Pawnee Pass in the Summer (or was it Winter?)

After a long heat streak without any rain, the weather finally gave us a respite here in Colorado. Well, maybe not a respite...

It went from dry and in the 90's to rainy and in the low 50's, just like that. We enjoyed three blissful days of cool temps and rain. When I lived in Cleveland, this was not an unusual weather pattern, and I got tired of it. But here in sunny Colorado, it a nice change of pace.

On Sunday we had planned to take Strelka up to Johnny Park for a mountain bike ride, but with all the rain, the trails were going to be too wet and muddy. Not good for the trails. So, we made a Plan B and took her for a hike up in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. I love this area! It's a short drive from Boulder and the terrain is magnificent, as pretty as Rocky Mountain National Park, which it basically abuts. You can bring dogs to Brainard Lake, as opposed to RMNP, which does not allow dogs on the trails. So, I go there a fair bit.

We opted to head up toward Pawnee Pass. The trailhead starts out at about 10,000 feet and goes to well over 12,000 feet. At this elevation, we fully expected to encounter snow from the previous days of cool temps and precip. Fresh snow you ask, in mid-August. You betcha!

The trail first travels through the trees along side the South Saint Vrain Creek, Long Lake and then Lake Isabelle. Then it heads up to the pass between Pawnee Peak and Shoshoni Peak, snaking steeply up rocky switchbacks. Our goal was to make it to the pass and a little beyond it to see the views down to Pawnee Lake. Jesper and I have gone down the other side (a camping trip with Mushka a couple years ago), and we knew it to be simply stunning.

I ran up this trail with Strelka on July 6th. While there was no fresh snow then on the peaks, there were many large snowfields that still overlapped the trail. That was before the afore-mentioned heat streak. This time around, a month and a half later, most of the snow fields were gone, but there was a fresh dusting of new snow. Up near the pass, the dusting was almost 6 inches deep!

However, the clouds were also starting to look ominous. Jesper and I began to wonder if we should continue all the way up and to the other side of the pass. It was very pretty where we were, but we knew the other side was also beautiful. Jesper stopped to take some pictures, since he had brought the big camera along.

Then, probably about a quarter mile from our goal, we rook one final look at the building clouds and turned back.

We were bummed to have to turn back, but we desperately wanted to make it back to the trailhead without getting drenched. Not to mention if the storms turned electrical.

The hike down took longer than we expected, probably because we were hungry! All we could think about was BBQ at the Smokehouse Grill and Brewery in Nederland. However, Strelka was still interetsed in exploring and checking out the sounds and smells.

We finally made it back down to the lakes, through the forest and then to the car, where we had one tired pup!

Check out more of my pics here.

Check out Jesper's write up and pics here (warning - stunning photographs!!!)

Jesper's Birthday Celebration!

August 9th was Jesper's 38th birthday. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Jesper and I have taken a cue from my brother Jeff's play book; we always take our birthdays off and play. This year, Jesper's birthday fell on a Saturday. That's no fun taking off a Saturday! So, we took off Friday and made the affair a three day weekend!

Prior to the big day, Jesper thought and thought about what he wanted to do. Mine is easy - we ski! Finally, Jesper decided that we should head down to Salida and ride the Monarch Crest Trail. For those readers who are not avid mountain bikers, the Monarch Crest Trail is one of mountain biking's epic, must do rides. It has been on our list for quite awhile.

The ride is about 35 miles long and is supposed to take riders from 4-6 hours, depending on skill. It is possible to do the Crest from Boulder as a day trip, but it's a very long day. The drive to Salida is over 3 hours and you need to start the ride early to beat the summer afternoon thunderstorms. We wanted to enjoy the birthday experience, so, we opted to drive down Thursday night and get a room. It was nice to get to bed early and get a good night's sleep.

We awoke Friday morning to low clouds, almost fog-like near the mountains and valleys. Pretty, but not what we wanted to see. We wanted clear blue skies in the morning, knowing that clouds would likely build up during the day.

Funky, but unwanted clouds shrouding the mountains

Oh well, it was what it was. We grabbed breakfast and headed over to meet the Shuttle van that would take us up to Monarch Pass. The ride, a point-to-point, goes from the pass back to US 285 pretty close to the where we would leave our car. Although Jesper and I like to climb, we both agreed that doing the ride as a loop just looked stupid, since the entire climb up to the pass would be miles and miles of paved road. By shuttling the ride, we would ascend some 2500 feet and descend almost 6000 feet.

