An Open House...and a package (thank goodness)

So today was our third day of work at our new school, Gypsum Creek Middle School (GCMS). We had no meetings planned (except for a short one here or there for special groups) and had the whole day to work in our classrooms...and boy, did we need that time! Tonight was Open House, so things had to be put together for parents and students to walk around and all. It took all day, and eventually some things were made in to neat piles that we will have to finish over the weekend, but the rooms looked good overall. Open House went well. It's a much smaller event than we're used to (consider 340 or so in the entire school for grades 6-8, as opposed to the 1000+ Natalie is used to). Things went well as we introduced ourselves with our grade level teams and discussed policies for the year. We're really looking forward to the conference/workshop we have the next two days, the long weekend to get lots of work done in our classrooms, and the first day on Tuesday. It will be so exciting!

Side note: gotta give a huge shout out to Meghan. To make a long story short (or maybe not), the bank didn't get our letter to close the accounts and forward our money. So they agreed to let us email a request to close the accounts and allow Meghan to pick up our existing money (in the form of cashier check). She agreed to pick up the money and then run to the post office to over-night us the money so that we could have it in time to pay rent. "That's what friends are for..." Thanks Meghan!

Also, not sure it has previously been mentioned, but the road in front of our house that was being torn out and redone is finally completed. Hallelujah! The dust will no longer fly through our windows at such a fast rate :-)

First Day

Today was our first day that all teachers were required to report. We met with the whole staff (like 30 teachers) until noon, then had the afternoon to work in our rooms. And boy oh boy, is there work to be done in our rooms. We have open house on Wednesday, so the room just has to be looking nice by then, but I will not even be close to being ready for the start of the school year by then, but with some work over the weekend, when all my friends are racing at Gateway Cup, I should be ready to go for the Tuesday after Labor Day.

We met with the whole staff tonight at the principal's house for a post-first day party. So we met Jeff from Michigan (first year teacher) and rode our bikes the mile and a half up the hill. We had some wonderful BBQ and some good microbrews. It was nice to finally meet all the staff in a social situation. Then Deb (LA teacher) brought a cake and we celebrated Natalie's #31 birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to her and she received the game Cribbage as a gift. (If anybody knows how to play this, let us know please....) It was really a cool time, and I think it helped her deal with having to celebrate her birthday without any of her friends from IL. She had a huge smile as we sang Happy Birthday, and then blew out her candles. I will try to get a picture up soon. Overall, a very good night! Looks like we have plenty of people that we have things in common with and will get along great with the staff at school!

FAC

We are now officially members of the Vail FAC - Friday Afternoon Club. We had decided to "join" - aka attend - this club last week; after weather prohibited us from joining FAC last Friday, we had our hearts set on joining today after our new teacher meeting.


(Side note: the meeting was fine, got lots of good ideas, met two other new teachers from our building and are rip-roaring-ready-to-go for Monday out at Gypsum Creek). Anyway, what is FAC??? and why would you care to attend???

FAC is held all around out here, almost every restaurant has one...but the particular event we attended was at Vail. After 4 p.m. on Fridays, you can ride the gondola up Vail mountain for free. When you get to the top you have lots of options: go hiking, get cheap food and drinks, play sand volleyball, play bocceball, play disc golf, just sit and watch people, listen to a band, and so on and so forth.





It was awesome - and by the looks of the size of the crowd, we aren't the only people who think so! Tonight was a beautiful night on the mountain, a perfect setting for relaxing and enjoying the scenery. We took some pictures of ourselves and had a few strangers help out too. Enjoy the views!

Group ride and new teacher training

Last night was the Wednesday night group mountain bike ride. I felt really good, I was keeping up really good, I was passing people on the climbs, by far felt better than any other night! On the first downhill/rolling section I lost my line and my front wheel slipped off the trail and I went over the handlebars and tore some skin off my leg and arm. OUCH! Got back on and caught back up just in time for a long steady climb. I struggled for a bit, then got my legs back and was good the rest of the night. I was able to keep up with the other guys on the uphills and downhills. It was an awesome ride. We ended up with a little over 2 hours and 19 miles. After waiting for one of the other guys for a bit, we had to go seeing as how we had no lights and it was getting dark. We ended up coming down the last half of Abrams singletrack in the dark, then it was off to home to get ready for new teacher orientation. I will have to get my lights out for the rides the rest of the year.

