Baby, Bikes & Booze

Kicking in the new year!

2012-01-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's officially 2012 and I'm happy to announce that I am pregnant again! I'm just over 21 weeks along and my new little one is kicking in the new year. Syd is so excited to have a little sister.

It's the last day of our vacations from school so we stayed in our PJs, played games and tried to make a list of potential names for the baby while relaxing in the hot tub. It was a good day for sure!!!

Hopefully I'll be better about blogging this year, but I can't promise anything at this point.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy!

2011-06-24T20:11:00.001-07:00

So today begins Summer vacation 'round these parts. School's officially out for summer! Most years I celebrate with a bike ride and a few drinks with friends, but today brought HS graduation and no trails. Today was bittersweet for me. My "partner in crime" (aka music education in our small rural upstate NY community) retired as of today. Pam has been an amazing co-worker. She gives of herself and shares her passion for music with all of our students everyday, and truly loves teaching. She will be missed by us all!

In addition to these changes for me at school, my little monkey princess graduated UPK and is all set to start Kindergarten (where does the time go?).

I do look forward to a restful summer, and lots of miles on the singletrack, but for today it was all about Pam and the kids and how to get them through the first day of school in September.

Grins and wheelies to you all and I hope to see you on the trails!

Spring Break?

2011-04-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

So the calendar says April and it's supposed to be Spring Break around these parts, but it's cold and changing from snow to rain! I'm ready to head back to CA and ride the beautiful trails of Marin...home of my favorite trail signage :)

Meow

2010-11-14T13:47:00.003-08:00

Halloween has come and gone and yet, we still seem to have this cat hanging around. Ah, to be 4 and love life :)

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!

2010-10-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while...I really do need to get better at this! School's back in session and (unfortunately) I am teaching Elementary Art in addition to High School Band and being the Freshman Class Advisor. Needless to say, "art" instruction isn't my area of expertise so it's pretty much (somewhat) controlled chaos up there. Not really having any training, I agreed to work on pumpkins with all of my classes for today's Pumpkin decorating contest. The students had to choose a category--spooky, funny or creative--and decorate their pumpkins during 2 art class periods. All of the kids did a great job and here are some of the final projects:

Sydney & I will be carving our pumpkins later today (and by carving, I mean watching Earl do it) while we wait for our caramel apples to set and enjoy some apple cider. In the meantime, we're off to the corn maze for some haunted hay ride fun :)

A morning at Pine Hill Park

2009-08-21T13:03:00.001-07:00

On our way to the Kingdom Trails for the weekend, Sq-Earl & I decided to hit Pine Hill Park in Rutland, VT and met up with our friend John to tour this newly developed trail system. The trails are pretty fast and flowy and feature tons of really cool bridge work.

The developer and builders have really spent a lot of time working and created some perfect switchbacks and beautiful features for riders to enjoy. If you're ever in the area, I would recommend checking them out and join up.

The trails have beautifully crafted switchbacks and some excellent berms in addition to some amazing bridges. It's a fun place to spend a few hours on your bike for sure!

Post ride, we hit the Long Trail Brewery (also on our way to the Kingdom Trails) and sampled some delicious Imperial Porters. What a great way to spend the first half of the day!!!

The Hardcore24 - a solo effort.

2009-07-31T08:34:00.001-07:00

Another year, another solo 24 for TreeSaw. Sometimes I wonder why but then I realize it doesn't matter why...it's just something I do! It’s an amazing challenge – physical and mental, but I really do enjoy them.

The Hardcore24 is held in Naples, NY (western NY near Canandaigua Lake). In the past, the race has been held at a Boy Scout Camp on Father’s Day weekend in June but this year, the organizers changed the location to Gannett Hill Park and moved the date back about a month to July 11-12th.

The new location is GREAT!!! At the very top of the mountain and the top of the park, there are some pavilions that racers could rent and there is a nice flat area for camping (rustic) or you could rent a campsite farther down the hill with water & electric.

