Moab Gurlz Weekend Out

GNO's are nice. GWO's are better! Six women from Colorado, Arizona and California just proved it.

Kathleen, Carmen and Lynnette (old friends from AZ), Celia and Dana (new friends from Marin in CA), and I met up in Moab for a long weekend of some serious riding. I mean serious - most of these gurlz are competitive downhillers. Being women of means, we rented a swank condo so we could relax in comfort before and after each full day of shreading and hucking. I left the Singlespeed in the garage and spent the weekend-plus on my full suspension, geared Titus. This is my "BIG BIKE" but compared to the other gurlz' bikes, my Titus was undersized. I was the only one without a through-axle fork (I am going shopping soon...).

All six gurlz arrived on Thursday and set out for a late afternoon jaunt on the Slickrock Trail. This trail is one gigantic mass of red rock. You can essentially ride wherever you want, but following the painted marks on the rock helps to ensure that you won't ride off a cliff. Celia and Dana had never been to Moab. They were amazed by the bizarre rock formations, the incredible views and the strange tacky rock that you can almost ride vertical up. I've been to Moab several times and I'm still amazed by it!

The trail boasts a lot of up and down, some quite steep. I had my first (and only serious) wipe out following Carmen off a drop I thought was a roller. Hucking Rule Number One - look ahead not down. I was saved by my cute pink armor.

Slickrock was the perfect warm up for the next day's bigger ride. We caught a shuttle up to Lower Porcupine Single Track (LPS). We had wanted to start up at Hazard, but it was still a tad under snow. This was on a Friday, so there were not a lot of other riders on the trail, which allowed us to stop and play some on the ledges, working on our drops. I started out feeling a somewhat timid (for me at least) but began to get in the groove as we descended onto Porcupine Rim proper. I even did some drops that were not rolls. Hucking Rule Number Two - keep your rear tire even with your front tire until it has cleared the drop. Porcupine takes you along the top of a huge mesa - the valley straight down over a thousand feet below. The views of Castle Valley and the La Sal Mountains are spectacular.

The ride eventually drops down to the Colorado River via Jackass Canyon. All in all, this ride totally rocks and is one of my all time favorites. The profile is quite a contrast to the previous day's up and downs. However, going downhill that long on rocky technical trail is tiring, so we were all ready for beers, hot tub and dinner.

Porcupine was the perfect warm up for the next day's bigger ride. Mileage-wise, Saturday's ride was a few miles shorter than our LPS - Porcupine Extravaganza. But effort-wise, it was way more work. We decided to try something new for all of us. And, something not in the guide books. And something poorly marked, just to make the route finding really tricky. And something remote and way out in the high desert. I don't know of many groups of women who would head out and do a ride like this without a MAN to help find the way.

We started out at the far end of the Gemini Bridges Trail. The tail starts out as a gravel road and tended downhill for about 5 miles. Then we intersected the Gold Bar Trail and began to climb up toward the ridge, looking for the mysterious Blue Dots Trail. This trail had been recommended by locals as a bike only alternative to Gold Spike, which allows jeeps and motorcycles. Blue Dots was reportedly hard to find, but we did it! It takes the rider up closer to the ridge, eventually turning into the Green Dot Trail and then dumping into the infamous Portal Trail. Blue Dot/Green Dot was a blast! We had to work hard to keep on the trail, which sometimes petered out. The trail went up and down, some sections very technical, over white sandstone. We were often very close to the edge, with a massive thousand foot drop.

Kathleen scared us all with a nasty crash on a techy section that was closer to the edge than we realized. I still can't believe she attempted to ride it, and she almost cleaned it. Instead, she went ass over tea kettle and cracked her brand new helmet (which she had just bought to replace the helmet she cracked a week before). I tell you, Kathleen's Ovs have grown since she got the BeSHEmoth. Hucking Rule Number Three - spot the drop before you ride it. Check out the video link at the end of this posts - the crash is in there.

As we came up to a rocky protuberance along the ridge, we knew the Blue Dot/Green Dot Trail was over and we would soon be descending down to the Colorado River on the Portal Trail. The wind had been picking up all day. In fact, it had wigged me out on a few sections of Blue Dot/Green Dot; I lost my nerve to ride a couple really technical and exposed sections after nearly being blown over. The wind certainly added another element of danger to the Portal, and the Portal doesn't need any more dangerous elements. The trail starts out with signs warning that three people have died on this trail. The trail is extremely rocky, without much flow, and the ramifications of messing up a rocky section are to fall hundreds of feet off the cliff. Although I would never claim that I could clean this trail, I walked a lot more than I would normally if the wind wasn't such a factor. Even Carmen and Lynnette got wigged out from the forceful wind gusts. Nevertheless, the trail was a fun end to our epic ride that day. Ok - beers were the fun end to our epic day!