Today was new teacher orientation starting at 7:30 in Eagle. I last did this 4 years ago at SASED. Natalie last did this about 9 years ago..... (I spent a while in school.......learning......) :)
We got our new Apple laptops, they are pretty sweet! It's the first time in my life that I have ever had my own computer! We had tech. this morning and learned how to use our new Macs and then we had classroom management this afternoon. It was kinda bittersweet starting a new year, but without our old friends from Chatham. However we are both super excited about starting the new year and getting to meet our students and the rest of the staff. We will meet staff on Monday at the principal's house for dinner and activities. We have a busy weekend planned with lots of hiking and biking and eating up valley for Natalie's birthday.

Until Next time.....
Ciao

Guess what we did today??

The picture should pretty much give it away.

Not much accomplished today...a load of laundry got washed - not put out on the line - but washed nonetheless...and I think Nick partly washed the car (don't ask - he's very mad at the car wash machines!) Anyway, the night ended nicely with a dinner out at etown.

It may, or may not, have been mentioned in a previous blog that there are lots of summer dinner specials out here. So, we like to look in the Vail Daily to see what good deals we can get. Tonight we drove up to Edwards for etown's Tuesday special - $6 burger and fries. They also happened to have the MLB package, so that made things even better. Got to see the Brewers & Cardinals lose and the Twins win. O, did I mention we also got to see the Cubs win??!! I heard through the grapevine that the Cubs' magic number is 31. It may be a tad early to start magic number countdowns, but I'll go with it.

So anyway, another etown patron noticed I was a Cubs fan; Nick asked if he was from Chicago and he said no, further downstate...as in Streator. So anyone from L-P who reads this understands Streator is pretty close and the man knew I was a Cavalier in high school. To make it all a little weirder (is that a word??), Reo apparently played Streator tonight for baseball. Hmmm, "it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world" :-)

Recap

Bike Racing 101 for all you non-bike racers that may read this post.

2 types of races:
Criterium - go around in circles really fast for a certain amount of time, usually about an hour.

Road Race - A certain distance on the open road, usually 30-100+ miles.

You start out in a pack, also known as the field, or the peloton. The pack is the safety net. In order to be successful in a bike race you have to at least be able to ride with the pack. If you come off the back of the pack you have no chance and may as well quit, unless you like riding with no chance of winning. If you are strong enough to ride off the front of the pack, that is a good thing, you give yourself a better chance to win if you eliminate some of the other racers, although you also lose the safety of the draft from the other riders in the pack, so it is much more difficult. If the pack is all together at the finish you get what is known as a field sprint. At this point it is usually the most explosive sprinter, or the person that just times the sprint correctly that gets the win. Timing is key cause you can only sprint at max effort for a short amt. of time, say like a couple hundred meters.

Ok then, so Sunday afternoon I drove down to Boulder to do the Category 3 race. This was my first crit since late June. And my first race with the 3's since upgrading. My goal was to be aggressive and ride near the front of the pack (it's safer here, less crashes). So the race started on a slight uphill, made a left turn to a slight downhill for one block, left turn into an alley that was about half as wide as the road, then a left turn out of the alley, sharp right, then sharp left for a block then another left to the finishing straight and the uphill. Following me????

I lasted for 10:00 minutes with the field, and was ready to drop out when a guy in a Carmichael kit came past me and I thought sweet, he will pull me back in, he looks like he is going strong. About 5 minutes later I just rode away from him, he couldn't hang, and I had no one else to help me get back to the field. 10 minutes after I got dropped like a bad habit, the front end of the field lapped me and I pulled out of the race.

Why did this happen? Well I have lots of excuses and theories, but basically I just wasn't in good enough shape. Our avg. speed was 25.6 when I got dropped and I have been successful in races with a higher avg. speed, so I know I can do it. Among the other reasons that I have for getting dropped so early are.

1.) I started off at the back of the field, so going into the 2nd turn when I was doing 18 mph, the front of the field was doing 32 mph, and with 57 riders I had to sprint max effort to get back onto the back of the pack. Multiply this effort over the next 7 turns and I was fried....

2.) The first 3 wheels I picked to draft off of got dropped within the first 2 laps, and I had to close those gaps burning tons of energy in the process.

