Follow this link to Submit Your Vote - Click "Flow Trail Projects" then "South Lake Tahoe Corral Trail": https://www.facebook.com/
Watch a Video About the Project: http://youtu.be/rbH4RhKRtag
Random musings and tales of adventure, and maybe a mountaintop snack or two...
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Bell Built Trail Grants!
The Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association
needs your vote to help get a $3,000 grant! Then they can finish
building all the proposed features on South Lake Tahoe's Corral Trail
(jumps, berms, hips, tables, rock features). Once complete, the Corral
Trail will be a model for how trails with mountain bike features can
legally be built on United States Forest Service lands.
Follow this link to Submit Your Vote - Click "Flow Trail Projects" then "South Lake Tahoe Corral Trail": https://www.facebook.com/
Watch a Video About the Project: http://youtu.be/rbH4RhKRtag
Follow this link to Submit Your Vote - Click "Flow Trail Projects" then "South Lake Tahoe Corral Trail": https://www.facebook.com/
Watch a Video About the Project: http://youtu.be/rbH4RhKRtag
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Race #1 in the bag, it can only get better from here!
It seems like my first race every season tends to be a bit of a mess in one way or another. I felt much more prepared than previous years but that didn't seem to change the outcome, though it may have kept me from finishing dead last. For better or worse, it's out of the way, and the only bad part, actually, was the top half of my race run and the 2 crashes it contained. Otherwise I had a blast meeting some new people, getting to know others a little better, and spending time with rad people camping in the desert. Not to mention riding bikes--yes, that's the best part!
On Friday I was able to tag along for a walk down the course with reigning national champ Jackie Harmony and scope out the best lines. At first I was doubtful of the gnarly "Kevorkian" trail us pros were routed down, but as it turns out, it's a whole lot easier to ride a bike down some things than walk them! I wound up having a blast just practicing and might have ridden more if it didn't get so darn hot out there in the sun. Coming from the mountains down to the desert was about a 30 degree temp difference so 80 degrees felt like you're in an oven!
Saturday's practice was uneventful, feeling smooth through all the techy stuff and finally getting a new line I'd been trying for unsuccessfully on Friday. Seeding runs started at 3 and we gathered at the top of the mountain to prepare for takeoff. I was third to go off, a little worried about catching the girl ahead of me, but was surprised to see her off to the side after only the first turn on the course. Felt smooth and relaxed all the way to the off-camber traverse through some rocks and then realized that my bike felt a little too squishy...uh oh...flat tire! Bummer! I walked over to the steep rocky section to watch the pro men qualify, feeling gypped out of a great timed practice run and annoyed that I'd have to walk an otherwise perfectly good bike 2/3 of the way down the entire mountain. Fortunately I wasn't injured like Lauren, the girl who went just ahead of me; she wound up with a sprained knee and decided to let it rest instead of racing on Sunday.
Race day I took just one practice run and felt good about it, so I went back to the van to relax and keep hydrated. Some races there would be something I'd be freaking out about a little, but no particular part of the course was that worrying to me at this point, which I took to be a good sign. Just had to remember to slow down and take it easy in the upper part of the course, since that's where a mistake could really cost some time... Alas, I was unable to keep that in my head when I left the starting gate like a bat out of hell. First 4 turns were good and then things went wonky when I got off my line trying to go too fast through the off-camber section, and wiped out on my left side. I don't think anybody else crashed there at all--maybe some cat-2's? Silly me. I picked my bike up and hurried on down the course, and made it not very far to the slightly technical crossover to the more gnarly part of the course. There I forgot to pull up when my front wheel found a big rock, and went OTB, quite spectacularly according to Kit and our friends watching across the way. My bike tumbled down the hill a ways, so I had to retrieve it and scramble through the loose rocks back up to the trail to keep going. Still uninjured, thanks to my habit of wearing full armor, I pulled myself together and stayed on the bike through the rest of the run. Carefully picked my way down the steep Kevorkian chute, around some narrow sidehill sections, and then cranked as hard as possible down the remainder to the finish. My time was not spectacular, but considering all the extracurricular adventures my bike took, I think 7th place out of 10 wasn't all that bad. Of course a podium finish would have been better, and quite within reach without the second crash, but that's downhill racing for you!
Jackie won by a huge margin, almost a minute over second place, and everyone else was scattered in the 1-1.5 minute range behind her. Wow--I want to be like her when I grow up! Teammates Allison and Lindsay were 2nd and 3rd in their Cat-1 age groups, and my friend Gretchen won hers, so she'll hopefully be joining me in Pro after the Fontana Pro GRT! Results
Now, I just need to figure out how to eliminate my problem of crashing only in race runs--after a whole season of the same thing last year it's starting to get really old!
More photos here: Exposed Imagery
Another highlight of the trip was our stop in Bishop on the way home for some climbing at the Owens River Gorge, a favorite winter spot that somehow we hadn't gotten to at all this winter. We forgot the guidebook in the van but remembered a few classics that kept us entertained for an afternoon. I missed that place so much! We had brought skis along planning to hit some fun lines in the Mammoth area as well, but the weather didn't want to cooperate, with a small storm blowing in to ruin our spring skiing and not predicted to leave much snow. Oh well...back to the lake to prep for my team's fundraiser this weekend and another road trip to race in so cal next week!