Household Pest (a Rochester band that a couple of friends are in) was playing on Friday night so we decided to set-up camp on Saturday and enjoy some time with our friends on Friday. We arrived on Saturday morning at about 9:30am, selected our spot and set-up the EZ-up. It was REALLY windy and quite a few of the EZ-ups were taking a ride so we tried to weight ours down with as much as we could and Sq-Earl hopped on the bike for a course pre-ride while I readied my gear, changed, ate and tried to warm-up. Sq-Earl returned with a smile and gave me a basic over-view of the course – no long sustained climbs, instead, the climbs are more spread-out, relatively short, some steep but the course has flow and was pretty fun…good news!

Rather than begin with a LeMans run, we were to follow a dirt bike through a mowed path in the field to the mid-way point on the hill then turn and climb up the road before heading onto the course singletrack. We were also told that the first woman and man in would receive a $100 prize…nice, but not worth burning my legs this early in the race for me.

As we ducked into the first section of singletrack, I began to wish that I had passed a few more people because it was rather bunched-up, but there were some spots to pass so I managed to get past a few people. I finished my first lap with a smile, looking forward to riding the course again.

That smile quickly faded when I looked at the sky! Severe thunderstorms were predicted and they were definitely coming and fast. The wind kicked up even more and the sky blackened. I headed out onto my second lap after a quick bike adjustment knowing that the storms were a definite, but hoping that I could get a good portion of the lap in before anything hit. All the best plans – about 2 miles into my second lap the thunder and lightening was intense and it was beginning to rain those big hard drops. I mustered on and by mile 3-4 it was pouring and the once hard packed sections of trail were running streams so I could only imagine how soft the new singletrack would be. Visibility was poor at best, the sheets of rain, darkened sky illuminated with streaks of lightening and thunder rumbling through my core, I finished my lap and decided to wait out the rest of this storm. The temperature was dropping and as soon as I stopped riding, I was cold! I tried to warm-up and ate while the 2nd round of t-storms rolled through. The power went out so that meant no bike wash to clean the drivetrain for a while.

Once the storms cleared, I hit the trail again – BAD idea! A large part of the course was newly built singletrack so it was soft and REALLY muddy. I had to stop 4-5 times to clean the mud pack from my rear triangle so my rear wheel would spin. When I finally made it to the transition area, everyone marveled at the adobe hut that was my rear triangle...not a pretty sight with no hose (no power). Exhausted from the constant battle with the mud, I decided to call it quits until the course dried out (as did just about everyone else in the race). More light rain about 11pm left me sad and wondering if I should just be finished, but I love riding at night so I decided to give another lap a try at about 1am. The course was really slick and there were many crashes being reported, but I managed to make it through my lap disappointed with the conditions, but glad to have given it another try. I ate and took a little nap until morning when I would go out for two more laps and call it a race. On my last lap, I had fun and that's what really counts! I have always said that I'll stop racing these when they stop being fun and this one began and ended fun so I think by next season I'll be able to forget all that bad stuff in the middle ;)

All total:
6 laps,
42 miles
5478 feet of climbing
And a 2nd place trophy for me!

2009-07-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last post was in October huh? Wow!!! I need to keep up with this a bit better. After changing jobs, I am enjoying the summer (well...it's rainy and cool here but atleast I get to play with Syd). We're heading to the park for a ride so hopefully I'll have more ride pics and stories to post up soon.

A weekend in the Kingdom

2007-10-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

A shot of our beautiful home for the weekend.

