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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Duck Came To Visit.
Today we were headed into the woods to hike the Girls and look what we found in our little creek. Mr and Ms Duck. Cool!
# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:45 PM 0 Comments
3306M. Last One In The Rain.
Always practice safe helmet use!
So the last 100 of the 700 mile week was raining. No worries. I had knee warmers, leg warmers, arm warmers, a SmartWool undershirt, heavy booties, my Rainlegs, and a Gore rain jacket. Oh yeah, and the shower cap. All set for anything to happen.
Headed out of the PErformance parking lot and headed north to Lyons. Did the Fruit Loops and then headed for the Huge Box. Went north after the Huge Box and went to Berthoud on 287. Not bad as doing loops kept me from going into the wind all of the time.
It was pretty soggy out but not really all that bad. ABout 46 degrees and not that pelting rain that hurts your cheeks. Made for good Orgonian views. Like when I was training for RAAM in Portland. Had to ride in all types of weather there.
Just no views of the mountains today.
Headed back into Lyons after coming back from Berthoud and did a quick turn-a-round and headed back out to the Huge Box, came into Hygeine and then back out to do the Big Box. That would give me enough miles to come back into Boulder and have just 100 miles.
It was a hard day and it seemed my computer was stuck on 14.8 mph. That was in the wind and when I wasn't directly in the wind it was about 16.8. Not very fast. My legs were really done so even trying to staand was pretty much a wash. I'd make it about 25 yards and have to sit back down. Not to worry as I had expected this after doing 600 already.
The one time it actually cleared up I could make out some sort of mountains in the horizon.
Sunday was a day with Steve as it was our 17 th wedding anniversary. 20 years together. We went to the Walnut Cafe and got to hang with Danna. Thanks Dana for BF!
The rest of the day was goofing off and hiking with the girls. It snowed overnight and it was fun to get them out,a s they were only hiked minimally throughout the vacation week.
Will only do very easy and short rides this week and then do the 300K Brevet on Sunday with John, Steve, and Catherine. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 1:15 PM 0 Comments
3206YTD and a 150 miler.
I live in and near mountains because they make me alive!
Starting out form Boulder on the farmland flats towards HYW 34.
We started out early today. early for us is 8 AM. It seemed a ot colder than the 47 degrees the car thermometer read.
I was in a pretty crabby mode today, day 5 of the vacation. Had to keep telling Steve to motivate me today. My legs were quite tired from the week. By today we had about 26,000 feet of climbing in our legs. And.... it never really got warm. Seemed I didn't dress very well. Maybe b/c yesterday was 80 degrees.
Headed over to my favorite canyon-The Big Thompson. I love it. Easy climbing, shoulder for two, and a river to watch the whole way up.
We were really lucky as we had a slight tail wind up half of the climb. ALwasy a good thing!
Once me made the turn from Drake, we did have wind in our face. Very typical of this part of the canyon, only getting a bit stronger once you get to Estes Park.
In Estes Park, Steve booted one of my tired. I had the start of a slash in the sidewall. Bummer as the tire is only about 800 miles old. I didn't want a blowout on the descent down to Lyons. We also ate some food at one of the gas stations ans fueled up for the rest of the way.
We then did both Fruit Loops and the Big Box Loop to make sure we'd get enough iles for a century.
A few times eating Clif Bloks along the way.
After the Box Loops we headed back towards Boulder. Once there, I realized that I didn't want to do a 144 mile ride on the last day of vacation, Saturday. So...I talked Steve into doing a shorter loop on Neva Rd and get in another 25 miles.
We finished that lop and I thought it would be cool to do another 25 mile loop and get in a 150 mile ride for this day.
Although I was wasted (tired) I called out friend Eugene and asked him to keep me motivated on one more loop. He was all for it. We wer lucky as we had pretty good winds , mostly in our favor.
We finished up the riding and it was fun to say I did a 150 (actual 151 mile loop).
Only one more day left and the weekend forecast is for rain.
# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 12:28 AM 0 Comments
Monday, April 27, 2009
3052YTD Another 200K Brevet. Stove Prairie. Mmmmmmmmm, snow balls.
Started out earlier than the previous days. Doing the Stove Prairie 200K Brevet. We were looking forward to the views in the mountains.
We started with the farm lands of Larimer County. Flat and rolling terrain.
Good views fo the mountains.
We headed for Carter lake and then over to the RV park just off of HWY 34. Then onto Masonville.
After Masonville we headed for Horsetooth Resevoir. We had been there once before to do an overnight bike tour.
The climbs are steep enough around the res. that I was glad to have compact gears. Saved my butt.
After leaving Horsetooth, we headed for the Poudre Canyon towards the back side of Stove Prairie.
Stove Prairie got about 3 1/2 feet of snow. Much of it had already melted but there was still a fair amount. Made the climb more interesting.
