I thought I had done a good job recovering after the Silver Rush 50. I took two days off afterwards and spent Sunday eating more than just watermelon. I realized that maybe not as well as I thought when on Friday I was sitting on the side of the trail….sobbing (this is when you can laugh, I do).

Tuesday I did a short run and swim with a good stretch to get things moving. Wednesday I doubled up and did a short 45 minute flat interval ride and then went back out 3 hours later and did a hill climb. Thursday I did a short recovery ride on my mountain bike and then Friday I planned to go back up to Leadville and do 60 miles before entering my peak phase. I checked the weather the night before and it had a 30% chance of rain. It always has at least a 20% chance of rain so didn’t think much of it. I woke up the next morning to find an 80% chance of rain. I called the guy I’m dating (mainly to reaffirm that I shouldn’t go up and ride in the rain even thought I really didn’t want to change my training plans) and told him my predicament. He’s pretty useful when it comes to rides and routes so he rattled off a couple that would suit my needs, time and climbing. I was still pretty stubborn about going up but he finally said going up and riding 60 miles in the rain isn’t going to be productive when you get sick and aren’t in great shape for the race and then you’ll just be cranky about it (I know he wanted to add, and I’ll have to deal with you being cranky, but he didn’t). He was right though.

I took off on my Superfly to do one of the rides he suggested. It started with a 6 mile climb up Flagstaff, which is a paved road pretty popular with road cyclists. I started the climb and saw a guy on a road bike behind me. I spent a good portion of the climb working to make sure he didn’t pass me which meant I slacked off on eating and drinking because I was more focused on beating him. At mile 4 into the climb he turned around and I kept going. I got to the top and realized how humid it was and disgusting it was that I was covered in all this sweat. I then descended 2 miles which puts you at one trail head for mountain biking. I did one route that was an out and back 2 mile ride and did that pretty seamlessly. It was mostly climbing on the way up and then descending on the way back. I thought about turning around and heading back and maybe doubling up with my road bike but figured the other route is an 8 mile loop so would just add some extra miles that way and then maybe not do the road ride. The trail was a little more technical than I had in my mind, probably more of a ride for my full suspension. I set out on the way that was the least fun (mainly because everyone I saw was going the opposite way) to maximize climbing. There is a short descent in the beginning which was pretty fun, but then the fun police showed up and took all the fun away. The climbing sections were moderately technical and pretty choppy. A lot of really picky riding and having to react quickly to know which line is best. At mile 5 you have to hike-a-bike down a lot of stairs, definitely a couple of

Oooo….careful!

flights which I was overly cautious not to slip down with my shoe. The guy did mention that before climbing down I could turn around and do an out and back and do 10 miles. I thought about this but was already starting to feel cantankerous about the predicament and wanted to get off the trail which in my mind only having 3 or so miles left was better than turning around. I got to the bottom which warranted amazing scenery and stopped to eat something and looked at the map beside the trail. I then made the fatal error of looking at my garmin. 20 miles in 3 hours….I started the next climb up which wasn’t technical at all just a little lose and about 20 yards from the top hit a soft spot and spun out and then just started crying, like what people do when their dogs die. I’m so slow, this is awful, I’m never going to make the cut off for Leadville.  I sat down next to my bike (like with driving you’re not suppose to ride when you’re emotional). It’s like when you’re watching The Notebook and first sad thing happens and then it’s just a continuous stream of tears through the rest of the movie. Yah, that’s where I was at. I finally came to the realization that I wasn’t crying because I was riding so slow, that was certainly part of it but my mindset about going to Leadville was so similar to the one I had the day I crashed, where in my mind I was so focused on getting that training ride. Good things for boys who tell you not to be dumb. It also pushed my training plans back a little bit and put my last training ride up there closer to the crash date than I wanted. Then I figured out that’s what I was really crying about. I didn’t want to crash again, not like that before the race. I really just wanted to get to the start line. I started walking with my bike while still sniffling. I debated calling Wayne to have him come meet me at the trail head and pick me up so I wouldn’t have to ride the 8 miles back home but then realized he’d probably tell me to stop being a baby and ride my bike. That might have been THE longest 2 miles of my life. I finally got back to the trail head and still had a 2 mile climb on the road before I could descend. Thankfully my body knew what to do at this point and I started to get back into the groove. I got home and took in a lot of fluids and ate right away which clearly was a big factor in my bonk. I plugged my garmin in and ended up doing 30 miles in about 4:20 give or take the 20 minute cry session with about 5,700 feet of climbing. All that climbing made me feel a little better about being slow.

I got my ride up in Leadville that I was planning to do that day. It included the two major climbs (Columbine and Powerline). I parked at the bottom of Powerline which is about mile 20 and then backtracked up to Columbine and the turned around and then back up to Powerline and then back down and then done! I’m always nervous about bonking at Leadville so I make sure to eat and drink by the clock and after the disastrous ride I had in Boulder the week before I switched my garmin to map mode which only shows me that I’m still moving. The ride ended up being a little over 64 miles, my last long ride before the race. The extra 4 miles was me riding around and back tracking because they took the flags out for the course so I couldn’t remember which way one of the turns went. 

