Biking White Mesa

Once again, I thought I had put the mountain bike up for winter hibernation and the sun continued to shine.  When winter will get here and my skis and board will get a chance to come down from the rafters is now beyond me. 

Last weekend Liz and I went to bike White Mesa here in New Mexico.  White Mesa is named for the color of the gypsum that forms much of the mesa and the majority of the bike trails - that much I knew.  The rest I looked up: Gypsum is a white mineral consisting of hydrated calcium sulfate and is commonly used in cement, plaster, and fertilizer. This gypsum formed as a chemical reaction from evaporation of an ancient water body.  So in other words, this area was once covered with water - too bad, I would have rather experienced that!

It was a fun afternoon.  The biking is technical at times, mellow at others, and we took it easy and had a nice day of pedaling around. 

That little dot in the lower left corner is me.

My backside going up a hill

My front side going off one...

Liz coming up.

This may be the longest blog about a bike you'll ever read.

Kahlil Gibran once said, "If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours.  And if they don't, they never were."

Does that apply to bicycles?

Pictured above is a Trek 520, and this 520 has a story.  In the summer of 2000 my mom purchased this bike for me for an adventure across the country.  I would say that I pedaled it from the Pacific Ocean in Washington to the Atlantic Ocean in Maine.  The bike, if it could talk, would say it carried me.  That's just the kind of bike this is.

This bike was not the bike I'd always wanted.  However, for the 4000+ miles of riding while towing a BOB full of gear, it was the clear bike of choice.  The trip was amazing in many ways, but I will spare you the details for those of you who know me (and read this) already know them.  

When we dipped the front tires into the Atlantic Ocean, a symbolic gesture performed by many who ride across the country, I about tossed the bike in the ocean and walked away.  The 520 had done a great job getting me from point A to point B, no doubt, but I was finished with that kind of riding and therefore, done with the bike.  I went off to Arizona to start my work with Mexican wolves, and my mom returned to California and sold the bike.

My mom still had her 520 and rode it at home. My parents were traveling quite a bit in their RV, and my mom decided she wanted a bike to keep in the RV... it was as easy as contacting the gentleman my 520 was sold to, and she purchased the bike back (this would be the second time my mom purchased this bike).  My 520 traveled around in the RV for another year or two, and then that idea fizzled out and my mom sold the bike to my sister's friend.  

Another year or so went by.  My sister's friend was not using the bike much, and once again (the third time) my mom purchased my 520 back.  She was getting into bike mechanics and this bike was to be used as her guinea pig.  Not to mention it could double as a clone, and be used for spare parts for her 520.  

About a year ago I started looking into commuter bikes.  As is the case with most of my bike shopping experiences, I was going overboard.  Buying bikes is something I can get really carried away with.  I was looking at all different models in all different price ranges, but I think I knew from the beginning what I wanted.

I wanted my 520 back.  A bike I had dismissed and nearly tossed in the ocean to rust away, I suddenly wanted back.  She was perfect.  First off, I would be recycling a bike which made me feel good.  Secondly, I had a history with this bike... heck, the bike alone has a history.  And thirdly, the Trek 520 is debatably the best touring bike available and she would make a kick ass commuter.

I bit the bullet and my mom shipped me the bike.  I changed out the drop bars for a more upright commuter type ride (saving the drop bars in case I decide to tour again).  New shifters, new brake levers, new cables, my old rack and a new chain and my 520 was ready to go.  She's nearly perfect and for the first time in our 8+ years of an on and off again relationship, I love this bike.

Perhaps I will not keep her until the end of time, or perhaps my mom will purchase her (would be the fourth time) back from me someday.  Whatever the end result is for this 520 with a story, I hope in the meantime she will carry me on my errands, get me to work and back, and hopefully tow a kid or two when the time comes.  When she is no longer able to roll her tires on the pavement, maybe I will take her back to the Atlantic and set her free.

Good Days, Sunshine...

