… you reach into your purse looking for lip gloss b/c you want to look kind of cute in case you need to talk to mountain men with cute butts when… you can’t find lip gloss. All you find is a CO2, a Gu, and a tubeless valve for your Mavic Crossmax wheels. D’oh.

Feel free to add your own… I know most of you that read this are bike nerds for other reasons, but that was my moment of shaking my head and laughing at myself today… and it won’t be the last.

The short track was more fun for me than the XC b/c I felt a teeny bit better…but it was only 12 minutes of hell for me.

I was kicking myself for forgetting my camera both pre riding the XC and the Super-D course, but I have a few pics for you.

Packing the rental minivan full.

A little shopping in Park City after the racing was done. Are these CFMB’s for the Park City ladies? DAMN. I think they are more like ewok boots… EBs. there we go.

Theresa being gorgeous as usual.

Park City…you can ski to town. pretty rad.

Two buddies. We watch out for each other.

A little mexican terrace dining. I use the term mexican lightly as Nina and I were dumping as much pepper and salsa all over our food b/c it was so bland. I guess that’s what you get for eating mexican in utah.

My new favorite pick up line. HEY-O!!!!!!

Nina Baum is very carniverous.

Bike practice

Theresa Richardson.

So much coffee, so little time….

Today was the Deer Valley NMBS XC.  Despite the fact that my tailbone is bruised/fractured and that I am iron deficient, I somehow thought that I would still be able to have a good race.  I was hoping my adrenaline would mask all my pain symptoms, and I even drank a Sobe Adrenaline in addition to Nina’s amazing coffee.  I am generally an optimist, so even under the worst conditions, I still always hope for the best.  Keeping a positive mental attitude is just as important as my legs feeling good.  That’s half the battle. Unfortunately when your legs don’t work at all, having a PMA only helps keep you happy and having fun.  That doesn’t really help the results, but it makes your day not be totally awful.  From the get-go, I felt like my legs were totally loaded up- like the way you feel right after you sprint as hard as you can…and that’s they way they continued to feel for the next 2 hours.  I thought about quitting, but I decided that since I was able to at least be in Zone 4, that I was still getting a  good workout.  Plus, I really hate quitting, so I just tried to enjoy the GREAT riding and the sunshine.  Thanks so much to the spectators for cheering me on, even though I was in the way back!  There was one guy though…he said, “Are you racing?”  hahaha.  Ouch.  I learned how much you actually stand up in an XC.  I was able to stand on the descent, but when it came to standing up and pedaling on the climbs, it was impossible.  I tried once, shrieked in pain, and sat back down.  It’s really hard to race without standing up to pedal now and then.  Oh well.  It was actually easy to mentally deal with what was happening because I understood why I was performing the way that I was.

My next race is in 2 weeks- Snowmass MSC. It’s another one of my favorite races.  My tailbone has been injured for 2 weeks, so it should start to be on the mend 2 weeks from now.  I also think that 2 weeks of taking iron supplements will help as well. (see, told you I’m an optimist)

I rode the Super-D course today…3 times. It was fun and strange to ride the chairlift up and then ride my bike down. I was very surprised at the course.  It was pretty freaking gnarly with huge roots, tons of loose rocks and gravel, and a 2 or 3 foot drop off at the end. I’m not sure I’m going to race it b/c I probably would not be able to get up again if I crashed, but I am thinking about it….  I did pay my entry fee, so I figured I’d get my moneys worth and at least practice my DH skills.

It’s been super fun hanging out with my normal travel crew too.  I’ll give you an update on actual results when they are posted.  My buddies all did GREAT!!!!

Today I peeled myself out of bed at 6 AM to do some last minute packing and get to the airport.  It’s only an hour flight from Denver to Salt Lake City, but I ended up sitting on the plane for over 3 hours. why do you ask?  Well, we got on the plane, but then it broke and we sat on the runway for 2 hours while they fixed it. I’m glad they fixed it, but 2 hours of sitting there was pretty crazy. I would have been ripping my hair out, but I sat next to this interesting older retired navy guy.  One of his great stories was that he has 3 kids, and between them, they have THIRTEEN grandchildren.  His son had 7 children. mmm…yeah, that is something I won’t be trying.  Then the preceded to blast the AC so everyone was hunched over from being too cold.