This will make anyone look forward to an icebath

I had packed a good amount of food including one bar that was 400 calories but broken up into 4 chunks with each one being 100 calories each. A friend had given it to me to try and figured it was worth a shot because it was low in sugar. I took a bite of the first block and chewed on it for a little bit and then a little more and then spit it out. Gross. It was grainy and mushy and too much chocolate. I guess I didn’t hit my head that hard because I still don’t really like chocolate. Realizing that I probably wasn’t going to eat the rest and still had to climb up Columbine I dumped the other blocks on the side of the trail to lose the extra weight and mainly so it wouldn’t melt all over my jersey. I got by on the ride with about 500 calories, which isn’t exactly sufficient and realized I should start trying to eat more real food so I’m not feeling the need to brush my teeth after all the sugary chews and gels. I think nutrition is going to make or break Leadville for me so I’ve been focused a little more on what I’m eating when I’m riding. Peanut butter and bananas wrapped in a corn tortilla seem to be the forerunner right now. 

I did that ride July 26 and was happy that I didn’t have July 31st off to go ride up at Leadville. I was really anxious about that day and wasn’t sure how to approach it, it is just a day and the really bad day already happened but still it was looming. The Monday before I went back to Leadville to ride the first 20 or so miles from the bottom of St. Kevin’s down Powerline and then loop around to my car. That ride went pretty well, I got a little nervous when I was on the top of Powerline when it started lightning and thundering, that’s just what I need to get struck. Luckily I was beginning the descent so put my rain jacket on and the cloud just sat at top there so I wasn’t in the rain very long. Tuesday I did a recovery ride and then it was here, Wednesday July 31st. It’s a weird day, do I celebrate it because the crash wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I’m still alive? How do I acknowledge that it was a significant turning point in my life without dwelling on it? My initial thought was to stay in bed all day just to be safe but was on the schedule to work at 8. CU Cycling puts on a short track series in the summer which I’ve been doing when it works out with my schedule. It did that day. I thought about not doing it, just not riding my bike at all because why risk crashing. But it’s more about the date than the actual day itself. I stared the race, which is only 20 minutes at Valmont which equates to anywhere from 3-6 laps depending on the route. A lot is dependent on the start and your position there. I started out and got into 8th place. I’m still not super aggressive passing on the single track like I need to be and when there was an opening I jumped at it. I moved into 5th but went into a corner a little to hot and immediately after that the trail splits into two. I didn’t commit to one direction in time and ended up having my real wheel go down. I went down and got passed by all the people I had just passed then 

Wayne came to watch me! (and ride his bike)

some. I scampered back up and took off, two options came to my mind. A.) Feel sorry for myself that I had crashed on the day that I didn’t want to crash and ride the rest of the race casual B.) Don’t feel sorry for myself and just ride your bike. After a brief moment of pondering I went for it, mainly just to pass the people that had just passed me. I fought back to the front and was in 3rd when the girl in front of me crashed and I was so close behind her that I double checked to make sure she was okay when we both got passed by the lady in 4th. I took off to catch her but then the rest of the course didn’t warrant a good place to pass and the sprint to the finish was only about 15 yards and I wasn’t able to get her. I was actually more happy about the fact that I crashed, didn’t end up in the hospital and was able to keep riding. Put that one in the win column.

My final training ride up at Leadville happened last Friday. I rode the last 20 miles of the route so now have ridden every part of the course multiple times. I was nervous about going up there for “one last training ride” because last year those became famous last words. Before I left the guy I’m dating just told me to “stay calm, stay focused” he also told me that I know how to mountain bike in case I forgot that little tidbit. The ride was good, I went the opposite way that I did on Monday. I rode without a camelbak but when I went to take my first drink of water realized there was a crack in the bottle, I drank more cautiously but was glad I was only going to be out for 2 hours at that point. I managed to finish with no spectacular crashes or really any eventful things happening.

“Hey Dad, where does this thing start?”

One of us had a doughnut for breakfast

The Silver Rush 50 started at 9 and I left the coffee shop about 8:25. I had thought the night before about maybe trying to get to the race earlier but then realized that I didn’t want to stand around for 30 minutes with people who would tell me how much training they’ve done so stopped for coffee instead. One thing I did not calculate though was where the race started. I just knew that the town wasn’t that big and it went in the opposite direction of the 100 so it shouldn’t be that hard. Luckily my dad had woken up before me (I stayed in Leadville) drove up from Denver and still beat me there. Which was good because he could give me directions. 

I ended up being ready and headed for the start at about 8:47 and this was with a lot of dawdling. I left my dad at the top of the hill and headed to the bottom. I snuck into the side between a parked car and a trailer so was actually only about 2 rows back from the front. 8:52, really?!?! Maybe I should warm up, right, that’s what people do at these things. I left my bike and jogged over to the side and then did a few sprints half way up the hill. Ah, that’s good enough I got 50 miles to warm up. The race begins with a mass start up a hill that people sprint up (carrying their bikes) and then start riding. The guy I’ve been dating (like how I tried to sneak that one in, yah so did my parents and brother) is pretty well