We had another wonderful weekend riding the Kingdom Trails of East Burke, VT. Seriously, if you haven't gone there to ride, you absolutely must!!! There are miles and miles of great singletrack, good friends, beers and much fun to be had. Despite a lat minute lodging issue, all things worked out and we had a blast. Check out the ride report w/pics here:

Ah, October

2007-10-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Yup...it's been a while again. I really do need to improve my blogging. I finished up the 24 hour race season and am still out enjoying the fall air. My new bike still hasn't arrived and I am truly disappointed because I had planned on riding it at our Deck Party a couple of weekends ago and this coming weekend at the Kingdom Trails, but it's not looking good right now. What's that saying??? "good things come to those who wait"...how long do they have to wait!!!

I'm back to school and back into my routine. Although, the routine got totally crushed this week when we bought a new pick-up and I traded in my SUV. I am officially without wheels until I finalize the purchase of my new (to me) car. I was sad to say goodbye to my Equinox, but I will definitely enjoy the new car as it's a 5 speed with all the options I could want (leather, CD, heated seats, turbo, 17" alloy wheels). My last few rides have been great, but I haven't taken any pics. I will remedy that this weekend for sure!!!

Mt. Allamuchy

2007-08-28T08:05:00.001-07:00

Well, this past weekend, as unprepared as I was, I decided to compete in the 24 hours of Allamuchy. The race is held at a Boy Scout Camp in Stanhope, NJ & offers riders the chance to test their technical skills out for 24 hours. This year's 10.5 mile course wound through the woods of Mt. Allamuchy & featured rock garden after rock garden interspersed w/log crossing of varying sizes, mud, mud & more mud & a few stream crossings. While the race promoters consider the course to be entirely singletrack, I tend to think the majority of the course is double-track w/a few spots of singletrack. Regardless, the course is tough & just about all of it is in the woods, which is a huge plus in my book. The weather was a huge factor in this year's event (as usual). The heat index was well over 100 on Sat. & it was so hot/humid that it was almost foggy during the day.

Our campsite for the weekend:

Here Mike & I are getting ready to head over to the starting line while his son Jonah gives us some last minute tips.

This race doesn't have a LeMan's style start. Instead, they have an "on the bike" start & everyone starts with their class at a designated time. First off were the 2person teams at 12pm; at 12:01 came the 4person teams; 12:02 the 5person teams; 12:03 the soloists & 12:04 were the corporate teams & any of the 100+ soloists that weren't going out to turn a super fast lap. I went out for my first lap promising Earl to take it easy & drink all of my camelbak so I started at 12:04 with a bunch of other soloists & the corporate teams.

Me at the back of the starting line where the other soloists were starting to arrive.

The start was crazy!!!

There were so many bikers I wasn't sure how it was going to space out enough for the singletrack in less than a mile. I wasn't too worried so I just turned my pace & hit the singletrack in good time. There are several log crossings throughout the course, most of which have "go arounds", but I chose the log lines because few people were using them & it was a great opportunity to have a little fun & get in front of a few riders. I passed quite a few people in the first 2mi. by hitting the logs & being able to ride through the first couple of rockgardens cleanly while they were off their bikes fighting for footing in the mud. As promised, I stopped @ the aid station & drank some cold Heed before finishing out my lap. Earl had warned me about this insane rock garden climb (if any of you have ever ridden Spier Falls, it's very similar to the Mystery Trail & doesn't seem to end). He told me that there would be a climb that would start out climbable & then I would want to cry at the next switchback & finally, at the last switchback I would just laugh because it was that insane of a climb...he wasn't lying & I knew exactly where he meant when I saw it! After that climb there is a very short (WAY too short in my book) & very technical decent w/a tricky drop that Earl didn't warn me about (so I wouldn't get nervous & hit my brakes endo-ing badly). I am actually glad he didn't warn me because I was hauling down the decent when I hit it & panicked in the air, but managed to land a long ways down the transition & get a cheer from the 2 guys riding behind me. After that, there are still 2 more miles that include a long stream crossing (where the photographer was) & a brutal 1/2mi. rock garden that caught my ankles on just about every lap. I finally made it into the campground for the final mile of the course & met with several campers’ cheers into the transition area. I decided to drink plenty of gatorade, rest & eat a PB&J before heading out for a second lap in the heat.