The last day, Sunday, we opted to tone it down and ride the Sovereign Trail. This is a nice up and down trail with no really technical sections. Since it was still really windy, we were happy to be off the exposed ridgelines and technical rocky sections of the past two days. I have ridden this trail once, last November. However, the trail has already been modified, with some reroutes and new sections. Despite the reroutes, Kathleen and I were able to mostly find our way using maps and GPS. We ended the ride in a sandstorm at the parking area and high-tailed it back to the condo for adult beverages and hot tubbing.

All six gurlz packed up and left town the next morning, with the sense that this was the first of many GWOs!

Check out a bunch of pics here (coming soon):

Check out the video here: You Tube Video of Girlz in Moab

Big Long SS Ride

This past weekend, Jesper and I got out on our first big long SS ride. We brought a friend, Mike, even though he had nine gears. We intended to be out for at least 5 hours of riding. First, we rode some new trail up near Loveland in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area. We did a loop up to a trail called the Power Line Trail. Warning to those not familiar with Power Lines - they go straight up the sides of mountains! We walked a few sections.





We finally reached the top and hit the Ginny Trail. This was totally worth the brutal climb up the Power Line! The Ginny Trail was very technical and rocky and bizarre like a strange moonscape. There had been a large fire up there in 2000 to add to the strangeness of the landscape and to allow for spectacular views of the mountains to the west. I found my mojo and was rocking it! Mike nicknamed me "Techno-Mama". Jesper was in the Zone too, just cranking through some tricky rock sections. Mike did great, especially considering that he's a roadie and doesn't get out on his mountain bike much. We finished up the 10 mile ride, hopped in the car and drove to our next destination - Lory State Park.

We began part two of our day's ride near Inlet Bay and made our way north up to the park's terminus via the West Valley Trail (I think). This was an easy flowing trail. Then we turned around and took the Timber Trail which looked to provide a loop that would eventually dump us back onto the West Valley Trail further south. The Timber Trail was marked FOR EXPERT MOUNTAIN BIKERS AND EQUESTRIANS ONLY!, so we thought it would be perfect.

And at first it was. The trail began by climbing (a lot) on smooth tacky dirt. Then it finally showed some of the rocky sections that gave cause to the warning sign we had seen. These sections were tricky and usually on very exposed ledges. The ramifications of taking a bad line or biffing would be a long, nasty fall WAY down. So, in other words, it was fun! The trail then showed us another face as we entered a pine forest that unfortunately took us up a series of north-facing switch backs. North-facing in Colorado in April means SNOW. So, despite the 60 degree-ish temps, we found ourselves slogging our way up mushy snow on what would have been a very technical uphill. Although it seemed to go on forever, it was probably something between 1 and 2 miles.

We finally topped out but still had some snow to slog through. We were a tad concerned about how we were going to get back down to the West Valley Trail, as the trail map we had did not seem to have trail that allowed mountain biking to complete the loop. Fortunately for us, the trail map is somewhat outdated. Howard's Trail provided a very fun and pretty technical downhill. We dumped back onto the West Valley Trail and rode a zippy pace back to the car.

The final total was almost 28 miles and a gazilion feet of climbing (my GPS said almost 6000 feet but Jesper's said "only" 4000 feet). Here are more pics I took of the boys: http://picasaweb.google.com/COIttyBittyBetty/MonsterSSRide

Check out Jepser's post and more pics (some of me!!) here: http://jesperperl.com/words/long-ride-on-new-trails/

Spring Time in Colorado (or trying to do it all)

It's spring time in Colorado, which means that you can do both winter sports and summer sports, sometimes both in one day. It's exhausting! I've been doing my best to do it all and I'm pretty pooped as a result.

First, if you read my last post, you know that Jesper and I completed a winter ascent of 'Atlantic Peak' last weekend. After that, I must admit, I rested a bit. Then, on Tuesday night, I hopped on my Single Speed for a Gurlz Ride on the Poorman Loop. It's not a technical ride by any means, including gravel trail and even some road, but the last push up to the top before heading down Sunshine Canyon is steep (especially on the SS). Between the cold descent and the climbing, I felt pretty worked over afterwards. So, I rode again the next day, this time an easy Marshall Mesa ride with the Title 9 girls. On Thursday, I took a break from the bike and went for a run with Strelka. Just a few miles. Then on Friday I was back on the SS, this time to ride the Doudy Draw trails with Kristin (aka Catzilla). We brought Strelka and Boodro, her hound doggie mix, along for the fun. Dogs love mountain biking! My tush is getting used to it again too.

