SPRING BREAK 2009! Days 5, 6, and 7 (aka Desert Schmesert part four)

The last few days have been spent having a lot of fun exploring Moab's best tourist area, Arches National Park. The weather has certainly been better than the blizzard that hit at home, but it still pulled its usual "haha, I'm not really a desert" weather that seems to hit every single time I am here.

On to some pictures from the last few days (ignore the splotchy spots on most of the pictures -- the D70/lenses have some annoying dust on them and I'm too lazy to photoshop the splotchies out for now)

Rhonda on my ride up the Bar M trail.

I found Fred's van and managed to leave Chris a "cryptic" note :)

Wednesday, Chris and I decided to ride our road bikes through Arches. We totaled about 45 miles and 3800 ft of climbing.

It got pretty chilly when the sun dipped behind the clouds and the wind picked up.

Near the campground at the end of the road.

We did a side-trip to hike to the Delicate Arch lookout point. It looked small from there. People looked on in awe as we hiked the "treacherous" 1.5 mile loop in our bike clothes.

We got a million more pictures from biking Arches, and I will eventually put them into a slide show if you are interested in seeing them. Riding through Arches is certainly the way to see it as even at slow riding speeds it was hard to see everything. If you have a road bike, and some extra time in Moab, do this loop -- it's amazing! That night we camped at Sandflats again, as the colder weather moved in.

Overnight the extreme winds and heavy rain moved in, blanketing the La Sal's with more snow.

Thursday was deamed a "rest day" as the weather was generally icky and cold. We decided to use our Arches pass to go back and drive to some of the small hikes we didn't get to do the day before. During our visit this time, the clouds rolled in quickly and it SNOWED. Pssssh, "desert" :)

Chris is always in search of a little adventure, even if it's just on a random rock laying on the ground.

We decided to do a three mile hike to see Delicate Arch up close. The weather started out nice, but once we hit this section of slickrock, the snow (small icy pelets) came crashing down on us. They looked really cool blowing down the rock. People, once again, looked at us like we were crazy, as this time we were headed UP when everyone else was running down away from the weather.

A tradition of the boy's. He's good at handstands.

A nice French guy offered to take our picture, and luckily he seemed to know what he was doing with a camera and took lots of great shots for us.

When we made it back to the car, we decided to head back to town to check in to our hotel. The shower was AWESOME and it feels good to have a home-base that doesn't need packing and repacking each time we want to sleep. We ate at the Diner last night for a pseudo-birthday dinner, since Chris has big riding plans for my actual birthday. The dinner itself was okay, the ice cream afterwards was the best part!

This morning Chris and I had a Starbucks date at a local coffee shop and then I dropped him off to ride with Fred, Mike C, and Dave C. I came back to the hotel room and watched TV, napped, and have been catching up on crappy TV. Hopefully we'll get to go get some dinner soon, then turning in early. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do a small ride or two, nap more, and generally get some quality relaxing in before work starts back up next week. Life's timing has me getting my uncomfortable "why are you babyless" procedure done on Monday afternoon, meaning I won't be headed back to work until Tuesday. I guess I'll take an extra day off wherever I can get it!

SPRING BREAK 2009! Days 3 and 4

No pictures for now, as I'm too lazy to upload them, but plenty of fun has been had over the last two days!

Yesterday ended not raining as we thought it would, but we still ended up taking things pretty relaxed. Chris rode Porcupine Rim in the morning, while I sat at the coffee shop and caught up on life over the internet, wallowing over my soreness. When Chris got back, we searched for (and finally bought!) Chris's new climbing shoes. Of course after buying climbing shoes, you have to get ice cream and then actually go climbing! We hit up the Schoolroom Slabs on Wall Street again, only this time it didn't seem as easy as our previous experience out there. I was psyching myself out, and stood virtually paralyzed on the side of the slab for so long that Chris finally starting pulling the rope in an attempt to make me so uncomfortable that I'd have to move. I eventually made it up the relatively easy line, and after some complaining and whining, Chris moved the rope to a new anchor. This time I climbed a little better, not stopping to cry as on previous pitches. We climbed several different areas, Chris even making it up a really difficult looking roof with relative ease.