We took a week off at the end of October knowing we needed to go on vacation, but even in mid September we were still debating where.  Debates ranged from Australia to Sedona, so you can see the difficulties we were having with where to go.  We waited too long to make a choice and flights anywhere were getting expensive.  A family condo happened to be available, cutting the cost of the trip down tremendously.  So we "settled" for Maui.

This is a photo taken off the balcony of the condo.  It was right on the beach.  Well, actually a pool just barely not pictured here separates the condo from the sand.  Rough life.

I thought this bamboo forest was amazing.  Bamboo as high as you could see, and blocking so much light!  The stalks would clank together in the wind sounding like an enormous wind chime. 

I had some fun playing on the bamboo and enjoyed the break from the sun.  We were in a National Park and I was disappointed to find out later that the bamboo is actually invasive.  So much for being able to enjoy yourself.

This is a photo of just a regular ol' beach there.  Actually, this beach has a reef out where the waves are breaking, and from there to shore is only about 5 feet deep at the most.  Great place for kids. 

We rented surfboards for the day and had some fun in the "waves."  The waves were quite small that day.  This is a photo of me on one of the smaller waves of the day, but don't go thinking they got too much bigger than that.  :)

We also paid to go on a private but guided kayak/snorkeling trip.  That was pretty fun.  We snorkeled around for quite a while looking at all the fish and coral, and kayaked a small ways too.  We were in a tandem (aka "divorce boat") and had no quarrels. We even got to surf it a bit when we were done snorkeling.  I'd have to say the highlight of the snorkeling was the sharks.  Our guide fished a couple of sharks (black tipped or black finned - can't remember) out of a small cave.  They were pretty good size, at least 4 feet long although I want to exaggerate and say longer.  They had the scary shark appearance - like they looked like they could attack at any moment.  But they were actually quite calm despite our disturbance.  Really cool.

We did the "Rode to Hana" where you drive to a more remote side of the island.  It was beautiful.  Unfortunately the road is really a one lane road turned into two way traffic, and with 50+ bridges and over 200 hair pin turns, it was pretty gnarly.  We almost ended up like this car above.

Liz and I at a waterfall we hiked to off the Road to Hana. 

It was a pretty good week.  Lots of reading, sitting on beaches, kayaking, snorkeling, surfing, hiking, etc.  It's pretty safe to say that I am not that excited to be back.  

:)

Big Tesuque Trail Run

The Big Tesuque Trail Run is a 12 mile out and back run in the mountains outside Santa Fe.  It starts near Hyde Park at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, and travels on a forest service road/trail up to Tesuque Peak at the Santa Fe Ski Area at 12,043 feet.  In the winter time this is a popular back country ski area.  In the fall, as you would probably guess from the changing aspen leaves, it is a popular hike.  

On October 4th, it was a popular place to run.  Over 100 people showed up on the chilly fall morning to run the 6 miles up the mountain, and then back down.  It wasn't as steep as La Luz, nor as long and grueling as Imogene, but it was challenging nonetheless.  I hadn't run a whole lot since the Imogene Pass Run in early September.  Maybe once or twice a week, but at least it was mixed in with a good deal of biking and playing soccer.

  

I didn't feel extremely great - "my guts hurt" from perhaps dinner the night before (who eats baked crab wrapped in flounder the night before a race?? Me). But I still did pretty well.  It took me 1:43 to finish.  I took 12th overall (men and women), and was the 3rd woman to cross the finish line.    

Moab, UT

For the past several years Liz's friends have been doing an annual mountain bike trip to Moab. This past spring we rode the White Rim Trail - 4 days and 3 nights of riding and camping over a 100+ mile loop around Canyonlands National Park.  This fall the group decided to make the C campsite in the Sand Flats campground near the Slickrock Trail the home base, and ride the Moab trails from there.

