On the road again...

Today started out foggy and cool, we had a good rain yesterday. So I decided to take off for the road this afternoon, and once again, it was scenic, and super fun. I fought a nice headwind to Kremmling, but it started to calm down once I was about 2 miles from Kremmtucky. Oh and it was funny, this backpacker old dude was hitchhiking through Byers Canyon and no cars were in sight, but when I came by, he stuck his thumb out and asked for a ride, I felt bad, I guess he coulda rode the handlebars like we did when were kids...

I cant wait to ride the xc race on Saturday. Im now going to take most of the week to recover and have a little fun on the side. Tomorrow we are going down to Denver to play at Elitch Gardens, its like a six flags and it has a water park and rollercoaster stuff. It should be lotsa fun!

The pictures show my doggy in the foggy this morning in our yard, then the others are of my perty, perty cx bike KONA ROCKS!!!!! And of course a boob shot for you voyeurs, just kidding, what boobs!!! After breastfeeding two kids, they kinda disappear, sorry to disappoint.

Once again, I am delirious from lack of sleep and lactic acid build up, its time to cash in on some massages...

have fun, xoxo
ang

pics from my ride today

more pics from my ride today

Puttin' in the road miles...

Today was a great day on the road, I kinda feel bad for sayin' how boring it is to ride on the road. It is amazing here. A-mazing!!

I love that I am just oooohing and ahhhhing the whole ride. The scenery just makes it a little less sadistic. I guess, as I am dying a little, I can say, oh, look at that mountain, or that river, or those cute horses.

I had some really great photos, but somehow, I managed to delete them in the download process. I suck at this stuff sometimes. On the way home, we took some forest roads, and we saw two moose. One with a nice rack,,,it was a dude moose and he was really enjoying the grass and stuff. Yea, I said nice rack....

Okay, Im really dumb, but I am attributing it to being deliriously tired. Yes, I am so spent, and I have to do this again on Tuesday. Then it is lots of rest, for the body, mind and soul.

I also went swimming today, it was fun, and I went in the steam room and stuffed my nostrils full of eucalyptus. Nothing like losing more electrolytes in the steam room. If Im even right in saying that, who knows. Hope all is well in your world!!!
xoxo
angie

CRANKWORX COLORADO Comin' Up!

So, sorry for no posts as of late, but like I said, I been buzy!! Buzy ridin', busy workin', busy just livin' baby!!!

Life is great. I have been really takin' care of this little ol' body of mine. Not just the physical, but the spiritual and all that stuff. It has been like I went to celebrity rehab, but Im not a celebrity. Oh and I didnt actually go to rehab...But in saying that, sometimes one must look at their current habits and decide if the things that you indulge in are doing anything positive for your life. Well, I think I just decided that I want to feel good as much as possible, so I will not quit eating chocolate! I feel great when I eat it and I want more, more, more!!!!

Anyway, next weekend is Crankworx! Im really excited. The course is 24 miles. It is ALOT(understatement) of climbing. Justin and I rode half yesterday because we had to get back early, but most of that was spent climbing. We saw a pretty brown rabbit with white feet and then we saw a wild turkey too. That was cool. The course is just amazing! A real challenge. I think it will take me over two hours, maybe close to three, but we'll see. Im just going into all this conservatively. I have a lot to work on, and I dont think I will be seeing the results I want until next season. Unfortunately, Im already thinking about next season and next season training. When you live in the rocky mountains, winter is not far from the doorstep. It will start to get chilly at the end of August. We will have some warm days in Sept, kinda like indian summer, but then the snows will start, and it will be a long winter. With that, you cant ride all year here. Which is good, because it is good to take a break, I used to ride all year in New Mexico, you could! But then I found how amazing it was to play in the snow! I ski'd all winter long. Justin boarded and xc ski'd and snowshoed. He is in amazing shape, so I am going to xc ski, snowshoe and ski and board. They are all amazing workouts. Then some riding on the trainer and some riding in the front range when possible. It will be fun. We have to pull the baby in a trailer, you attach it to your waist and then you pull them along as you snowshoe or xc ski.

Today Im riding to Kremmling, a nice 40 mile jaunt that is scenic and beautiful, that is on the way to steamboat, but the we will go to summit county (breckenridge) to do some shopping, yeah, we like to go to target every so often and they have a bunch of cute outlets and crap and a fun place to swim with the kiddo's.