versed in all things bikes and racing so he told me to wait to get on, to keep walking even when others start to mount up. It’s just a casual training ride with 800 other people, think of it this way, if you crash someone is going to know what happened. Then the gun went off, and I mean gun like in shotgun…welcome to Boom Town! I got to the top, said hi to my dad and kept walking. The guy I’m seeing was right most people had to dismount again because of the giant cluster it became. I just cruised passed them and then mounted up. Mentally I had been preparing for the first 10 miles to have an insane amount of climbing. I was delighted to find that it was a climb but nothing like what I had envisioned. I ducked behind another girl and followed her up for most of it. I thought about passing her a few times but the pace was pretty comfortable and I wanted to ride conservatively for the most part. At the 10 mile mark you turn onto a gravel rode and start descending. That pulls you into the first aid station which is littered with people starting about a mile out. The nice thing about being a girl is that there aren’t too many of us so people would get excited when they saw me and  cheer, “GO Lady!,” “Hey! That’s a girl! Go Girl!” or my all time favorite, “You Go Girl!” I didn’t stop at the station because I had quiet a bit of resources left and didn’t want to kill my momentum.You descend down some more and then start a climb back up to 12,000 feet. It’s a nice little climb up with breath taking views and plenty of guys peeing on the side of the trail to interrupt those views (guess that’s one advantage for them) and then you descend again. This descent reminded me a lot of Powerline (in the 100), with how rutted out it was in some places and how you really had to be careful to watch the lines you were taking and what the person in front of you was doing. It only lasted about 2 miles though. It was here that I saw the first place guy going back up. Holy hotness batman, that put them about 8 miles in front of me. I was about 2 miles out from the turn around and started to see massive amount of people when IT happened. I was funneling into a double track section (off of a fire road) when I hear the most disturbing noise. Brakes? Nope, they’re still working. Uh, someone else’s bike (please)? Nope. Shit! It’s my tire. It was losing air and fast. I must have punctured it somehow. Since I was running tubeless I got off and checked it over, somehow I had the smallest hole ever in the rear tire. I spun it around hoping to have the sealant take. Maybe, it stopped making noise so I hopped back on to continue riding. Ha, good joke, it didn’t take. There are enough guys around, do I unzip my jersey now?!? I thought about it but then flipped my bike over took the wheel off completely and spun it some more, threw up a Hail Mary and shot some air into it. It seemed to take. Just get to the aid station they probably have a pump to check it with. The tire held and got me the next two miles. I rolled into the aid station just under the 3 hour mark, a little faster than I thought I was going to be. I asked for a pump and filled my water and took some bananas. Sent off a quick text to my dad to tell him I was half way and then went to the bathroom because I can’t exactly pull off to the side of the trail. They didn’t have a pump. Okay just ride it until you have to change it. I did ride pretty conservatively though, almost like riding on egg shells because I didn’t want to have to change it. Fortunately the section that was pretty gnarly to get down was even worse to get up. It was one of those if you could

Oh yah….

ride it the people in front of you couldn’t and didn’t realize you were behind them in time to move out so then you had to pull off and start walking and there was never really a good section to start up again, so I kept walking. I was in a line of guys and thought about suggesting playing the one sentence game but everyone seemed to be breathing heavy. Don’t these guys know the ride is at 10,000 feet? Why are they not sleeping in oxygen chambers? So I stayed mum. It took a good while to get to the top, so much so that I was worried I wouldn’t make the 8 hour cut off. At the top I put some more air in my tire and then started the descent down. Which was pretty uneventful but anytime I would see someone watching I would ask, “Um, excuse me do you have pump?” and was past them before I could warrant a response.

There are two poems that I have for some reason or another carried with me through out my life: The Highwayman and The Little Orphan Annie. The first was one that my grandmother would to recite to me often when I was child and the latter I had to memorize in the 5th

grade (Thanks Mrs. Stokes!). The only time I really seem to feel the need to recite them though is when I’m riding my bike, specifically when I’m climbing. It helps to have the rhythm of the poem to get into a flow, I’m not fast but when you get into a harmony, two verses seated one verse standing it can be almost mosaic. I do add some of my own endings to the verses. For instance “And the highwayman came riding- riding-riding, just keep riding-riding-riding” or “and the goblins will get you if you don’t keep climbing” which can also be switched out for drinking to help stay hydrated. Switching back between the two got me through the climb, it’s not super steep but rather tedious. At mile 37 you begin your final descent, there are still some uphills but it’s nothing like before. 

At this point most of the other riders thinned out and I didn’t see anyone in front or behind me, huh, guess everyone finished already. It started sprinkling which was a nice change of pace, especially because it created some nice puddles to work on splashing through. I kept riding and pushing and figured out that maybe, just maybe I could break 6 hours, if I kept this pace and didn’t have any major hiccups. I dashed through a creek bed and somehow in the process kicked up a rock and slammed it directly into my great toe. Son-of-a-gun, welp there goes another toenail…

In the last two miles there is a short hill that as I was approaching I saw most people walking up. If I can just keep riding until it becomes too steep or slippery that will help. I passed a girl at the bottom and rode up until I was forced off by someone in front of me. At this point I was in race mode and kept scampering up to not get passed again by that girl. I ran until it was flat enough I could stop and get back on my bike (because that whole cross mount thing still isn’t happening). I came around the corner and saw one guy who had snapped his chain and was having to walk his bike in, “Hail Mary, Full of grace….please let me make it, on my bike.” I was nervous about the finish because me and hills don’t really get along, if you haven’t caught on, especially after 50 miles. Instead of heading directly down they loop you around, it’s certainly a nice way to finish. I crossed the finish line at the 5:55 mark they announced my name and that I was second in my age group, which it’s probably easy for them to keep track of the women riders a little more so than the men. Holy Cow! That’s 1:05 faster than I was hoping to be. 

