saving grace

michelle is grace. and she saved my day.

thank goodness for early afternoon rides on nice rocky trails. i mean, really -- what on earth would we do with out all that!?!?!?

spoiled rotten, we are! i'm ok with that.

just as a note: the pony is right. the pony is mean. the pony is nimble. she really likes to dance, and dart, and play. ohhhhhhgoodness. ;-) the pony REALLY likes to climb. the pony might be a humming bird, but i'm not sure. i have some adjusting to do on the down-hills, but i'm actually really excited for the re-experience of mastering the bike-body dance. i am so happy. i am indescribably happy.

CLICK on each pic... apparently they're all getting cut off 1/2 in the middle -- you're only seeing 1/2 of each pic here ;-( sorry kids.



we started low, and got up nice and high. the air was cleaner than usual, i think, because of the lack of commuters this week (due to the DNC that has engrossed our fine cow-town).





we then rode through some mystical trees with light splattering all over the place. we saw and heard some deer bolting through the trees.



we mastered some trickay moves.







my favorite pic of the evening:


we descended with grace and picked our way through some nice techy little sections.

Michelle nailing it!!:






jeny nailing it too!:




we rode up hill some more and ticked off each little rock garden as we came to it. booyahh!!!!
this was a fun little hit that has never been easier. i swear. such luck!!!





we railed the DH to the nice log pile where we played around and made sure it was had good and right ;-)






we finished so fast on the remaining choss field that is the apex trail...that there was seriously no time for pictures ;-)

and cruised our way back home through an insanely pleasant view-moment-light world.


we are damn lucky, we are ;-)

thank you, michelle!!!

jj

sipping the nectar

ed, the new humming bird and i had a splendid weekend all the way around!

For the picture-story, click a picture!

saturday morning ed and i bolted down to salida to pick up the new pony. i highly recommend working with the stellar crew at Absolute Bikes there in town -- they are wonderful people, fan-freakin'-tastic bike mechanics and artists, and i worked with Shawn on the fit for a LONG time (no wonder my back has been hurting;-) i think he helped me through a number of position issues..... yeeehawww!

so we rode with tom and shawn saturday afternoon! they took us on some delightfully obscure, old 4x trail/tracks -- we hit a TON of rocks on some wickedly steep fun descent! it was a good way to re-orient to the 29'er-ness, the HT-ness and the new fit! i was surprised!!!


after a VERY satisfying ride with shawn and tom, we headed down to del note to spend the evening with gary and patti! gary had us up and ready for a solid ride early sunday morning. he took us up some valley and had us climbing for a solid 3,8oo' in the first 12 miles through pristine valleys, up through the dense forest, and towards-towards-towards the very high peaks that we were surrounded by. we got up above tree line for a while -- i swear, it is SO neat to ride up there above the trees in the midst of the huge mountains, cool air, big clouds.... it's just special.


then we got to descend for a solid 18 miles!!!!

so apparently i am going to have to check my speed at the door for a little while until i get used to the new position, and the new HT feel......... i must have bounced the rear end off of something while careening down through the valley and promptly face-planted into a rather large aspen tree. while nothing is broken, and i opted to not stitch up the chin, i was a bit worried there for a few minutes until i calmed down.

and yes..... yes the new pony is perfectly fine. i didn't even scratch her ;-) thank goodness.

we high-tailed it back to evergreen last night --- and i'm totally recovering today!

i owe my fancy new wheels to Ed and Mr. Magic Mike Curiak! I LOVE THEM! I owe the feedback and help in putting her together to Scot at Absolute.


Ok. Energy is back to normal. I'm no longer a lightning bolt. I'm a little tired now!

jj

EnerJeny!

cruisin' chamisa

ed spent the weekend playing around in the ... snow... and sprinting up buck gulch. gulp. as much as i would have LOVED a day of hiking in the snow, and any opportunity to start at pine valley (sincerely, i like that climb), i opted for seeing my long-lost friends (the recently married couple) jen and aaron -- in sante fe.

friday afternoon/evening drive to santa fe was slow going and troubled with stormy weather. heavy weather. wet, hydro-planing weather. such fun. add to that a gas nozzle thingy that didn't automatically stop when it was supposed to and $120 bucks worth (and the guilt of spilling that much gas) of waste, and well... it was an interesting trip south. in the dark. just me and the white stripes.

they greeted me with wine ;-)

saturday morning we feasted on waffles and fresh strawberries and hand-picked palisade peaches. (i know, suffer fest). and coffee... thick, rich black ffin' coffee. ohyum.

we then saddled up and hit the Dale Ball trails -- freak-fest of a twisty-fun morning, while aaron flatted two too many times. since we had to pass it any way onto the 2nd half our our ride, we rode back past their house, grabbed an enormous -- enromous -- lunch, and then rolled down to la tierra!!!! WOOOOPDIE-WOOOSSSS! holy crayola that was a screamin' kick in the pants.