On Friday I was able to tag along for a walk down the course with reigning national champ Jackie Harmony and scope out the best lines. At first I was doubtful of the gnarly "Kevorkian" trail us pros were routed down, but as it turns out, it's a whole lot easier to ride a bike down some things than walk them! I wound up having a blast just practicing and might have ridden more if it didn't get so darn hot out there in the sun. Coming from the mountains down to the desert was about a 30 degree temp difference so 80 degrees felt like you're in an oven!
 |
| Hanging out in the shade |
Saturday's practice was uneventful, feeling smooth through all the techy stuff and finally getting a new line I'd been trying for unsuccessfully on Friday. Seeding runs started at 3 and we gathered at the top of the mountain to prepare for takeoff. I was third to go off, a little worried about catching the girl ahead of me, but was surprised to see her off to the side after only the first turn on the course. Felt smooth and relaxed all the way to the off-camber traverse through some rocks and then realized that my bike felt a little too squishy...uh oh...flat tire! Bummer! I walked over to the steep rocky section to watch the pro men qualify, feeling gypped out of a great timed practice run and annoyed that I'd have to walk an otherwise perfectly good bike 2/3 of the way down the entire mountain. Fortunately I wasn't injured like Lauren, the girl who went just ahead of me; she wound up with a sprained knee and decided to let it rest instead of racing on Sunday.
Race day I took just one practice run and felt good about it, so I went back to the van to relax and keep hydrated. Some races there would be something I'd be freaking out about a little, but no particular part of the course was that worrying to me at this point, which I took to be a good sign. Just had to remember to slow down and take it easy in the upper part of the course, since that's where a mistake could really cost some time... Alas, I was unable to keep that in my head when I left the starting gate like a bat out of hell. First 4 turns were good and then things went wonky when I got off my line trying to go too fast through the off-camber section, and wiped out on my left side. I don't think anybody else crashed there at all--maybe some cat-2's? Silly me. I picked my bike up and hurried on down the course, and made it not very far to the slightly technical crossover to the more gnarly part of the course. There I forgot to pull up when my front wheel found a big rock, and went OTB, quite spectacularly according to Kit and our friends watching across the way. My bike tumbled down the hill a ways, so I had to retrieve it and scramble through the loose rocks back up to the trail to keep going. Still uninjured, thanks to my habit of wearing full armor, I pulled myself together and stayed on the bike through the rest of the run. Carefully picked my way down the steep Kevorkian chute, around some narrow sidehill sections, and then cranked as hard as possible down the remainder to the finish. My time was not spectacular, but considering all the extracurricular adventures my bike took, I think 7th place out of 10 wasn't all that bad. Of course a podium finish would have been better, and quite within reach without the second crash, but that's downhill racing for you!
Jackie won by a huge margin, almost a minute over second place, and everyone else was scattered in the 1-1.5 minute range behind her. Wow--I want to be like her when I grow up! Teammates Allison and Lindsay were 2nd and 3rd in their Cat-1 age groups, and my friend Gretchen won hers, so she'll hopefully be joining me in Pro after the Fontana Pro GRT! Results
 |
| Race run down Kevorkian |
More photos here: Exposed Imagery
Another highlight of the trip was our stop in Bishop on the way home for some climbing at the Owens River Gorge, a favorite winter spot that somehow we hadn't gotten to at all this winter. We forgot the guidebook in the van but remembered a few classics that kept us entertained for an afternoon. I missed that place so much! We had brought skis along planning to hit some fun lines in the Mammoth area as well, but the weather didn't want to cooperate, with a small storm blowing in to ruin our spring skiing and not predicted to leave much snow. Oh well...back to the lake to prep for my team's fundraiser this weekend and another road trip to race in so cal next week!
Monday, March 11, 2013
What happened to winter??
It seems like I've fallen off the blogging wagon for a while with
too much going on around here to keep track of. The last time I go
around to posting anything was at the end of January, yikes! What
happened in between? Well, first some work over President's holiday week
at Alpine, where I had a fun group of kids from the UK for several
days. A visit from Mom the following week, including a stay at the Clair
Tappaan Lodge on Donner Summit, two 4+ hour days on XC skis at the
beautiful Royal Gorge, and a fun "Nachtspektakel" ski touring dinner
event at Diamond Peak. Then at the last minute I got pulled into a
telemark Level 2 exam last week with a co-worker from Alpine when they
needed a couple more folks to make running it worthwhile. I managed to
pull myself together enough to pass, even though my plans for this
winter had not included taking that exam and was not feeling prepared at
all. It wound up being a fun time, and I got some good skiing and
teaching feedback. The next two days were spent skiing powder: an
awesome resort day ripping around on my new Praxis Concepts
(a valentine's day gift to myself--BEST SKIS EVER!!) and then a
backcountry day on Hidden Peak which was nice and untracked but the snow
got a little sticky due to warming temps.
There were a few bike riding days in there too; a couple of dirt jump/dual slalom sessions in north Reno, a
trip to Alta for some downhill riding on the western slope, and back
over to Reno a few times to ride DH and XC at Peavine and one trip to
Geiger for some steep and loose trails. With my first big race coming up
this weekend, the Pro GRT at Bootleg Canyon, I'm feeling hopeful that
I'll be a bit more prepared for early races than the past few seasons.
Even though my fitness isn't the greatest right now I was still able to
plug along for an 11 mile XC ride with tons of climbing this last
Saturday and then ride downhill laps the following day. Mentally I've
been able to push myself as well, trying new lines and hitting things
that would never have happened in previous years (see photo) much less
in the middle of winter! We'll see what the results look like after this
weekend's racing, but I feel like I've struck a much better balance
between enjoying winter in Tahoe and getting time on the bike this
season.Of course it helps that most of Jan and Feb were much like
spring, without a lot of powder to ski, and very conducive to wanting to
ride bikes!
 |
| Standing atop Hidden Peak on the west shore of Tahoe |
 |
| Catching air above Reno |
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