I called my dad to see where he and Mary were. “We’re just coming into Leadville.”
“Oh, I’m done, sorry I was faster than I thought I’d be.”
“You’re done?!?”
They came and met me at the finish. I wanted to stick around for the awards just to see if I had actually gotten second and if there were more than two of us in the age group. Because I was done earlier than I thought I would be we went and grabbed some food and then came back for more waiting and hanging out. The people coming in at the 8 hour mark

looked miserable. Apparently the heavens had opened up and unleashed massive amounts on water on them. I told Mary she was lucky that didn’t happen to me otherwise they would have had to come get me as I tend to be a fair-weather rider. Fortunately for my age group and gender the results are pretty close to the front. Good news, there were more than two of us in the age group, and I did get second. The girl who beat me looked fast and I remember seeing her at the turn around point as I was recomposing myself after the tire explosion. The 50 is a qualifier and both the winner and I were offered spots in the 100. We were both already in. They they told us we could defer to 2014, which we both politely declined. Third place took the qualifying spot, so at least there will be three of us in my age group. I had thought before what I would do if I got a spot and thought about deferring but realized I should probably make it through one before I get too ahead of myself. 

As we were walking back to the car I was going to ride my bike up and meet my dad and Mary there. I had told my dad earlier how the guy I’m seeing is trying to teach me how to mount my bike in a coordinated, flexible, smooth, seamless fashion (It’s more like he does it and I just watch) . I attempted to do a cross mount to get on and over shot my bike seat and hucked myself all the way to the otherside of my bike, taking it down with me. Fortunately my dad was there to catch me and I only ended up with a small gash in my calf and some bruising. My dad mentioned that I might need to work on that. Luckily I have a bit of time before the 100. 

My finish in the 50 did help to put to ease some of the nerves I had for the 100 and just seeing if I would be able to handle that environment. The girl that beat me did so by 4 minutes, which I told some guys at the shop that and they  said, “so you paid all that money to get second.” I ended up 10th overall for females. It helps to at least think I did something right with my training.  As my friend told me tonight, in case I didn’t realize I’m no longer in the building phase but my peaking phase. 

This one’s for the fridge!

“Maybe you should eat something.” 

We should just skip riding the Big Mick and go ride trails. The night before the Big Mick, Wayne and I met some friends to ride some trails in The Hills. I’ve ridden a couple before but was most pleasantly surprised by how amazing they were. Enough to make me want to make the trip to see my parents more often! It’s actually pretty incredible and exciting how much mountain biking seems to be developing in the hills. 

Wayne I got to Lead pretty late because we did the ride, everyone in my room was already in bed so no one was willing to help me contemplate which shoes to wear on the ride (it’s rough being a girl). I might have woken them up, but they said they would gladly pay me back in the morning when they woke up at 4:30 to start riding. For some reason I have a problem anytime I have to set an alarm with a 4 in it, banking on that I would be able to ride fast, Wayne and I decided to set out closer to 8. Which was a great plan, until we showed up at the start to learn that the Sag Wagon that was taking all the drop bags had already left. Womp womp. Luckily I could consolidate my camelbak, and overnight bag into my gear bag and ride that way. It definitely made me regret packing 2 pairs of shoes…. 

It took me a while to get into a groove especially focusing on the thought that I was going to be on my bike all day. Then I stopped and started focusing on the fact that I’d get to eat Dew Drop when I was done. That helped. Wayne and I

He loves it when I take his picture

went back and forth pulling and cruised into the first aid station and thankfully found a car headed to Edgemont and unloaded our bags. We probably should have gotten their names but our bags showed up at the end so it worked out. Breakfast was wrapping up so I mainly just stuck to eating watermelon and pineapple. There is so much food on this ride that you really have to watch it or else it’s really easy to over eat. It’s like the Rag Ride in Iowa, except with food instead of booze. 

Wayne and I made bets on where we would meet up with the rest of the crew and I thought it would be closer to the lunch station but he thought it would be before. I like the section of the trail that goes between Rochford and Hill City, it’s tucked away from a lot of roads and you go through 3 tunnels which we also talked about how funny it would be to wait and scare someone but sinceeveryone we knew was in front of us we kept going. We caught up with Molly, Barb, Eric, Laura and Jessie at the aid station in Hill City. I ate some more oranges and then Wayne decided to hang back with them and I took off. It’s only about 15 miles between that one and the lunch one but has a nice little climb in it. Nothing too steep just gradual and steady. The lunch station is about 54 miles into the ride and I was just under 4 hours in ride time. Perfect. I saw Abe here and seeing the line for lunch food and the bathroom decided to keep going. Especially because the next aid station is always the best. 