At 8:00 am, the shuttle guys got our bikes on the trailer, along with 5 other guys' bikes.

We brought the right bikes - FS Titus Loco-Moto for me and FS Intense Spider 29-er for Jesper

A group of three guys was a mixed bag: one guy on a singlespeed from Albuquerque, New Mexico; an Anglo from Venezuela; and some other skinny, nerdy guy. The other group of two guys was from Missouri. They looked pretty fit, but we knew with the trail hitting close to 12,000 feet, they would find the ride challenging.

As we drove up to the pass, it got foggier and foggier. It wasn't raining, but it was clear that we would be starting out in a cloud. The Crest sports some of the most impressive views of any ride, so we were hoping the sun would burn the coulds off.

We hopped on the bikes, the trail starting out as an ascent ,and soon passed the group of three guys.

Jesper heading off into the fog on the skinny, perfect singletrack

At first we could barely see 50 feet ahead. It was cool and spooky.

Jesper riding through the quartz "hail"

At one point, the trail ran through white quartz rock that was weathered. It looked like snow or hail had fallen everywhere. Fortunately, the precipitation held off, even though we stayed up in the cloud as we approached what should have been the most impressive views.

Jesper searching in vain for the impressive views

There were no views to be had. We were firmly established within a large cloud and it wasn't going anywhere. I kept reminding Jesper that at least it wasn't raining.

Jesper emerging through the fog

We arrived at Marshall Pass to find the 2 guys from Missouri trying to figure out which way to go. The route finding gets a bit confusing at Marshall Pass, since there are several trail options one can take. We let them know where we were supposed to go, but they seemed dubious about Jesper's route finding. We last saw them as we climbed up from Marshall Pass toward Starvation Creek (yikes - don't get lost there!!!!). I wonder which way they ultimately decided to go and when they finished the ride!

We descended and got below the clouds, riding through pine forests and crossing scree fields.

Jesper crossing a scree field just below the cloud line

We climbd up over a saddle and topped out, entering a lush green valley.

Nice skinny Single Track!

Finally, we started to see little bits of blue sky, although we both knew we had missed the really good views in the first half of the ride.

See - there's little bits of blue sky!!!

We were getting hungry and decided to stop and eat our sandwiches. We found a nice log overlooking the meandering Silver Creek as it passed through a marsh-like valley.

Happy bikes resting at our lunch spot

Food always tastes so good when you've worked hard for it!

We thought for sure the Missouri guys would catch us now, since we sat there for quite awhile enjoying our italian subs. But no such thing. I really wonder where they ended up going!!!

We rode along Sliver Creek for awhile and then lost the trail. I recalled hearing something about there being a place where the trail gets faint. Faint?!?! It disappeared! We tromped along next to the creek and finally came to the trail again. It appeared that the trail usually follows the creek itself, but with all the recent rain, the creek was pretty full. We wondered how the 2 guys from Missouri would fair along this section, since they seemed so puzzled by the much-less confusing section near Marshall Pass.

We arrived at the intersection of the Rainbow Trail, which we were beginning to fear we had missed. At this point some 20 miles in, riders can opt to take the jeep/gravel road down to US 285 or ride about 10 miles on the single track Rainbow Trail. We, of course, opted for more single track! I am so glad we did. That trail was magical. Although there was some climbing, the trail mostly snaked up and down through drainages. It had such flow and the vegetation made me think hobbits would pop out from behind trees or rocks. magical. So magical that neither Jesper nor I got the cameras out during the whole 10 miles. No worries, I will keep the memories forever in my head.

The trail finally came to a stupid steep downhill, which we appreciated not having to go UP. And then, we were at the road. The ride was over, unless we decided to take the eastern half of the Rainbow Trail across US 285 to Salida. The shuttle guys said it was not a good mountain biking trail, but we weren't sure what that meant. Jesper and I ride lots of stuff most people wouldn't like to ride. We debated but finally decided that it was late enough we should just ride back to the car. Good Thing! We later read that it would have been a miserable 2 hour hike-a-bike. That would have been a nasty buzz kill to our spectacular ride.