After climbing we met up with UltraRob for some delicious Pasta Jay's. It's always great to catch up with blog-friends and it was really fun to listen to his RAAM stories. With full bellies, we hit up a pretty good camping spot in Sandflats. We are getting really good at arranging and rearranging the packed car to fit our air mattress sleep system. The last few nights have been quite windy and cold, leaving us sleeping in the car rather than in our nice tent. I'm enjoying camping, but also looking quite forward to our hotel room Thursday!

This morning we had some great breakfast at the Love Muffin and met up with Fred, Pete B, and Pete's friend. Chris took off on a day-long adventure with the enduronuts, while I headed over to a nice parking lot nap before going on my own ride. I rode from town up the old highway (a cracked old road that's no longer in use) and then around the Bar M trail. Chris and I explored the Bar M area last Spring Break, and I wanted to go back. This time I avoided the slickrock-ish trails that venture from the main trail and just stuck to the loop. What an awesome trail! It was way better marked than last year and a good mix of dirt trail and interesting rocks. In all, I rode about 20 miles, before searching the town's streets for free internet. I finally found some and then I proceeded to wait several hours for Chris to get back. He seems to have had a great ride with the boys.

Now I sit outside my new-found shower place while Chris cleans up (did I mention that I LOVE showers?), then we are off to find food and then our campsite for the night. Tomorrow's plan is to ride road bikes through Arches National Park, more eating, more showering, and most likely more napping. Thursday looks a bit rainy and icky, so perhaps we'll be seeing a movie and settling in nicely to our hotel room.

Ahhhh, spring break. There's nothing quite like it.

SPRING BREAK 2009! Days 1 and 2

SPRING BREAK 2009!  WOOO!

Just had to get that out there!

Despite my feelings leading up to this week, I did, in fact, survive long enough to see spring break this year.  Let's just say, I've come to the conclusion that I have, overall, my most difficult group of kids yet -- and that's saying a lot because I've had chair throwers, a girl who would bolt from the building randomly, severely emotionally disturbed kids, and the list could go on and on and on.  

I'm happy to be away for a week.  To say the least.

So here I am, Monday morning, NOT at work (WOOHOOO!), sitting in the Red Rock Bakery and Cafe.  I'm more than a bit sad that Mondos apparently has gone under, but this is an okay substitute.  At least the hot chocolate is half decent.  

Spring break so far?  

Excellent.

We had a leisurely drive in on Saturday, meeting up with Brett, Jeremy, and Chris for a smoothie before they went in search of a nap and we went in search of some rock climbing.  A few hours of 5.7 desert climbing on Wall Street was just what our cooped up bones needed.  Some fellow climbers saw the back of our Element and dropped their jaws in amazement that "those two people have four bikes, climbing stuff, camping stuff, and everything shoved in there."  Yep, we're pretty awesome.

After climbing, we had a LONG wait for dinner at the brewery and then went in search of a good camp spot.  Eventually we settled in for the night and were amazed at how absolutely warm the night was.  For once, I actually unzipped my sleeping bag and didn't sleep in my down jacket.  That never happens in Colorado.

We woke up early Sunday morning, packed up camp, and hit up the Love Muffin for some delicious breakfast.  Last year I scored an awesome pumpkin-chocolate chip muffin from here, couldn't wait to eat it, only to have Turbo eat it while I stepped out of the car for a minute. Luckily they had more, and the year's wait was well worth it.  YUM!  After breakfast, we met up with the boys at the Slickrock parking lot for a ride.  The weather was still fairly warm, but very very windy.  I thought we left Westminster to get away from the spring wind?  

