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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

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.