Between lunch and the next aid station always seems to be the hardest for me. I can only relate it to being a sophomore, where the new has worn off and you’re just stuck but can’t get out of there fast enough. The trail is more exposed and you start to creep into more of the prairie and the wind can be pretty nasty. I just kept pushing and it helped that there was always someone in front of me to focus on and work on catching. I cruised into Denise’s aid station and once again was not disappointed in the slightest bit. So many delectable treats! The rest of the group was here so talked to them while I ate some peanut m&ms. Did I say some? I meant too many. You know that feeling when you don’t feel full and then all of a sudden you do. I hit that point pretty fast. Welp, nothing to do but keep riding I suppose and hopefully I don’t cramp. Those little buggers just sat in my stomach like brick. For those of you who have caught onto the fact that my stomach isn’t made out of any robust material, but more like Chantilly lace. I’m guessing you know what happens next. With about 20 miles left I threw up on the trail. What’s most impressive is that I didn’t even stop riding, and I’m pretty amazed that I didn’t crash. Once that was gone I felt immensely better and was able to keep pushing. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, no snakes, no more puke, no mechanical issues. I got to the 100 mile mark at 6:57, which I was hoping to be under 7 hours. Unfortunately not realizing the course was 109 miles I still had a ways to go. I finished right at 7:38 and only had Mary there to meet me, it helped that she was driving the course and not riding. After refilling my water and joking around with her for a bit decided there wasn’t much else to do but keep riding.

Everyone made it!

I began doubling back, which was great because A.) everyone I passed going in thought I was a huge bad ass because they thought I was going back up to Lead and B.) I could tell everyone they were going the wrong way. I passed everyone in the group again and when I reached Molly, Eric, Laura and Jessie turned around to go back to Edgemont with them. It was nice getting some added miles in, while being able to catch up and talk to those guys. 

One day Mary will ride a bike.

That night I made my family go to Dew Drop, not so much made them but told them that’s where I was eating and they could join if they wanted to, which why anyone would say no I’m not sure. I placed my order and since Mary was meeting us there I added her order into mine. My mom went after me and informed the waitress that “it’s okay, she biked 140 miles today.” Then asked me what Mary wanted, I informed her I ordered for her too, “Oh! I thought all that food was for you!” 

I finished the day with 140 miles and about 3600 feet of climbing. I laid in bed later that night and thought about how my body felt like it had been through a war. I realized that I’m waging a war with Leadville and every day I train I’m preparing my body for the battle.

This past week I did my first training ride at Leadville with 36 miles and 3800 feet of climbing. I’m also signing up for the Leadville 50 which is 50 miles and about 7,000 feet of climbing. It’s going to be awesome. 

I hope they have corn dogs in Leadville!

“So, uh, the guys say you might have crashed on your ride yesterday….”
“Might of? Oh no, I definitely, definitely did.” Good news is that I remember it. It was the first crash since the big crash where it was more than me just falling over and getting a bruise. It was my first time on that particular trail and I might have gotten a little a head of myself. It starts with about an hour climb up to the top, which because of this the trial is never super crowded. At the top you loop back and around and get sling shotted back on to part of the trail you climbed up. Descending was incredible, we started on swooping, fast, smooth, morning cup of coffee trail then it connects into a section that is a little more

Time to restock…

rough with sharper turns and bigger drops. I had cleared everything and was about to hit the last drop before you cross a creek climb up a bit and then are essentially done. I had a little too much speed and wasn’t far enough back so I essentially hucked myself and my bike off, but forgot to roll. My shoulder took the brunt of it followed by my hip, knee and lastly my head. My head was more of a slide across the trail and not a full contact. It still made me nervous so I crawled off to the side of the trail and just sat there. I told one of the guys I was riding with, “I just need a minute, I’m sure I’m fine I just want to make sure my head is still normal.” He picked up my bike and started making sure it wasn’t damaged. The other two guys I was with came up behind and one mentioned it was a good thing I crashed otherwise he probably would of. I guess I’m just good at taking one for the team. I took the rest of the trail pretty easy, just hiking up to the top and riding a little more slowly than was probably necessary. One of the guys asked me if my head was okay. I replied, “Well I know my name and what year it is so that’s a good sign.” I did dent my helmet, nothing bad but the integrity has been compromised and figured it’s not worth risking. Plus I did have another helmet for riding my Superfly so that’s been pulling double duty lately. My dad called early the next morning so I mentioned something to him but didn’t tell my mom right away because wanted to figure out if A.) I was completely fine (which I am) or B.) would need to go to the doctor before I took years off her life. Someone in the mumble jumble between my parents it got lost in translation and my mom ended up thinking I went to the ER after the crash which probably took more years off her life than if I had told her from the start. 

Stopping to smell the flowers…

I did a long ride on my Superfly the other day about 30 miles round trip and all on single track which was awesome. Unfortunately about 5 miles into it I stopped and ended up chatting with this guy for a good 25 minutes about Leadville and a world of other things and apparently was so engrossed in the conversation that I forgot to shut my garmin off, completely killing my average speed for the ride. Such is life. It was a nice training ride and hadn’t had any hiccups until I was about 50ft from the initial parking lot coming back in

Done.

when I almost ran over a snake that had slithered onto the trail. I screamed and then realized how silly that was because no one could hear me. I was giggling about it when I reached the parking lot and a guy there said, “looks like you had some fun up on the trail.” 

The next morning I did a road ride with one of the guys from the shop. Every time I tell him about a snake I see on the ride he asks me why I don’t bring it into the shop. When we were leaving we were talking about the snake incident that I had on the ride the night before, he informed me that he has rarely seen a snake on a road ride and not often on a mountain ride. We ended up running into three during the ride. Each time it went about the same way, he would inform me there was a snake up ahead and I would drop back behind him and to the outside and say, “oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness….” until we passed it. At the end he told me he thought I was the one attracting the snakes. Now people at the shop call me snake lady. 

