change of scenery

i'm sick of seeing the race-post, too;-)

how about some RED VELVET CAKE instead?



No? How about my SS, back from a filthy-making long day?

yes, it's still icy and icky here... but not icky enough to keep us from exhausting outselves silly. the SS is offering a nice change of pace.... well, that and the VooDoo Kitty is making some REALLY wrong noises from OP. BrandNewBB Issues? REALLY?


or how about BooBoo, recovering from his TeamBooBoo race efforts?

see what you did to him DB? he had so much fun ;-)

or how about some birthday GOODNESS!! Happy Birthday GooneyBunny!


and.... that is about all i've got.

well, except for all these grand ideas for riding ...... still bouncing off the walls and scheeming rides like MAD!

crack-out,
jj

24 hours of Oh-P!!! Riot in the Desert!

Night-Moves, by Edemtbs.

Below is an odd account of my first-ever 24 Hour race in the co-ed Duo class. My partner in crime for this MtbBilssFest was fast-as-lightning Aaron Gulley, from Santa Fe, NM. Together, we made up Fast and Sassy! And we took 2nd place, following National Champion Lynda Wallenfels, and DeepSpaceRacer Scott Morris.

Together, Aaron and I completed 19 laps (breaking the co-ed duo course record of 18 laps, only to be bested by LW and SM for their 20-lap mania).

I sincerely cannot jot down a blow-by-blow/lap-by-lap account of my 24 Hours of Old Pueblo race experience. Simply put, I was literally out of my skull INSANE the entire race, and I don't remember all that much detail.

Please note that this is more of a collection of thoughts than it is a race report. My skull is still blasted and manic and I am having a difficult time piecing something "race report like" together.

So, here are a bunch of random thoughts and pix linked together with hopefully some semblance of organization or structure:

LOGISTICS:

• First and absolutely foremost: we had a heavenly crew for support: Edmund my starling, CynnyBunn my race bunny, and Jen -Aaron's wife and my oldest and dearest friend. With out them, pit stops would have been chaos and ineffective. They helped to keep the MtbRaceLove on HIGH the entire time.
• My starling, Ed, took care of me the entire week ... and is still taking care of me ;-) He has put out so much energy and love to support me for this event, I can hardly express my gratitude. Thank you, love.
• CynnyBunn literally handed me every single item I needed right when I requested it. Food. CLOTHING. Shorts. Chamois Creme ;-))))) Thanks, CYN...
• And JEN!! BACK RUB and TEA!!!! Saviour!!!

LAPS:

It's pretty apparent that in order for me to 'race well', I need to do my best to keep a LID on the 'stress'. 'Stress', apparently, is far, far different from CRACK and MANIA!!! Thank god! Because it's true, my CrackSpirit ruled the day(s), hands down. There seems to be very little incentive to keep that manic part in check. But the 'stress' factor, I knew, would kill me.

So, in order to keep it in check, it would seem that I employed the following tactics to keep myself from stress-implosion:

• Simplicity. This is how the race went for me: PitFeedChange. Bathroom. Lap. Bathroom. Prep Bike. PitFeedChange. Bathroom. Lap. Bathroom. Prep Bike. PitFeedChange. Bathroom. Lap. Bathroom. Prep Bike. PitFeedChange. Bathroom. Lap ....
• I found that I was far, far more comfortable OUT on the course than I was in the pit. My body was not comfortable sitting still, and I found that my mind was not comfortable sitting still. Not that the pit wasn't heavenly, but that my body didn't want to slow down. It wanted to be flowing out on the singletrack. I did, however, make the most of the pit stops. More on that in a second.
• Humor. I made fun of myself, and everything else around me, the entire time. Case in point: this is me leaving for my first lap ... and YES, I DID do this on purpose:
  
  What do you think? How about this one:
  