Since the resorts are still open, we skied on Saturday, or at least kinda skied. We headed up to Loveland hoping for soft spring skiing conditions that we did not get. Then Jesper didn't feel well, so we headed back down to Boulder at noon-ish after only a couple hours of skiing. I could have stayed and skied alone, but as I said, the conditions were not good and I quickly determined that I could get a nice trail run in with Strelka if we hustled back down I-70. So I guess I ended up skiing and running on Saturday, getting the pupper out for a nice Mount Sanitas run.

On Sunday, I got out for what I consider the first BIG mountain bike ride of the season. I had so much fun, it reminded me immediately that mountain biking is my all-time favorite thing to do.

Jesper and I rode the trails up at Devil's Backbone with our very good friend Cynthia. We all rode our Single Speeds and we all rode fast (or at least Cynthia and I rode fast trying to keep up with Jesper). Cynthia and I are both working on getting really lean, and I can tell you it showed in Cynthia's riding. She was hard on my @$$ the entire ride, making me ride harder than I would have. Thanks Cynthia!!! I personally feel that I'm lighter in the climbs and I'm pretty pleased with that.

The Backbone boasts rocky technical parts and smooth flowy sections, the variety making it a lot of fun. Over the 20-ish miles we rode, we climbed about 3000 feet. Considering how early in the season it was, I felt like we all were riding very well.

Hard to believe we were skiing the previous day! Oh yeah - and running in shorts!


Here's a linky to Jesper's posts and pics: http://jesperperl.com/words/two-fer-one-weekend/

Winter Ascent

Jesper and I completed our very first winter ascent this past Saturday (March 29, 2008). We have been up in the mountains in the summer when the weather has turned winter-like, but this was the first time we went up to bag a peak in what we knew would be consistent winter conditions.

Our goal was the top of a 13,841 foot high unnamed peak located in the Tenmile Range. The peak is next to the 13,950 foot high mountain called Pacific Peak, therefore the unnamed peak we climbed is unofficially known as "Atlantic" Peak. To orient folks not familiar with Colorado's various mountain ranges, the Tenmile Range is near the ski resorts of Copper Mountain and Breckenridge. Our peak is in the center of the picture below (courtesy 13ers.com).

We picked this peak for our first attempt at a true winter ascent because we thought it would be a good one to practice our winter navigation and figure out how best to use our winter gear. The trail wasn't too long, so we were fairly confident we could complete it in one day, barring any emergencies. But the climb also boasts some challenges in terms of weather and sketchy ridgelines, so we knew it wouldn't be a cake walk.

In the spring time, sun baked snow can become more avalanche prone. So, we were up at 4:30 am and driving up to the trail head a little after 5:00 am. Ouch - that's early in my book! Several other groups were getting ready to make the climb when we arrived at the trial head a little after 7:00.

We started out before 8:00 on the jeep road that starts the approach wearing snowshoes and avalanche transievers, and carrying a whole lotta other gear: shovels, probes, ice axes, crampons, helmets, first aid kit, fire starter/matches/lighter, GPS units, walkie-talkies, food, water and extra clothes . The packs were kinda heavy! The trail was hard packed until we turned off into Mayflower Gulch, where we were the first to make trail. The views from this valley were breathtaking.

We next ascended the broad start up "Atlantic" Peak's west ridge. This was the slope we were most concerned about from an avalanche perspective, especially if the day got sunny and warm. We didn't have to worry; it got no where close to sunny and warm. This slope is a scree field, but there was so much snow that we were able to wear our snowshoes up quite a ways. After awhile, it became talus and mixed snow/ice, so we swapped the snowshoes for our ice axes and helmets, also donning more clothes, since the wind was really picking up and the temps were dropping. We were getting back into winter again.

To avoid the howling wind, we first tried to avoid going up to the ridgeline, where we would be blasted full force. However, we found our rate of travel much too slow on the rocks so we sucked it up and got on the ridgeline. The forceful wind stung our faces and made it challenging to do anything that required us to take our gloves off. The ridgeline gets pretty skinny in several places, like a knife edge. The steep drop down either side would send you very far to your death if you weren't able to self-arrest with your ice ax. A lot of people I know would freak out if they had to walk on this ridgeline, especially with 50 or 60 mile per hour winds. Jesper and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The knife edge sections of the ridgeline were interspersed with rocky sections we had to scramble up or sections with crusty snow. We were impressed with how useful our ice axes were! I don't think I'd try a climb like this without one. We made it to the summit at about noon; four hours of climbing. It was cold, windy and a complete white out at the top. We were unable to appreciate the incredible views from the top that we'd read about, although part of me likes it that the weather was so gnarly. We did not stay on the summit for long, since we started getting cold fast. We essentially reversed our route and headed back down.