Coming in from lap 1:

Artsy shot of the starting line.

Heading out for Lap 2:

My second lap was a bit slower than my first as I was starting to feel a little tired & my head was starting to ache. Fearing that I was going to bonk, I slowed down, took it easy & upped my fluid intake. There were either fewer riders out on the course now or we were just much more spread out over the course because I rode alone for quite a while & only got passed a couple of times & actually passed a couple of people too. My lap finished & I decided to shower & rest before heading out again in the cooler evening/night. Evening brought little relief from the heat (I think it got down into the 80s) but it did bring in the storms. Around 7:30-8pm the first round of t-storms came through with lots of thunder & lightening, but not too much rain. That all changed ~9pm when round two came through & dumped tons of rain on us, in addition to an impressive lightening display & loud cracks of thunder. This set of storms lasted for about 3 1/2 hours.

Coming in from lap 2:

After 12:30am, it stopped raining & more fog rolled in, but it was time for me to do another lap, so I got dressed and headed out a little after 1am.

This race used electronic chips that you had to wear on your right wrist & scan twice at the start of each lap and again & the finish of your lap. Here I am scanning in for my 3rd lap.

Off I go:

I was one of only 5 or 6 people out on the course at this time. The amazing part was that the majority of the riders out on this lap were women!!! Two guys had gone out at the same time as me & I followed them up the first climb & watched them ride off into the woods, leaving me behind. Laura passed me at about mile 3, she was on the Specialized 2 person co-ed team that won the race, & another woman who was on a 5-person co-ed team passed me just before the aide station. It’s really quiet & dark when you’re the only one in the woods within sight & it’s definitely eerie when you watch the lightening come in, knowing you can’t outrun the storm. It was tough going through the now deeper mud holes & seeing through the fog was another story. To top that off, another round of thunderstorms came through mid-lap (about mile 7) & drenched me while lighting up the woods w/lightening & thunder. I finally made it back to the transition area & to my campsite where Sq-Earl was just finishing preparing me a bowl of oatmeal. He took one look at my bike & me and we decided to wait out the rest of the storm until morning when we could assess the damage to my drivetrain. I ate some oatmeal & drank some Gatorade before showering & bed. I was so glad to have the women's showers right across from our campsite. The cold water felt so good after the hot & steamy day laps & I was surprised that I was actually a little chilly after being caught in the downpour on my lap so I chose a warm shower this time. I really can’t tell you how nice it was to be able to shower & clean off the salty sweat and mud…it really made a huge difference in my desire to go out & do another lap. After showering and eating and hydrating I took a little rest and check out the scoreboard. I was up to 5th place!!!

I decided I would rather not risk running out of lights on another night lap & would go out again in the morning. I got up, got into my clothes and found Sq-Earl had already cleaned up my bike, lubed my chain and after some breakfast & coffee, I headed out on what I knew would be my last lap.

I knew I didn’t have another lap in me so I took my time & tried to clean the entire course. I worked hard to make it through the muddy rock gardens & managed to crash a couple of times. At one point, my rear wheel completely stopped spinning & I thought I had broken something. Upon further inspection, I realized that the space between my rear wheel & the rear triangle of my bike (from the chainstays to my seatstays) was packed solid w/mud & that’s why my wheel wouldn’t spin. So, I dug the mud out & continued to spin along the course. After a couple more mud cleaning stops, I finally made it to the top of the ridiculous hill & knew that the worst was over. Well, I thought I knew. Near the end of the course, there is a really large mudhole (w/a swamp along the left hand side). Well, that mud hole had gotten deep….scary deep. The mud was just above the hubs on my bike when I got into it so I stood up and gave every pedal my all! The down-stroke of my pedals left my feet under the water/mud too!!! I was so amazed that I made it through without stopping. I can’t even imagine how deep it would have been if I had to step off my bike…I may have been swallowed up for good. The next stream crossing was a relief and helped to clean some of the amazing amounts of mud off of my bike so that I could finish the next mile & a half. While I was out on my final lap, Sq-Earl packed up the entire campsite & was waiting for me in the campground just before the finish line to take my picture and bring me in…he really is awesome!!!