Slickrock is a one-of-a-kind trail.  At least in Colorado, you can never ride 11 miles of rock.  The first time I rode this trail two years ago, I told myself I wouldn't be sad if I never rode it again. Last Spring Break, I rode it again with Dave C and the crew.  Afterwards, I told myself that I wouldn't be sad if I never rode it again.  So here I was, riding it again.  Only this time, I didn't have my squishy full suspension Fuel with lots of gears... I rode my only rideable mountain bike that I own right now -- the rigid single speed.  I knew there'd be lots of walking.  And I was right.  Lots.  

It's hard to not get discouraged when you have to walk almost all of the ups on a very up-and-down trail.  I did, however, notice that I could attack the downhills with far less fear and anxiety than ever before.  The 29er was awesome and when the ups allowed for some good momentum or weren't too long, the single wasn't toooooo bad.  The rigid made the least difference, often feeling smoother than my full suspension ever did.  I did have a few incidents of my chain coming off on the uphills, causing me to slam to the handlebars, leaving my shoulders in quite a bit of pain today.  Chris, Brett, Jeremy, and the other Chris did a great job on the trail and I was clearly the anchor in this group as usual.  

It was great to be out and riding though, and despite the crazy wind the whole way, it sure beats the riding weather out in Colorado right now!

After riding, we got some food (which my post-ride stomach wouldn't allow me to eat), and the working folk headed back to Denver (haha, suckers).  Chris and I drove back to Wall Street and he explored while I took a nap in the car.  Eventually Chris got in a bit of climbing, while I belayed from the car, and we headed to camp.  We had a nice camp dinner and read some books in the Hotelement last night before turning in.  

Today, Chris is out riding Porcupine Rim while I sit here drinking my hot chocolate and catching up on the outside world.  I managed to pay for a shower this morning, making me feel much more human, but no less sore.  The weather today is supposed to be iffy, so we may just bum around town in search of Chris's next pair of climbing shoes... but we'll see.

The great thing about SPRING BREAK 2009!... there's a heck of a lot of relaxing to be had in this beautiful place and lots of time to do it in.     

Sing out loud

Sunday was a sing-out-loud day on the bike.  

Literally.

One runner actually told me: "Nice singing, how refreshing to see someone actually enjoying themselves."

Ha.  

That was and will probably be the only time I've been complemented on my singing.

While the boys rode their March road century, Rhonda The Singlespeed and I hit up some much needed singletrack around Marshal Mesa (as well as the roads that lead there).

Another wicked headwind nearly had me turned back at the neighborhood exit, but I pushed through it, determined to get to some sort of dirt.  Getting to the Coalton Trailhead was way more work than necessary, even requiring me to attempt to pedal DOWN the Wall.  

Once to Coalton, the views of the flatirons, Longs, and even Pikes way down south made the effort all worth it.
I rode Coalton, where most of the singing happened.  It finally felt good to be out and there was a great tune playing in my ear... what else is a girl supposed to do?  

Soon I got to the actual Marshal Mesa trails, Community Ditch trail, and Cowdrey Draw trail. Lots of pedaling, giggling, and whooping here!  
Finally I stopped for the first time to catch a bit of a snack.  Trucky the Ducky likes king sized snickers!
Before I knew it, I was on the road home.  

3 hours and 30ish miles later, I was back at home.  The rest of the night and the next day found me feeling pretty terrible, making me come to the conclusion that my mind and heart are, actually, in much better shape than my body.  I felt pretty lame for feeling so sore and icky after, but considering I rode a hard 3 hours on the single speed with only one two-minute break for a half a snickers, I guess I deserved it.  

And the post ride glass of wine didn't hurt :)  

Relaxation

One week until Spring Break starts.

Spring Break is a highlight of the year.  Right about now, the kids are sick of each other, they are sick of the teacher, and the teacher is getting a little sick of some of them.  One week away brings some good perspective to all involved in education even while non-teachers scoff at it as an unnecessary luxury.

This year's SPRING BREAK 2009! will be spent in Moab, Utah, sucking up all of the biking, hiking, and climbing that the land-o-red-dirt has to offer.  In between all of that, I will be getting some much needed relaxation and perspective on life.  

