January XC...

The ground is covered with snow, the snow is covered with ice. But tomorrow is my first XC of 2009.. something just seems wrong with that picture. But regardless, tomorrow we'll head down to VA for a "fun" XC race on the Baker's Dozen course, which isn't until almost 3 months from now but I'm already excited about doing.

Tomorrow we'll see how much "fun" I had after 22+ miles of "racing"... in January. I might be figuring out I prefer endurance events over XC's. I never seem to get as 'worked up' before those.

And I might just succumb to the facebook revolution this weekend and get one going. Maybe.

French Creek & Snow

After a little dusting of snow overnight, hubby & I ventured over to French Creek to meet up with some other Guy's. Great ride with two realizations..

1) I like French Creek more every time I ride it.

2) I really like mountain biking in the snow.

What was I thinking?!

For a person that gets cold when it’s 70 degrees, why would a single digit road ride seem like a good idea?

I hadn’t been on a bike in two weeks. Hadn’t done any kind of work out. The sun was shining. It seemed like a good idea. I was actually feeling like a long road ride more than any kind of mountain ride. (Very odd??)

The face was in pain, but that went way. Then the fingers went numb, but that went away. Then the toes went numb and it wasn’t going away. I cut my ride shorter than I planned.

Still, I felt surprisingly good overall. Guess just happy to be back on the bike. And I kept my personal goal to never shift into an easier gear than hubby’s fixie.

Tomorrow - looking forward to a great mountain bike ride!!

Oleta

That picture is only part of what caused the end of my day at Oleta. Sure it was a couple weeks ago, but I’ve been busy so this write up is slightly delayed!

Oleta 12 hour… Worn bib’s plus riding a 26” hardtail over non-stop roots and little rocks are discomforts I can push through. Probably could have pushed through the choking pain for the night laps. It turned out I didn’t have the extension between the light and the camelbak and even with my battery high on my back it was disconnecting. Thankfully a friend of a friend was in the pits and started helping me rig it. The solution, put zip ties around the front straps to keep the camelbak way up on my back. The problem… the zip ties were at my throat and choking me, literally. A pain I still feel 2 weeks later, only slightly concerning.

But then I broke a spoke in the rear wheel. Having to take that lap gingerly pretty much solidified that I wouldn’t be on the podium this day. I was done. Not the day I hoped for and redemption has now entered my plans for this year.

Destination Florida

Day two of our drive to the sunshine state began just before 6:30am so I'm still in the process of waking up, I've never been good with mornings...

Yesterday included a scenic venture through western Virginia to enjoy middle of no-where beauty, watching the wind slowly diminish and temperatures slowly rise. And watching a drivers last minute decision result in a swerving, skidding, donut turning adventure in front of us but shockingly miss everything and remain upright.

Now I'm looking forward to 70-80 degree's, salt water swimming, sand between my toes and oh yeah, 12 hours of mountain biking enjoyment - hopefully.

Happy New Years Eve everyone!

Fixie ?!?!

Headed out on a little road ride with hubby yesterday on a nice cloudy 25 degree day (yea, a little sarcasm there). It’s not too often hubby and I venture out together, with our different pace and all, but apparently he was feeling the holiday spirit so off we went. About 5 miles in he pulls over, hops off his fixed gear and tells me to get on.

What?? I’ve never ridden a fixie!

There’s the pro’s and con’s of us being similar heights. We’ve ridden each other bikes or demos, I currently ride his old mountain bike and he can pull over in the middle of a ride to tell me to get on his fixed gear. Besides figuring out how to start riding the thing (yes, hubby had to hold the bike in place while I clipped in), riding it was actually pretty cool. I only had one little girl scream moment when I stopped pedaling on a very slight decent. And yes, he proved his point that I shift into much too easy of a gear during any slight incline and don’t really stand enough. All in all, it was a very cool ride.

Today was a no ride day. The horizon looked white this morning...

but that wasn’t snow covering everything… Today brought rain and freezing rain with the high never above freezing. The sun finally came out late in the day and really showed all the ice.

Heck, at least I got some decorations on the tree. And with that, it’s time for a beer.

Catch up time

The couple month quick catch up…

Since my last post (almost two months have passed… really? I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by)

I’ve rediscovered the bundling up for winter road rides. Riding with ice on the side of the roads, using hand and foot warmers and remembering what a shivering ride is.. and constantly questioning why any of us do this?

Rediscovered winter mountain bike rides and how much I love those. Remembering that’s why I do cold winter road rides.

Headed to Fairhill and met up with a group of green (Guy’s). All the trails were white, covered with snow and I loved it. Besides the fact Fairhill is just a fun place to ride.

Re-acquainted myself with Wissa. Still thinking of a different mountain bike for next year. Acknowledged I probably won’t. Reminded myself there’s a stable of bikes in our basement that need to find different home.

Realized we haven’t really had many freezing days yet.. wonder if they’ll be coming soon.

Managed not to do a single cross race. Pondered, next fall maybe?

Found my running shoes a few times, sometimes remembered I used to love running.. sometimes remembered not.

Discussions began on the Neshimany race next year. Find myself excited and a little, well.. you know.

Enjoyed our team’s year end party. Realized I've actually started to know more teammates.

Went to my first NFL game. Actually found myself cheering after the Eagles had a good play (I’m an anti-Eagles fan normally). Very cool to be at the game.

Helped our economy by doing some vehicle swaps, couldn’t resist helping our own bottom line. But the fun little convertible is gone and the short bus is no longer the short bus.

Realized my Dad turns 70 next week, really my Dad is 70? Why does that make me feel old...

Our youngest turns 2 next month, guess he’s not a puppy anymore. Besides the fact I actually noticed it in his face this month.

Hubby’s side of the family arrives next week to celebrate Christmas at our place. Christmas is next week already?!! We got our tree, it's up but without a single decoration (guess that needs to happen this weekend). Hubby hung the stockings, one for each of our boys (and us). Love how they look.

First race of 2009 is in 16 days. Already??
Still haven’t found my 2009 ‘race face’.........