You're Fine the Next You're Not.

Stanley Idaho

2008-08-20T20:01:00.001-07:00

Stanley, Idaho was our last stop. We did two rides here while we camped and enjoyed the small town. Our first ride was not what the map mad it sound like. The climbs were too steep and loose for riding, especially after all we'd ridden in the prior 2 weeks. The downhill was awesome, but the climb made it not worth it. We rode for almost 6 hours but at least two was hiking.

This was the end of the trail Derek had ridden up the river to see if the trail continued on and then he had to walk back to let me know.

Sun Valley

2008-08-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

The riding in Sun Valley was really hot and dry. There are a lot of steep ups and downs! I really enjoyed the town of Ketchum, very cool laid back vibe compared to Jackson and we met quiet a few very nice locals.

First way to test a town is to have a beer

Then you ride the next day.

2008-08-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

When we weren't riding we were tasting local beers and checking out the scenery.

Antler Arch in downtown Jackson

Mormon Row - Mormon homesteaders established these scattered cabins in the early 1900s.

I'm that close to the Bison, I was just standing there and he wandered across the street right in front of me.

Momma was quite pretective of her little baby there.

Our next stop was Sun Valley, Idaho.

Brew Fest!

2008-08-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night I'm volunteering at the Brew Fest down at the Amphitheatre. I'll be pouring beer at one of the 40+ brewers that are coming this year. So, last night was our little volunteer party. We enjoyed free Rico's Tacos (I had an excellent chicken one), drank free beer (I had Longhammer IPA and some other Amber that was very good). The event is a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters, so get out and have some fun tonight and Saturday night and support a great organization.

Snow King Jackson Pictures

2008-08-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

Our second ride in Jackson was another long day at around 5 hours of pedaling. We started at the snow mountain right in town and rode some fun trails on the slopes before heading out on a big loop. Again, super fun singeltrack with amazing views.

Here is the view of Jackson from the face of the ski slope.

Wilson Canyon - I was initially a little uneasy about taking this trail because it showed as double black diamond on the map. It turned out to be totally rideable, though the picture makes it look tame. I rode it all and then hiked back up to take Derek's picture.

We finished the day with beers at the Snake River Brewery.

Jackson

2008-08-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

We made the drive from Bozeman to Jackson, Wyoming and setup camp at Gros Ventre which had been closed two weeks before because the grizzlies were using it for their roaming grounds.

The town of Jackson is pretty touristy and we didn't spend a lot of time there. Most of our time was on the bike or out taking pictures of the scenery.

Our first ride was Black Canyon. Climb up for something like 2 hours, descend for a long ways. It was gorgeous scenery as usual.

Crater Lake (not THE Crater Lake)

Our campsite

River at our camp.

A moose!

Bangtail Divide

2008-08-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

After our Curly Lake Epic the day before, we were warmed up for another long day of singletrack riding. Bangtail Divide is a relatively new trail outside of Bozeman that had great views of several mountain ranges to include the Briders, Crazies, Absaroka, Gallatin, and Madison. It was 24 miles and started with over climbing around 28 switchbacks. I think we rode for about 5 hours this day. It was a great ride with a very fast and fun ending downhill.

We didn't take pictures of the downhill because we were racing against a thunderstorm. We didn't make it and ended up riding the last 7 miles in a flash flood and hail. We were drenched but happy when we got back to the car.

20 miles 6000' of climbing

2008-08-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

Curly Lake is in the middle of nowhere heavy Grizzly country. The elevation of the ride starts high and goes higher with tons of difficult singletrack climbing with amazing views. It was a tough 6 hours of riding at elevation but well worth it.

The mosquitos were thick so despite the high temps and me wearing bug spray, I had to put on my rain jacket to keep them off my arms.

Hour 2 of the climb.

We finally climbed above the treeline.

Fun, challenging rocky switchbacks awaited.

I'm a wee little speck on the trail.