3.) I am about 5-10 lbs over my ideal race weight and where I think I need to be to be competitive with these guys out here.

Basically I just need to be in better shape and have better legs, but I also need to stay near the front of the pack to avoid the accordion effect. There was 55 starters and only 25 finished. I will be there next year I am confident.

Race Tomorrow and Lazy Doggy

Early this morning we were woken up by a deafening boom of thunder and lightning that sounded like it had just hit the house it was so loud. It takes a lot to wake me up and this definitely did the trick. Then it started hailing. We got hail, about 30 miles up the valley they got snow. Temps were in the low 40's overnight, and about mid 60's today. Perfect weather! Wore a sweatshirt all day and was perfectly comfortable. I felt like I was in heaven!

Tomorrow is my first road bicycle race since the 29th of June and last for this season. I am super pumped, yet really have no idea how I will fare. I am doing the cat 3 race which is 1 hour long. I am about 5-10 pounds above my ideal race weight, yet my power is good, and my legs feel good, and I have been training at a higher altitude than what Boulder is at, so that should be good for my lungs. I have a feeling that about half of the Cat 3 riders will be in peak shape and ready to upgrade, so that will make it tough, but I am just going to be aggressive and try my best and hope for a small break or some primes or something.



Who says that dogs don't watch T.V.???? Here is Rusty searching for Animal Planet............. and we wonder why he is a little chubby..... lazy doggy!

MOTIVATION

It's a tricky beast this term. Sometimes you are full of it, sometimes you have none of it. Sometimes when you have it, it just disappears, and sometimes when you have none, you just randomly get some and it can make you do crazy things, or have crazy thoughts. For most people motivation comes and goes on a regular basis. Some people have more than others, and some people have less than others, and in some special instances lots less than others with just random massive spurts of motivation.

Let me preface this post by first of all saying that I believe that I have a wonderful family, and each of my siblings brings something special to our family get togethers. I would not wish to change anything about any of them. That being said, my brother Robert Francis is one of those people that has less motivation than most, or so it would seem from most outsiders. You can check out his new blog titled LIFE AFTER GRADUATION On his first post he has listed 20 things that he hopes to accomplish in the next 10 years. I would never doubt his ability to make any of these things happen as he is an extremely talented and sometimes driven individual. The kind of person who will completely lack any and all motivation at one point for an extended amount of time, but then the next time you see him he will have ridden his mountain bike for 12 hours through drenching rain and unbelievably muddy conditions without any kind of previous training. The kind of person who will not be doing any kind of physical training (other than maybe playing pick-up volleyball or soccer games) and then go out and ride a bike for 50+ miles, or go run 10+ miles on a track, or decide that he wants to do 1,000 push-ups in a day, or break the world record for jumping on a pogo stick the longest.... Who knows why he does this to himself, but I believe that he just gets sudden bursts of motivation and feels as if he should do something extraordinary before that motivation disappears again. So of the things on his list of top 20 things to do in the next 10 years, I will not put any one of them past him, but at the same time would not be totally surprised if none of them have been done.

Robert if I may offer some advice....(because I have so much excellent advice to give...) 10 years is not that much time once you get a solid job and settle into the routine of life... post college graduation. Now is the time of your life where you are free to do as you wish. Please understand that doing this at least takes a little bit of money, but if you are wise with it you can get a lot of bang for your buck. Be proactive, seek out new jobs, new friends, new opportunities. I have no doubt that you may wake up one Monday morning and decide that you want to run a marathon the following weekend, and you will probably do it. But in the meantime take life day by day and try to find something that you enjoy doing.

In closing, which is better.... 1.) To be the person to which motivation comes and go's on a pretty steady basis, or 2.) To be the person who lacks motivation a lot of the time, but does great things when it comes around. I think the point could be debated and look forward to any comments on the subject. Unless you just have no clue what I am trying to say, then just ignore this whole thing. I am starting to get a little confused myself. So.......

I will now raise my glass of vino (a big bold cab) and toast to you completing all 20 or at least the majority of these goals that you have set for yourself in the next 10 years. GOOD LUCK and CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR COLLEGE GRADUATION!

The Plunge.....