I got to Salt Lake to be greeted by the smiling faces of Nina and Theresa at the airport.  We went to this awesome coffee shop called coffee garden and had some yummy lattes.  I took pics, but me, true to form, forgot the cable that allows me to transfer pics so I’ll have to add them later…

I did a little recovery ride today with Theresa and we are all pre riding the course tomorrow. It’ll be fun. :)  My tailbone is hurting really bad… feels like it is getting worse. It is getting to the point where I wake up at night every time I turn in my sleep.  I think I’m going to have to get some painkillers for the nighttime when I get home so I can get some freaking sleep through the  night.  We’ll see how it feels racing on it…it may not be too bad.

Just a word of advice for the ignorant, as I was until about 3 hours ago.  If you cut a
Serrano pepper (which involves touching it with your hands), find a way to get the oils out of your hands. I went to take a shower and started washing my face (after cutting the pepper). My eyes started burning in a horrible way. I couldn’t even open them to dump soap in for long.  My first thought was, “Is there salt in this water?”  Then I realized it was from the peppers…. I literally could not open my eyes for more than a split second for the next 10 minutes.  It was a tricky-like shower…. and yeah, soap doesn’t get the oil off, so be careful washing, um, the rest of yourself too or your sensitive skin will BURN.

That’s it for now!

There is a Looney Bean coffee in Montrose, CO. The first one was in Mammoth, CA and I had heard it about before. Liz and I were driving through Montrose and I was very excited, and after a latte I was on overdrive. We stopped in and they had Looney Lattes, Looney Bars, Looney Looney Looney! They did not have a tshirt in my size and had just opened 10 days before…I’m waiting for them to get their online store up and running so I can outfit the Looney clan with Looney Bean memorabilia.

Contemplating the meaning of the universe in my sweet Mavic hat. Crossmax!

No comment.

Heaven…

Nature is pretty cool.

I talk really really loud, but I don’t sing so loud. My family told me to sing louder, so I was digging deep.

I love my camping machete….

so much so, that i cut my steak with it….

My brother loves machetes too.

Nature again.

This waterfall was so awesome. We hiked up on this cliff. I have a video of it too if I ever figure out how to make it work on here.

Ouray, CO. I.E. Little Switzerland

Me and Liz

Liz’s summer home.

My parents’ pop-up. I actually prefer tents these days…unless it’s raining.

Silverton, CO. My second home.

Breath-taking waterfalls make me smile. I could sit here for hours.

More water

Riding….

I love my grandpa.

Me and one of my best friends/little sis (I have known her since she was born too…Kelly Belly!)

Went for a ride up on some jeep roads. Not bad….

My real brother (in the glasses), Brian and my sort of little brother, Eric(known him since he was born…)
My brother was very amused by my antics in the river. It was pretty fast paced and cold, but I managed.

Going in. I like my Teva hat.

Yeee–aaahhhh!!!!!!!

AHHH!!!

I finally got my computer back!! Camping was blissful as usual. I hated to leave, but we all must come back to reality. This post will be mostly photos, but I’ll briefly highlight the trip! I got to do a little bit of riding up at high altitude. I would love to stay there for a month and explore all the jeep roads and trails. Someday soon!!!! I bought a camping machete for 9 bucks that was a huge source of entertainment along with my antics of getting in the fast paced, freezing river. I haven’t seen that much run off in a great while- I took lots of photos of waterfalls for you. I had some good times with the fam, family friends, and my friend Liz. She is an honorary Looney now after having gone on this trip for the last two years. Yes, she is able to brave all the looneys at once. Quite a feat in my opinion…

I still can’t get over how gorgeous the San Juan mountains are, and it’s my home away from home. We sat through a LOT of construction. So much, that it took an extra 2 hours to get there. I am not patient in traffic, so I was pretty much going insane.