Needless to say, I can't wait!

Meanwhile, back in the real world, things are moving along.  Chris took his Praxis test today as one of the final steps toward becoming a high school math teacher.  He won't get his results for a while, but seeing as he's the smartest person I've ever met, I'm sure he did great!  I had another blood test yesterday for the no-baby-doctor which will be the last step before a slightly uncomfortable procedure happening in a few weeks.  After that, we'll hopefully know more information and find a way to make a baby!  

And...

Today was wonderful.  

Nearly perfect.

At least so far.

I woke up and made Chris a delicious pre-test breakfast and then promptly went back to sleep when he left at 6:30 am.  I slept for a few hours and woke up and took a nice long shower before Chris got home.  When he got back, we went out for some delicious Panera lunch, followed by a nice long walk around the dog park with Turbo (his second-most favorite thing behind cheese).  From there we hung out at Dairy Queen with some tasty ice cream and then came home to digest.  Chris is now out on a nice long ride, while I head out for a delicious dinner and movie with the girls.  Talk about a good day!  Too bad there weren't any pictures...

Hope everyone else is having a great weekend out in bloggerland.  Cheers to upcoming 70 degree weather!!!

'Snow place like a snow race

We had a great meet-aversary weekend in Leadville!

Chris and I cashed in on an awesome prize from one of last year's Leadville snow races: a free dinner for two at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse. We had the choice of snowshoeing or cross country skiing to the dinner, which was at a candlelit yurt about a mile up the trail from the lodge. Seeing as we own snowshoes and neither of us had ever tried cross country skiing, we chose the skis. We skied in at sunset time, although the view and sunset was seriously obstructed by the low clouds dropping soft snowflakes on us. The ski in was mostly uphill, making for a slow trek for these newbies.


We eventually got to the yurt and sat down to an unbelievable four course meal with delicious hot chocolate and tea.

When dinner was done, and we were REALLY full from our sausage, cheese, bacon wrapped scallops, bread, salad, roast chicken, elk, and pie, we got to strap on some headlamps and ski back downhill to our car. Going downhill was interesting, especially in the dark, but it certainly was fun.


The next day was the Leadville snow race. This race took me 1 hr 40 mins, with a lot of walking but gears for for fast downhills. This year it took me about 1 hr 10 mins, with stellar trail conditions, no walking, but no gears to crank up when I was horribly spun out. The race itself was a blast. I loved riding a course that had made me walk sooooo much last year. Once again, the scenery was unbeatable. The snow races this year haven't failed to plaster a permasmile on my face while riding. Poor Chris was miserably sick, but still stuck it out for a fun ride. He even wrote me a note in the snow, but I somehow missed it.

We stuck around after to watch some crazy ski joring (skiers being pulled through a jump course by HORSES -- nutzos), eat some delicious cookies, and cash in on some other gift certificates gained from this wonderful winter series. It was a wonderful weekend and very refreshing. Thanks to our hosts, Kathy and Chris -- owners of Cycles of Life for putting us up with wonderful spots to sleep on Saturday night, allowing us to swing our fancy dinner and an early race start all in one weekend.

And now... funny kid quote of the week!!!!

We were walking in from music and one of my girls said "I know how to spell 'oh my goodness'" and I said "oh yeah?" to which she responded "yep, OMG." That would've been funny enough, but then she said "can we put that on the word wall?" Ha! Umm, no.

Priorities

During math groups today, one the groups was chatting while "working" as usual.  Usually I tell them to get back to work, but today's conversation was just too entertaining to shush.  It went a little something like this:

Boy:  I color better than you do

Girl:  No you don't

Boy:  Yes I do

Girl:  Well, I know God's powers

Boy:  Oh really?

Girl:  Yep.  He could change this blue marker into a red marker

Boy:  Oh

Girl:  Beat those apples

Hahahahaha.  