Hope your weekend is going as beautiful as mine! Love each other,
xoxo
Angie

too much to do

Sorry, no pics and i havent been posting because there is just too much goin' on. Living in "Mountain Bike Capital USA", is overwhelming, we boast over 600 miles of singletrack, so that means there is an overabundance of riding. I loooove it! I think that I really need to be riding on the road these days, but that is so freakin' boring when you have so many different trails to pick from. Where I used to live, there is like one little area that we would ride, so I feel like a kid in a candy store in a utopia of bike "porn". Yesterday, Justin and I layed on the migun thermal massage beds at my work, it felt great and kneaded out the big knot on my right gluteal. I am having issues with my hips still and after a hard race effort, it gets worse, but whatever, pain...oh its just a little, it will be fine. Besides, Im a massage therapist, I work with massage therapists, so I get some help along the way...

Besides riding, I am working and being a mom, oh yeah and being a wife too, it gets tangled up sometimes, but it is so doable, you just have to know how to balance it all out, I call it juggling. I couldnt do it without the support of Justin. He is a hands on dad and he picks up the slack when I need him. We SHARE responsibility of the kids, which some husbands forget they had a hand in the creation of these little ones! He's just the best! awwwwwwwhhhh!!!!

It has been hot here, like 80's, in the mountains, it feels more like 90's. But we have been getting amazing afternoon thunderstorms, it keeps it cool. Crankworxs is comin' up, along with Sol Vista mountain states cup, all happening together, should be fun, fun, fun. I am really bored, and dont have anything interesting to write about, so I will quit this post....
xoxo angie

Not DFL (sorta)

Well, I did it, I completed my first race of the season, racing expert again, and not getting dfl, but close enough.

To break it down for ya, I basically have a shitload of excuses for my results. First, I missed my start by a few minutes, bummer man, but I was able to pass two gals on the hill out of the resort and did not see them again, but obviously that didnt matter because I was still last in my age group, which is the fastest 30-39. Next, I could not get into my big gear, so I was stuck with my middle and granny gear. Oh well, that kinda sucked too. When I prerode, I had a faster time, so that kinda sucked, but I did miss the start and all that.

Basically, Im real happy with my finish, I need to make sure I start with my class, and then I should work on some interval stuff and get some new legs and I should be fine. Altitude was never a problem so that is great! Well, I guess Im back, and I am excited.

Today we found out that mountain bike nationals is going to be here next year! That is super exciting, because it is just back behind where we live. Crankworx's is in a few weeks, so is Sol vista, so I think I will be doing crankworx's so I dont have to buy an usa cycling license yet. Ha, ha!
Sorry I have no cool pics, but I have been busy riding and not able to stop and take pics, but I will get some up soon. It is a beautiful evening here, and the sun is setting on the rocky mountains, it is really amazing!

Love to all, xoxox
angie

bees and stuff

Today's ride was beyond amazing. I actually crossed the Vasquez ford, all by my little ol self! I took a pic with my phone and i will post it when I can. Anyway, I came to it and just stared at it for about five minutes, deciding if i had the nuts to cross it, well, I just went for it, and it was moving fast enough that I had to dismount and I was giddy and laughing as I was waist deep in moving water. It was not even that cold, it was so much fun! About ten minutes before that I had a bee get caught in my helmet and it stung my forehead. I felt weird for a while, usually I swell up real bad and my tongue has some weird swelling, but I feel fine now. It hurt for a bit, but the ford crossing took that out of my mind. Then it was on to more climbing, I did the race course today and timed myself. I had some mechanicals, so I dont know how competitive I will be, but I think I can hang with the expert women, I just wont be sitting on any podiums or anything, but it is all about having fun, right?! Sick, tortuous, s&m kindof fun I would say!!
It was really warm today, so that will be a factor on Saturday. I went and got some nuun tablets, they are really good and dont bother my stomach, I definately recommend those little suckers.

Well, I have been pondering the thought of elevation. I live at 9000 feet, so does it help me or hinder me? I think it definately helps me, but what about living, training and sleeping at elevation? I need to do some races down in the lowlands to see what effect it has on my body...

until next time...xoxo,

angie

ride data

Last night, Justin and I rode the valley point to point race course coming up this Saturday,

here are the details:

Distance:	18.8 miles
Start Elevation:	9,080 feet
Highest Point:	9,491 feet
Lowest Point:	8,807 feet
Finish Elevation:	8,830 feet
Total Climbing:	1,950 feet

It is a course I have ridden a few times for fun, and it is really a blast. They say we have to cross the Vasquez ford, it is high and moving swiftly, I hope it goes down a bit by next week, it might sweep little ol' me awaaayyyy....

I am going to do a nice recover spin today and do a nice hard effort tomorrow and then take some time to rest. Rest is almost more important than anything else you can do. I always find it interesting when people feel the need to push it hard all the time, you wont make any gains, you will just keep getting the same results, race after race, but whatever, what do I know???