After finishing my lap, I realized that none of the other women had gone out to do any more laps after my late night lap so I had moved up a position into 4th. Overall, I am pleased w/my performance. I believe that I can do better with training, but I’m having way too much fun playing w/Syd to really train at an elite level. Instead, I will continue to push myself to do better little by little & keep on riding so long as I am having fun.

I forgot to mention in my report…while all the racers were out on lap 1, the race photographer was making his way out to a nice stream crossing to get some shots of racers coming through at about mile 8.5. Well, on his way out there, walking down the trail he spooked a 300+ pound black bear! And, instead of panicking, he decided to take it’s picture!!! Thankfully, I didn’t have the opportunity to introduce myself to any bears along the course this year.

If you’re interested in checking out the race photographer’s pictures, they can be found here: ImageExtreme Link

The Aftermath of the final lap…my bike just before it’s bath at home.

Weekends of riding!

2007-07-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

The past three weekends have simply been amazing!!! It all started out with the Whiteface Women's Only DH Clinic w/Tara Llanes, then I moved on to Pedrosfestival in Hancock, MA where I did the Team LUNA Chix thing and met up with the Boston TLC Group. I personally had a wonderful time camping with some friends, riding a hot new bike (Sinister Mustang XC hardtail) and helping out with the LUNA Chix Table at the event. The highlight of the weekend for me was assisting Alison Dunlap with her skills clinics (one was women's only and the other co-ed) and leading her post-clinic rides. It was an amazing feeling to be the leader of about 35 women through the twisting singletrack. Finally this weekend was Monkeyfest...a good time for the 4th (or 5th) year running now. Basically a huge group of riders, and friends from Ridemonkey.com get together, rent a big place, drink lots of beer and ride the Kingdom Trails of East Burke, VT. This year were had just over 30 of us gathering for our weekend of antics. It's always a good time and there is always an abundance of good beer, good food, excellent singletrack and good times. Enjoy some shots from our weekend of fun!
The hubby & I trying to flip each other off the teeter:

Isabelle & I post-ride:

The hubby showing off ;)

A few riding shots:

The Most Amazing Weekend!!!

2007-07-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just had the most amazing weekend of DHing!!! It all began in January when some women questioned whether there were any Women's DH clinic in the Northeast. After some searching, I found nothing and contacted DownhillMike at Whiteface Mountain to see if he'd be interested in hosting a clinic. Once I got the go-ahead, I e-mailed the 2006 US National DH Champion, Tara Llanes and to my surprise, she wrote me back and was interested in being our instructor. Now we were in business! I rounded up some amazing sponsors: Troy Lee Designs, Giant for Women, Terry, ProGold, Park Tools, Giant, LUNA, EMS, Gatorade and Elete and we were on our way with packed schwag bags and outstanding raffle prizes!!!

After all the planning, the day arrived when I picked-up Tara at the airport and then we were off to Whiteface for a day of riding together to scope out lines to use for the clinic. I was SO nervous following her down the trails and especially when she was following me, but it was simply awesome. She is incredibly nice and give amazing constructive criticism while encouraging you to keep going.

Now it was time for the clinic. Two, one day clinic with Tara and an amazing opportunity for the 15 women who had signed up. Definitely one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had!!!!

Summer's in the Air!!!