When they're not driving me insane, they kill me.

"I never knew infertility could be so much fun!"

Today was our appointment with the "lack-o-baby doctor" -- at least that's what he shall now be referred to, as "reproductive endocrinologist" is far too many letters to type.

I'm proud of us.  

We finally got the ball rolling.

While today was mostly just a general consult, the doctor was very nice and very positive.  We met with the RN who got background info, family history, etc.  Then she left us alone in the office with a large pamphlet about infertility.  Seeing as Chris and I have a combined mental age of 10, we had a few good nervous laughs waiting for the doctor.  When he came in, he explained the basic steps for us to go through to find out more about why we still don't have a little one after two years of trying.  He talked to us for a little while and then left us alone in the office again while we waited for the rn to come back in for more talking.  We were laughing about silly stuff when the rn came back in.  Her comment went something like this...

"wow, you guys sound like you're having a good time.  We could even hear you out there.  I never knew infertility could be so much fun!"

Haha.  We explained that we have an uncanny ability to make any situation fun together and that's partially why we're so dang awesome... :)

Anyway, I went down and had some blood work done.  Next step involves Chris, then I'll go back for more blood work on FRIDAY THE 13th -- dun dun dunnnnnn -- and then an uncomfortable looking procedure at the end of March.  Between those three tests, hopefully we'll get more information and find a way to make a baby!  

I'm optimistic, but trying not to be too optimistic so as not to be too disappointed.

That's just how I roll.

After the doctor, we hung out at the bookstore, then to Noodles for some delicious lunch.  Our original plan of climbing this lovely day-off-afternoon was thwarted by my lingering flu symptoms, so instead I took a nap while Chris suffers on the trainer (fair warning to anyone racing against him this year -- he's got some serious dedication flowing).

A good Friday on the books, now on to a weekend of healing and hopefully some fun!  

Ssssssssssick

Fever?  Check

Chills?  Check

Worst headache of my life?  Check

Cough/sniffling/sneezing?  Check

Aches?  Check

Softest of fabrics feel like sandpaper against my skin?  Check!  Yes, even synchilla.

Loss of will to live (at least for today...)?  CHECK

If this isn't the season's flu, I'm not sure what is.  

Ick.

Thanks to hubby for taking super good care of me and even sitting through hours of I Love Lucy and all of my complaining.  

Yes, I even complain more than little Peggy Ann McKay.  I hope hope hope I can go play on Saturday...

I Cannot Go to School Today!  

By Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today"

Said little Peggy Ann McKay

"I have the measles and the mumps, 

A gash, a rash, and puruple bumps.

My mouth is west, my throat is dry.

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there's one more - that's seventeen, 

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,

It might be the instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I'm sure that my left leg is broke.

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button's caving in.

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,

My 'pendix pains each time it rains.

My toes are cold, my toes are numb, 

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-oh-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There's a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is...

What?  What's that?  What's that you say?

You say today is... saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Relay Fun

Yesterday was the 3rd Leadville Winter MTB race of the year.  

The relay format of the race ended up being an unbelievably good time.

Since Chris is in position to win the series, he teamed up with our old teammate Shawn for a speedy team, Brett and Erik teamed up for a single speed assault of the course, and Michelle and I rocked it for an all girls team -- me single and rigid, her geared and squishy.  

There's not much of a race report for this one.  It was a great ride on and around the Mt. Massive Golf Course, with spectacular views.  Four laps -- one person doing a 2 mile lap through the golf course in the snow, the other person doing the same lap, one person doing a 6 mile road loop around the golf course, the other person doing the same lap... then... EAT! Michelle took the 'rider 1' position for our team in an attempt to let her ride the less chopped up and thus easier to ride snow lap.  I had a great time hanging around and watching other people come and go, standing by the propane heater and enjoying some good laughs with total strangers.  

