Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Hopefully, this weather front will move out by the weekend! It's been great - a nice steady rain almost every day this week, with clouds draped across the mountains and the sun flitting in and out. With the rain, the trails at Palmer Park should be fast, with all the sand washed away or packed down. The thin layer of sand coating the rocks will be gone, leaving awesome traction through Templeton and Little Moab. Outside of the park, in the Canyon where I normally ride, it's even better. The trees are brilliant greens and golds and there is snow on the higher mountains. Fall is here and the weather is acting accordingly. All the dust in the air from the long hot summer is gone, leaving behind the smell of fresh air and the promise of a fun winter of riding and exploring.  But one more race to finish before that can happen. One last trip between Noon and Noon with my husband. It's been a fun year, trying our hand at a few different 24 hour races and learning how well we ...

Just in time for peach season to be almost over, I finally got around to making some peach muffins. Light and airy, with plenty of peach flavor and a yummy cinnamon sugar crumb style topping. I also made a few with a dollop of raspberry jam in the center - really delicious when the muffins are warm from the oven Preheat oven to 375 and grease muffin pans. Round muffin tins will work, but I always use small loaf style pans when I make muffins. The small loaf shape fits better in jersey pockets for riding :) Mix: 2 cups flour - I used Bobs Redmill gluten free blend. You can also mix in other kinds of flours like quinoa 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon (I might have used more) 1 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp cardamom In separate bowl, mix: 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 cup milk Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Fold in 1 cup peaches. I used fresh, you can also use defrosted frozen...

It's what Nick has been telling me on every ride we've done in Palmer Park. Ride my bike - racing doesn't matter if you can't make it over the technical sections cleanly. Drop out of race mode, ride my bike and think about shifting, timing and technique. Hard to do in the middle of a fast lap and wanting to get back to transition so Nick can head out, but faster then walking. I noticed it at Sage - in the sections that I've always struggled and the new rock climb, I was smoother when I told myself to "Ride my bike." I forgot about time, focused on getting the right lines, being in the right gear and timing the pedal strokes to clear everything. When I stayed in race mode, trying to bulldoze my way through things as fast as I could, I invariably screwed up and clanked something. Which meant I was off the bike and walking. Not the fastest way to get back to point A at all. In Palmer Park, its going to be even more important to ride my bike and not stay in ...

Nuts, chocolate chips and dried fruit made for really good fuel I've had okay luck with yeast and the gluten free flours in the past - I have a feeling that user error and impatience was more to blame. This time I was more patient and allowed the yeast to rise. That made the difference in light cookies instead of heavy bricks. I also went with mixed dried fruit instead of raisins - more flavor. Yeast Cookies Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheets Dissolve 2 pkgs dry yeast in 1/2 c warm water Add, stirring till smooth:                     1 c gluten free flour (I used Bobs Redmill)                   1 tsp xanthan gum                   1 c warm milk           ...

Quick - what's scarier then Grandma out driving around on some of the high mountain passes in Colorado? Grandma on a decked out mountain bike! Some one's getting an upgrade....  In 2007, Mom (who is actually a grandma - my sister has four boys) decided she wanted to get a mountain bike so she could explore some of the dirt roads and really  easy single track trails. We decided to get her the best (and smallest) bike we could at the time, the Specialized Era. It was the same bike I had, a nice race worthy bike that fit her and could handle everything she would throw at it. Which wasn't much - she would still get off the bike to walk down curbs. That took a little time for her to realize that she could ride over some of those things. In 2009, she came with me to the Xterra North West Championships in Idaho and raced on the short course. She wasn't fast, but she was having fun. Skills improving ever so slowly, she started wanted to try more and more on the bike. We to...

We headed to Palmer Park Thursday evening for a fun night lap and to double check lights. Once again, my night riding has been limited to the laps in the sage during 24 Hours in the Sage. And unlike that course, Palmer Park gets a bit tricky in the dark. Its fun to ride, with the whole park bathed in dark amid the sparkle of the city. But the technical sections sneak up on you so quickly. No room for complacency and the more light, the better! It was good to get out, but I think at least one more night lap is in order. Just to make sure I'm comfortable on the rocks and won't do anything silly come 2:00 am. I've not ridden at Palmer Park much at night, either so it's a bit of an adjustment. Racing there, at night? More then a little worried! I'm also still trying to learn the course so I don't get lost. Luckily, Tim marked the course earlier this week. I didn't know what to expect, figuring all the white flagging would be torn down within days. But no, ther...

After the fun ride on Saturday, it was time for some fun pain on Sunday. With map in hand and a good plan of where we were heading, Nick and I left for another day of new singletrack. We had a big loop planned - ride up Bear Creek road to the Rainbow trail, take Rainbow trail all the way across to Ct rd 124, drop down to Little Rainbow and ride Little Rainbow all the way back. A nice long ride with very little black top and not that much road. At least that was the plan... Working on my tan lines on Rainbow trail After less then a mile on Hy 50, we turned off onto dirt. Bear Creek road climbed up thru private property to the San Isabel National forest. We knew it was going to be a long climb, but it was pretty steady. We kept crisscrossing the creek, riding along open meadows and through forests. In one of the meadows, there was a large flock of turkeys, foraging in the tall grass. Nick couldn't get them to come any closer, so we kept riding. Up and up and up... Across a catt...