• I did my best to stay as OBLIVIOUS AS POSSIBLE the entire race. Ignorance is Bliss? Outside of LW and SM, I knew for absolute certain that I didn't know jack squat about who else we were racing. I didn't think about it. I didn't look for it. I left it up to my crew to know if I needed to step on the gas or to change things up. Many times during many laps, I told myself to just stop thinking about ANYTHING else but MY RIDE.
• My mantra for the race: SMART LAPS. I wanted to keep things in check, and I wanted to NOT get a nice big phat cacti hug. I wanted to be mindful of my pacing, mindful of my surroundings. I kept saying this: "ALL FLOW, NO BLOW!"
• First lap: FUN and FAST and I felt crack-crazy.
• Second lap: FUN and FAST and I felt CRACK-CRAZY.
• Third lap: I distinctly remember some chatty, yeeehawwin' BLISS with ByerBunny ... and the lights came ON! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!! Byers and I held a full on manic hootin' fest with other riders around us ;-) I'd LOVE to know what their thoughts were.
• Fourth Lap: Night lap, felt like I could "hide in the dark" a little... too bad my voice has no clue what that means. I did my best to keep it spinny and mellow.
• Fifth lap: ditto.
• Sixth lap: ditto.
• Seventh lap: I got lost in my lap counts. And I think I started giggling to myself quite a lot.
• Eighth lap: Didn't enjoy the headwind, but enjoyed railing every section that could be railed.
• Ninth lap: Didn't enjoy the headwind, but enjoyed bombing every section that could be bombed.

Racin' AND SCREAMIN'... theme for the event for me:

PIT STOPS:

As I mentioned before: I was far more comfortable out on the bike than sitting in camp. That said, I did make the most of camp, and it was a life-saver every single time. And, true to one of my golden rules above, I kept it as mellow as possible:

• I ATE. Too much, in fact. On my 2nd pit I started to get intensely nauseated. Turns out, I just needed to stop eating. THANK YOU!!!
• 3rd pit, I came in hungry and had my favorite meal of the whole race: plain white jasmine rice, handfuls of gold fish, a large number of dark chocolate with peanut butter candies.
• Other foods inhaled: String cheese, yogurts (cherry and peach), some sustained and heed, but that wasn't workin' out too well. MY MOTHERS COOKIES!!! I think I hate 2 fist fulls of sugar cookies before I went out for my last lap. That was awesome.
• I napped 3 times, for about 5 minutes. That was manna for the mind, and I think it helped to keep me on the safe side of insane instead of the other side of insane.
• A few pix to demonstrate my calm, cool, even-keel demeanor:
  
  jeny eating mashed sweet potatoes... mmmmmmmm!!!!! see how sweet i can be!
  
  
  jeny trying to get the 'puter rollin' for CynnyBun. Didn't work.
  
  
  a bit of socializing with the international traveler showing up for her race.

Other Random Meaningful Thoughts and Observations:

• I have absolutely NO 'game-face' or 'race-face.' Anyone know where I can get one?
• I held onto my CrackBliss the entire race.......... and still, I'm bouncing off the walls. Case in point, check out how I HOVER to my pony on my last lap:
  
• I NEEDED Dave, and I NEEDED Lynda, and I NEEED Scott. I felt like our MtbManicSpirits were all connected out on that course ... like we were all riding a long sliver wave of energy that kept our Positive, Powerful, Energized spirits blazing!!!! I think that if there is one thing I will never, ever, ever forget about this race, is the sheer amount of POSITIVE ENERGY from our extended web of crazies.

AARON GULLEY -- Partner in Crime:

Aaron... what to say about my race partner? Holy criminy, this race was definitely HIS race! First and foremost, the man was in the top 10 getting TO his bike at the start of the race ... which was at the far, far end of the running section.... About a handful of freaky-speeders blew by ON their bikes, and here comes Aaron, RUNNING in the midst of them... He was WAY early out on course.

See:

All of Aarons laps were well under 1hr, 18min. SMOKIN' FAST!!! And, I credit Aaron for keeping us far enough ahead of 3rd place that I could play Oblivious Racer ;-) Thanks, Aaron!!!

Aaron has emailed and has this to say about the race:
anything to add? just how lucky i feel to be able to go to such a stunning place and do something as frivolous as ride my bike. a month ago, i thought i was facing my dad's death. he survived, but some 200,000 people weren't as lucky and 3 million are homeless. meanwhile i get to go race. that makes me feel pretty fortunate.

Aaron is full of Grace.