Long long day of riding and the last 1 mile or so was in POURING rain. No bear sightings and only 2 hiker sightings. This is truly considered an "epic" ride and I would recommend it to anyone who likes remote riding that is really really hard. Derek beat me with the mosquito bite count. I'm pretty sure he came out with at least 50 and I maybe got 10.

Ride Report & Pics - Missoula MT

2008-08-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Rattlesnake Creek was our first ride of the vacation. It's a beautiful and challenging trail network just minutes from downtown Missoula. Nice singletrack with some tough steep climbing and super fast twisty screaming downhill.

This lookout we stopped out had great views of the ski slopes across the valley. It was hot on the climb up but well worth it when we got to the downhill.

We stayed just one day and then moved on to Bozeman for some truly epic riding. These two days in Bozeman were back to back, some of the most difficult riding we did.

Back in Bend

2008-08-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

After a couple weeks on our mountain bike vacation, we're home. We had to cut it a day short because my right leg started hurting again...seems to be a muscle strain again. I'll get to the details of that in a few days. I'll leave it at this...one ride in Stanley Idaho was over the top and we ended up hiking with our bikes up steeeeeep mountain sides for probably a total of 2.5 hours. I can ride a mountain bike for 5-7 hours for weeks on end but I can't hike. My legs are not made for hiking and I strained a muscle. So we skipped McCall Idaho and are back. Pictures will start following soon.

Sun Valley

2008-07-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Jackson, WY was completely awesome. The riding was extremely exceptional. Now we're in Sun Valley continuing the riding extravaganza. We have more pictures then I could ever imagine and will have to upload them upon return.

Ride on!

I Hear Sniffing

2008-07-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hello from Jackson, Wyomiing. I learned today that our campground closed 2 weeks aqo for grizzly sightings. Apparently they were "passing through the area". Last night Derek woke up at 2:30 swearing he heard loud noises in the bushes and sniffing just outside our tent. He had the bear spray ready. I couldn't easily fall back asleep after that. The riding is amazing here and I will have TONS of pictures when I have more time.

Cheers.

Why not

2008-07-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

So just a couple days after a guy was attacked by a bear in Wyoming, here we are in EXTREME grizzly country in Montana to do some mountain biking. We swung by Missoula to stay with my dad and did a really fun ride up Rattlesnake. It was pretty much like driving 9 hours and getting out at the base of Alpe D'Huez and climbing right away. The trail tilted upwards and then bombed down through a forest in a fighter pilot type way. The lookout from the top was across the valley at Ski Bowl, the ski area. No pictures yet, I have too many to upload and look through.

Tonight we're in Bozeman and just finished riding possibly the hardest ride I've done aside from the 12 hour, 24 hour, and 100 mile races I've done. It was a little over 24 miles with a bit over 5000' of climbing starting at 5800' and going up to almost 10,000 feet. There were bear warnings EVERYWHERE and we saw only 2 hikers all day. It was VERY challenging both uphill and down and while it was brutal and took us almost 6 hours (couple short breaks included), we had a blast.

More later!

Dirt Series

2008-07-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

I helped out with the Sugoi Dirt Series on Saturday. This is a great event for every level of female mountain bike rider. The Dirt Series crew puts together a jam packed two day schedule to help female mountain bikers learn and hone skills with lots of personalized attention and instruction.

Friday Night Lights

2008-07-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Friday night was a great night for watching bike races and chatting with every person you've ever met in Bend. The Friday night crit is a great event for specatators because the racers come around every few minutes! Good times.

The women pick up the pace. In yellow is Kristen Armstrong who heading to the Olympics for the US in August.

Here's local boy Chris Horner riding on the front for his teammate Levi.

Here's Levi racing through downtown Bend. For those who don't know, he's heading to the Olympics next month for road cycling.

This is Daniel Holloway of Garmin Chipotle who was on the front for several laps of the race.