I did a long ride on my road bike early last week. It ended up being about 50 miles over 4 hours with lots of climbing thrown in. I started out thinking I was going to go one route and then ended up missing a turn and ended up in a completely different direction than I had intended. The thought had occurred to me to turn around and get a little less mileage but to know where I was but for some reason I kept going. Lucky I did, I ended up in the town about 18 miles outside of Boulder after getting there in the most round about way and

realizing it was Monday. Most people don’t know but the Carousel of Happiness is open all day on Monday’s, other than that its hit or miss if it is actually open. The carousel is one of my favorite places, this man hand carved all these wondrous figurines that make up the carousel and then just put it in this town for people to enjoy. I realized that with most of my trajectory in life I may not have gone where I intended but I think I ended up where I needed to be. 

I did the Big Mick this past weekend but have been pretty bad about posting so wanted to get this one up. It won’t be as long between my postings again, mainly so my parents know I’m staying out of the ER. 

Final thoughts.

Huh, I’m a lot closer to this live buffalo than I was the dead snake. I realized that the way my body processes fear isn’t always conducive to remaining alive and fully intact. Luckily the buffalo I ran into on my ride seemed to be fairly humanized and realized as my grandmother would say, “I’m not worth the effort.”

He could definitely do a number on me

The snake I ran into though did warrant quite a fearful response. It might have been the biggest one I have ever seen while riding. Fortunately I was forewarned otherwise my shorts probably would have been wet and my bike might have been left on the trail as I ran away. The guy was riding up as I was going down, “There is a big ass snake in the middle of the trail, it’s dead, really dead. I smashed it with a rock so it’s definitely dead.” Clearly his adrenaline was still pumping as he informed me the death status quite a few times. “Oh man, thanks for telling me, I’m deathly afraid of snakes so I probably would have peed my pants.” I had just passed a point where you can hop on the road and ride back to the parking lot, which was less than a mile away. I decided to do that and not even mess with the snake so turned around and started hiking back up. Then a little voice inside my head starting talking, telling me that it was dumb to be afraid of something that is dead and not going to hurt you. I turned around to take a small step in facing my fears, it’s dead, so a good place to start. I slowly began edging my way towards it, contemplating if I should climb up off the trail around it or go below it. If I went above I would be looking down on it, but if I went below it I might miscalculate and pop up right by it. I could run right by it on the trail, but there was a rock close by that I might accidentally stop on and my shoe could fall off and directly onto the snake…   

My roommate asked why I was so far away..

I kept crawling towards it when I heard some voices coming up behind me on the trail. Two men appeared and I told them there was a huge dead snake on the trail. One of the guys was as much of a girl about it as I was. The other guy got off his bike, walked over and yelled, “yep, it’s definitely dead, its guts are all over the place, that rock really did a number.” Then as the two of us squealed the guy picked it up and threw it off the trail into the bushes. Who knew my knight in shining armor would wear lycra. 

That was my second ride on my Remedy, both which happened at Hall Ranch. The first time I went with a guy who is an extremely skilled rider and luckily for me also very patient. Even though I had ridden the trail on my Supefly, having the Remedy was a whole different ball game. He was nice enough to help me work different lines and would wait while I tried sections again. The ride was completely awesome. The bike is outrageously fun to ride, all the time. The second time I rode it I had spent 5 hours prior getting dental work done, and still had a fantastic time. I had cracked a tooth while eating a jolly rancher for lunch and postponed getting it fixed because a.) it didnt’ hurt and b.) I didn’t want to give up ride time. Then about a week later I was eating a rice cake and the whole chunk fell off which

My remedy brings all the boys to the yard

sent me into quite the tizzy-fit. I knew I should have taken care of it sooner, obviously, but when it broke off I was pretty distraught. I’m rather fastidious when it comes to my oral health, once when I was 8 I had to go home from a slumberparty because someone started talking about gingivitis. I was able to make an appointment extremely early in the morning though so I still had lots of time afterwards to ride. My mouth was pretty tired and sore but it was still hard not to smile. 

I’ve still been doing rides on my road bike and Superfly. I took my road bike home this past weekend when I was up for Mary Clair’s graduation. I always forget how much I love riding in the hills; the twisty roads, the one-lane bridges, the majestic scenery and the little traffic makes you really able to get away from it all. I ended up doing 50 miles without really planning it or consciously realizing how far I had gone until I had gotten home. 

In Boulder I’m still in awe of how many untapped trails and roads I’ve never been on even with living here for a year before. I rode Betasso the other day, a trail system almost in

This is what I’ve been missing?!?!

Boulder that I never once rode while I was living here. Wayne and I almost went once but then his seat fell off so we turned around. I had decided to finally ride it by myself and see what it was all about when I did the first section and a friend texted me to tell me he was on his way there and to see if I wanted to ride. It made me realize that you shouldn’t wait for others, go where you want to go and the people who want to be there will meet you there.  

“Oh Blimey!” 

“I don’t think we should tell anyone we work in bike shops.”
“Yah definitely not.” 