QUOTE of the RACE:

The day before the race, I spotted Lynda in her circus tent area. I bolted over, to steal a hug ... and to chat. And, true to form, I was bouncing off the walls, the ceiling, and everything else. I sincerely tried to keep it all in check and and as mellow as possible... I really was trying as hard as I could.

This is what Lynda had to say to me: "Jeny, do you know how to hit the PAUSE button?"

And, last but not least ... I DID IT. ;-) And I'm glowing still.

Fast and Sassy, true to form:

Thank you, all you crazy people, for making this such a wonderful event for EVERYONE!!! We really are lucky to get out and play as hard and fast and fun as we do ....

Jj

PS: here are all the other pix!! Ed took 99% of them -- and I think there are a few more that I've blatantly stolen ...

SOCORRRRROOOOO!!!

on our way to Tuc-Sun, we snuk out into blm heaven for a little action:



true to form, screaming and yelling and hootin' and hollerin' the whole time.

jj

de-psych-ifying

my head has been a mess! i've been psyching myself OUT big time this week.

nothing helps me to de-psych and get all grounded and cracked out (in a positive way) like a ride on dirt, with tons of chop and funk to demand my attention.

i feel infinitely better.



today, i cleared a slightly techy climb i've never cleared... and i did it on the first try, with ice in spots.

here is the entrance to the climb:



and here is the rest of the way up.


in true jeny style, i screamed and hollered at the top of my lungs all the way up to the top. i don't know why or how that happens. it just does.

i hope i can find more of that kind of action tomorrow. i need to rock it up a bit!

jj

calGone...

... has got what it takes!

yea for the sunday tubeless effort!

(ed gets all credit for these pix, taken with my minicamera).


you are the man, cal!!! thank you SOOOOO much!

jj

my sweets

Ed did the most wonderful thing today....

we went for this ride...


that I'm pretty sure is his least favorite ride-route. I know it bores him to tears.

But he and his shadow...


kept me and my shadow...


really wonderful company all day long.

happy!happy!happy!

Thank you, Starling!!

jj

lunch roll rescue

Tragically, this poor bunny has seen better days. BunBun has been face-down for at least 2 weeks, as I pass by him on my lunch roll.



The poor bunny has been there for quite some time ... and I have not had the lack-of-focus enough to go rescue the poor thing.



However...

Today, I had a knight in shining armor with me for the lunch roll. Meet TayTay! He braved the wicked willows and made it down to the poor BunBun!

And in one swifty move, he was out in the middle of the river, making the rescue!

A man, taking his job very seriously.

See TayTay smile:


Thank you TayTay!!


We left BunBun in a nice little cove of sunshine next to and above the river. When he dries out enough at some point, I'm sure to pick him up while out on my bike, put him on my back, and bring him home for Tonka.

BunBun will need a bath ... or two.

Speaking of Tonka...

Tonka has found and made a new nest... in Ed's underwear drawer ;-)

Turn-around point today:


And...... now it's snowing! Way to sneak one in!

Jj

the truth

The truth is, I just don't have much to say.

Yes, I am a somewhat auditorily obnoxious person when around people, and can seem to find endless banter to blab and shout about when out... but honestly, I don't have much to say.

Case in point: I had a MARVELOUS Friday Ride, and an STUPENDOUS Saturday Pueblo Ride with the most fantastically fun people... and I don't have much to say for it ... because really, it was just too damn fun and so damn satisfying, words just can't touch it.

So: Fri and Sat:

In other news, it would seem that in yoga, I can't stand on one foot to save my life ... let alone twist and stretch and balance all at the same time. However, I can get myself into a hand stand and hold it there for a darn long time. Go figure.

jj

for the joy of it

My mother tells me I'm a very determined person. I laugh at her when she tells me this. I can't, for the life of me, think of why she would say such a thing. There just isn't much that I get myself into these days that I would consider needing any form of "determination".

