The wild, wild west

A few weeks ago Kevin and I headed out on vacation. We planned our trip in three stages: biking in Fruita, CO; hiking and biking in Moab, UT; and hiking and biking in Salida, CO.

Here are the highlights from the trip:

- Mountain biking on some amazing trails with friends in Fruita.

- Having a bolt come out of my rear suspension and walking 5 miles out of the Slickrock trail.

- Kevin giving me an early birthday surprise by staying here and here. I thought we were camping the entire time.
- Climbing 2000 feet for 12 miles and 2 and 1/2 hours to riding parts of the Monarch Crest, Colorado Trails and Rainbow Trail.

- The amazing beauty of Arches National Park.

- The La Sal Mountains.

- The beautiful golden aspens in Colorado.

- Peace, quiet and serenity.

- Needing to send my bike in for warranty because the rear triangle was coming apart.

It was great week and I came back home totally decompressed and not stressed out. I also realized how lucky I am to be able to go on all these adventures!

Enjoy the pictures!

Janet and Nicole on Mary's loop - Fruita, CO

Justin walking down to Horsethief Bench trail - Fruita, CO

Nicole - Fruita, CO

Chicken Head, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

The Dark Angel, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Balanced Rock, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Marching Elephants, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Double O arches, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Marching Elephants, Arches National Park - Moab, UT

Big Hands, SlickRock Trail - Moab, UT

I've been a bad blogger

The last few weeks have been very busy at work and then I left on vacation. I'll post a write up and pictures in a few days on the trip to CO and UT with Kevin. We had a lot of fun and he had lots of surprises for my birthday!

In the meantime, here are two videos on why I'm hopeful for Barack Obama.

Thankfulness

Tonight was the last weekly ride of the Penn Cycle Women's Mountain Bike group. We had planned to mountain bike at Lebanon but was unable to because of heavy rains yesterday. We still got together at my place for some pizza, adult beverages and great discussions ranging from politics, mountain biking (riding and racing) and the female anatomy.

I was sad that the group ride was over for the season but it wasn't until a discussion at the party and a thank you note from a fellow rider that made me really realize that I won't see all these women every Wednesday night. It's a great group of independent, smart and strong women who have a lot to share - their lives, interests and opinions are really diverse. And although I sometimes get irritated with the opinions they choose to share with me, I wouldn't trade their friendship for anything and value it more than they probably know. Thanks ladies for a great summer of fun singletrack and friendship.

Now on to Wednesday ski nights, urban assault rides and game nights!

Hope

"Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good." -- Vaclav Havel

We've been hearing a lot about hope lately and the quote above explains perfectly how I feel these days about the presidential election and the Democratic candidate, Barak Obama.

Here are some of the thoughts that I've had recently:

Sen. McCain says he cares about the little guy but how can someone who owns 13 cars, between 8-11 homes, and a wife who wore approximately $300,000 worth of clothing and jewelry on the last night of the Republican convention, have any idea what the average American is facing when they put gas in their cars and try and clothe and feed their family.

If you question Sarah Palin's experience you're called a sexist but I have seen nothing to indicate to me that she is prepared to be Vice President or President.

Sarah Palin has done very little to advance and protect women's rights.

I don't know that Barack Obama has all the answers and I know he will have difficult decisions to make should he win in November but I have hope in his values, belief system and his ideas about how to make this country better.

Note: I promise I won't inundate this blog with political debate but felt I needed to write about this presidential election because I believe a lot is at stake. If anyone wants to have a conversation about my comments, contact me at valeriejdosland@comcast.net.

Rocks and roots and flat tires! Oh my!

This weekend I raced the 6 hour race at Blue Mounds, part of the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series. This race was originally scheduled in July but was postponed because of heavy rains making the trail unrideable. This is another favorite course - very technical singletrack with lots of roots and rocks.