Shawn and Chris took an early race lead and it was fun to watch both of them come in totally cooked after a 10-11 minute first lap.  Soon Michelle came in and I got to take my turn on the snow lap.  The anticipation of standing around and watching other people come in exhausted really got me fired up for the lap.  The snow was surprisingly rideable, despite the reports from other riders that it was really chopped up.  I managed to find some good lines parallel to other tracks, and I was able to ride through all but one or two small sections.  I'm pretty sure my smile never left my face on that lap.   My tire pressure and gearing was absolutely perfect for this course and I found myself completely alone for the entire two miles, minus one giggly conversation with a cross-country skier on the course.  I think I did my first lap in 17 minutes -- pretty good I think.  Chris's hot lap was around 11 minutes for comparison.  Not bad, at least he wouldn't have been able to lap me if given the chance :)

I came back through the timing area and Michelle took off for her road lap.  My hands were freezing, so as I stood warming them in front of the propane heater, Erik was nice enough to up my tire pressure a bunch for the road.  I took a few pictures of the boys coming through with Erik's camera and soon got to watch Chris come in from his own road lap for the winning time! I'm glad I got to be there as he finished, getting to talk with him for a few minutes before heading out for my own final lap.  He had crashed on the ice, but was okay, thankfully.  He ran in and got me an extra jacket, expecting me to probably get cold on the fast parts of the lap.  

Pretty soon Michelle came in, looking pleased to be done, and I headed out on the road.  I was spun out... a lot... on most of this lap.  Unfortunately I'd gotten enough time off the bike to seize up the legs, so the few small hills proved to be a bit painful.  

Overall the road lap was easy, fast, and unfathomably beautiful.  The views of Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert were breathtaking.  It was fun to look up at them looming above me, remembering our fun trip this summer where we climbed the two of them over a weekend.  I thought about how we fought off the mosquitos to make burritos on the camp stove in the parking lot.  I remembered how we ran to tag Massive's summit and then ran off, narrowly avoiding a huge downpour and lightning.  We laid in the back of the Element watching a documentary about Antarctica on the laptop as Turbo snored beside us.  I thought about wearing a hole in my sock on the way up Elbert, then sitting on the summit for nearly an hour in the beautiful sunshine...  

As I rode on the snowy/icy road, I realized that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  There is something about have the ability and opportunity to ride my bike at 11,000 ft in the winter.  The views actually brought tears to my eyes.  I whooped and hollered at my own good fortune of getting to be here, having fun, feeling good.   Before I knew it I was coming down the final stretch, thinking about the cookies that I'd heard rumors of before the start.  What kind would there be?  How big would they be?  Mmmm, cooooookies...

When the race was finished, we enjoyed some good food, and yes, delicious cookies (peanut butter and HUGE if you want to know -- yes... yes... well worth the ride just for those).  We hung out and enjoyed some time with good friends.  Chris and Shawn won the race by a minute or two, Erik and Brett turned out to be the only team to both brave singles, and Michelle and I got second in the girls division -- out of two, but either way, we got second!  Ha!  Michelle was a real trooper for doing a snow race after more than a year off the bike, and only having put in one or two rides on her mountain bike ever.  She did awesome and hopefully had a little bit of fun along the way here and there!  

When we were done, we drove into town and exchanged some good schwag for new sizes (LOVE my new Melanzana hoody that Chris gifted me!), and purchased some cookies with a few gift certificates (AWESOME cookies from "Ugly Cookie Company" in Leadville -- yum!) and drove home.  

Yummmmmm cooooooookies...

The next race will be March 8.  I did this course last year, and while it had its miserable parts, it was definitely a course I am looking forward to going back to.  Since it will be an early start on a Sunday morning, we are hoping to make a weekend of it, taking advantage of a five-course gourmet, snowshoe-in-dinner in Leadville that we won last year.  I'm already giddy about that weekend.  An awesome way to celebrate our 8th meet-aversary :)   

(pictures taken through the dirty car windows.  More hopefully tomorrow from Michelle's camera) 

A great weekend

Nothing beats a three-day weekend.

