A Wonderful Weekend

Part 1: Birthday Party
Thank you to everyone for my birthday party! It was a whole weekend long and was so awesome. I think I'm a little overwhelmed and tired right now (definitely sporting some major bruises and mountain rash) and not sure if I will do it justice right now to describe the whole thing - but I'll give it my best effort. First of all, the whole thing was only for girls. About 10 ten years ago, Leslie Ross started this group (Babes in the Backcountry) to "inspire the mind, body and spirit". This weekend's Babes in the Backcountry Mountain Biking Clinic did not disappoint. The weekend was filled with time to meet and share with new people (one who only lives 15
minutes from me!), lots of great food and drink (yes Meghan, that's the wine tasting I was at), a bike maintenance class where we could (and did) ask all kinds of questions, yoga at the Riverwalk in Breckenridge (that was a beautiful and peaceful setting), an aromatherapy massage that was wonderful, and of course, lots of time to learn new skills and ride some trails in town.

The entire experience was more positive, upbeat and encouraging than you could ever imagine. There were women of different levels of experience and we were all welcomed and encouraged to learn at our level. So much thought and preparation was put in to the weekend by Leslie...it was amazing. The gift bags we received had so many goodies and so many items produced by Breckenridge "green" locals. I can't even comprehend everything that was in the gift bag - it will take me a few days! The food and drink provided was so healthy and wholesome - again, lots of local stuff. The learning environment was so positive...it allowed me to do things I never dreamed I'd do.

My biggest goal going in to the weekend was to gain confidence and certainly pick up the major skills I was lacking. Leslie had coaches for us who were so helpful - Annie & Christina. Annie really knew her stuff. I have to admit, when she told me to ride with my butt behind my saddle and use my front brake, I thought she was crazy...but it seriously worked and helped me get so much more control going downhill.

On Saturday, I crashed at one particular place so many times...and all I kept hearing was encouragement, brainstorming on how I could be successful on the next attempt, Leslie asking how she could help me be successful, other riders in my group cheering me on...it was great. One of my biggest fears and concerns is downhills and it certainly showed on our practice ride. It was amazing when I finally nailed it on the last hill of the day on Saturday. The whole time Leslie was there coaching me as I made my way (slowly, I might add...but not so slow as to just plop over like I had every other time that day) and lo and behold it happened - I made it!!! I went down a hill (and stayed on my bike - upright!) that had rocks and roots, a large log on one side and involved a turn!!!

So like I said, I wanted to learn skills and gain confidence this weekend and I certainly accomplished that goal. I took Nick out today before we left town and showed him the trails we went on, where I had fallen so many times, the one hill I made it down...but something very cool happened when I was out on my ride with him...I made it down another hill that I hadn't been able to tackle over the weekend...progress! Thanks again to everyone for my birthday present and to Nick for coordinating such an awesome idea. Also, thanks to Leslie for all of her hard work and for making the weekend so enjoyable and worthwhile :-)

Part 2: Camping in the mountains
So we left for the above mentioned bike clinic on Friday morning. Events for my birthday party didn't start until Friday evening, but we were hoping to set up camp before it got dark and all. So we drove to Dillon (which is only an hour away) and stopped at the visitor center to inquire about directions to the campground. The lady working there didn't give us much hope of finding a site...she said the only campground that's open is packed because the others are closed due to pine beetle infestations. So we decide we'll give this one at Dillon Dam Reservoir a chance before we head closer to Breckenridge where there was some primitive camping - which is what Kyle, Meghan and Kira would think means a boulder is probably going to fall on our heads at any time, as the mountain lions and bears simultaneously attack us - duh. Anyway, we drove up the Dillon Dam road (my mom likes when I say Dam) and found the campground and were so lucky to find a beautiful site, right on the water. Because of all of the birthday party activities, we got back late to the campsite both Friday and Saturday night, so we decided to stay Sunday night as a special treat...so we could have a fire, look at stars and sit around and just relax. It was a beautiful site and the weather was great...temperatures in the 40's overnight for camping creates great sleeping weather. The dogs loved camping and Nick seemed to enjoy his time to relax too! It was the perfect place to spend my down-time from my birthday party :-)