The race started at 1:00 and I had a plan - I was just out to have fun and not worry about my lap times and viewed it more as a long training ride rather than a race. My first lap was one of the funnest of any race I've done. I felt great and despite taking my time, had one of my fastest laps ever at Blue Mounds. I went out for my second lap and after about 20 minutes I got a flat on my front tire. I quickly changed it and as I was about to get going again a young kid came up the trail walking his bike. He had a flat tire and no tools or tubes with him to fix it. I offered to help him and long story short it took forever to try and fix the flat which never happened because we couldn't even get the tire off the rim. Between my flat and helping him I lost about 20 minutes on that lap. Oh well, I was only out to have fun. I came through the start finish area and started on my 3rd lap and knew that I would still be able to get 4 laps in assuming no problems. I started on the long, rocky technical downhill and at the bottom got my 2nd flat. I was prepared, had all the tools and wasn't worried. I got my stuff out and realized that one of my spare tube was for my singlespeed which has 29 inch wheels and what I needed was a 26 inch tube. At that point I started to get frustrated and got out my second spare tube and realized it was also for my other bike. I had to walk back to the start finish area to where my pit area was set up. I got the tube replaced and luckily Kevin had some 26 inch tubes because I was all out. I was really frustrated now because I lost at least 20 minutes. I got going again and within 20 minutes I got two more flats. After that I had no more tubes and only 1 CO2 cartridge. I got to a water stop and figured I was done because if I got another flat, it would be a long walk back if I didn't turn back there. However, I decided that I would take the chance and keep going because I hadn't exhausted all my options. I still had a patch kit and 1 CO2 cartridge and that I would not be happy with only doing 2 laps. Luckily, no more flats after that and I finished with three laps.

I had gotten a flat a few weeks ago and knew the rim tape needed to be replaced so I definitely learned a good lesson -- check you gear and your bike before the race.

I'm all done racing for the year and am looking forward to some fun fall riding!

Whew!

Boy life has been busy for me lately thus the lack of blog posts. While everyone was lamenting the end of summer, I was excited September was here so I could start my first of 3 vacations (2 down, 1 to go). Plus, working is getting busier and I just added a new client. I'm very happy about that but it definitely adds to my to do list!

The first vacation was spent with Kevin's family up in the UP over an extended Labor Day weekend. I managed to get a few road rides in and a mountain bike ride which was nice. The mtb ride was supposed to be a 5 hour training ride but I cut it short because it was extremely hot and humid that day which totally shocked my body and I really hate being hot.

The second vacation was this past weekend. I took a long-ago planned trip to Philadelphia to see two friends, who don't know each other but both happened to be named Becky and to do a bike race. The bike race was a total bust and I didn't have any fun but I'm not too gripped about it - you never know how a race is going to be, or what the trail will be like so I'm glad at least I tried.

Overall, it was good trip. The first day Becky 1 (a PHD student a Penn) took me an urban assault bike ride of Philadelphia which was very interesting. We started by riding down Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. Some people think they have poverty but this area was nothing like I have ever seen before. We then toured the University of Pennsylvania campus and headed through downtown Philadelphia to Reading Terminal Market which was cool - lots of great shops and every kind of food imaginable. We then rode our bikes to a south Philadelphia institution, Geno's Steaks, for the quintessential Phillie cheese steak. It was tasty but I had an even better one at a strip mall in Exton, PA the next day.

I spent most of the rest of the weekend at Becky 2's house with her, her husband and her 5 year old daughter Ellie.

The best part of the trip was a mountain bike ride with Becky 2 at French Creek State Park. I love rooty, rocky, technical singletrack and this had it all.

I'm off to Madison, WI tomorrow for the 2nd to last race of the season - a 6 hour race at Blue Mounds State Park. I'm looking forward to the race and really love riding there. However, I have decided that I'm done training for a month or two and am now back to riding my bike for fun and exercise. I'm definitely feeling like I need a break!

I hope everyone is able to get out enjoy the nice weather!

I'm not that tech savy

I tried to make some changes to my blog and lost my race schedule. I'll get that added soon since I still have three races left.

If there is anyone who can help me add some features, like pictures, and are willing to help, let me know.

Enjoy the weekend!