Wonderful Valentine's Day... great food, better company.  I love my hubby.

Sunday was a big ride, homework, then a spontaneous dinner/movie/celebration on finishing homework date.  We FINALLY saw Slumdog Millionaire.  Yes, we are probably the last people in the planet to see it, but it was great.  Well worth the hype.

Today?  Chris's early birthday day.  Since his actual birthday will be spent with me at work and then class until 9 pm, we took advantage of this beautiful day off and enjoyed every second. Sleeping in, leisurely breakfast, ice climbing (Chris actually climbing, me belaying), cooking and eating gourmet dinner with wine together.  Can't beat a day like today.  So often I feel like our life together is one big, never-ending adventure and today was no exception.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day:

Happy early birthday darling.

Now for chocolate puddin' with strawberries and whipped cream.  

Ahhhh, the good times.

Kindergarten teacher by day...

...bike racer by night!

In the snow.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

Epic Eric's pogies make me glow!
Eric, I do want PINK pogies... and while I was riding, I thought you should also design Toe-gies :)

Saturday night was the second race in the winter series up in Leadville.

I looked forward to this race since the moment the last race ended.

It was everything I hoped it could be... and more.

We woke up Saturday morning with a routine visit to the vet and then a leisurely breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast spots. We lazied around, slowly packed up the car and our bike gear, and got to head out for the race around 2:00. This lack of scrambling around early in the morning? I could get used that. It suits me quite well to get to sleep in.

After meeting up with our friends at the park-n-ride, we had a pleasantly uneventful drive up to Leadville. We even got there early, resulting in an outstanding pre-race snack of cheese/jalapeno stuffed soft pretzel and hot chocolate in town. We got to hang out with our friend Michelle, who we haven't seen in a while. It's always a welcome change to have another girl around to buffer the testosterone that comes from the boys! Eventually we headed over to the Tennessee Pass Nordic Center where the race was being held. We saw a surprising number of people in the parking lot compared to the last race. Turns out, 65 riders started this race. 65! Amazing, considering the previous race in the series, during the day, in nearly perfect weather, saw only 25 or 30 at the start line. There also appeared to be a decent number of girls -- 10 or 11 as it turns out -- and I was told by Sterling, our friendly race director, that I had some competition in the form of one other single speed girl.

Lounging around a fire with good friends is always high on my like list and we did plenty of this before and after the race. There were even super cute puppies walking around the center, making the experience even more wonderful!

Eventually the pre-race preparations took priority over socializing, and I got my many layers of clothes on and headed out for a quick warmup with Chris. We rode up part of the first climb, and I quickly realized that the gearing on my single speed would most likely cause me to be walking up a lot of that hill. Epic Eric's pogies were going to make my hands deliciously warm though! We spun back to the starting line and waited with our friends as the 7:00 start time quickly approached.

Erik and I waiting for the race to start.

Go! Courtesy of the Vail Daily

Before I knew it we were starting and, as expected, I eventually had to get off and walk. I had the other single speed girl in my sights, and my plan was mostly just to not let her out of my sight. I saw she was walking too, so for a few steps that made me feel better. My competitive side, that has been sleeping peacefully since our racing last summer, quickly awoke and I realized I should get my butt on the bike and pedal past her. I also thought that if I rode past her fast enough, she may not realize that I was also on a single speed, and thus she would not get on and chase :) haha. I'm not sure it worked, but it at least made me laugh at myself. I slowly turned over the pedals up the rest of the hill, passing a few guys that were walking and encouraging me for being on the bike "even on a single!"

This part was okay, although I got pretty hot in my typically-over-dressed-state. We got to do a nice, fast flatish/downhill part and that at least gave the legs and core temperature a little bit of relief. The other single speed girl was still within sight, although behind me luckily. Eventually we got to the WORST part of the course (and if this part was the worst, that is pretty darn good). It was a big, long downhill, but the snow was soft thus making the decent virtually unrideable for us mortals (Chris rode the whole thing...). I tried to ride it some of the time, sometimes doing a one-legged push, sometimes getting brave enough to put both feet on the pedals. This is when the other single speed girl caught me and quickly passed me. She decided to run her bike down this entire decent. A great idea if you have any sort of running stamina whatsoever... which I don't. I tried, but she pulled away pretty quick.