2007-07-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Wow...I haven't been on in a while :( Now that summer's here I have more free time to blog away. Let's see...what have I been up to?
Well, Memorial Day weekend brought some good friends to our home and some epic XC riding. Then we were off to the Hardcore24 in Cutler, NY for my first solo 24 of the year. The race was cut short due to the tragic passing of a rider while he was out on a lap enjoying life. Despite the tragic events, the guys at Park Ave. Bikes really did put on another great event and we're looking forward to next year. This year, I managed a 2nd place finish and was rewarded for my efforts with a beautiful new Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless wheelset. This wheelset will go nicely with my new FOX F100RLC so the hunt is on for a super light race hardtail.

After some R&R, Earl & I hit Whiteface for some downhill antics. Now I am gearing up for the Women's DH Clinic with Tara Llanes this weekend! I am SO excited!!! Well, I'm off on a cool road ride.

Finally getting to ride and enjoy being a Mom at the same time!

2007-05-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather here in the Northeast has finally decided to cooperate and I managed to ride virtually everyday last week...totally awesome feeling. Sunday Sq-Earl and I went out to our local trails and rode the SMBA Dam Loop. I felt SO strong and managed to climb some sections that I generally spin-out on or just plain can't muster up the strength for. Monday was rest day. Tuesday, Syd & I headed out on the road so I could see how it felt to tow her trailer. We did a short ride (only about 30 minutes) around the house and had a blast so Wednesday we headed out for an hour ride. I really am blessed to have the world's greatest kid. She was clapping, singing and saying "Weeeee" when we went fast down a hill and even managed to fall asleep near the end of our ride. Thursday was our first LUNA Chix ride at the Pine Bush and Friday was our normal Friday night SMBA Ride.

Saturday Specialized was having a demo on our local SMBA Trailsystem so we headed down and I rode a Women's Stumpjumper and managed to catch a ride on a buddies new Transition Covert too. Both of the bikes performed well in the techy terrain I generally ride in and I was happy to test them out.

For mother's day, I really wanted to stay home and spend the day with my husband and daughter so we set up her new (to her) playset in the backyard and had a couple of drinks while my man cooked me a delicious steak, salad & fresh corn on the cob dinner. I really do have a great life!!!

Eventful days!!!

2007-04-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind week of events for me. After my weekend of riding, and a fun ride with Syd helping last night (see pic above), I had a check-up with the ortho and found out that my knee is healing up nicely and I have fewer restrictions on my riding and am able to start working out a bit harder each week now. Then I had my middle school band concert and the kids did a great job.

I also found out that I have been chosen to lead a Team LUNA Chix Mountain Bike team for my area. I am SO excited for this opportunity. LUNA Chix is such a great organization and I am really honored to be a part of them and look forward to a long and healthy relationship.

Oh, and I picked up Syd's Easter Pictures...she's just too cute!!!

Riding, Hiking & more riding!!!

2007-04-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it was the first really nice weekend of the season and we decided to capitalize upon the great weather and got some time outside. Friday, instead of picking Syd up on my way home, I went straight home and the hubby & I rode the road bikes (with her burly trailer attached) to the sitter's house to get Syd. The ride to the sitters was fast...we pushed ourselves for the 5 mile jaunt and got there in just 20 minutes! Once there, we loaded up the kid and her stuff and headed down the long gravel driveway until disaster struck. I managed to get a flat and ruin my rear tire in the process on a sharp piece of gravel. We had to quickly put in a new tube while Syd anxiously awaited her ride home...she's such a trooper!

Saturday, we decided to hike out and do some trail maintenance with our local club. Syd loves to be in the backpack, but she really loves being outside too so it was a win-win situation for all of us. Today it was back to the dirt.

My knee is really doing well and I felt pretty strong on some climbs that I haven't felt strong on in quite some time. The hubby and I hit the trails for 2 glorious hours...what a way to end a great weekend!!!

More snow in April!!!

2007-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's been weeks since I have posted...sorry about that. At any rate, I am finished with my physical therapy for now and my knee seems to be healing up well. I have been spinning on my trainer and have even made it out for 2 mountain bike rides so far with good results. Last week we spent the Easter weekend in the Rochester area with family and friends. On Friday we we hit the trails at Dryer Rd. and then headed to Trailblazers to get Syd her new bike trailer and helmet. Then, it was home to spend Easter with the family!