we only hit sprinkles of rain for about 1.5 minutes for our first part of the ride. the rest of the day was spent in some beaming, gleaming sunlight and fresh, cool breeze. is it really august?

saturday night we drank a lot of wine. we ate the most marvelous fish. we laughed entirely way too hard and too much. period.

sunday found us at the breakfast table with enormous omelets -- and more peaches -- and thick, face-slapping coffee... rich and succulent.

then we saddled up and hit chamisa to sidewinder to the burn to windsor and back to chamisa. yeah, this didn't suck one bit. and it was sunny yet cool the whole time. imagine that.

price for this bliss: one more broken rear deralieur and a bit of walking 'out'. damn. got to ride a bit of ss on the truth (don't laugh too hard) back up to the top of chamisa, then rolled all the way back down. aw shucks ... what a day to be alive.

the dive home found me smack in the middle of the biggest, heaviest and darkest rain storm i've ever had the distinct pleasure of driving through. and, i also got to see the most enormous rainbow i've ever seen in my life. it made me cry.

pictures later this week.

ah, the start of a solid month worth of big weekends....... here we go! (salida, vacation, vt125, rmh, cb classic).

the pending fun is ... energizing!!!
*ed is still in vapor lock.
*aaron is tempting fate at getting onto the starting line for th evt125. tom???????
*and steve (aarons training buddy and carrot -- one of the fittest men in america -- a'hem -- check out Outside Oct 2008) is prepping to line up as well.
*add to this that my gems of glory and energy Lynda and Dave are going to line up and create a giggle fest of bright energy through the night and the day ....
*kentANDkatie will line up to crush the comp and inspire smiles.
*mr. plesko will have recovered from the CTR and bounce back ready and hungry for more climbing.

it's going to be quite the event and i cannot wait to see everyone!

um. it's only monday? still?

jj


jj

Auditory-Obnoxiousness-Syndrome

Hi. My name is Jeny, and I am an auditorily-obnoxious person; that is, when i am happy and slightly over-excited, i am an obnoxious-hyper-hyper-loud-manic being.


that's just how it goes. i suppose.

so, apologies in advance ;-) (and in arrears).

riding with michelle and aj tonight ... well, i must have busted two sets of ear-drums and likely wore-out my weekly ride-time welcome ;-) SO sorry guys, for the verbal explosion of crayola grandure. really, i was just that excited to see you, and that excited to be riding with you.

i promise next time to try and be slightly less ........ loud.

;-)

i had so much on our ride tonight. thanks for the uplift! i really needed it!

jj

CYNTHIA'S AWARD!!!!! (and other weekend reports)

unfortunately, due to a Tonka Emergency, ed and i missed cynthia's annual dirt-crit award party this year. which is really a shame as that is truly one of THE places to be as far as 'events' and parties go. sorry, cyn. yes, tonka is recovering and is on more sterroids than any of us -- and people wonder why he's so fat. gah. give the cat a break. ;-)

what's more is that i had a prize for cynthia this year. since i was not able to surprise her on the night of her party, i thought this forum would be the perfect place to give her the award.

cynthia, i humbly bestow upon you the Mother Hen award!!!!!!!!! ;-)


this award goes to cynthia for a number of reasons, the biggest of which is to honor her contribution to the biking community of Boulder, CO. now, the biking community of Boulder, CO is not particularly SMALL, nor is it full of a bunch of wanna-be racer types. nope, Boulder is the full meal deal, and i SWEAR cynthia takes care of more racers, contributes to more races, hosts more adventure-rides and generally takes really, REALLY super damn good care of the very specific people she supports in races. AND, that is not the bulk of it. cynthia has even organized and maintains and leads and is generally in CHARGE of a Tuesday Night girls ride in which she seduces newcomer women to mountain biking -- instilling in them a heroine-like addiction to the sport that we all know and love and crave and, well ... can't live without.

cynthia, you get the Mother Hen award because you contribute more to our community than anyone else i know. and, you take really good care of me ;-) (in more ways than one).

so, the Mother Hen jar is filled with items my family would like to give you to make sure you are taking equally good care of yourself ;-)

So There.

in other news that is not really 'news' per se:

we had a stellar weekend on and off the bikes

saturday we climbed a bit at buff creek, logging a sweet round number of 30 miles and 3Kvert. saturday blessed me with a set of wings. speed felt effortless -- especially nice considering we were really just taking it easy (remember, ed's in vapor lock) -- our pace was actually rather good. sweet surprise to me!!! i felt like magic.

sunday we climbed a bit more at buff creek, logging a sweet not-so-round number of 23 miles and 2700 vert ... at the same pace. while this is hardly interesting to anyone -- the odd thing here was that i felt like complete flat crow, as if i were pulling about 7.5 cynder blocks behind me just for fun. no idea why.

ed is vapor locking quite nicely and is focused-focused-focused on the vt125. i like that ;-) i'm doing my best to not distract him. really, honey, i swear it i am trying my hardest ;-)

no pix this weekend. just time in the saddle, being outside, happy and alive.

