Winter Training Camp part deux

Winter Training Camp continues (why not when the food is free, the lodging is free, the company is good, and it is still windy at home).

Day 2 brought more nordic skiing at Devil's Thumb. I brought the Dad along for some fun too.

 I never thought I'd see this while skiing in the woods.

Turns out, due to the beetles and clear cutting, there aren't very many "woods" left. As the wind moved over the divide, and there were no trees to block the wind, the skiing stopped being fun.

Nordic skiing was followed by The Lion King-in an attempt to make my concrete legs feel better by spinning them out on the trainer while watching a movie. It didn't really work as my legs still felt like ass after 30 min of riding.

What really made my legs feel better was pizza. At Hernando's. With the family.

Day 3 of winter training camp brought wind, snow, and cold. My legs recovered over night (nice surprise as I am sleeping and working out at 8,500+ ft) and I was able to get a good trainer workout in the garage--I overheated watching the Lion King the day before and I'm blaming that on why my legs felt like ass. Riding in 20 degrees is far better than 60 degrees and no fan.

Trainer ride was followed by snowshoeing. It was very pretty and peaceful.

The snowshoeing was the end of Winter Training Camp 2012. After snowshoeing, I packed up and headed home. I had a great 3 days in Fraser with my family and doing a bit of "winter training". There's a lot of time for bike riding, might as well enjoy winter while I can.

Winter Training Camp

I like to think I am tough and I like to think I am good at HTFU-ing, but when it comes to wind, I'm done. There is only so much wind a person can handle while bike riding and I have hit my winter limit. When NPR mentioned something about the "wind event" coming to the front range foothills Tuesday-Thursday, I knew that my was que to get outta town.

Most people would go somewhere to ride bikes, but not me this time. I came where I can nordic ski for hours at a time. I came to where the food and lodging is free. I came where I am loved.

Mom and Dad's house right next to Devil's Thumb Ranch.
Day 1 of winter training camp was great.
- weights at the Fraser Rec Center followed by a skate ski at Devil's Thumb followed by dinner, ice cream and cookies. Not bad.

It's nice to be "home" for a few days.
It's nice to see family
It's nice to V2 on the flats for 20 minutes before even going up a hill.

Snow Day

Nordic Ski

Breakfast

Nap

Almond milk Cappuccino

Backcountry Ski

Who needs the trainer when you can do all this in one day?

Winter Riding

Winter time is one of my most favorite times of the year to ride. Snow packed roads provide a beauty and peacefulness that you can't find in the summer time. Hot chocolate in the water bottle is a welcome treat during hours at sub freezing temperatures.

Yesterday's ride was a perfect example of how enjoyable winter time riding can be- Sunny skis, brisk temperatures, snow everywhere.
 I saw- snow, ice, a fox, a coyote, horses, alpaca's, goats, snow covered mountains, and 0 other bike riders.

I got- 3 waves, 2 thumbs up, to drink hot chocolate, tired legs, a lack of oxygen (entire ride was above 8,000 ft), to walk through Black Hawk, an abundance of climbing, to practice my snow/ice riding skills, a since of pride that I ride in conditions that not many other people do.

This makes me happy.

Spreading My Wings

At some point, a bird needs to spread it's wings. Fly away. Be free.

For the past few months, I've been feeling like a trapped bird-my wings tied down. Sure, life was OK and I was surviving pretty well, but it was in captivity. I needed to be free.

The one thing stopping me, fear. Captivity is safe. You know you will be fed everyday, you know you will not get eaten, and you know the daily schedule. Freedom is scary. All of a sudden you are responsible for your place to live, your own food, your own schedule. How do you know if you will be able to provide this for yourself?

I took the leap this week. I cut the ropes, spread my wings, and flew away. I feel happy. I feel scared. I feel free and I feel light--it's amazing.

I'm not sure what the future will bring, but I believe. I believe in myself to make things happen. I believe everything works out in the end.

ALP Cycles Coaching

Travel Days

Travel Days can crack people. In fact, a year ago, travel days were cracking me. Bike racing is fun, but the travel starts to get to you. Then I got injured and didn't travel for 4 months. All of a sudden a trip to DIA didn't seem so bad.

So it starts again. The travel. The bike races, the training camps, the airport.  My most recent travel day looked like this-
-5:02am wake up. Make coffee, get in car, drive to airport. Thanks Robin and Addy for the ride!
-6:15am arrive airport, check in stuff, pay $50 for bike (Southwest is the best), security, etc.
-7:00am flight is delayed. Nothing like waking up early just to have your flight delayed.
-8am get on flight
-9am miss flight out of Chicago Midway. Get rebooked on another flight
-9:25am get on the internets for 1 hr of e-mails and coaching stuff
-11am fly to Denver
-12pm arrive Denver pick up bike, bag and wait for bus
-1:15pm- get on bus to Boulder
-2:25pm- Arrive Boulder jimmy-rig bike to roll with bag and cart it to the Cup for some much needed espresso and good coffee shop time.
-2:40- The Cup is full. No seats open. Go back outside and hang out for 45 min.
-3:30- cart bike, bag, and backpack back to bus terminal and get on 3:40 bus to Nederland.
-4:15pm arrive Nederland, load up stuff in van and drive home (finally).
-4:30pm arrive HOME!! 13 hours of travel. I'm not cracked yet, but more days like this could crack me sooner rather than later. Here's to more efficient travel days in the future.

The Wow NOW Team

Here we are! My new team and teammies- NOW and Novartis for MS Women's Cycling Team