We headed up to Moab on Thursday getting their just in time to set the tent up and head over the Griffith campfire.  On Friday, most of us rode the Amasa Back Trail - which I had never done before.  It was a pretty good ride... got my wheels back under me.  I always seem to ride better in Moab, or maybe just with more confidence.  Perhaps it is the fact that 9 other people got over something on the trail that looked near impossible that makes me more willing to attempt it.  This trail climbed quite a bit to an overlook, traveling over a lot of different terrain. Certainly a ride I would do again.  Friday afternoon I was talked into going for a 3 mile run in the drop dead heat - oh, after eating lunch and drinking a beer.  Lets just say it wasn't the best I've felt on a run.  

Me at the end of Amasa Back.

Saturday some of the group did Porcupine Rim and some of the group did Sovereign. Despite never having ridden Porcupine Rim I opted to ride Sovereign, wanting to ride with a few of the folks that had been busy baby sitting the day before.  Unfortunately the ride was a bust because we had trouble finding the trail and spent most of the ride pedaling around looking for it.  To make up for it, in the evening we left camp and rode a bit of the Slickrock Trail, which is always a good time.

One of the friends had rented a hotel room for the weekend, and the shower and the pool certainly came in handy.  Mornings were filled with biking, afternoons with swimming or showering, and evenings with sitting around the campfire.  The trip felt too short - I would love to do a few more rides the next time I am there.  Moab anyone?

View from camp while clouds came in one evening.

The days go by...

Liz and I got married two years ago in Hyde State Park outside Santa Fe, NM. It's hard to believe it has been a full two years from the days of picking out linen colors, flowers, songs, food, booze, etc., and two years from probably the last time I'll see Liz in a dress.  :)

This year for our anniversary we decided to follow our "tradition" and go camping in Hyde

Park. Lucy saw the camping gear coming off the shelves in the garage and hopped in the car ready to go.  No ifs ands or buts, she was going (she was proud of herself, although we'd planned on taking her regardless). We got up there Friday afternoon and barely had time to set up the tent and start cooking dinner before it got too dark.  It sprinkled on us a few times while we sat and ate by the fire, but nothing worth noting (wait, is blogging "noting?"). We made smores for dessert and climbed into the tent for the night.

We woke up and made breakfast burritos in the morning.  We burned my "Facon" a bit, which didn't up being noticeable over the added non-dairy creamer to the eggs.  Liz thought the creamer would add well to the eggs, but unfortunately it was vanilla flavored and thus, so were our burritos.  They still tasted good, but were certainly different from the typical New Mexican food spiced with red or green chile.  Gave all new meaning to my California slang of "Sweet burrito, babe!" 

We stopped off at Ten Thousand Waves on our way home for massages.  Ten Thousand waves is an asian escape in the mountains of Santa Fe.  It's beautiful, peaceful, incredibly calming... I could hang out there all day. Sadly we couldn't because we had tickets for our friend's comedy show, the Southwest Funny Fest, that night.  But the comedy show was worth coming home for, I had a side stitch for hours I laughed so hard. 

Two years later and the days keep going by.  There are no more wedding dresses to fit, colors to pick, make-up to worry about, hair to do, or invitations to send.  Liz told me Friday night she loved me AND my baggage - and when she said "baggage" she pointed to Lucy.  It is just us three now in our own world, and I couldn't be happier.  Lucy and I sure drew the good straw.

You knew a self portrait was coming.

Lucy, patiently waiting in the car while we packed.

The Imogene Pass Run

I am currently sitting in my home office writing this blog, looking out at the Sandia Mountains. I recently wrote a blog about running up La Luz, and from this vantage point I can see a small portion of that trail as it winds into the wilderness, and then up and beyond. From this recent blog you can read that I view that trail as pretty difficult, and agree with Runner's World when they once declared La Luz as one of the top 12 most difficult trail runs in the lower 48.

I know what number 1 must be now... because the trail I can see from here is a hill, a mogul, a pimple compared to what I did last weekend.

The Imogene Pass Run.  Or as I like to call it: The Imogonna Passout Run.