Sometimes the quality of the ride is not measured in speed, the distance covered, the hours on the trail or the number of QOMs racked up. No, sometimes the ride can only be judged on the amount of smiles and the time spent with friends. Not every ride has to be hard and Saturday's trip down Monarch Crest was definitely a smiles per mile kinda ride. Once the plan to ride Monarch Crest was finalized, Nick invited our friends from Golden, Dan and Leslie, to join the fun. And of course, they were all in. While Leslie had ridden the trail once before, it had been years. This would be her longest ride in a number of months. So we all chilled out, had fun, rode great single track, enjoyed the awesome views and got to spend time with friends. Might not have set any speed records, but judging by the grins, the fun meter was off the charts. Which is really why we all ride bikes! Not wanting to dodge semis and speeding cars on the shoulderless HY-50, we opted to take the shuttle up from Pon...

One last weekend escape before the season winds down and the snow starts flying. This time, a close escape to the town of Salida and the new single track adventures in the hills. Nick had ridden some of the trails to the east of Salida on S Mountain and of course, he'd also ridden Monarch Crest a few times. He'd been wanting to stop and ride more on S Mountain since the MSC race in 2011. Add in the fact that I have never ridden out there and it sounded like the perfect opportunity. So it was time to hit some Colorado classics - Monarch Crest with friends on Saturday and Rainbow trail on Sunday. With those big plans, Friday was an easy day on S Mountain in the Arkansas Hills Trail System. View from the trail head - looking west at the Divide We parked at the main trail head about halfway up Spiral Drive. Single track, right away! After a short but fun descent, we headed up the road to the start of North Backbone trail. Nick wanted to ride the course plus do...

For the last two races in the Wednesday Night TT series, it was all in. No big races, no need to ride smart. Just go from the gun and ride hard. I wanted to see the results of all the hard work and some fast times on the line. On the slopes of Lower Gold Camp Photo - Bob Kane On the 29th, for the 26th St TT, my goal was to break 20:00. That section of road has always been a bit of a nemesis for me - I either go too hard at the bottom or mentally give up half way up Gold Camp. Pacing up the easier slopes of 26th St, I attacked the s curves, going after my time. Rounding the corner, and smack into the wind. Yep - I know why I hate this road! Kept the tempo high, trying to spin up the cadence, across the top of Lower Gold Camp. I was starting to feel that burning in my chest, the metallic taste of pain. Just keep riding, keep pushing. Thru the stop sign and onto Gold Camp. Just keep riding, keep pedaling. The seconds were ticking away, my legs protesting. The race of truth - even ...

And with the cooler temps, come the animals. Yesterday, as Nick and I were walking home from the Wednesday Night TT awards, I noticed a dark shape at the end of the road. Nick was on the phone, so I investigated a little - crouching down to eliminate some of the shadows, looking from a few different angles. I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking at, but I wanted to be sure. Then the shape moved and the outline of a head became clear. Yep - a nice, big bear. I motioned for Nick to look and we watched the bear for a few minutes. Then he vanished down into the creek a few houses down. Perfect. Time to start being more alert when I run in the mornings - especially before work. The neighbor has a loaded crab apple tree and there are plenty of apples on the ground. Great bear food. And then there's the garbage cans - the ones across the street are knocked over on a regular basis. Luckily, when I glanced around from the window this morning, no evidence of the bear. Outside was a...

With a box of peaches in the fridge, and a little extra time on my hands, I decided to attempt a fruit pizza today. And for a first attempt, it turned out pretty good. Nick actually decided to try a slice after it was done. I have some things to work on before posting the recipe, so this is just the overview. Crust - I wanted something kinda light, sweet and with a hint of spice. A normal bread dough wouldn't work for what I was looking for. After looking thru my cookbooks, I decided to try a scone recipe for the crust. Sweetened with honey and applesauce, it would take the extra spices well. But the basic recipe yielded dough that was much too thin. I had to add extra flour to achieve a dough I could roll out, which lost some of the light and airy texture and the flavor I was looking for. Next time, I am going to try a different scone recipe or modify before I start. I need an easily handled dough, but can't overwork it. Rolling the dough out will also help - I hand patted t...

2012 24 Hours in the Sage - CoEd Duo Podium Nick and I -1st; Brynn O'Connell and Dan Loftus - 2nd; Jeannine Anders and  Ryan Sullivan - 3rd Photo - Patrick Cross Another successful weekend of riding and hanging out with friends at the Gunnison KOA. You just can't beat the atmosphere at 24 Hours in the Sage - it's laid back and fun, with a nice long ride in the middle of party. Endless food Saturday thru Sunday, plenty of beverages and great people helping out. An outstanding job from KOA Dave, Michael, and the rest of the KOA crew to keep the 24 Hours in the Sage rolling into it's 10th year and once again earning the reputation as the best party on two wheels. Nick and I were there more for the ride then the party, but made sure to enjoy all the festivities before and after noon. Our goal coming into the 24 Hours in the Sage was to make sure the lights were dialed, get comfortable with the new plan and make sure we had a solid between lap system in place.We also wan...

Every so often, I look back at the journey and how I have changed in so many ways. Had some one asked me in 2001 if I would be racing ultra endurance mountain bike events and 24 hour races, I would have laughed at them. At that point, I had one goal. Run 2:48:00 and qualify for the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials. And if I didnt reach 2004, there was 2008 - when I was a little older and with more experience with the distance. I was commited to that goal - running twice a day and topping 80-100 miles a week. All my workouts focused on being able to run at 6:20 pace or faster. I was setting PRs in every distance from 5k to half marathon. I felt confident, but realistic, going into my first attempt at qualifying. The Top of Utah Marathon, Logan Ut. A pretty, rolling downhill marathon. I was hitting my goal splits for the first 20 miles as the course wound down the Blacksmith Fork Canyon. But when we entered town, my pace was slowing. More then I could chance. I was watching my goal slip away...