Ninety minutes earlier I had met the Shop Mechanic at his shop so we could carpool to Lookout Mountain and he could pick up a demo bike. In the parking lot as he was sifting through his bike box he asked me if I had things for a flat.
“…Uh…well…I have a tube, but things are a little disheveled from the move (more on that later) so no flat kit, you have stuff right?”
“I have a hand pump. But I don’t want to bring it because of the extra weight.”
“We’ll probably be okay, I have a floor pump and tube and it’s not like we’re going on a long ride away from civilization and we’ve never had a flat when we’ve ridden together.” Famous last words.
He drove, and it didn’t help that I knew where we were going and he didn’t. I forgot to tell him where to turn and only realized it after we had gone a few miles out of the way. We got to Lookout Mountain and started getting ready. Unfortunately his erratic driving and the

This is what his driving felt like

coffee I had that morning proved to be a lethal combination. Because my stomach isn’t exactly made of steel or really any robust material I threw up, twice. He asked if I still wanted to ride, “oh yah I should be fine just getting it out of my system”. I wasn’t flu sick just needed to get my land legs back. I started checking over my bike and inflated the front tire and started to do the rear except when I unscrewed the valved half of it popped off and all the air escaped. Whomp, whomp. Well good thing I had an extra tube and pump in the car. I took the wheel off but without any tire levers I couldn’t get the tire off, especailly because the tires I have are notorious for being a pain even with levers. I gave it to the mechanic to have his way with it. He was able to change it out no problem and it seemed to work well until we started putting air in and getting air out through the a hole that was in the new tube. “Well this is great, now we get to pay full price for a tube, maybe the shop will let us use their tire levers but let’s not tell them we work at a shop.” The shop we went to was pretty chill and I was able to get a tube and change it out there and grab some chews to have something in my stomach so it worked out well. 

Two hours after meeting we were finally on our bikes. Luckily the rest of the ride went smoothly, other than the fact that he beat me up the hill and then relished in the fact as I was throwing up at the top again. He told me its a good thing I was riding with him with how much throwing up I was doing because someone else might think I’m actually out of shape.    

I’ve actually made the move back to Boulder, I took a position at a shop here. It’s weird to think that last year at this time I wasn’t even considering moving to Denver and now I’m already back. It’s been nice, to be on my bike and riding from my front door instead of having to drive somewhere. People at work do lunchtime rides which is super awesome.

Lunchtime ride, anyone?

It’s definitely a transition though, I really liked my house in Denver and my roommate, we lived really well together, and we still have 2 more season of Family Guy to watch so there’s that. I did contemplate commuting but that’s 2 hours in the car everyday, which just didn’t make sense. I’m excited to finally not have a commute though and super pumped about getting  another bike to commute on! And I didn’t find my roommate on craigslist so my chances of getting murdered decrease significantly, right?  

I’ve pretty much just been on my road bike for March. One thing that was nice when I went

Only in South Dakota…

to South Dakota is that because I wasn’t planning on going I had my road bike with me to do a ride later that day. I actually got 3 rides in when I was up there and it was the first time I was outside on a road bike since before the crash. I didn’t have my helmet with me but found one of my brothers which I road with and then asked him if he had taken any crashes with it, “Probably it’s around 8 year old.” Great. The rides up there definitely rival some of the road rides here, plus it’s so much less populated that I only saw  a few cars when I was out riding.  Boulder does have quiet a few more people to ride with and the scenery definitely doesn’t hurt either.

Best kept secret

I did see my brain therapist too. Which the first test she had me do was basically a sobriety test which I informed her I failed in high school when the state trooper came into our classroom and I was the control, completely sober and Paul David wore the beer goggles and did better than me so not a really accurate thing to go off of. I had to say the alphabet and count at the same time, try it, it’s as easy as it sounds and other various activities which I can’t exactly remember. My biggest thing still is connecting my thoughts with words, which sometimes gets lost in translation. Certainly improving but lots of occasional word vomit, my new roommate can give you lots of examples I’m sure. She said I was lucky to have that as my main symptom as most people get really bad headaches and migraines, which I’ve never gotten so I am pretty lucky. She said the biggest thing is time and that it will take more time so gave me some exercises and to check back with her in 3 months because none of my symptoms are actually hindering my lifestyle and doesn’t feel it’s necessary to check in before then. That’s good news, the first month with out doctor appointments…so much time for activities!!! 

This weekend I’m heading to Moab, we’re celebrating Barb’s birthday by doing lots of riding. It should be lots of fun and a nice break after all the chaos that surrounded March. 

The last voicemail I received from my grandmother was when she read my blog about running into the mountain lion. I tend to call her so when she calls I usually let it go to voicemail just because they are pretty funny. In this voicemail she told me how scared she would have been and was glad that I was so brave and then added, it’s a good thing you don’t have a lot of meat on your bones because when he looked at you he probably realized how much work it would be for such a little reward and didn’t think it was worth his time. She had no problem delivering these lines when I was on the phone either. Two weeks ago I was going to meet a friend to ride on trainers. I called her on her on the way to chat and she asked what I was doing that day, I told her I was going to ride my bike but inside because it was pretty windy and I didn’t want to have to fight with it. Oh that’s good, you don’t need any help falling off your bike. 

One of the many things she taught me.