At the top, we stopped for a nice snowball snack.
The front or east side of the climb is like cycling along a small country road. Very forested and has small horse farms along the way.
After the descent, we headed back towards Masonville and around the backside onto Sandy's. There I got a 20 oz coke and downed it in about 5 minutes. That hasn't happened in a while.
After Sandy's we headed out east on many roads that had us backtracking along the way we started.
# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:42 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
2927YTD Day Three, 330 miles. Vacation Miles! Beautiful views heading west.
Best views there are......
This is our vacation week. Decided to stay home so we can hike the dogs when we get up and then ride like crazy fools the rest of the days.
I started my week with a century with John Lee on Sunday. Steve worked and I hiked the Girls early and then went out to do a "flat" century with John. Ended up a great ride and many roads I've never seen or been on before.
Monday Steve and I both worked and it was a long day, as our power and internet had been out most of the weekend. We got internet service back on Tuesday. Monday was a very long day, finally getting to bed around midnight.
Day two of the vacation, we got up (Tuesday) in the morning and hiked the Girls on the trails. Many ,many trees are down, all over the place. Someone will have to come back with the chainsaw. The Girls had a blast and we felt less guilty leaving them alone for so many of the days, this week.
Next stop, Louisville.
We headed over to pick up our Brevet cards and maps. Finally got going on the Kersey Kick 200K at about 10:00. Well, almost. Steve forgot his bottles and had to turn back for them. Kind of got a late start.
We headed north over to HWY 52 and then zigzagged our way over to Miliken and then onto Kersey. Good Burrito and sandwiches at the Conoco station in Kersey. Then back south for a while and, again, zigzagged west, and south past Erie and back towards Lousiville. Lots of fields, farms, and pastures to look at. Rolling hills, too.
Not a bad day at all and a good mph pace for a 125 mile ride. Wind was mostly in our favor, too. Another great thing was that John Lee came to meet us along the way and ride back with us.
Had to run a bunch of errands after the ride and finally got home at about 9 PM! Too late to watch a movie but fed the Girls and we made and ate salads with some rice and crab meat.
Day three of the vacation we decided to stay around Boulder County so we got up late, knowing we were going to do a flat century and try to get back early afternoon. Not! After hiking the Girls again, seeing more trees on the ground, we headed out on the bikes.
The wind was not too bad for the first 25 miles or so, then it was pay back for not having bad winds yesterday.
The wind kicked up and at times it was everything we could do to go 12 mph! Not making us very happy. It was quite the struggle and we had to make a few extra stops for more fluids and food. Stopped twice in Lyons before heading out on something we call the Huge Box Loop. The we headed back into Lyons, to pick up a few extra miles and oh was the wind crazy hard to push into.
This is how you look in the crazy wind.
There was this big huge black cloud that seemed to be making it's own wind-alwasy into our face.
Finally, getting home later afternoon, we finished with about 101 miles. It makes 330 for me and 229, for Steve. Also, did a 5000 feet of elevation gain-so, I guess, not so flat.
Tomorrow we'll be up at 6:00 and out the door early. We want to do another 200K Brevet but it starts about an hour drive from our house. Some of the roads we've been on before and some, not.
The Girls will have to take a day off, as I am sure there will not be enough morning time to walk or hike them in the morning. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 9:59 PM 0 Comments
Monday, April 20, 2009
2699YTD. Snow Snow Snow and Shoveling. Was on my drive home on Friday when the storm hit. And did it hit! By 6 PM, when Steve was driving home, it was so bad, he had to leave his car down the road and walk home. Will have to skip the 200K tomorrow but try to get in a 100 on Sunday.
And before the storm....
Well, still don't have internet, so I'm at a friend's house using her internet. Lost power for 36 hours and had intermittent phone service. That's living in the mountains. Oh well.
Last week, got in a 30 mile ride after work and spun out the legs. I knew it was supposed to snow a lot by the end of the week so I knew I have to ride early in the week, outdoors. And, of course, get the Girls out as much as possible.
Here was my ride to work on Thursday. By Friday, it was much worse. And Saturday, well, that was a huge shovel day. Driveway, yard, walkways, etc...
The yard as the snow was coming down. Got a total of 3 feet by Saturday night.
The tree limb that missed my car, because I moved it to shovel around it. Lucky me.
Other people in the hood were not so lucky. NO one hurt but so many trees down all over the road and trails.
Finally got the Girls out on Sunday morning to snowshoe. They ran as much as possible for about 20 minutes. Running and jumping all over the place... until they realized it was much easier to walk behind me in my tracks.
The snow had this crazy blue tint to it. Like an iceberg.
The snow was supposed to stop by Saturday night. Made for a good Sunday but had to cancel the Stove Prairie 200K on Saturday. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 12:34 PM 0 Comments
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