Kinda, Sorta, A Brick

June was a bad month for me.  Everything else in life was great–but as far as getting a workout in?  Forget it.  Sure, I went mountain biking a couple times in Colorado, and once with my SCAG Ladies group, but I only got on the road bike once.  Once!  The rain is partly to blame, my crazy busy schedule, and my Internet Marketing class I’m taking at UMASS/Amherst (done officially July 9th….in the home stretch!)  Last week I even went running instead of riding, because of the thunderstorms that have plagued the northeast for the last 2 months. 

As a result, I’ve felt awful.  I’ve put three pounds on.  I’m cagey.  I miss my bike, I miss the road.  I want to hurt for three days after a workout I miss it so bad.  And today, my day off the forecast calls for…..

You guessed it!  Thunderstorms!

Screw this, I thought.  I have had it.  I filled the water bottle, pumped the tires and headed out under threatening skies.  I rode a short & sweet 19 miles, with just a few sprinkles.  My speed was fast (for me) considering I have barely been riding.  On the flats I maintained 20mph easily.  My average for the ride was 15 (I have a hilly route).  An idea crept into my brain somewhere on the road. 

What if I went running today too?

I ran last with consistency when I was 30 years old.  I trained for, and ran, a 5 mile road race.  It was my way of thumbing my nose at turning 30–a little birthday present for my self-esteem. I don’t even enjoy running.  I find it an arduous chore.  Pointless.  Dull.  Boring.  Running should be done only if you are running after something, or running from something.  Otherwise, why do it? (other than to spite your age)

I returned home from my ride.  I logged my miles on bike journal.  I checked my email.  I checked my snail mail.  I changed my shirt, strapped on my running shoes and headed out the door.  I wasn’t really tired from 19 miles of riding, this should be no big deal.

The first 200 yards sucked.  I mean I was like “wtf am I doing this for?”  That was that little hill right near my house.  After that, I settled down.  I didn’t run long, about a mile and 1/2, but when I got home I was psyched.  Happy.  I’d never done a “brick.”  And it wasn’t exactly easy.  But I’m thinking this might be the little ass-kicking I need to push myself athletically.  I’m not training for a triathlon.  I just want my waistline back.  So maybe a brick a week?  With longer distances for both the riding and the running and no email checks in between.  

Sounds good to me.

–Karen

Ladies Mountain Biking Thursday July 2nd

Originally uploaded by sipclip&go

The Ladies are meeting this Thursday evening, instead of Friday to embark on our fourth ride of the season. We all wanted to get a ride in and with the long holiday weekend, wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to attend before other holiday commitments. New attendees are most welcome to ride with us:  We’re still exploring new places and everyone seems to have a healthy sense of adventure combined with a laid back manner.  It’s a nice little evening workout with a chance to socialize.  Nothing too intense, but we don’t mind a little challenge!  Come join us!

Where: Batchelor Street, Granby, MA
When: Thursday July 2nd @ 6PM
Why: For fun and a little workout with nice people
Bring? A Helmet, Mountain Bike, water, a sense of humor, adventure, your legs and some bug spray!

Email me for more information.  Extreme rain cancels.

–Karen

Back in, and out of, the saddle

Ever notice it never rains when you want it to? The skies looked like they were going to open up on my ride, which would have been fine by me, but they never did. I do NOT want it to rain this afternoon. Any takers? I rode up to work today just to see how badly out of shape I am. It’s bad, but not too bad. I spent a lot of time out of the saddle pedaling up the hills. I didn’t have to stop and catch my breath at all which I will concede as a point for me.

No, I did not crash again. The following picture is just the Fuji “parked” while I tried to get a photo of a deer standing in a stream. By the time I got over to where I initially saw it, I glimpsed it turning the corner 50 feet upstream.

Big Brown gets a shout out because one of their drivers actually stopped to make sure I was all right. I recognized him as the driver for my old neighborhood. Back then I just had the pugs, and they loved to see the big package car pull up front. That meant one thing, cookies!

Ride stats

Distance: 28.2 miles
Temperature: 78˚
Ride category: Mildly surprised it only took 4 extra minutes to pedal up to work.

Heather

Pedaling Upstream

Friday evening our little Ladies Mountain Biking Group met under clearing skies at Lithia Springs in South Hadley, MA. I remember Lithia being a “wet” ride, but this was ridiculous! The entire trail was an active stream of water. After some climbing, literally upstream, we were able to find drier ground. The constant rain we’ve been experiencing no doubt contributed to this: but I’d never seen this before at Lithia. It made for an interesting ride, and the good news? We made it out before nightfall

–Karen

Whoo hoo, blood on a road ride!

Something look wrong to you in that photo? I thought the same thing just as my front wheel went into an open space on the storm grate. Next thing I know the world is spinning and then I’m on my ass. The nice gentleman who stopped to make sure the bike and I were all right said the crash was “youtube worthy.” Damn, an me without a helmet cam. The obvious “injuries” to the Specialized were the right hood was knocked out of alignment, and the front tire was flat, of course. I figured while I fixed the flat, I might as well have an officer come over to see the problem. My current status is a scuffed up elbow, small laceration on the knee (I’m expecting some good bruising, photos to follow if I get decent ones), and a sore shoulder. It could have been a lot worse. Here’s what one’s elbow looks like when it is used to break a fall:

Ride stats

Distance: 24.3 miles
Temperature: 76˚
Ride category: Practicing my tuck & roll skills while still attached to the bike.

Heather

P.S. My local Walgreen’s was having a great sale on reusable ice packs, buy one, get one free. In case anyone else is in need of extras.