I’m leaving on Thursday for Deer Valley. I’m really excited to race and see my friends, but also kind of unsure about what will happen. I crashed pretty hard on my tailbone a week and a half ago on the road. It is pretty damn painful and it hurts to ride, sit, blow my nose, laugh, or anything else that involves pushing. Lots of ibuprofen it is. I also got some bloodwork done last week and unfortunately (but not surprisingly given how I’ve been feeling on the bike the last 2 months), my hematocrit is low so that’s not good at all. I am trying to figure out why… All I can do is go as hard as I can this weekend and have fun. I’m getting a lactate threshold profile done at boulder center for sports medicine tomorrow morning too. It’ll be really interesting!
Ride on a jeep road… nearing 11,0000 ft. weeeee!! I was loving it.

Road…

More cool, clear water and purple mountain majesties. Ok, freezing water.

Ok, I have spent like an hour and a half trying to upload stuff. I have all my pics on flickr now, but I need to figure out how to get them into wordpress and my brain stopped working like 45 ago. Pics tomorrow, videos today. Capiche?

Just tried to post and THREE of my youtube videos failed so now you’re left with just two. sawwwwry.   the internet gods hate me today.  Try again later…..

from writing on my website. Don’t fret, it’s only 5 or 6 days so come back later. Reason number 1 is I’m finally taking my laptop back to the Apple store to get fixed. The DVD drive is all messed up, so they need to ship it out. Yes, I am a self-righteous mac user. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I should get that back around Tues next week. Reason number 2 South Mineral Campground The Looney summer camping trip.  It’s always a blast, and this is my favorite spot on earth (that I have been to so far anyway)  There will be lots of scenic pics to come.  I have gone there every single year of my life, so all the pics start to look the same except I keep getting older…but I never stop taking photos. :)  If you are ever around Silverton/Durango, at least go there for a picnic.  I’d live there all summer in my tent if I could swing it… or more preferably, in a van, down by the river!

It’s been hot here, but I am actually really enjoying it. It feels good to have hot air instead of biting, freezing wind ripping through you. I’ll be sick of it in a matter of days, but for the moment…I can enjoy it.  Next weekend is Deer Valley National, so I’m really excited for that.  I love the course, and hopefully I won’t be slogging through it.  I should feel good- Coach Sean has been doing me well.

I think that is all my news for today.  Hopefully I’ll have many an adventure to tell you about next week!!

one of your friends calls you and says, “I got a flat tire!” and you say, “Do you need me to come help you??”  You start scanning your room for your pump, multi-tool, tire levers, patch kit…and then you call your friend and say, “do you need me to bring you a tube too?”  Your friend says, “A tube?  What??” and you say, “yeah..like the kind that goes in your tire…duh” and they start laughing at you.  You aren’t sure why until she says, “Yeah…I’m talking about my car.”  D’oh.  One-track mind…well, sometimes on that track.

This is actually my bumper, but I figured it was appropriate for this post…………

I really love mountain biking. So much so, that I got choked up not once, not twice, but three times on my ride today…and promptly laughed out loud at myself for being such a dork. It was perfect. 75 degrees, not very crowded, the pine trees were especially fragrant. Just me and the singletrack which quite literally brought tears to my eyes. My legs are coming back. I’m very very very happy about it…which is also why I got choked up. It meant so much to me today to be able to go out and ride my mountain bike. Today was a 3 hour ride at varied paces and it was all good stuff. My HR was happy and high like it likes to be which makes me happy and high (on endorphins…) I also have really been loving the downhill. My Cannondale Scalpel just totally rocks. I have never felt so comfortable and fast ripping down technical singletrack before. I was definitely pushing my limits today. I made it without wrecking, but came pretty close a few times and definitely two-wheel drifted into more than one corner. …and then I’d giggle like a child. I made sure to take photos which also forced me to stop and rest for a second. I didn’t want to come back, but I knew how bad it would be if I did a 5 hour mountain bike ride. I don’t want to go back in that grave I dug myself. It’s not fun in there. If you like techno, you should check out Deadmau5. I met a dude on the airplane coming back from San Diego who was all about this band, and he has fed my techno obsession. Now it’s airborne!