Usually, going down a mountain is a lot faster than going up. Not so in the winter when there's blowing snow and snow and ice on the rocks. It took us a little more than 3 hours to descend and return to the trail head. Because we had left our goggles in the car like knuckleheads, our eye lashes were frozen and we could barely open our eyes at some points when the wind was blasting little ice pellets in our faces. Won't make that mistake again!

Because of the strong winds, we didn't take a lunch break while on the climb. As soon as we got back to the car, I put my gear away and donned my big puffy down coat. I sat in the front seat of the Durango with my heated seat in HIGH, drinking hot tea and eating my exquisite lunch: Cheese, Pita Chips and Jerky. I can't tell how delicious that meal tasted!

I'm really pleased with how well our ascent went. Jesper and I did almost everything right, and the few things we did wrong were minor and will be corrected on our next winter ascent. Please check out Jesper's write-up and pictures here: http://jesperperl.com/words/atlantic-peak/

New Mountain

This past Easter weekend, Jesper and I headed up to Jackson Hole for some Wyoming skiing. It was probably the last big ski weekend for us this wonderful 07/08 season. We couldn't have ended on a better note.

We awoke Friday morning to what looked to me like no new snow down in the Village, but Elliot (our host) informed me that loads of snow had fallen on the mountain. It was a POWDER DAY!!! Elliot succumbed to pressure and joined Jesper and me on tele skis. At the end of the day, he proclaimed it to have been his best day ever on tele skis! I can barely find words to describe how good it was. In fact, I was almost speechless the entire day while we skied. I am rarely speechless. All I could do was mumble over and over again, "this is the most snow I've ever skied in". And it was. Jackson had seen about 40 inches of new snow the several days prior to our arrival and Thursday night's snowfall put them close to the 60 inch mark for the week. Elliot lead us all over the mountain to one fresh powder slope after another. Down in the tele-stance, the fluffy snow came up over my waist, caressing my thighs and hitting me in the face. We bombed down steep slopes and through tree glades with ease, our speed moderated by more than a foot of powder. I'm still not completely sure where we went, since it was a complete whiteout the entire day. We skied a long day of many hard runs, but took almost no pictures; we were having too much fun to stop and get the cameras out (plus it was cold and windy).

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. It wouldn't be a powder day, but it would be a blue bird day. I was excited that I'd be able to see the spectacular views Jackson Hole boasts. I also might be able to figure out where I was on the mountain! Elliot said it was the clearest day he had ever seen at Jackson Hole. Jesper and I, joined by Elliot once again on his tele skis, decided to start the day out by booting up to the Headwall. This area had been closed the previous day, so none of the powder had been disturbed. We opted for the shorter, but steeper route up just above the gondola. Once up on the headwall, we hiked out to find some freshies. And we certainly found freshies. The run was worth the price of the lift ticket alone. The snow was flying up over my head, getting my face wet. My skis just floated on nothingness. It was spectacular! This time we got the cameras out. Here's a link to Jesper's write-up and excellent shots (a few of them mine): http://jesperperl.com/words/jackson-hole/

The final day, Sunday, Jesper and I skied alone half a day. It was another blue bird day, but we didn't stop to take pictures. After about 4 hours on the slopes, it was time to head back down to Boulder. Our legs were pretty worn out anyway. Nine hours later, we were back in Boulder, happy to have gone but also happy to be home.

Jackson Hole, we will be back!

Bruce!

This is my very dear friend Doug Tupps (Senior picture in 1982). I met Doug in 1978, in the 9th grade. I was 14. He looked even younger then! Doug no longer parts his hair down the middle. We met a long time ago, but Doug and I have managed to stay in touch all these years.

Doug and I, along with our friend Marita, hung out, partied, drank beer and did all other manner of juvenile things through High School. Despite being distracted by things our parents wouldn't have approved of, we all three got excellent grades. We also watched a lot of Monty Python and called each other BRUCE.

I also have known Doug's wife Michelle from High School. Doug, Michelle, Marita, and my sister Chris are really the only people from High School I stay in touch with. After college, we all hung out together drinking beer and eating chicken wings, doing more things our parents would have disapproved of, until we started dispersing across the country.

Doug and Michelle now live in Florida and I live in Colorado. But we still get together every year or so, usually to ski. Obviously, they come here for that! They were just here and I got to ski with them several days. They do a great job on the slopes, especially when you consider that they only get out one time each year.