I know this is last year's poster, but it was all I could find.

This may be the single most difficult run I have ever done. 17.1 miles from Ouray (7800 feet), over the Imogene Pass (13,120 feet), and back down to Telluride (8800 feet). I will break it down for you here in chunks:

Miles 1-5: The "easy" part of the course.  I left Ouray and in 5.5 miles found myself arriving at Lower Camp Bird after gaining 1955 feet in elevation.   The gradient was an average of 6.8%.  In the first few miles I felt excited about the event.  In the last few miles of this section I found myself wondering what I had gotten myself into.  I was already tired and in dire need to stop and stretch, which I did once only to find out I was simply in dire need to stop and stretching was merely an excuse. 

Miles 5-7.65: Mile 5 is really where the event begins.  From this point to the top the average gradient is 13.8%, double what the "warm-up" first 5 miles was. I left Lower Camp Bird for Upper Camp Bird, a gain in 1470 feet elevation.  The scenery is gorgeous, but my legs were increasingly tired and the mountain was increasingly steep.  At this point I left the conifer forest for good.  Upper Camp Bird rests at elevation 11,235, and if you're lucky you make it there before the cutoff time (2 hours and 30 minutes).

Turns out I was "lucky" enough to make the cutoff time.  I made it there in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  I had read the description of the course before the race, and knew that the next 2.5 miles to the top, another 1885 foot elevation gain, would be the toughest.  Mile 7.5 to mile 9 was increasingly steep (16.5% gradient).  But it was mile 9 to 10, the last mile to the top that I was worried about.  22% gradient.  That is steep.

Miles 7.65 to 10: I left Upper Camp Bird planning to get to the 9 mile marker and taking a breather before likely walking to the top. Turns out I should have planned to walk most the rest of the way from Upper Camp Bird.  There were several undulations  in the section that I would run, but otherwise I was participating in a steep hike with a thousand other people.  I actually laughed at one point after running a 20 yard section.  The guy next to me was intrigued by my laughter and I explained to him that I wasn't sure why I even tried running those sections, or why they called it a run at all... and why had I been next to the same rock for 10 minutes?

I made it to the top in 2 and a half hours, 10.05 miles 2:31 to be exact. I stopped at the aid station and looked at the licorice vines and wondered who had enough saliva to get those down.  Before I knew it I had two in my mouth and three in my hand as I left the top of the mountain.  I had reached 13,120 feet and now ahead of me all I had to do was coast downhill 7 miles into Telluride.  I made it!

Down the hill: I thought the downhill would be easier than it was.  But my legs were so tired from the climb that running down an 18% gradient trail with loose footing was more difficult than I had planned.  About 40 yards into the downhill section I decided I had more ahead of me than I had planned for.

Lucky for me the first 2 miles down were the steepest and it leveled out enough after that to marginally begin enjoying myself.  When I reached the 12 mile mark I hit my second wind (or 32nd, I wasn't sure at this point) and realized for the first time after beginning the decent that I would make it.  

With three miles to go I was really moving (well, considering I had already run 14 miles up and over a mountain pass "really moving" was debatable). I had 5k to go.  I felt "good."  

Two miles to go.  One mile to go.  And then I could hear them.  The crowd.  And then I could see it.  The turn.  The turn when the runner leaves the trail, hits the pavement, and runs the 2.5 street blocks to the finish line.  I had read in the course description that this was the area responsible for the 2nd most falls (the 1st being at the top as runners begin their decent).  When I made the corner and hit the pavement I knew why.  I had tired legs that were used to the grip of the trail.  The pavement was hard and it felt sticky.  The first few steps on the pavement resulted in near falls.  My shoes seemed to reach out and grab the ground before I was aware of it.  I corrected my form and sailed into the finish line.  

My final time was 3 hours and 31 minutes.  2 and a half hours up, 1 hour down. The weather was cooperative - sunny.  No rain.  No snow.  It was cold, but manageable for sure. Out of 1100 people I finished 220th.  Out of 475 females I finished 41st.  And in my age group I finished 9th. 