So she reminds me of one story from my childhood (of which I have no recollection): Apparently, when I was a small child, I used to open the lower cabinet doors in the kitchen and take out ALL of the pots and pans, and cover the kitchen floor with cooking apparatus chaos. Then, I'd refuse to put them away. I'd throw a fit; I would scream and yell and whine and cry. (She tells me that sometimes I would hold my breath 'til I passed out cold in complete defiance). Mom said that she would take my hand and literally make me place each pot and pan and lid and bowl, one after another after another, back into the cabinet... only for them all to be taken out again. She uses this story as an example of my determination.

This last Friday, my birthday, was the 37-year old version of this pattern. I was determined ... bound and determined ... to de-tube-ify my wheels (by myself -- seriously, how hard could this possible be?). I have had countless emails with MC, watched videos, procured materials and even set aside a WHOLE DAY to accomplish this task ... and then I wanted to go fly around on my fancy new wings. Looks easy enough to me. I get what is supposed to happen and why it happens and all that.

So, I dressed in my winter mtb clothes, and set to the tubeless task.

• The first effort (rims and tape and stem thingy only --- because of my rims) just simply didn't work. I tried and tried, but the stem kept blowing out and I couldn't get the things to hold air to save my life. Off with the tires, clean up the mess.
• The second effort was going to work (because I am crafty and I can make things work if I need to), but first I HAD to get the ffin' tires ON THE FFin rims, which now included my crafy idea. That task was nearly impossible. It was nearly impossible because, apparently, the craftiness that I employed wasn't designed to work at all anyway... But of course, I kept at it, and kept at it, and kept at it. My determination got me here: I threw the mother of all fits. (Thank GOD only tonka was home to witness). I cried. I whined. I THREW MY WHEELS. Both of them.
• But, I got those sukkers on! And they inflated! And they held! And walllla! They were on -- but they were SO WRONG. They were not seated right, and I'm pretty sure that some of the other issues I was seeing weren't supposed to be issues at all. So I got it, but then I gave up trying to get it right.

So much for determination. That only took me roughly 6 hours. (No, I did not take a single picture).

THAT was a lot of determined effort. It was so much effort, in fact, I was wasted tired by mid-afternoon... and it was all I could do to stay awake for a romantic birthday dinner with my starling. (Thank you, starling, for putting up with my tired self).

Anyway. Back to my silly antics for the past few days.

Friday, the birthday, was such a tube-less-bust that I determined Saturday (and Sunday) to get out to make up for a.) the wasted effort and b.) the lost ride in the sunshine. I saddled up and headed out for what was going to be about an hour and half spinn -- just to prime for a big ride with the boys on Sunday.

It was my plan to hit the meadow loop. Plain and simple and rolly and mellow and light and playfully easy and ... if I was lucky ... just tacky enough to not be ruining the trails.



I was such a good girl. I by-passed my first hyper-climbing-exploration trail option to "just ride light" and have a mellow day. Funny stuff there --- because the second option I had to make the same good decision came up and lo-and-behold: up I went.



I went uphill with the whole-hearted belief that there was NO WAY ON EARTH that the trail would be rideable much past the first or second switch. I told myself: "I'll just spinn up this hill 'til the snow is too deep and turn around and go home." "Light ride. Light ride. Easy easy easy."

And up I went. And went. And WENT! I started getting giddy! I kept clearing obstacles. I could taste the sweat pouring off my head! My woollie bluebird sweater was SOAKED! I was riding up the whole darn thing -- I kid you not -- in January.

1 absolutely spectacular, snow-pack-tackarific, dirt-flinging hour later, I'm totally getting my solo HAPPY DANCE ON ... on the top of the darn mountain!

<

So happy, in fact, that after taking a few blissful moments to thank the universe, I made sure to BOMB back down that trail as hard and fast as I could.

Only issue: the packed trail is only pack-tastic where it's packed ;-) 2 inches off to either side and it's deep and soft and fluffy ... and yup, it took my wheel and launched my happy ass hard onto the ground, and smack into a stump under the snow, back and ribs and all. That only took about 1 minute to happen -- straight off the top.

That was fun;-)

I spent the rest of Saturday in a bliss-inspired effort to contain my happiness a.) that the trail was rideable and b.) that I took such whimsical and thorough advantage of it. (For all the pix, click HERE).