GREEN LIGHT!!!
Twisty singletrack. Where does the trail go? In and out of lots of trees.

LEFTY (Cannodale’s fork) in action.

You know you’re getting up higher when the road turns into a river. Did I mention that I will never grow up? I love getting muddy. My grandma used to always tell me as a kid, “stay out of the mud!”

Loose, rocky anaerobic fun

Soooooo happy.

I won’t say my Aspen joke twice in one week, but every time I see Aspens, I think it.

I am not this serious in real life. I swear.

Heaven….. if this is what it’s like, then I want to go there.


Access DENIED. I’m not sure exactly how high this was, 10,000 something, but after that, the snow was in my way.

Tomorrow, a 2.5 zone 2 road ride on flat road is in store. I’ll see if I can manage! I love going uphill. Flat roads simply will not do, but at least I have a new ipod playlist to jam to.

I still have not gotten my hands on a copy of me actually talking and looking like a dork, but here are some pics anyway. The girl that interviewed me was so cute and tiny, I wanted to put her in my back pocket and carry her around. hehe Needless to say, I look like the Hulk. My coworkers were all laughing at these photos because I look huge. Plum TV was incredibly nice and friendly, and Fuse Marketing did a great job as well. I actually had a good time, and despite drinking Sobe Adrenaline and getting all caffeinated, I felt like I remained calm. Well, as calm as I am normally.

Talking to the report, Jenise, about travel, fitness, and training.

You’ll be happy to know that I got my camera battery charger back. I went to San Diego 2 weeks ago for some R&R since I couldn’t race or ride…but I left my charger there by mistake. I guess I owe you pics from that trip too. Here are a few.

We went to Stone Brewery which was an extra special treat. This was pre-giving up beer for the rest of the season. I had to wait till this event. It was impressive, and the beer was very very good, but I am still partial and biased to my Colorado breweries like Odells, Avery, and Twisted Pine.
All the taps. They were really good tastes, but actually a little stingy with the tasters. You got 4 which is good, but you couldn’t buy any tastes. I wanted to taste a couple extras. Jeez.

That is a LOT of gallons of oak soda.

I got the big cup, but don’t worry, I didn’t fill it up all the way

Had to try out some local San Diego coffee shops and see how they faired in the latte world. Pretty good, and nice outdoor seating. Dan and I were both happy with our coffees.

Saw the ocean.

Beach was still cold to actually go in the water…nothing compared to my ice baths though!
There are actually furry palm trees. I was in shock and awe.  Still nothing like pine trees though.

Went out to breakfast a lot. This is a PANCAKE. I swear, they have the biggest pancakes everywhere in San Diego. I ate a pancake (or part of one…) the size of my head. Actually, even bigger. Ok, this particular one is larger than most of the ones I got, but this place, “The Original Pancake House” is famous for this pancake. My friend Brad ate that whole pancake, most of an omelette, and TWO cherry crepes. He was doing it to see how much he could shove down. Eating his stuff, and then me and Megan’s breakfasts. It made me sick just watching…I have videos of it. Let me know if you want to see.

These glasses belong to Megan, but I needed to try.

Yeah, not my look.

They like big glasses in Cali. I’m a fan of my Smith Theory glasses, always have been…but I had to at least try these huge (insert mad lib ____ ) goggles on.

Aw Saturday- I am going mountain biking up at nederland in an hour or so. That will be my first time this year. I can’t wait! I will be taking some photos for you, fear not.

The no beer or gluten diet is going well so far. Since I did it for like 6 months last year, it’s actually not that hard. My wonderful friend Liz decided I needed a treat, so she even made me peanut butter gluten free cookies. If she was a guy, I’d probably marry her. haha