The ride was fantastic. We had four and a half hours of beautiful single track almost all to ourselves. Although we didn't get the amazing views we had hoped for, the fog and clouds made for a special, spooky ride. We capped off the ride by grabbing a beer and a snack at a Salida restaurant.

Beer is good after a long ride!

But wait - Jesper's birthday hadn't even begun! We drove back home and slept in on the actual day. Then we picked up Strelka from the kennel and took her swimming at the Boulder Res. We got in with her and she clearly thought that was super fun. Sorry no pics of that either.

Later that night, I took Jesper out for dinner at Jill's, one of Boulder's finest restuarants. We know the head chef there (he's a fellow mountain biker) and were looking forward to a yummy meal. Jill's did not disappoint. Dinner, the wine and the service was great. I managed to surprise Jesper with a gift he never expected but loved.

Jesper happy and surprised to get the Evos!

661 Evo elbow and knee guards! They were hard to find, being back ordered almost everywhere, so I was happy to be able to get them in time for his birthday! Now he can really tackle some rocks on that Spider of his!!!

We will head back down to Salida to ride the Crest on a sunny day. We've got some views owed to us!

More pictures and Jesper's short write up here.

Team Tinker Bell Races the Short Track

I am not a sprinter. I never was and, as I get older, my sprinting gets slower and slower. Instead, I shine in long, endurance events. I start to feel warmed up after about 5 hours and the first 30 minutes of any event are awful for me. So, why on earth would I agree to do a short track race? Short track is a mountain bike race on, well, a short track. Racers do a handful of these short laps for a 20 to 30 minute race. Since the race is so short, it's balls-to-the-walls from the very beginning to the very end.

My good friend Cynthia has been racing the Short Track series at CSU this year and many previous years. I've read her blog posts about these races and nothing she has written has ever made me want to do one. On the contrary, they sounded hard and they sounded like they would not play at all to my strengths. So, for some reason at Rios with a bunch of my mountain biking girlfriends, and before I even touched my margarita, I was agreeing to race the final short track event. Tracy, who does not race, was planning to compete wearing downhill gear; full faced helmet, armor and flak jacket. To add to that, she was planning to wear a silly outfit. That sounded fun! I'm so easily roped in.

After dinner, Tracy and I went to Target where we found silly pink, plaid, pleated skirts in the little girl's department and pink Tinker Bell T-shirts. Team Tinker Bell was born. We got an extra outfit just in case we would rope another girlfriend in.

Race day came and Tracy was experiencing stomach issues - nerves perhaps!?!?!?!

Team Tinker Bell

When we arrived at the race venue, it was sunny and hot and Tracy began waivering about wearing the helmet and the armor. Soon, we ran into Megan, who also does not race, and she agreed to wear the extra outfit. OK - now we had three girls in the same outfit. I finally gave in on the helmet and armor, although I did put my pink elbow guards on.

We looked kinda cute. Not the bizarre look I was going for when I agreed to wear the armor and the full faced helmet. I knew what this meant - I would actually kinda have to race.


We lined up to the start but it all seemed very informal. Before I expected anything, the announcer said "GO", and some 30 women were off. Right off the bat, there was a crash and several racers went down in front of me and I slowed to a stop to avoid them.

Tracy cranking up a hill

Needless to say, I did not get out front on the start as I should have if I was really on the ball. That's what happens when you get used to the starts at 24 hour races, where it's not so critical to be first off the line.

I got my shit together and hit it hard, passing a few racers who had a better start but weren't as fast as I am or as skilled on the turns.

Megan was right behind me as we worked our way past several racers, including Cynthia who was on her Single Speed.

Cynthia also dressed up

I was probably in something like 10th place and I lead Team Tinker Bell hard for four laps. The course had several turns that slowed down many of the racers. With our superiour handling skills, Megan and I were able to sneak in on the inside and pass them, sometimes to be passed again by these girls on the flats (those darn roadies on mountain bikes!).

I was redlining from about 30 seconds into the race and it never let up, so I started to fade a bit. After four laps, Megan passed me and took over for Team Tinker Bell, setting a tough pace which I could not quite maintain anymore.

Megan takes the lead for Team Tinker Bell

I got passed again twice as I rode over the log skinny instead of the faster route up a short steep hill; style counts way more than speed!

Me going for style points on every lap (now I need to learn to jump it like the big boys!)

I was pretty happy when I saw the "1 Lap" sign, although Iwas just starting to feel warmed up. I managed to not get pased anymore and got some stylie points by catching air on the little jump before the finish line.