HUGE LT100 props to Aaron, FixieDave, Mr. Weeeens, ColeBunny, Mister Gerritson, and man, Fatty, way to pull it off!! (did you have to eat the mayo?)

anyway. it's sunday night ... such a sweet delight.

;-)

jj

on riding bikes and having fun

something about riding these last couple of months has started a pattern: i cannot fall to sleep at night. as in: i'm am up. i am manic. i am am wide-awake-spinning. i am crazy. this is good because riding is creating more energy than it is taking. thank goodnes. truth be told: i am ecstatic about this! i go out, ride and ride, and come home and want to ride more --- feel like i can ride more -- it's in my body and in my soul... ! this makes me happy. finally, feeling like my old self once again.

YEHAWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

so, i'm a slacker in posting, right? right. sorry. AND, MARNI, i owe you a post and some answers. I promise I'll do it this week. I really will. I swear ... you should come ride w/ me in Evergreen one night this week -- can you fit that into your week of Saturdays?

ok.

Thursday, 7/31/2008:
michelle and i rode like madwomen on one of the hottest days yet this year. it took some mutual motivational feeds, but dayum -- we not only got her done, but we did it in style, too ;-) The climb up pick 'n sledge and grubstake is no longer the techy-goat-fix it used to be. now, it's a sandy beach. ugh!!!!!! oh-well. the the shade was supremely pleasant on the north side, and the chat along the way was divine. we finished that, dropped sleux and rode to the top of enchanted. dropped that, sprinkled with a few conversations and a couple of 'sessions' (yes, hillary, i stopped to try something over and over again -- (i never do this) ...) and there was much hootin' and hollern' and noise makin'. once back onto the main-line of apex, 4 men sitting around the stream proclaimed: "we heard you two all the way down -- what, we thought there were coyotes up there?" it was a screamin' good time, that is for certain.

Friday was date night. ;-)

Saturday, 8/2/2008:
did you know it was possible to sleep in until 10am? yeah, likely a first for me ;-) well worth it!

this was the bottom of the first tricky section -- the first 'key' that you have to nail in order to gain access to the real chunk of the challenge.

saturdays ride was short, sweet, and super steep and fun ;-)!!!! i dragged ed up glitter, up tippy, and back down gold. he hates me now ;-) no really... he waited for me to session (yes, hillary, yes cyn... SESSION -- mind you, it was an UP thing!!!) the ONE chunky-tech challenge at the beginning of tippy that i have yet to clear. i threw myself up it about 7 times. ed took pix, go check his blog sometime soon. i almost cleaned it 2 times --- the second time my rear wheel was literally right over the last obstacle and my foot twisted out and got caught up in my spinn!! WTF!!!! still. i cleaned everything up until that point, and it was a good day in my billy-goat world ;-) i felt good about the effort. i felt great about having the desire to try -- to work something til' it's not only done, but done well. sigh. ahhhhhh..... cleaned 99.9% of that ... next time!!

sunday, 8/3/2008:
KIM and CYN and I headed up for a Searlee Sunday!!! Searle Pass that is, home of Wild Flowers and Elevation Gain. ;-) Pix below were of the Searlee ride. I felt lucky to be invited on their ride today, as these two have been rippin' it up all over Colorado this summer. Thanks Kim and Cyn! I had a blast!!!



we started mid-morning-late-ish. while it reached 103 degrees in boulder, it likely didn't get above 70 up where we were. add to that the thunderstorms, and i was actually riding in a wool-jersey most of the day! the ride up was delightful and spectacular. the trail seemed in good shape (despite the horsey sections), and the flowers were literally out of this world! cyn and kim kept the tempo pleasant and full of laughter and smiles! we had fun cruisin' up the big hill -- and i must say that the Colorado Trail up this hill seemed well designed to me -- the switch backs were sweeping and lovely, the pitch was even more enjoyable that imagined... i enjoyed the up quite a lot.... UNTIL: until i bashed my knee up into my right shifter and literally broke the damn thing in half. the rest of the ride was really rather funny shifting-wise ... but it all worked out well.

we hit the summit in a fit of rain and deep thunder -- and it was SO satisfying! we hauled our clumsy butts back down into tree-line and ate.

the rest of the trip down was a playful, sheer delight. Thanks again, kim and cyn --- honored to ride w/ you two. can we make it happen more often now?!?!?! ;-)

is that enough of a write up?

jj