Last night was the Mountain Pedaler Wednesday night mountain bike ride. I was on this ride 2 weeks ago for the first time and struggled to keep up at times. But this being 2 weeks later, and some good training involved in there plus even more time spent at altitude, I was ready and raring to go. We left the shop with 7 riders, 2 more than 2 weeks ago, but well short of the 20+ they said usually show up earlier in the year. In the beginning I was doing really good, and felt good, but at one point in some loose shale I came unclipped and by the time I got back on my bike I had a hard time catching up and was really struggling. I finally caught up when they stopped to wait for me. Still not as fast on the mountain bike as they are, but getting much better. The route we took was similar to last week, starting off with Abrams, to Itch and Scratch, down Elk Trail (something like that), through Star Wars, and on to THE PLUNGE. I previously blogged about this steep downhill section and called it Death Star. The correct name is THE PLUNGE. 3 steep downhill sections that are very rutty and steep and challenging. Any extra speed is a VERY bad thing!! 2 weeks ago I ended up walking down the first hill and took easier roundabout options on the second two. This night I ended up saying screw it, I am going to try it at least. So I put my backside right over the top of my rear wheel and grabbed a buncha brake and went over the edge. YIKES!!!! Several times I had both wheels locked up and felt like I was definitely losing control....only to right the ship and keep on going. About 3/4 of the way down everyone was cheering and yelling and stuff, cause they knew I had chickened out last time. Pretty cool, although a little embarrassing. After I got down I looked back up and was like NO WAY OMG I can't believe I just rode down that thing. On the 2nd section I was 2nd last to go and started to go and then just bailed cause I lost my confidence. After I took my feet out of the pedals I looked further down and the owner of the shop had gone off the side of the cliff and fell about 10-15 feet down the loose shale. Luckily all he ended up with was some missing skin on his arm and shoulder. So on that section I took the easier way around, but on the last section which is just as steep as the previous two, but a lot shorter, I decided to try it. This section has lots of really deep ruts that are pretty sketchy. You have to pick a line and stick it or you get in trouble. The majority of the way down I had both wheels completely locked up and was just skidding with my behind hanging way off the back of the bike, and about 3/4 of the way down there is a 90 degree turn that you kinda have to skid through and then if you make that you are home free and its a nice easy cruise to the bottom. So I made it down the 1st and 3rd sections and was super excited with myself!!!! Maybe sometime in the near future I will be able to conquer all 3. After the ride we sat at the shop and had pizza and beers for a couple of hours. What a way to end an awesome ride!!!

How to Ride Downhill....

When the hill is as steep as THE PLUNGE you need to use both brakes HEAVILY. Balance is the big thing and keeping your speed as slow and controlled as possible!

A New Beginning

August 14 is a day of new beginnings for many of my friends. They will go back to school and I won't be there. Maybe this is the day when the move becomes a reality - for both me and them??? I have so many memories of teaching with friends in Chatham. I started out there as a quiet, timid first-year teacher (seriously, I was that way at one time)...moving around on my cart from Sally's room, then Jennifer's and off to my "own" room in the afternoon. How many stories can we share about those first two years when we were a junior high??!! Then we moved to an older, non-air conditioned building and became a middle school. Somehow we were supposed to view this move and change as something special, but I think we were all smarter than that!

Lots of teachers came and went - some really interesting stories that I should touch upon - just for old time's sake and to give everyone a reason to smile :-)

• Remember the girl who had her nipples pierced??? Yeah, she was a teacher who failed to wear a bra. The custodians liked her, but she didn't last long.
  
• There was "hot Ben" who we spent a large amount of time drooling after...and when I say "we" I guess I mean "I."
  
• Mentors who didn't "appreciate" their mentees...and vice-versa.
  
• The lesbian outings Tina and I shared (they just assumed we were lesbians because we always shared appetizers!) at Cheddar's.
  
• Tina's supervision of Sally and me at Nanci's teacher-to-administrator party :-)
  
• The match-making sessions to get Marc and Tammi together. Needless to say, that wasn't much work.
  
• Parent teacher conferences...need I say more? Let's say if I have to explain, you probably wouldn't be as amused as those "in the know."
  
• Anthony's ability to dance during lunch for Red Ribbon Week.
  
• The Wannabe's and their excellent performances.
• Sally and I accompanying ill-prepared band students for solo and ensemble contest.
  

I could go on forever, but I'll just let those be conversation starters!