I finished 13th, Megan 9th and Tracy came in right after me in 15th. Most importantly, we had fun!

Team Tinker Bell happy to be done (Sasha in blue helmet and Tinker Bell riders Tracy, Megan and Me)

After the races, we headed over to Cynthia's Annual Dirt Crit Party, which was super fun, despite the rain.

Thanks to Jesper for coming out and taking pictures of Team Tinker Bell! More pictures here.

Summit County 24 Hour Adventure Race

Some people may think it odd, but the day after my much-loved dog Mushka died, I headed up to Summit County to do a 24 hour adventure race. I was sad and teary-eyed, but I figured I'd be worse sitting around the house moping about Mushka. Plus, I had made a commitment to my teammates on Git Some and I would leave them in a lurch if I abandoned the race one day before it. Had Mushka been hanging on with hours or days left, I certainly would not have gone. But staying home would not bring her back, so I went. Life goes on.

This race the team was me, Derec, Lee and a new guy, Mark who was a friend of Oat's. At race registration we picked up our maps and the Check Point (CP) coordinates for the first and third legs of the race. We would get the other CP coordinates once the race was ongoing. Since the weather looked iffy, we headed to a Starbucks, grabbed some coffee and began plotting the points we had. We would start out the race paddling on Dillon Reservoir, run through an orienteering course on foot, trek practically up to Peak 9, in-line skate and finish on the bikes.

Derec plotting CPs

David, still nursing his bum ankle, came out to support us and help out the race promoter. We headed to the house of a friend of David's; that guy seems to know someone in every mountain town! There we organized our gear and ate before the midnight race start on Friday night. While David (who is a trained chef) prepared our pasta dinner, a gear explosion occurred on the front lawn. Race boxes were emptied and then filled with gear organized to fit the race format. Dinner was yummy. Once we felt sated and organized, we attempted to relax.

Lee, Mark, me and Derec just before the race start at midnight

At the race course, we got into our paddling gear and running shoes. We would be running from the Frisco Nordic Center, race start-finish-headquarters, about 1.5 miles to the boat ramp. Running in a wetsuit and dry top while wearing a PFD and a pack is not so much fun. The bike path seemed to go on forever, but finally we came to the boats and the first CP. I got in one of the inflatable duckies with Mark. None of us had paddled with Mark before, but he's a white water kayaker and strong according to Oat, so we figured he'd be OK.

Our next CP was couple of miles away to the north. The water CPs were all on the shoreline and marked with a glowstick, but you can't see those things until you are almost on them. I am always amazed by the guys and gals who can navigate at night on the water. At first though, there were so many boats all together that navigating was only a problem for the first boat. And that was not us! Mark and I were struggling. We couldn't seem to keep a straight line and we had no power. We were almost dead last at the first water CP. Then Mark asked to switch paddles and we figured out the problem. He had his white water paddle! In contrast to the long shafts and blades on a flat water paddle, white water paddles have short shafts and stubby blades. No wonder Mark was ineffective in steering and applying pressure with that paddle! After we switched, we went a bit faster. But I soon began to get sharp pain shooting down my arms from using Mark's paddle, which had a very thick shaft; too thick for me to get my little hands around. So, we wasted more time switching paddles with Lee and Derec's boat, giving poor Derec the stubby little white water paddle.

This went better as we paddled all the way across Dillon Reservoir and most of the way up the Snake River Arm, seven miles or so away. At this CP (CP3), we decided to switch Lee into my boat and put Mark in the front of the other boat, since he was worked from all the extra effort early on. Lee and I paddle well together and we were all able to go even faster. We paddled back out of the Snake River Arm and headed south all the way to the southern end of the reservoir east of the peninsula. This was another six or seven miles away. The skies cleared and the stars and half-moon illuminated our way as we continued to pass other boats, including teams that usually beat us. We talked some trash and felt really good about how we were making up for the start of the paddle. When we came up to CP4, we were in third place! Git Some!

CP4 in the bag, we paddled up around the peninsula and back down to the marina (CP5). We were all alone now, with the first two boats out of sight, so there was some tricky navigating to be done. Derec and Lee did great and lead us straight in to the marina. Ugh - we had to run all the way back to the Nordic Center! But this time, we were freezing cold instead of hot and sweaty. It's funny how you can be pretty comfortable paddling, but as soon as you stop, your body temperature drops like a rock. Fortunately, the Nordic Center/CP6 had a heated bathroom where I could change out of my wet kayak clothes into my trekking clothes. Dry clothes do wonders after being cold and wet.