I haven't visited them in many years, but I am planning to head down to Florida for my college homecoming this fall. Doug is going to teach me how to surf. It will be my turn to be out of my element.

I'm looking forward to it BRUCE!

more pics from their trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/COIttyBittyBetty/BruceComesToCO

Busy Boulder Weekend!

Jesper and I had a very busy weekend. This trend will continue for the rest of the month. For some odd reason, February is always jam packed with tons of things to do. First off comes my birthday, which I posted about before (OK - Jesper posted and I linked). Later this month we have two different groups of friends coming out to visit and ski. And then there was this past weekend. It started out with the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance (BMA) Banquet. Actually, before that, Thursday was filled with a meeting in Denver for me (I luckily made it past the I-25 sinkhole about 30 minutes before it happened!) , the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Annual Open House (at which I submitted some written comments) and the the BTR Mountain Running "seminar". Once again, the BTR runners who spoke gave great tips. Anna Pichrtova was especially wonderful; her enthusiasm is huge and contagious. She made me want to get out and RUN!

So, back to Friday. Before the BMA Banquet, a friend who just moved to Colorado from Ontario, Canada came over to our house. I met Tina Lewis at the Raid the North Extreme race this past summer. I distinctly remember meeting her on the side of a mountain as her team was awaiting an airlift for an injured team mate. Tina was not happy to have a team mate quitting on day one but she and the rest of her team finished the 6-day race. Anyway, Tina and I had been emailing and phone calling back and forth this summer and fall while she considered, and then decided to move to the Front Range. In the month she's been here, we had not yet gotten together. Our plan was to go for a run together on Friday, watch the RTNX DVD she got from her Canuck friends and then get ready for the Banquet, which Tina was attending as well. I had not seen the DVD, since the show was only aired in Canada (coming soon to the US!). Watching that show brought back memories and made me want to race again.

The banquet was very nice. It's not often that I get a chance to get dressed up here in Boulder, so I was excited to put on a little black dress. Jesper looked very smart in his tux. Don't we look glam?!?! It was nice to see friends who are usually dressed in helmets and riding gear all gussied up. Boulder's mountain bikers clean up nice! We don't need any bike stuff, so Jesper and I didn't bid on any of the auctioned items, but there were some good deals. The food was yummy, as the affair was held at the Julien, which has a very good chef who happens to be a mountain biker too!

More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/COIttyBittyBetty/BoulderMountainBikeAlliancePics


Due to the late night out at the banquet, we opted to sleep in on Saturday. Jesper and I took Strelka for a run up near Chautauqua. The temps were in the mid-50's and it was sunny. We ran up Gregory Canyon up to Rangeview and then back down Flagstaff and Crown Rock. It was mostly dry with some patches of snow and ice. It was about an hour run, the longest Jesper has done in awhile. He's working on getting his miles up too! Strelka is getting better at these longer runs. I'll be increasing her mileage as well. I came away from the run knowing that I need to get out of the flats in Gunbarrel once a week or so and do more steep mountain running. It'll help my running and it's so pretty that it doesn't seem like a workout.



After staying up late on Friday and running in the afternoon on Saturday, I was wonked Saturday night and went to bed at 8:30 pm so I would be fresh for the next busy day. Jesper and I woke up at 5:45 am on Sunday to go skiing at WinterPark/Mary Jane. Our early start got us on the runs at Mary Jane around 9:00 am. In the morning, my legs felt heavy from the previous day's run (see, I need to run hills more), but they got springy again for the afternoon. We finally made it up to the top of the Parsenn Bowl to try out some of the new terrain accessed by the new Panaramic 6-Pack. We also headed over to the Eagle Wind lift area and did some nice runs over there. The last time we skied over there, I thought the runs were steep. Funny, they didn't seem so steep anymore... I guess I'm getting more comfortable with steeper terrain! The snow, although skied out, was still nice and the day was sunny and warm compared to the sub-zero temps we saw most of January.

Jesper and I finished up early at 1:30 pm so we could get back to Boulder in time to eat and shower before the evening's plans; an E-Town show with Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Kathleen Edwards. We've both been BHTM fans since way before we moved to Boulder. We got turned onto Kathleen Edwards at a previous E-Town show and really like her voice and lyrics. The show lived up to our expectations. Todd Park Mohr was fantastic! His voice is so unique and powerful and he can sure rock that guitar! He was also super interesting and articulate in the interview.

WOW - Banquet, Run, Ski, Concert. What a busy weekend. I slept well last night.