Snow Biking

Finally was able to get some quality riding last week with the Tough Girls. We rode for a good 3 and a half hours on awesome singletrack! I was so happy to be out on the trails that I was hammering the entire time. I felt great! The rest of the week passed very quickly. Freshmen and Sophmores were taking CSAP so we were able to sleep until 11 for three days! It was so much better than a regular school day. I trained in the morning and the afternoon, getting a lot of riding in. I love CSAP! We should have a schedule like that everyday! :)
Each week it has been getting hotter and hotter up here and the snow is melting like crazy. I was so ready for the trails to dry out so we could finally have spring riding. Unfortunatley Thursday rolled around, along with a HUGE winter storm. Of course, Summit High went to school and toughed out the conditions being the ONLY school in the entire state to go to school. We got to sit inside watching a raging blizzard outside for the entire day. Heaven forbid we get stuck in the snow, so they let us out a whole 30 MINUTES early... man that 30 minutes just made the biggest difference ever (Note the heavy sarcasm).

Today I was instructed to take a day off the bike by my lovely brother Kevin. However, this "day off" was spent skiing with Erik. There was some good snow, but as usual some really really annoying tourists. I have come to realise how spoiled I am when it comes to skiing. I find the snow horrible when most people are jumping for joy. I get frustrated with the "crowds" of 20 people in line. Maybe I should think again about where I live and relax. :)

Well looks like I should go out and enjoy the snow. Again. For another couple months.

Trying to think postive about biking!

Miss you Kevin!

Snow snow go away!

The past week went by slower than imaginable. It started off with me getting detention!! The greatest part is that I got detention for eating an apple... in the commons... which I guess is not allowed. Our school is insane! Watch out though, I'm really a bad kid now! :)

I spent the rest of the week dragging myself to school, and attempting to get motivated by riding the trainer. While it was snowing outside, I was inside riding the rollers... again.

On Saturday morning I drove down to Golden with Brenda for a Tough Girl ride. Brenda, Lynn, Janis and I rode our mountain bikes on Lair of the Bear. It was a great trail and I was so happy to be back on my mountain bike!

After our ride we went back to Lynn's house and started putting together the "Christmas presents". I was overwhelmed by how much stuff we got this year! Unfortunatley the jerseys are not in yet, but I got some awesome green grips that I am excited about. (I bet that when Kevin gets back he will steal..or try to steal some of the millions of stickers we recieved) The helmets this year look great also. Tough Girls will be bigger than ever with 20 riders on the team!

The group went on a ride Sunday morning, but we were bummed none of the new members showed up. After having a team meeting and discussing this years plans, Brenda and I headed back up the hill to the snow. Oh joy....

Kevin has sent me another weeks worth of riding- I see now that I have to ride the rollers for 1 hr 45 min. I'm pretty sure I will die of boredom before then :) Haha- I just can't wait until we can ride the trials!

Tough Girls go GREEN...

We just recieved the layout for the 2009 Tough Girls kit. We're going to stand out more than ever this year!

I just got back from a Boulder ride with the Tough Girls. I drove down with Brenda M. and we were both glad for the nice weather! The team (10+ girls) went for a nice 2 hr 45 min road ride up to Fruit Loops and worked on some climbs. I wasn't feeling too good by the end of the ride and was glad to turn back with Brenda.

I'm not so ready for another long week at school, but excited to head down next weekend to Boulder for the team meeting where we will recieve these awesome kits!

See you on the trails!

Rollers and Bosu Ball

Hello everyone!
Just finished a week of training. The snow is coming down as I am writing this so it looks like this is going to be a long spring!

Fortunately, the weather early in the week was good, so I was able to ride on the roads! It was windy and cold, but it felt good to be on the bike outside for once. The tourists did seem to like having to deal with snow and a biker, as shown in their reactions as they passed in their gas guzzling cars.

Training is difficult when I have to find the motivation without thinking about the snow! I spent most of the week running, riding the rollers, and stretching on my new Bosu Ball!


tbs... The Office is the best show :)

Flexibility!

My training also includes driving a lot... (trying to get my license finally)

along with eating healthy,

and getting a lot of much needed sleep.

Going to Boulder to ride tomorrow! Hopefully the weather lets up this week so I may be able to ride outside some more!