We were given the coordinates for the orienteering course and the guys plotted them. Then we headed out on foot for the orienteering course at around 4:40 am. There were 30 controls (CPs in an O-course) for us to find. Any missed CPs would cost a 10 minute penalty. So, if a control would take more than 10 minutes to find, it wasn't worth the effort. While plotting the controls, the guys had devised a strategy for which ones to get first.

Me and Derec coming in from the trekking O-course

O-courses are super fun. It's like being a kid again playing Treasure Hunt in the woods. It was dark when we started out, so we used our HID bike lights and held them in our hands to shine on an area we thought a control would be. The control flags are reflective and shine back brightly in the beam of an HID.We ran in the woods and through areas recently cleared of pine beetle infested trees; it was sad. We ran on a trail on the edge of Dillon Reservoir as the sun came up, casting a pink glow to the sky that was reflected in the perfect calm of the water. It was so beautiful that I tripped on something as I was distracted by the beauty. I went down hard, banging up my knee and hip. Yes - I crashed in a race on the running section! We bagged all 30 controls and ran back to the Nordic Center/Transition Area for CP7.

This was a quick transition, since we wore the same clothes we did on the O-course. We just grabbed some more food, reloaded on water and made sure to put a jacket in our packs. I also grabbed my new trekking poles. David saw us off on the big trek at 7:40 am.






Team Git Some taking off for the big trek

We ascended Miner's Creek Trail, and I mean ascended. The trail started out in the forest and trended southwest toward the Ten Mile Peaks. It was super steep in many sections; I began to appreciate my trekking poles. We found CP8 at a trail junction and then motored on south, the trail continuing up along the east side of the Ten Mile Peaks. We popped out of the forest onto alpine tundra and were treated to spectacular views. Derec felt like singing Sound of Music songs!

We saw another team behind us and gaining on us slowly but surely. It was Team Go Lite, a fast, sponsored team that usually beats us. Mark was leading and I was just behind him. Except for my sore hip that felt out of whack from my tumble, I felt great. Derec was having trouble with his feet though, which had gotten wet and were feeling hot, a sign of impending blisters.

We stayed ahead of Go Lite as we crossed over the saddle between Peak 5 and Peak 6. The trail rolled up and down. We ran the downhills, which were rocky and sketchy; now I was really happy I had the trekking poles! Miles and miles of mountainous views lay all around us. The tundra was smattered with wildflowers of all colors; white Bistort, purple Mountain Bluebells, purple and yellow Columbine, red Indian Paintbrush, many different colors of asters and lots of flowers I cannot identify. As we trekked through this stunning landscape, we realized we may not have found the best route to the CP, but at least we had found the prettiest!

After the saddle, we descended back into the forest briefly to a trail intersection. We debated which way to go and then headed onto the one that went back up again. More climbing, of course. We hoped that Go Lite would make a mistake and go the wrong way, but no such luck. As we popped out above the tree line again, they came up to us and then passed us. Getting passed is no fun, and our spirits sank for a bit. We soldiered on and could see Go Lite ahead of us for awhile as the trail dipped and rose. We finally came to CP9 just downslope and east of Peak 9 where the trail intersected a jeep road. We stopped to rest a bit, eat and for Derec to dry his feet out a bit. His skin was turning to mush and I'm sure it was getting pretty painful for him to trek at this point.

We got going again, heading down the jeep road to the ski runs of Breckenridge. We were required to stay on trail during the trek (i.e., no bushwhacking) but we were allowed to use the ski runs once we encountered them. We followed the jeep road as it switchbacked, wishing we could cut through. Finally, we came upon the ski runs. We took Cashier at first and then switched over to Columbia. These were blue runs and they are a lot steeper without snow than they seem with snow! It's difficult traveling down steep ski runs on foot. Unlike a trail that trends downhill with meanders and changes in grade, ski runs have a consistent, unrelenting grade down. Now I was super happy I had the trekking poles. All of us were experiencing sore toes (from our feet banging into the front of our shoes) and achy knees. Downhill is hard on your body!