Sundays ride plans included the infamous, vampire boy (calGone), Mr. Juth, and EdE. Our first task on the list for Sunday: get out of the house! second task: get ed (and a working pony) out of the house with me! third joy-inducing task: KEEP UP, SLACKER JENY!!!!

I was beat straight out of the gate! So these are all the pix I took (read the captions, they tell the story).

And I did it. I didn't make them wait TOO long, (altho I'm sure they did slow down quite a bit to keep me in sight) and I didn't fail or bail. Success!!! As Ez likes to say: Durability Training;-)

And last but not least, you know that a Sunday BigBliss Effort wouldn't be complete without some Monday Extra Credit: it was all I could do to drag my happy, bruised, tired body and mind out onto Interval Paths Monday afternoon! But I did -- because doing so made me HAPPY.

As I'm riding along, lost in a daze and trying to put it all together in my mind, I start to read the writing on the wall. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out what that writing is saying. Anyone venture an interpretation?

Let me know what you think the writing on the wall says ;-) I'm dying to know.

Ahhh!

Jj

lunch rolls

the past few weeks have found me out and around town at lunch ... on the pony.

here are pix from today!


I'm not sure anyone will find those interesting... but what the hey. I'm entertained!

Now go get some sunshine before it snows on Wednesday.

Jj

2 days in the valley(s)

soooo wonderfully happy about the sunshine for the last 2 days. had to get a bit of rollin' bliss goin' on to celebrate the warmth and the clear blue skies.

took more pix of the pre-ride antics (tonka) than of the rides themselves... but hopefully entertaining enough ;-)

Saturday with Ede:


Sunday, Solo:


hope everyone got their daily dose of the sun while it's out!

jj

ROTHFLMAO

Heavy is the head that eats the cray-ons....

Heavy is the head that eats the crayons sound bite 30 Rock - Jackie Jormp Jomp sound bites

HAHAHAHH!!!

Steevie, I'm going to kill you!

and if I don't, Ed will.

;-)

jj

2 days in the light

... my boys (ede and mr. spike) ... :


made me this happy ... :


... on our ride today. seriously, that is a pic of one deeply, deeply happy jeny.

thank you, ed and mr.spike, for accompanying me on my over-excited and slightly delusional ride fest turned magical 6 hours. that is JUST what i needed and wanted. thank you, thank you, thank you!

we started in a lovely sukker-hole of sunlight ... topped out at the high point about a 1/4 of the way through, when it started to snow and blow. we ended in a warm, warm afternoon of clear blue sky, with extra fun new singletrack to boot. ah, such CO bliss!

i think this message was put up specifically for ed and steve (and i):


here are ALL the pix from today:


and yesterday!!! ggaaaaahhh! i'm feeling slightly spoiled here... ed and i spent a glowing day out in the sunshine alllllll wonderful day. thank you, darling, for the exploration day.


hope everyone is making every minute count, and enjoying it all!

jj

frozen snot

it's been gettin' cold out here ;-)



well ... relatively speaking, i guess not as cold as other places. but cold enough i should probably be wearing more than just a long sleeve wool jersey on top, eh?

smart jeny!

jj

the whole last month...

... i've got NOTHIN'!!!!

except for about 75 pix from Dec 1st through Dec 27th.

ed and i spent a solid 4 weekends and every week night PREPPING (moving furniture, re-organizing, painting, repainting and repainting and more prepping and organizing) for the entire family to show up for Christmas Day. Thus, not much bikey-bikey ;-( .... but fun pix nonetheless.
Christmas extravaganza turned out perfectly!! I LOVE my family!!!!

Meanwhile, I managed to: get up to Aspen for a quick visit with Jean and Eben and their new baby, Quinn; check out the new ss and tempt myself playfully (sukkah) on two separate rides; hit 3 days worth of yoga each week; celebrate ed's beautiful birthday; see the neighbors new bunny wabbits; and eat more cookies than i have ever, ever, EVER even attempted to eat in my whole entire life ---- thanks MA.

Anyhow... here's to December:

Thank you, my starling ... for a MOST wonderful Christmas ;-) mmmwwwaahhh!!!

... and here's to starting January's efforts a week early!!!

Cheers!!!

jj