I was lying in bed last Wednesday morning contemplating going for a run when my mom called. I swear hospitals have a very distinctive background noise. My grandmother had suffered a massive stroke earlier that morning and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, they were still in the ER waiting to talk to the neurologist but they did know the next 24-48 hours would be critical. She said she’d call again after talking to the doctor. I had a lot of time before going to work and was planning to stay in Boulder that night so packed everything up that I would need for the rest of the day and the next. My mom called again and after getting off the phone I still wasn’t sure if I should go home. I called my dad on the way to work and discussed  if I should go home today or wait until my next day off, Sunday. He conferenced my mom in and it only took him a minute before he said “just come home today” which is all it took. He asked me if I wanted to fly home but at that point logistically it seemed too complicated, I just wanted to get on the road. I stopped by work and told them I was taking a sick day and they told me to go and take care of family. I took off, and what should have taken me close to 7 hours took me closer to 5. 

I think it helps that a few years ago my grandmother stuck a ‘Children are a Gift from God’ sticker on the back of my car so at least people think I’m a good person when I speed past them. Always looking out for me!

I made it to the hospital while she was still responsive, I held her hand and cried and told her she had really bad timing and that I thought we had talked about Save the Dates after my grandfathers funeral. All my aunts and uncles were there, a few cousins and family friends. We decided around 6 that we’d all stay at the hospital that night, as most of us live about an hour away.  Luckily one friend was a physician and was able to realize that she was having longer intervals between each breath.  Watching her die was the hardest thing I have ever witnessed and also one of the most profound. It immediately makes you realize how vulnerable you are.

Need to protect that frontal lobe!

My grandmother was the last of her generation so a lot of family came to town for it. My cousin kept saying how weird it was that we’re our parents generation now. It is. With so many Irish Catholics it made me feel like I was back in college with all the Mary, Margaret, and Katherine’s. We spent lots of hours pouring over pictures trying to find the right ones that really captured my grandmother’s spirit. On the way to gathering those we found some pretty awesome gems. Frank might be the most smiley man/kid to ever take pictuers. Unfortunately being photogenic did not seem to carry down to Wayne or I. I also found out that as a chid I really liked to wear helmets even when the situation didn’t warrant one. 

Just incase I fall off his lap!

Got my t-shirt and picture with the yeti…do I still need to run? I texted this to Molly before the 5K I did the other weekend. She didn’t respond and I had already told my Godfather about it which his response was “make the family proud.” I decided since I had dragged myself out of bed after 4 hours of sleep (insomnia=sooo much time for activities). I might as well run. They gave the Yeti a head start and then started the pack.  My game plan was to work on chasing down the Yeti, which was a good plan until we were half a mile in and the Yeti pulled off to the side and started cheering for people. I was mildly disappointed because that wasn’t exactly the chase I had envisioned as it didn’t result in hunting him down and tackling him (I’m trying to be more aggressive). The first mile went by pretty fast, 7:14  to be exact which my thought when I passed the 1 mile mark was, Holy Cow, I am SO fast! It’s not my fastest mile but I wasn’t really expecting that. I didn’t continue that pace, I was so worried I would bonk if I did that I settled into a more relaxed pace. Mile 2, I went back and forth with an 8 year old. I pulled ahead going into mile 3 and then coming into the home stretch she sprinted ahead and beat me.  I figured it was karma because I can remember running the Main Street Mile in moccasins when I was 5/6 and I’m sure that pissed off the older people I beat. When I got done I wasn’t really sure what to do. I thought about throwing up just because that seems to be something runners do and the coffee I had before wasn’t really sitting well but I didn’t really run that fast and didn’t want people to perceive me as being a real runner. I grabbed some oranges and water and walked around loading up on free stuff. At this point they were starting the awards and figured since my age group would be close to the beginning I should stick around and see who beat me and see what a good time is. They called out third and second place and then they called my name. Wait, what? They know I’m not a real runner, right? 

Is this real life?!?

What the cool kids do

Because I promised my parents I would try not to ride alone anymore I took Molly and Abe to Marshall Mesa last weekend. They definitely did not crash as much as I did the first couple of times I went out. They were good sports as I drug them through some pretty muddy sections and got their bikes all dirty. They kept apologizing for being slow and I just kept telling them I was paying it forward for all the times Barb waited and was patient with me. I think we might be planning a trip to Moab soon! 

The next day one of the girls that I’m doing the Breck 100 with was doing Picture Rock. It’s a trail that connects Heil to Hall Ranch. I’ve done Heil and I’ve done Hall but never that section. As we started riding there was a sign that said “Mountain Lion Habitat” well that’s great. The girl told me that she had bear spray so if I got attacked she’d have my back. The trail was about 10 miles total. It was pretty smooth at the beginning but towards the top got a little choppy with little rocks here and there. The way down I definitely felt quiet a few of those bumps, which made me think even more about a full suspension. Then I saw 2 guys on hardtail single-speeds and realized how much more of badass I would be if I was on one of those. 

Leadville releases its lottery selection on Friday.  I never did hear back from the lady I emailed to remind  about the medical deferral. Part of me is waiting to see if their reaction will be more like- “Ha! Just kidding, we got you good though, huh?” I don’t think my mom would be too upset about that decision. If that did happen I would probably buy the Slash (6 inches of travel!!) on Saturday and sign up for some enduro races. I am on the waiting list for the Big Mountain Enduro Series race in Moab. It’s in September and I wasn’t going to but the other day got a text from a friend that said, “I was persuaded and registered for the BME at Moab. Now you need to get yourself a full suspension so you can come play on the big mountains.” It’s very tempting.