It was weird coming down from the back country to civilization at the Breck base. There were all these tourists walking around, staring at us as we appeared in their clean, comfy world. Who were those grungy, half-crazed looking people?!?!?? We ran through the ski resort base town and then onto sidewalks until we arrived at CP10 at the City Market in Breck. We arrived about two hours after we had originally thought we would, greeted by a fantastic cheering squad. Mark's wife and a friend were there with cold beverages and sandwiches. Seeing them picked up our mood and we changed into our roller blading gear as we shoved food into our mouths. The clouds had been building up toward the end of our trek and now it looked like the heavens were going to open up. We saw lightening in the distance and a strong cold wind bore down on us. Downdraft. Just as we shoved off on our in-line skate section, it opened up, the rain coming down hard!

Roller blading is not my thing. Roller blading in the rain has never been my thing. I was nervous about the bike path surface being slick so at first I bladed slowly. Then, I became more confident and we all picked up speed. We bladed faster than I ever did in my practice sessions. The whole section was only about 1o miles long and it was over faster than I expected (thank god!). We arrived back at the transition area and CP11 under dry skies.

I was pooped. Although I felt good on it and I was moving at a good speed on the trek, it had taken a lot out of me. The paddle had also been hard. At the transition, I was worried about what I had left in my legs for the bike section. David helped us get fueled up and rehydrated.

Me and Derec staying warm in the car before the bike leg

I changed into dry clothes and stayed warm in Derec's car while Lee plotted the bike CPs.

Lee plotting bike CPs while Mark looks on

Feeling very spent, David sent us off for the final chapter of this race somewhere around 4:00 pm. We had been on the move for more than 16 hours without stopping.

Team Git Some heading out for the bike leg

I normally like the bike section, since mountain biking is my best discipline. However, my legs felt so leaden when we started out, I was worried the remainder of the race would be awful. We began on bike path and picked up CP 12 on the side of the road. Then we turned onto Tiger road, which turned into gravel road. Of course, we went uphill. I had to ask the guys to slow down, since I was redlining it just to keep up. I felt like I was letting them down. Lee towed me for awhile and then Mark did so to. Finally, when we got onto single track, I began to get my legs back. I think part of this was due to the food I ate at the transition kicking in, but part of it is something in my head. For some reason, I can be completely whooped but able to find the energy to keep going on single track trail. Paved and gravel roads are really tough for me when I'm spent.

We rode up a long climb in the woods after the gravel road ended. I must admit, I'm not completely sure what trails we were all the time. On the east side of Highway 9, we first hit CP16 somewhere off the Middle Fork of the Swan River. We elected to skip CPs 15 and 13; they were not worth the penalties we would incur for missing them.

I was feeling good again and was now following Mark in front, instead of being dragged a long from the back. The rest of the mountain bike section was super fun. We rode some sweet trail, much of which was fairly technical. We bombed down the gravel road I had struggled to come up. The bike section had certain time cut-offs by which teams would be allowed to proceed on to certain CPs. We knew we would miss the first cutoff, which required us to be at CP17, co-located with CP12, by 6:00 pm. Therefore, we would not be permitted to go for CP18. The next cut-off for CP17 was 7:00 pm and this one would allow us to go for CP19. We decided we had time to run out and bag CP14 on the way back to CP17. This was located a few miles off the Dredge Ship Trailhead on Tiger Road. There was some steep, rocky climbing and the guys seemed to be tiring. Well, except for Mark. He was going strong, but at 27, he should be going strong! On the way out to CP14, another team, Eolus, came up upon us. Both of our teams headed back out to Tiger Road together and then back to CP17 .

We made it to CP17 at 6:15 pm and immediately headed up the Gold Hill Trail (the sign said Wheeler Trail, but my teammates say it was the Gold Hill Trail - so I'm confused). This went up and was rocky and techy. Toward the top of Gold Hill it got very steep and I found myself getting woozy when I was pushing the cranks really hard. I decided to walk the really steep parts, as did Derec and Lee. Once over the top, we raced downhill to the intersection of the Gold Hill Trail and the Peaks Trail where CP19 was located. Not less than 30 seconds after we punched the passport at CP19, Eolus showed up. They had ridden up Peaks Trail to the CP and were going to head down the same way to the finish. We knew we had to hustle to beat them across the finish line, so we took off.