The course wound around for a while, with some rideable ups, some steep enough to cause me to walk, and more rideable flat/downs. The other single speeder and I yo-yo'd basically the entire race. She pushed me pretty hard, and if she hadn't been there, I wouldn't have gone nearly as hard as I did. Eventually we got to a big, open area where the views were outstanding. Being near the back of the 65 person pack, I could see bike lights stretching as far as I could see. The nearly full moon lit up the surrounding mountains and made the snow glow a beautiful white.

It was blissful.

At this point I was pretty sure I was last.

As in... well... very last.

I couldn't see any lights behind me, and it was as really open stretch, so my best guess is that I was, in fact, last.

I tried to make peace with that. The single speed girl had gone past me at some point and I didn't know where she was by now. It's funny, I thought "she's a girl, riding a single speed, at a night snow race, she must be really hard core and fast, there's no way I'll catch her" -- never did it enter into my mind that I, too, was doing that same unthinkable thing. It's like my mind still doesn't believe I actually participate in this stuff.

I rode behind two other guys, and eventually passed them. Chris always joked that with a single speed, you either go fast or you go home. I don't think I ever really got it until this race. It's so true. You ride the gear you have, you don't really have any other option. It seemed the gearies were taking it easy on this beautiful flatish section and I passed probably 8 of them on this section alone. Not really even passed them, but blew past them. Their lights quickly disappeared behind me and I couldn't believe it. In this pack, I also caught back up and passed the other single speed girl. I think she hung on for a while, but then she wasn't there any more. Not sure what happened. Perhaps she chose to ride with one of the groups that I passed.

The trail wound around some more, eventually climbing up a big annoying road that we got to go down at the start of the pretty section. I walked a bunch. I was bonked pretty hard at that point. I had really cranked on the flater section, and that caught up with me on the uphill. The other single speed girl caught up closer behind me, although she and a few other guys seemed to be walking that last part of the hill too. From here on out, she'd get close and then drop off behind. Eventually I didn't ever see her again.

I climbed up the dryish road to pass by the finish line for the start of my last little loop. I passed my cheering friends, wishing more than anything that I was finished instead. My legs were killing me and I was really thirsty. Chris, in his big puffy coat, tagged along the last little loop, following behind me and telling me not to give up. I think he could see that I was nearly toast. Ready to just get off the bike and crawl into a little hole.

Apparently at night part of my head disappears. Courtesy of the Vail Daily.

Eventually I finished and it felt good.

I do believe I'm high-fiving Erik because he had unfrozen liquid.

In the end I got beat by several Leadville local girls... although they do have that whole altitude advantage -- haha. I won the female single speed class -- #1 out of 2. It was a hard battle between the two of us though, so I feel like in the end, that makes up for the lack of numbers. When all was said and done, I put 10 minutes into her. I'm not sure how. Maybe she stopped to pee or something :)

Erik, Brett, and Bill put up outstanding times -- Erik and Brett both pushing single speeds as well.

Chris and Brett (yes, ladies, Brett is s-i-n-g-l-e AND talented)

Erik and Bill (neither are single, but both are talented!)

Chris finished 2nd out of 65 people, competing against some really fast guys. Coming off a rest week and hauling around a 35 pound bike on a fast course makes my legs just hurt thinking about it. He's a monster. And I love him.

After the race we got to hang around in our post-race bliss, eating, talking, and soaking up the heat from the fire. I even got to talk with a few great people who I had never officially met, but know of through this crazy bike world and these fun Leadville races.

After Chris drove us back to Denver, I eventually made it to bed around 2 am.

Sleepy, but full of smiles.