Altitude Sickness

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

I rode twice on my three day excursion into the Colorado Rockies, and both times I suffered terrible embarrassment. I simply could not get enough air. Here I was, this avid cyclist, bragging about how I could ride 50, 60, 70 miles at a time, and I can’t crest the smallest hill without stopping at the top for a 5 minute, head over the handlebars rest.

I rode very little as a result. I was out there for a good amount of time, but didn’t cover much ground. I stayed on dirt roads (Can you say “tourist?”). I was fully humbled.

On the flip side I was out there in the wild. There were tracks of animals everywhere. Elk, moose, deer, coyote, and yes–mountain lion. The scenery was epic. The weather was unpredictable and changeable; it even snowed 4 times in one day, in between blue & sunny skies. I found on my second ride the remains of a long gone elk….just hide and chunks of spinal column. It was all an adventure.

Just one with shorter breaths.

-Karen

P.S. Granby, Colorado lives at 7939 feet above sea level, and I was higher in the mountains out of town.  This east coast girl never had a chance.

Late Night Adventure with the Mountain Biking Ladies

Last Friday evening another Ladies’ Ride went on as scheduled, but not exactly as planned. I learned when in Colorado that three of my new friends got lost on the Seven Sisters (The Holyoke Range), Bear Mountain to be exact, and self rescued themselves….making it out of the woods by about 11:15PM!!! Only one brought a cell phone and with a little coaching from friends trying to rescue the lost cyclists (who couldn’t find them), they managed to find their way out on their own. My friend Gail described it as “Rock climbing with a bike on your shoulder.” Everyone was unharmed, a little scared but otherwise OK. Actually, Gail wrote to me that she was “not even sore….it was sort of fun in a sick way!” Sounds like it!!

–Karen

Trip Planning: Colorado

It’s true, I’m heading back west again, and this time, I’m RIDING.

And hiking, and horseback riding, and possibly even motocrossing a bit if the rentals aren’t too steep. Colorado is an absolute playground for sporty outdoorsy types like me, and I’m excited to be heading there once again: my third time in the last year.

I’m staying in the Rocky Mountains in a little log cabin at 9000 feet in the vicinity of Grand Lake. I’m pretty sure the altitude will be my biggest enemy. This is what asthma feels like, I think–walking 100 feet and needing a rest….biking should be a challenge. I labored last August at Hall Ranch, and this time I’ll be higher. There are trails from our front door, right near the outdoor hot tub I’ll be soaking in when I’m done.

In Colorado, you can’t spit without hitting a bike shop, and rentals are abundant. To prepare for my trip, I have learned to remove my speedplay frogs and pack them. I give them to the bike mechanic at the shop I’m renting from and bam, I’m in business–using my own cycling shoes that I’m already dialed into. Other items on the packing list are: helmet, sunscreen, camelbac (flush the bladder & lines with Listerine because I haven’t used it in a while), map, compass, shoes, gloves, waterbottles, cycling glasses (with my inserts, because I don’t do contacts), camera, allen wrenchs, cell phone, and all the other things I’d bring on an excursion. Except bug repellent. Because I swear, they have no insects in Colorado.

One item I am interested in securing is some pepper spray for animals. I’m not sure this is available in Colorado. They had this in Montana for the Grizzlies, and after watching Animal Planet for a while, you understand why. I don’t believe the Grizzlies are that far south, but there are mountain lions. In the Northeast, I’m very much used to being on top of the food chain. Nothing in the woods will actually eat me up here. Last week, when my girlfriend was mountain biking a couple miles from her home south of Denver, she was stalked by a coyote*. So hence the desire for a little protection. Hopefully the elk will be more appetizing then me.

I’ll provide a full report when I return, and will tweet from location.  

–Karen

*note: my girlfriend was not eaten by the coyote.

Why You Should Pick a Fight

Ladies Mountain Biking Report #2

Friday night we met at the Batchelor Street entrance in Granby, MA where there are a nice collection of trails on this side of the Holyoke Range.  Heather was called into work last minute and called me at the store to let me know she wouldn’t make it.  Tonight Heidi returned, and her friend Nikolina joined us.  In the parking lot where lots of other riders were getting ready to kick off the long weekend with a good ride in the woods, we were introduced to LeeAnn, who was riding with her husband and some friends.  Information was exchanged and my mailing list grew that much more. 

The ride itself was like a baptism by fire.  It was just short of 90 degrees.  The trail was rockier, more winding, and more treacherous than I remembered.  After about 20 minutes I was almost sure these women would never ride with me again–we were sweating and off our bikes, getting bounced around by the trail.  It was still early in the season though, and my new riding companions swore that it was OK, that they were in fact having fun.  I sometimes forget that to be a mountain biker, you must enjoy adversity and pain.  This was par for the course.

The trail we rode was called Roller Coaster, and I remember it being my favorite.  For the first half I wondered why I remembered it so fondly.  The second half refreshed my memory, as the trail descended and instead of pedaling hard straight up and sideways, you could just coast. There was still a lot of negotiating rock and root hazards, but with gravity (at last) on our sides, pained expressions turned to silly grins of fun, fun, fun. 

 

We were having so much fun we decided to do a another trail, despite the setting sun.  This trail was wider, the rocks more spread out, and with some refreshing water features that cooled us down. When we realized it was in fact getting dark out, we returned to the trail head with good reviews all around.

Details of future rides were discussed:  Friday night every two weeks worked well in everyone’s schedule.  Locations would change but we all really enjoyed Batchelor Street.  And next ride, June 5th I will not be in attendance for:  I am vacationing in Colorado and will be posting about my riding there.  But if the group does decide to ride on the 5th I’ll let everyone know here and via facebook, since that’s been working out nicely.

It’s Sunday morning and I’m still a little stiff from Friday night.  If that’s not a sign of a good time, I don’t know what is!

–Karen