So many people started out as colleagues and grew in to much more. I'm not even going to attempt to list them all (mostly out of fear of forgetting one single name!), but if you're reading this blog, that pretty much says it right there. Work friends grew in to real, true best friends. I'm not sure you ever expect that when you start a job?? But those are the people who became my life - who were there through the good, the bad and the very ugly...and still claimed me as their friend. We didn't just say "hi" in passing in the hallway, or only see each other at lunch or simply discuss curriculum...we were are still are, full-blown, out-of-the-school-day friends. That's where all the other fun times come in to play...dinners and drinks at Xochi, movie nights, exercise times, Sneakers gang, state fair horse races, BWW, Cold Stone and walking around downtown, Wicked, Culver's after BWW (I certainly lost that bet), Mustang Sally's Vegas trip, White Trash party, flamingo tricks, spring break in St. Louis, our beautiful wedding...on and on it goes.

When I started in Chatham in the fall of 1999, I could never have foreseen all the travels that would take place in the next 9 years...professionally, personally and socially. From the bottom of my heart, I thank each person who made me who I am today, for sharing yourself and for being my friend. I am so grateful for the experiences we have shared. There will be so many stories to share this year! Even though we're not starting school on the same date and in the same building (or even state), I am with you all the way. I will be thinking of you all day as you go through your meetings and I pray for your success this year. Thank you for being my colleagues and, more importantly, my friends.

My Friend
You have given me courage
That was not there
You have given laughter
That I can share
You have given me feelings
That are deep and true
For that my friend
I will always love you

Team Meeting

Tonight we had a little get together with the 7th grade team and the school principal. It was so cool meeting everyone in our wing, and even cooler that the principal and his wife are comfortable enough with everyone to be able to go to something like that. Nat made cheezy potatoes and they provided hamburgers and other things. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. We talked school, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, among other things. We both had a great time and it seems that we will be working with some great people!

Black and Blue Burgers & Commuting

Made a new recipe tonight, hamburgers with blue cheese crumbles mixed into them. They were fantastic! We also had some wonderful colorado sweet corn!

Today we rode our bikes the 9 miles to school to get some work done. Still have a lot to do! It's fun riding a bicycle places when everyone else is driving. Makes ya feel kinda special... I love getting on my bike and running errands around town. Of course it helps when the town is only 6,000 people.

Ready for Snow.....

So like I said, yesterday we made the short trip up to the top of the pass to Vail for the Vail Sports Blow-out sale. Everything was 40%-70% off. Natalie needed everything since she had no cold weather clothing, and cause the prices were so good I ended up with a few things as well. She got the jacket and pants which are made by Roxy and happen to match. The gloves are also made by Roxy and match the pants and jacket. You can't really see the snowboard boots, but they also match the pants and complete outfit. The boots, board, and bindings are made by Burton, who is one of the most popular snowboarding companies out there. The helmet was actually a youth small... I guess she has a small head... And the goggles are also made by Roxy. Pretty sweet gear if you ask me! She looks like she is ready to shred!

Seeing as how the deals were so good, I also decided to make a few purchases. I was just originally going to get a new set of bindings, since I believe someone else in the family has my old ones..... Oh well, they were well priced, so I got a new set of Burton bindings and then saw that they had Demo boards on sale from last season. I found one I liked and decided that I could also use a new board. I have to have a WIDE board since my feet are so large, so the selection was limited, but at over half off of new retail price, I felt like it was too good to pass up. In the end I ended up selecting a shorter board than what I was used to, but I was assured that it would work just fine. It was a bonus that the board I picked out had orange on it, so that it matches my orange pants. I don't know what I would have done otherwise....

On the Olympics.... Go U.S.A.! Some awesome swimming tonight!

Shopping

We went up to Vail today for blow-out shopping on snowboards and gear. I will get some pics and more info up tomorrow. Also Cards won today in blow-out Fashion! Go Cardinals!

Beaver Creek Blast

I had my first race last night since moving to Colorado. It was also the first Mt. Bike race I have done in almost 2 years. When I last raced on the dirt I was competitive in the sport class and this was 2 years ago, and I have or like to think I have greatly improved in that time as a cyclist. So I signed up for the sport class. My goal was to be competitive.