Yesterday, we hit Onteora Lake and rode just over 12 miles of singletrack and doubletrack. It was a good time and ended with some good food and wine with friends. Today we're getting a noreaster and I have to shovel yet again this April! Hopefully I will have some riding pictures to add to my blog and ride reports soon!

Momma's Little Helper!

2007-03-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

My work is never done, but atleast Syd tries to help me out when she can. Right now, she's into trying to climb everything. I caught her standing on top of the cat the other night! She loves to help me play piano and watches me as I spin in the basement laughing when I sprint or shift. I am hoping the weather gets better soon so I can hit the roads for a little ride to see how my knee really feels. Now, I have to really decide if I am getting a new XC bike for this season or not. I got some quotes and have looked at the savings account. Decisions, decisions...

2007-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'M BACK!!! No, I am not 100% yet, but I am able to spin on my road bike & CycleOps again :D I am SO excited that my recovery is going well and that I am really making progress. I was not so pleased to learn more about my new hardware though :( I will need to wear a Breg knee brace for quite some time to try to realign my knee cap. I was fitted last week and should be receiving the dreaded call anyday now. Oh well, atleast I will be able to ride! Still hard at work on the ladies DH Clinic at Whiteface. I am really hoping things get finalized soon so I can brag about how awesome it's going to be with more details. Tomorrow is a long spin on the bike and I am going to attempt my training video!!!

What a difference a day makes!

2007-03-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Wow! In the past two weeks a lot of stuff certainly has happened. I went to the Ortho, had an MRI and found out that I had a large tear in my meniscus. Fast forward a week to March 6th and I went into day surgery for Arthroscopy. I was encouraged to take an epidural rather than be put under, so that I could watch the Dr. work and I gladly accepted. It's an amazingly surreal experience to see him snipping away at my knee and poking and prodding and only feel a little pressure when he inserts the tools. After surgery, I felt good...minimal pain in the knee, but my back was killing me from the epidural. Thankfully, the back pain went away quickly and I didn't need to take those wretched pain meds (that made me vomit for an entire day) anymore. Fast forward to today and I am back on the pedals! I was SO excited that my PT said that I could spin in a low gear with little to no resistance for up to 30 minutes at a time and no more than 2 times a day for the next few days. YEAH!!! It's amazing how much I missed pedalling for the week that I couldn't.

Now, I am hard at work planning the first women's DH clinic at Whiteface on July 7th and have been asked to offer clinics of my own there as well. I am really excited for how this season is shaping up and can't wait for the snow to melt and for my knee to be healed. These 4 weeks can't go fast enough!!!!

Race season, here I come!

2007-02-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy week for me even thought I didn't have school. I spent quite a bit of time running errands, going to Dr. appointments and getting household crap done, as well as spinning and playing with Sydney. I also managed to secure some additional sponsorship for my 2007 race season. I am proud to announce my sponsors thus far: Trailblazers Bike & Sport in Victor, NY, ProGold Lubricants, and Elete. I am really psyched to have some sponsorship for this season and hope to add a few more names to my list as well.

Now that we have more than 3 feet of snow on the ground, trail riding has become a bit more difficult, so I have been sticking to the rollers, pilates, weights and the ever fun exercise ball. I did mange to hit the trails on my snowmobile and had a blast getting back into riding that...brap! I haven't ridden in over a year (preggo and didn't have snow last winter) and I learned that I could still jump and keep up with the boys :D

February already -- oh how time does fly!

2007-02-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

Wow! I really am bad at keeping this updated. I need to make a much more conscious effort and will try to do so. Well, a lot has happened in the past 2 months. My daughter turned 1, I finally got back into my spinning routine, I picked-up some sponsorship from Trailblazers Bike shop in Victor, NY for the upcoming race season and I finally got back on my snowmobile after taking all of last season off.