Not too shabby for someone who only trained for a few weeks.

Dumb Idea Number 187

Doesn't that look like something you should run?  

Almost 4 weeks ago my friend came to the conclusion that her recent ankle injury would prevent her from running the Imogene Pass Run (www.imogenerun.com).  I thought to myself, hmm... start in Ouray, Colorado, at 7800 feet, climb to 13,200 or so, and drop back down to 8000 feet in Telluride, all the while covering over 17 miles.  Sounds like fun to me - where do I sign?!?!

Why do I do these things to myself?!?! 

The problem thus far has been I've only allowed just over 3 weeks of training for the event (which not only included running more, but actually running at all).  The website says for training one should learn to negotiate steep, rocky, and icy terrain.  I figured I do that when I snowboard so this shouldn't be too hard, right?  Oh, except I'll be running up instead of sliding down.  I could find steep terrain in New Mexico to run on, but not icy this time of year.  I contemplated going to the ice hockey rink with Liz and running around on the ice, but thought better of that before actually trying it.

I leave tomorrow (Friday), run/walk/crawl on Saturday, and return Sunday just in time to sit on the sidelines and watch my fellow teammates play soccer.  

Wish me luck - and wish me good weather!  You have to run with a hat, gloves, and jacket because they've had pretty inclement weather at the top in years past.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Stay tuned...

Running La Luz

Saturday morning, bright and early (ok, 7am) I ran the La Luz Trail with a few friends.  The La Luz trail in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico is a grueling 7.2 miles of dirt (and rock) single track trail with a 12% grade.  If you start from the Tram as we did, you pound out an nice 1.3 extra miles, totaling about 8.5 miles of some serious uphill running.  The Tram sits at an elevation of 6559 ... and the peak at 10,678.  Yup, you're doing the math right: 4119 foot elevation change.   

The early part of the trail boasts pinon and juniper trees, while cholla and prickly pear cactus seem to leap out at you just as you pass.  The continued climb gives way to an alpine forest with blue spruce trees, ponderosa pines and some wildflowers (at least this time of year).  Just after 5 miles up (or 6.3 from where we started) you touch base on the rock slide area.  14 energy sucking switchbacks over a rockslide area that is nearly impossible to run - I call it the ankle break area. With just 0.6 miles left you make a turn and can see the top, but it is oh so high. You climb nearly 700 feet in elevation in only 0.6 miles.  UG - probably the slowest half mile of my life!

When I got home we made breakfast burritos and I ate mine so fast I can't remember what was in it. 

La Luz Trail Elevation

Sunday morning I woke up and biked 41 miles with a different set of friends. Around mile 33 I was really starting to feel the La Luz run the day before.  The massage I had Monday morning was more than deserved!

26 miles across the sea...

Ahh, a beach vacation.  They never are long enough for me.  As soon as I see the ocean I feel like I have "home" written all over me.  Thanks to my cousin, we were tasked with a trip to Catalina Island for her wedding.  A family condo on the island has meant that Catalina has always been an easy summer destination.  Well, at least until I moved inland to New Mexico.  Now it's not such an easy great escape, but it is still a great escape.  I'm a sucker for adventure trips - most of my vacations include some level of bike riding, snowboarding, etc.  This time, it was purely for participating in the festivities and relaxing... which we took full advantage of.  The best part about it was getting to enjoy the island with my whole family there.  Not just my immediate family, but all of my aunts and uncles and cousins.  We've all had our own experiences on the island for the past 30+ years, it was great to finally enjoy the place together again like we had as kids.  Another kick - watching my niece and nephew play skeeball in the arcade, just as I had growing up.  I put my 50 cents worth of tokens in the machine (yes, it did used to be MUCH cheaper than this!) and tested my rusty skills.  I am proud to say I am still dang good at skeeball!

The girls (Liz, Jane, Tara, Maggie)