So, it's been awhile...

Here I am with another "I'm back!" post. Surprise, surprise. ;)

Here's the lowdown...

• Six months later, I have a new job! YAY! The bonus is that it's a job I like with people I enjoy working with. You can't beat that. :)
• I took the summer off of the bike, so I'm starting all over. The good news is that despite the fact that I'm working full time, I'm managing to fit my rides in after work on the days that the kids are with their dad.
• Earlier this month I crewed my third Furnace Creek 508 for George. He's slowly getting his race report out on his blog.
• We're heading out to Death Valley tonight to volunteer at the Death Valley Double and Century, presented by AdventureCorps.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I am looking forward to getting back on the bike and back to some rides worth blogging about. ;) I've been fortunate enough to be invited to preview the course for the Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic in a few weeks for AdventureCorps, so look for a ride report on what's sure to be a great century course. I told Chris Kostman that I'd be happy to test out the course as an unfit rider...that should help him set course time limits. ;)

Meet Ollie!

First, I'll address the bikes, which I haven't been riding. :( George was kind enough to pass his sore throat and cough on to me just when I was getting my mileage up again. I've been trying to take it easy and let my body heal up before I get back out there again.

Last August, our 13 year old dog Cybele passed away. I thought for a long time that I could live without another canine friend, but as of late I have found myself more and more drawn to the dogs in the neighborhood. I was constantly stopping to pet and play with them and I felt something I hadn't felt in months...I really missed having a dog. I started checking Craigslist, looking at rescues and shelter lists and keeping an eye open for a new friend. I knew I didn't want to do the puppy thing and would rather have an older dog.

On Friday I happened to be browsing Craigslist and came across an ad for a black lab mix that was looking for a new home. I picked up the phone and spent the next 45 minutes talking to his owner, who was a really nice guy. Next thing I knew I was driving out to Rancho Cucamonga to meet him and I have to say, it was love at first sight! Okay...well, maybe not first sight since he hurled his 75 lb. body on me to say hello and left me with a sopping wet face from his doggy kisses, but it was almost love at first sight. I spent some more time with him, talking to the owner, taking him for a walk and I couldn't leave him behind. He had a good home, just not enough attention and I felt like our family would be able to give him the love and exercise that he needed.

He's just such a happy, great guy! We're teaching him not to jump on us and to keep his tongue to himself. He's also a big fan of the beach, where he gets to run off leash and play with other dogs. He's getting a little more brave about the water each day, but I think it's going to take me getting in, in order for him to take the plunge. Brrrrrr!

Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

That's the sound of cars on PCH getting too close or cutting Ralph and I off on our ride to Laguna and back today. I had a close call a couple of weeks ago on this route as well. I'm not sure if it's getting worse, or if I just haven't been riding this route enough and I'm not on my defensive game.

On the flip side...Shout out and props to all of the awesome drivers out there today who didn't mind when we took the lane, consciously waited for us instead of pulling out and generally made me believe that not all drivers are asses. The asses are just the ones we usually remember. ;)

Gettin'...dusty?

While I wanted to take the new bike out to get dirty, this is southern California in May and well...I had to settle for gettin' dusty!

Ralph and I planned to meet at the Pacific Ridge Trailhead at the top of Ridge Park in Newport Coast. This is a paved hill I often climb on the road bike so I thought...why not? I'll just ride there (13 miles) and meet him.

Oh, what a new mountain biker I am.

• Fat tires on pavement suck when you're accustomed to zipping around on skinny tires.
  
• I felt like a huge dork riding my mountain bike on the road and wanted to scream "I'm really a roadie...I swear!"
• I got dropped and demoralized on Newport Coast Drive and one guy even slowed down to tell me it wasn't fair that I was on a heavy bike while all of these people on 15 lb. bikes were zooming past me. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I have my speedy days on that hill too mister.
  

I arrived at the trailhead with 13 miles and 1140ft of climbing on my legs (900 of which was in the last 2.5 miles) and Ralph was waiting for me. We snapped a few pics and we were off into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and El Moro...





I had grabbed this route off of geoladders and it claimed to be only fire roads. Perfect, since I can't overemphasize how lacking I am in the technical skillz department. So far so good, we rolled a bit and descended a bunch, leaving behind the blue skies and heading into the typical for this time of year, May gray that hangs low on the coastline.



At one point Ralph and I were riding side by side and I gasped loudly. He thought he had gotten too close to me when in fact I had seen a snake slithering into the bushes and I had come dangerously close to meeting impending doom. Okay, not really...it was a king snake. It did catch me off guard though!

Close to the coast the route put us on a singletrack called BFI. I used the googles when I got home yesterday and found out this stood for Big F***ing Incline. Nice! Okay, it was not so nice when I was walking down it. Yes. Walking down it. I took one look over the drop off and told Ralph it was out of my league...too bumpy and that rut that runs all the way down the middle? Ummm...no thanks! Of course, the picture doesn't do justice to how steep it was and this isn't the nastiest section, and, and, and (yes, I'm easily spooked)...



Having survived our hike a bike down BFI, we made our way past the ranger station and to the trailhead for No Name Ridge.



Some quick calculations told me that our ride was over in fewer than three miles but what's that? Oh...there's just one thing...if this elevation profile is correct we have 1200 ft of climbing left! I think I'm going to be banned from picking routes from here on out. ;) We climbed and descended a bit before hitting a few very steep sections that required us to dismount and hoof it up hill. I was feeling fat, lazy and totally out of shape until Ralph later emailed me to let me know that some of the sections were registering 26-28% on his Garmin.

I wanted to give a big thanks to Ellen at Nathan Sports for hooking me up with a Nathan Zone hydration pack. I was eager to try this women's specific pack out and it didn't disappoint! It has a 2 liter bladder and just enough storage space to take all of the essentials (flat repair, pump, maps, gels, camera, cell phone but not too much so I wasn't tempted to over pack it. Honestly, I hardly noticed that it was there, it was that comfortable.

Can't wait to get out there again...I have a couple of mountain bike rides planned for this next week...along with some road rides too. Don't worry...I haven't completely crossed over to the dark side...yet.

One more white bike...

and I can give you my personal guarantee that it will never be this white again! Heading out in a bit to get it dirty!

Leaving on a jet plane...

not me, George. I put him on a plane to Iowa this morning. Yes. Iowa. For what, you might ask?

Trans Iowa V5. Check his blog for updates on this crazy endurance off road, mud fest. Fun times!

Saturday Ride to Big Bear via Onyx Summit

Right now I'm riding with one goal...finding the love again. What a perfect route for this. The mountain, the trees, the smells, the climbing and the descending down Highway 38! I could have done without puking up my lunch on the climb out of Big Bear but hey, we can't have everything that we want. ;)