I am super excited about this race season and am looking forward to the spring weather so I can take Syd out on some training rides with me in her new Burly trailer. She loves being outside so I am really hoping she enjoys our rides together. I have also applied for a new job MUCH closer to home (fingers and toes are crossed) so if I get that, it means I will be cutting my commute down a great deal. Currently, I drive about an hour each way and the new positions are all within 20 minutes (by car) so that means I can finally park my car and do some bike commuting too!!!

Anyway, I hit the frosty trails for my husband's birthday and we had a great time riding the Lock 7 trails in Niskayuna/Schenectady and since then we got about 3 feet of snow so it's back to the rollers for me. I have been trying to log atleast 30 minutes everyday, and have just gotten a couple of training videos to try out so we'll see how that goes.

I am also anxiously awaiting word from Team LunaChix as to whether I was accepted to start a local chapter. I have LOTS of plans for the upcoming season including an XC clinic, a DH clinic, 4 races and lots of fun rides in between so I can't wait!!!

Surprise - it's December!

2006-12-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month. Time certainly does fly. I am finally getting over this ridiculous cold that I have had for over a week now. I did mange to finish my Christmas shopping, send out the christmas cards, get the decorations up and even get some riding in as well. In fact, I hit the trails with a few of the fast guys on Saturday. It was a balmy 26 degrees when we started out, but with the proper layers, I managed to stay relatively warm and I didn't fall too far behind. It was my first real trail ride since Thanksgiving day and it felt good. I rode well and didn't crash, surprising I know, and managed to (almost) keep up with the guys too. It's past time for me to really get into training mode so that is on the front burner now. I also need to finalize my resume to get it out to potential sponsors. I have an idea of what races I would like to do next year, now I just need to see if anyone is interested in helping me live my dream.

Once again, no riding pics...this time I was too busy trying to keep up to carry a camera, but here is one of Syd enjoying us trying to get a good picture of her for our Christmas card.

Rain, rain, go away

2006-11-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

Last night it was quite beautiful outside when I got home from school so I took Syd outside to play in the leaves and to swing in the back yard. We had a blast until it got dark and then made some tasty dinner together. Today, it's rainy & dreary here in the Northeast but surprisingly pretty warm with a high temperature in the low to mid 50s today! Would have been such a nice day for a ride but instead...it poured.

On the bright side, I got some school work done so I can play tomorrow when it's supposed to be in the 60s (fluke warm weather for Upstate, NY in November but I'll gladly take it). I am trying to convince the hubby to go for a night ride with me afterwork tomorrow so we'll see. Maybe I'll finally have a few ride pictures to post.

Until then...here's another of my little monkey:

First Post - My great life!

2006-11-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Wow! I 'm finally a blogger! I have been meaning to start this for quite a few weeks, but alas, life got in the way. I am psyched to start off with a ride report as my first post. Unfortunately, we lost our small digital camera over the summer so I don't have any ride pictures to post :( Not a problem, because I have plenty of cute baby pics to put up instead.

Our ride started off at 10am this morning at a crisp temperature of 33 degrees! The temperature wasn't that bad with my smart wool socks and polypropolene tights and the warm sunshine through the bare trees was wonderful. We rode for 2 1/2 hours and it was great. My legs felt wonderful and I was able to climb a couple of sections that have plaged me in the past. The amazing part was that my husband, nicknamed Sq-Earl, said his legs weren't on and that he felt tired for the last 45 minutes of the ride and afterward he was beat while I felt fine. In true-to-me riding style, I managed to bump into a couple of trees (I am named TreeSaw...what do they expect ;) ) and had one slow off the bike crash, but all of us (5 total) managed to leave with no blood spilled. Once we got home it was a hot shower, some tomato soup and playing with the baby to keep me occupied for the rest of the day.

It's days like this that remind me that I have a great life!!!