I like to go downhill fast and I got my chance here! We descended almost recklessly. Derec's brakes were malfunctioning, but he had to keep riding fast since we didn't have time to stop and fix them. This part of the race was super fun, even though my legs were so tired I could barely keep standing over the saddle. We dumped off the trail onto the bike path, got chased by a large dog and finally screamed across the finish line at about 7:00 pm. Elous and 4CAR came in for a photo finish not more than a minute later.

We were the 2nd team to cross the finish line, but Elous and 4CAR got more CPs than us, so they likely beat us. Boulder Performance Network finished first, but there are outstanding questions about a protest filed against them, so we shall see where we end up - 3rd or 4th overall. Much to our surprise, we beat Go Lite outright. They attempted to get more bike CPs on the east side of Highway 9 and timed it poorly, failing to make the time cutoff. Thus, they were not allowed to go for CP19. Therefore we had the same number of CPs as they did, but since we finished 30 minutes before them, we beat them. This pleased us since they are a very strong, sponsored team that we usually lose to. Plus, they had passed us on the trek so it was nice to get them on the bike.

Derec, me, Mark and Lee, all looking surprisingly fresh after 19 hours of non-stop racing

Here's the map of the CPs. It's hard to get the scale of the distances we covered and the hieghts we climbed if you are not familiar the area. You can't get from one CP by going straight to another CP; you have to take a more circuitous route in order to stay on trails/road or stay on manageable terrain.



We always have things we can improve on, but I felt we raced really well. I'm super pleased about my paddling - it has improved so much since last year! I also felt great about my trekking/running. I have been working on this discipline for the last month or so and I am seeing improvement. I'm also really happy with my team. They are all great guys who have excellent navigational and athletic skills. Plus, I have fun with them (sick joke for this race had something to do with Lee's ginormous left nut; dead babies are old news)!

The race allowed me to not think about Mushka and also gave me long stretches where I was free to let my mind wander back to her and the imprint she had on my life. I'm glad I decided to race! More pictures here!

A Sad Farewell to a Great Dog - Good Bye Mushka

I am sad beyond words. My beloved dog Mushka died yesterday. She was my friend, confidant, protector and trail partner for more than a decade. She was such a wonderful companion and she enriched our lives in so many ways. I will miss her. I already do.

Mushka had been sick for a little more than a year with Dilated Cardiomyopathy. We did not expect her to make it this long with the disease. During this difficult year, she was a stoic trooper; happy even when uncomfortable and more interested in pleasing us than herself. I have never met a more selfless being in my life.

Jesper and I nicknamed her My Morning Mushka because of her excitement every single morning to start the day. Once the alarm went off, she would prop her front paws on the bed and make noises like a howler monkey. And then she learned to trill. I've never heard a dog make a noise like that. Sometimes she would run off and grab a toy and shove it in our face as if to say, "Get up, start the day and play with me!"

Of course, she was also interested in being fed (she was part Lab afterall). But as she got sicker and sicker and her appetite diminished, she was still excited to start the day even though her interest in the food was low. My Morning Mushka.

Mushka made her presence known; she was no wall flower. I called her Queen La Mushka. She was black, female and large and in charge. Queen La Tifa should be honored. I felt safe with Mushka no matter where I went alone. She was very protective, especially of me. Although it was sometimes embarrassing when she would bark and growl at other people when I ran or biked with her, I knew that nobody would mess with me.

We are comforted that she went quickly and hopefully did not suffer in her last minutes. Although she had a rough year, she was not in pain and was happy. We take solace that we were able to afford the treatment she needed this past year; many people would not have been able to afford the medication and other treatment necessary to keep their precious pet alive for so long with this disease.


I have more than 12 years of wonderful memories of Mushka, the last 4+ that Jesper shares with me. Mushka had physically diminished in the last year, but in my minds eye, I see her as the strong, lean and muscular trail dog that she was up until she got sick.

This morning was too quiet. No howler monkey noises and no trilling. Absent from the breakfast routine was Mushka prancing about for her food, for the treat she would get when we ate our breakfast and for when she would lick the plates before they went in the dishwasher.

I know the rest of the day will continue to be filled with her absence. I miss her.

'Splorin'

Today, Jesper and I did some 'splorin' up behind Jamestown on our mountain bikes. Since I'm going to be sitting on an airplane for a good part of tomorrow (headed to Toledo for BIZ), we thought it'd be good to get me really tired. Mission Accomplished!