Justin, my coach and husband has been riding great and I am excited to see how he does on Saturday.
have a good day
angie

sorry no pics

I didnt get any pics of the last ride, there was really no possible way. Some girlfriends and I rode last night some sweet stuff in WP. We did D4, D3, ho-chi-minh (sp?), blue sky, anyways, a lot of fun climbing. Well, when we are coming down ho chi minh trail, it is so intense, it is fast, but the obstacles are that it is super narrow because on each side it is just trees, there is just enough room for handlebars and not much else, and it is super fast and windy at times, so you have to be good on your turns. Anyway, Jamie, my downhiller girl, she just takes off, I never saw her until the bottom, she is amazing and an inspiration on getting my skills tight. She just rocks, the best little downhill gal i know. Well, after that, I just decided to let it go on blue sky and it was so much fun. The mosquitos are crazy, the fraser river is running wild, so I dont know how we are gonna cross it next week during the race, it will be interesting that is fo' sho'. I just know when Im riding, I feel my best, I feel balanced and life's worries dont seem so bad, it just makes me appreciate the good things in life that much more. I think life is amazing when you can take time to enjoy it a little, and sometimes we forget to do that...
xoxo and love to all,
angie
p.s. tomorrow I am going to pre ride the race course and time it and see how I feel, I will try to take pics, but it will be hard to stop, wanna try to do that as little as possible..

summer fun

This summer has been a lot of fun, and that is why I havent been posting as usual. Yesterday went to water world in denver and it was like 96 degrees, very hot for me! Here are some pics of the kids, I am excited to ride today, racing next weekend!!

xoxo
angie

wildlife

I dont have much to post today, too busy and Im waaay tired. During yesterday's ride I did see a big moose. This guy was gorgeous, he had huge antlers. this was a moose that could definately kill you and he was a bull, so I am glad I didnt stick around too long. I dont care about meeting bears or anything else, but moose scare me, they are pretty aggressive when they want to be.

There is a bear in our "neighborhood", well I say neighborhood, but like our homes sit on acres and we live on a mountain, anyway, the bear is opening up car doors and likes to try and see if it can get in the door of your house. Man, what is up with these animals. I keep seeing bears and I really hope they are getting enough bear food and stay away from people food, because I dont want to see any bears put to sleep for it. Anyway, Im really tired and just rambling, hopefully I will be back to normal in a few days. The bike thing I did yeserday was so awesome, lots of great people and good contacts.

have a nice night, angie

stoopid bike!

Todays ride was good, (here are few pics for your viewing pleasure) but I only got an hour in because my front "v" brake decided to fly off as I was coming down zoom. I didnt realize it until I needed to slow down and there were no front brakes! Yikes!!!

Then my dumb chain kept falling off, and YES justin, I was in my big chain ring! So I need a little bike maintenance, plus my front fork lockout wont work either. I found myself getting really mad over this and decided it was dumb to get mad about such trivial things, so I am ovah it now. I need to learn bike maintenance because I would like to fix this crap myself. I did sunken bridges and zoom before I had to come home, that ride is fun because the approach to sunken bridges is all climbing and every time I do it I can see how much my climbing is improving. I would say it is my strong point, descending is a not my strong point right now and that is what I am working on. I am getting used to this "forest" riding, as opposed to desert riding, where I used to live. In the desert your obstacles are cacti, big rocks, rattlesnakes and deep sand. Here, your obstacles are trees with long branches, big rocks, slick rocks, mud, roots, bears, mountain lions, giant mosquitos, altitude and tourists. So its all about the same no matter where you live...and did I mention mosquitos? I have been the buffet-of-tha-day for the mosquito population of grand county, i should be getting west nile sooner than later...

Today I am going to this awesome bike thing, I mean I hope it's awesome, they are giving us free wine, so it has to be great! Bike fit, nutrition, free crap, all kinds of stuff, and we can swim and hot tub too! I need a break, so this will be fun. I will try to get pics and tell you all about it later..
have a fun day..xoxox angie

Happy Independence Day!

Here's some pics of our fun day, they are just family pics, so no riding pics. It was awesome having the family in town and to eat some good barbecue. Justin did a good job. Seattle picked wildflowers from the yard and they were pretty on the table. We went to the ballfields for the fireworks and it got really cold, Im glad we brought our coats! By the end of the ceremony, five of us were huddled in a blanket. Rylee hid the whole time during the fireworks, she didnt like them, she closed her eyes shut and she was closing them as tight as she could, it was kinda cute,,,,Oh and I have a bunch of mosquito bites from my last ride, they are out in hordes...Hope your day was a wonderful as ours.

xoxo Angie