I arrived late to Beaver Creek ski area and was told the parking garage at the top of the mountain was full so I would have to park 3 miles down the hill and ride my bike to the top. The race was supposed to start at 5:45 and it was now 5:30. There is no way I would have made it to the top in time to get money from an ATM, register and be ready to race. So I drove up to the top anyway and did circles around the parking garage looking for a spot... nothing.... still nothing.. still nothing, then I gave up hope and was ready to head home. As I came out of the garage I saw a lady walk into the garage, so I did a quick u-turn and followed her to her spot and when she left I took her spot. Within 5 minutes threw my bike together, got dressed and took off for registration. They were very helpful, I was able to use my check card for payment, and all I had to do was sign a release and they help me put my number on my bike. Then I took off for the line. I was stuck in the back of about 150 riders. All of a sudden they blew the whistle, and I thought it was my field, so I hopped over the barriers and ran with my bike in front of everyone, and then they announced... "Men's Sport up next" whew, what an idiot I was, I had just butted in front of everyone else in my class. So I said sorry and just got ready to go...aka tried to catch my breath....

So in any mountain bike race I have ever done, you usually start out trying to get the hole shot, then gear down to be ready to climb the first short hill. Short being the key word! So coming out of the gate I was in about 3rd wheel, really moving along, then we hit the climb..........and it kept going and going and going and going...... and I kept losing spot after spot after spot. So starting the hill I might have been in 3rd wheel, and halfway up the hill about 15th and just looking for a spot on the trail where I could duck out of the race and quit, cause I couldn't breathe and couldn't feel my legs. I was doing about 3.5 mph and was getting passed left and right. When we got to the spot where the road met the single track I just hopped off my bike and pushed up the last little bit, (just to make sure my legs were still connected to my body...) Hopped back on my bike and there was a false flat section of single track that I was only able to do about 12 mph on it, I didn't know I was still going uphill, I thought I was riding on a flat tire.... We hit the downhill and I started catching people and passing them but when we hit the uphill on the second lap all the people I had passed came back by me. Got a 2nd wind on the 2nd lap and started feeling much better, still only going 4 mph uphill, but my legs didnt hurt so bad. On the ensuing flat and downhill single track I was flying. I caught a lot of people and was able to pass several of them before the finish.

Ended up 19th out of 25 in my class. Didn't get lapped by anybody in the pro class. Not really what I wanted, I ended up about 14 minutes behind the leader of my class. But really excited to have done my first mtb race out here, and got a really good workout.

Bottom line..... lose 10 more pounds and get stronger and I should be able to compete for the top spot next year.

Results:
Story:

I'm Proud

First of all, sorry goes out to Natalie's sister Lindsey for a sappy blog. She hates sappiness, and accuses me of being too sappy with my posts.....

I was so proud of my wife this past weekend. Not only did she have to step outside of her comfort zone on the bike, but she also had to step outside her comfort zone in terms of meeting new people and putting herself in new situations. She was a little nervous in the days leading up to this past weekend, but I think that she was also excited! I was her mode of transportation all weekend and had to drop her off at places she had to be and then pick her up when she was done.... Ya know, kinda like being in Jr. High and having your parents drop you off at the theater and then come and pick you up when its over, but you never want your friends to see you getting dropped off or picked up... It's just not cool!!!! But despite all this she did a really good job with all of it! I dropped her off on Friday at Colorado Free Ride for the instruction on how to take care of your bike. Because we had gotten stuck in some traffic on the way over she was one of the last to get there and the rest of the babes were already there. But I dropped her off and she just walked up and started meeting people I guess, cause when I came back later she told me to come in and showed me all the things she had learned, and introduced me to all the people she had met. She even taught me a few things about bikes that I hadn't known.. Yah believe it or not... The rest of the weekend she was very open to trying new things on the bike and always told me about things she had learned, or conversations she had with her new friends during the day. On the last day she was not feeling good at all. I think she said she felt like she had been hit by a truck cause her body was so sore. I knew she didn't even want to go out to ride again, but she sucked it up and went ahead and tried to do it anyway. It was this willingness to keep trying that impressed me so much and made me even more proud of her. Anyway enough sappiness.... the picture above is a yoga pose that she is doing with the babes in her class at Riverwalk in Breck. She said they got some compliments on how beautiful this pose looked. (just click to make it larger)

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 :-)