Cactus Queen and Arizona Heat

Hey everyone!
So I just got back from camp in Suprise, Arizona. I must say it was rough having not ridden for these past few months. I probably should have trained a lot more! Riding proves to be a lot more difficult when faced with 5+ feet of snow.

Lucky for me the Boulder Junior Cycling Team (Jill, Ellen, Brae, Ben, Coach Ann, Coach Nick and Coach Alec) leg me tag along on their annual trip down to AZ. The car ride was long but Ellen and I were able to entertain ourselves with endless games of 20 questions and I -Spy. We also came up with a great story about Steve the Pirate and his pet monkey, but that is a whole different story...
The first day we started off the morning with stretches, pushups and situps. We then went out to White Tanks, 12 miles from the house and rode the race course. We saw a rattlesnake on course but being excellent bike handlers, we were able to avoid it! :)

When we got home we ended up waxing brae's legs for most of the afternoon and evening. This was very entertaining for us girls and after 3 different boxes of wax, we were finished!

Day two consisted of a hike-a-bike for about 2 miles... asthma was not working well with me at this point. Once we got to the top of the climb, we came down on some sweet smooth single track- I think the hiking was totally worth it!

Brae crashed on some sprints and cracked his helmet, but he ended up buying a much more attractive one!
On day three we drove out to Estrella Mountain Park Competitive Tracks. Really hot temperatures so we went swimming when we got back! By this time of the week I was starting to feel the burn :)

We worked on technical skills on day four over in White Tanks. Rode a section of the trail countless times to practice our lines and speed through them. I loved this part because of the great downhilling! Later on, we played battle ship, and did homework... or at least tried to!

On day five we went out for one last look at the course. It was a great loop with some technical sections, a nice climb, some desending, and flat rolling sections. I loved it! On the way home we picked up some lemons from the trees along the road. Ellen, Jill, Brae, Ben and I squeezed the lemons, added water... and realised we were out of sugar. Maple Syrup was added making it the most disgusting drink ever.... everyone thought so except Brae and Ann- crazy!

Day six- Race day was finally here! On the first lap, going around a corner I fell over into a cactus and was able to sit my whole butt into the plant. It takes great skills to accomplish a move like that. I started walking back to the car with 15+ cactus in my butt, leg and foot when Nick caught me. He stopped and was able to rip the plants out one by one with some rocks. It was probably the most pain I have ever experience in my life. Much worse than last months road crash!

On a lighter note, Jill, Ellen and Ben all finished the race!

They did great! Ben and Jill won themselves a spanking machine and we finished off the night with ice cream!

The next day we packed up the cars and headed back home to the snowy mountains of Colorado. The car ride was enjoyable - we listened to Umbrella and Hips Don't Lie over and over again. The songs will be stuck in my head for the next couple of months I am sure.

I miss camp a lot already- riding isnt much up here and the boulder kids are so awesome to hang around. I wish I could hang out with them more than anyone because we have so much in common!

(PHOTOS- thanks to www.boulderjuniorcycling.org aka Nick- I forgot my camera and needed some life to the blog!)

Kevin is still in Europe :( I know he is having fun but I have never been this lonely in my life. It just is so boring at the house now. I dont think he realises how much I miss him!

I can't wait to ride again- Snow, snow go away!!!!

Spring Headaches

One of the first rides of the year unfortunatley ended up being another stressful day.
I was riding in Bear Creek on my road bike when I crashed, slid into a ditch, and totally shattered my helmet. Nothing seemed to be majorly harmed except my leg and head. Of course, I was more concerned about my bike than my physical state. I ended up hitching a ride to the pay station where we then tried to contact my brother. Unfortunatley he was on another "epic" ride and was out of cell service.... for two hours...

The park ranger was able to help me get to my car and told me not to sleep because of the minor concussion.

After eating a massive Qudoba, we headed home to meet my dad. Of course anyone who knows my dad would know he took pictures.

The leg didn't hurt too bad....

My face and head hurt the worse...

And of course I had to deal with the black eye for the next couple weeks. No fun :(

Really the most dissapointing thing was my favorite helmet was in peices...

Ah well- life will go on!

Just got back from camp in Arizona. Will post blog when I have a chance!