Jesper!

I can't say exactly what trails we rode (or I'd have to kill you), but we put in 5:30 and according to my GPS, only about 1:30 was stopped time. Well, 1:30 stopped for me at least; more stopped time for Jesper, who is riding super strong on his Spider 29-er! Most of my stopped time was for picture tacking, lunch (with incredible views!!!!), and a wee bit of route finding.

Lunch View!

Oh - we also stopped at the Gold Lake Spa near the end to bum some more water off them, since we were almost out. It was hot and dry, so we were sucking down the H2O from the start.

We climbed a lot, especially at the start. That is a guaranteed way to jack up my heart rate!

Elevation and Heart Rate (HR Super high in the beginning!!!)

After the first major climb, we hit some super fun trail with awesome views.

Jesper on the Sweet Single Track

We climbed again. This time is didn't seem so hard since I was warmed up. We we bombed down this meadow with skinny single track. We hit a "road" that was so grown over it had converted back to single track. We hit a dowhill single track trail that I had ridden in September with my friend Kathleen from Arizona. This time, since we were riding in daylight, I smoked it! Super Duper fun (fast Tuesday night girlies, you will LOVE this trail!!!!). Then we bombed down the trail we originally rode up back to the car. Fun Fun Fun!

There's more trail out there for us to sample, as well as making a HUGE ride by crossing over Peak to Peak Highway to add in a bunch of stuff around northern Sourdough.

We'll be back!!

In Between Races

The Firecracker is over. My next race, a 24 hour adventure race, isn't until July 25th-26th. In the interim, I guess I'm "training." Or, at least I'm playing with a goal in mind. Those goals are:

1. Improve my running
2. Train at higher altitudes
3. Practice In Line Skating
4. Stretch more to avoid injury

Here's my summary, not in order of my goals:

Yes, I said In Line Skating. That sounds much cooler than "Roller Blading." My next race has an In Line Skating section of all crazy things, probably on the bike path from Frisco to Breck. I'm guessing most adventure racers don't get out on their In Line Skates very much, if they even have a pair. I imagine the race director is chuckling right now as he thinks about all these elite athletes floundering about during the race, completely out of their element. I bought a pair of skates (I confess I did own a pair 20 years ago) a couple weeks ago and have been out twice so far to practice. I looked and felt like a complete dork the first time out, but saw significant improvements the second time around. I'm sure I still looked like a dork, but maybe not as big a dork. Dire Straights Roller Girl hummed through my head; I may have to learn all the lyrics so I can sing it out loud during the race. Anyway, I plan to get out a couple more times before the race to refine my skilz. My goal is to hang with my team and not kill myself. Actually, in my dreams, Team Git Some passes the professional adventure racers, who are totally inept at this discipline.

I've been running a lot. I'm not a bad runner, but I could be faster to allow my team to maintain a more aggressive pace in races. This is where the other teams often have the advantage over us. It's been really hot, so it's been hard to get quality runs in. Thus, I've combined this goal with the goal of training at altitude by running up near Brainard Lakes (10,000 feet and up). It's kinda pretty up there!


I've also done some brick days with running and biking (mostly 'cause I just enjoy biking). I must admit yesterday's running/mountain biking brick at Marshall Mesa (not a high altitude day by any means) cooked me. My legs felt heavy and I was just tired. Probably a combination of all the "training" and the 90+ degree heat. Almost time to taper. Hopefully, all this running effort helps in the upcoming race.

As I mentioned, I've gotten up to higher altitudes to train. In addition to hitting the Brainard Lake area, I have been mountain biking up on the Colorado Trail near Copper.


The views didn't suck up there either!

Tonight I'm getting up to Ned for the Tuesday Night Gurlz Ride. It's around 8,000 to 9,000 feet, so I consider that high altitude training. Saturday, Jesper and I are riding up high near Jamestown. Don't worry, I'll get some more running in there too.

Finally, I've reincorporated yoga into my life. I'm doing 30-40 minutes almost daily. It's helping me feel better and loosening up my tight IT band and piriformis muscles. I'm no spring chicken, so I really need to be diligent about stretching, especially with all this "training." Plus, yoga calms me down.

Hopefully, with all this prep, I'll get to the starting line rested and ready to race hard. I'm looking forward to it!