Gooney Riders

Two Years

I'm finding that I have a habit of characterizing different phases in my life by where I'm living.  College was a handful of different houses, then there was the summer JenG and I couch surfed on my parents' couch, rode bikes, and at Nutella all day, then the Green Gillespie House, followed by the Hamilton Dump, and then our little place in CeeBee.  Each one was a very distinct part of my life.

Now I'm sitting on the ground in the space that has housed us for the past two years.  I'm hestitant to call it a home anymore as it's completely empty and cleaned, the walls as bare as the night we walked in.  Aside from our bed and table, what little furniture we had quickly found new homes by being put out on the corner.

A CRV load of trash got taken to the dump.  An 8x10 storage unit is filled to the brim.  Everything I need for a day to day existence living out of the car is sitting on the back porch waiting to be loaded.

Last night as we were packing, Chris got whimsical, 'Just two years ago, we moved in here and got married. That went by quick.'

When we moved in here, I was looking for stability.  I wanted to settle down.  I wanted to find a place I could call 'Home' for the rest of my life.  Now, as we're leaving, I'm finding myself yearning for other things.  I'm excited to have pared down my day-to-day belongings to a duffle bag, a bin (which to be fair is all Tour Divide stuff), my computer (and related cords and cables), and a portable kitchen. And my -20 degree sleeping bag because nights are still cold around here.

I'm not really sure what this next phase of life is going to bring.  When I come back at the end of June, after hopefully pedaling across the country, we're not sure if we're going to try to find four walls to live inside or if the thin fabric of a tent will suffice.  I'm not sure if I'll be longing for hot showers or swims in Lake Irwin.  I don't know if I'll want my food processor and coffee grinder back or if I'll be content to try to fish for my dinner each night.  I do know this valley has been good to us and I have no intention of leaving in the immediate future.

I feel like we're on the brink.  Of something.  And I get a funny feeling that it's going to be something good.

Pow in the Park: Taylor Glacier May 20, 2012

Zach, David and I were pretty fired up from Superstar the day prior, so we figured we keep the fire stoked.  

I showed up to the Guy household in Estes Park at 5AM, and we set off for Sky Pond.  

Zach snapped his mountaineering skis in half the day prior, so he decided to lug his alpine skis.  Impressive, those big skis are far from light.  

About 3-4 miles in, our objective comes into view 

Incredible morning

We did not even bother to skin up because Zach had his alpine skis.  He still breaks trail even with with 185 cm Nordica "Blowers" strapped to his back.  

Rime on the rocks

We chose to climb a shady couloir that was a little less exposed than the face in case the sun loosened up the new snow.  

David leads it out 

I topped out first on a nearly vertical section of snow.  Zach and David search for a path of least Resistance... 

David tops out 

At the top of our line we weigh the consequences of a slough knocking us off our feet on the exposed slope.  We chose a slope that was a bit more North facing but more exposed than the main line.  We were a touch late and did not want to ski anything that had seen too much sun.  

I dropped in first carefully making fast cuts.  The snow was cold, perfect.  

Zach-

As Zach made turns, sloughs roared over the cliffs below

The snow was perfect

David on the exit 

Awesome line.  Cold powder at the top and a bit sticky towards the bottom.  If this was the last objective of the season, it was a good 'em.  Coming to the Front Range for the weekend I had no Idea that I would have some of my best turns of the season!

Cheers,

Chris

I put my POV cam on Zach.  Pretty fun to watch.  I have never skied in Alaska, but this is what I imagine it would be like but with more snow.  

 

Thundersnow: Shooting Star Couloir, James Peak

James Peak always grabbed my attention when I would ride my mountain bike in Nederland.  There is a distinct elevator shaft right from the summit.  Over the years I hiked up the peak in summer, and skied up the North side in the winter.  The East face is a steep cliff but the elevator shaft provides a way essentially to ski through a massive cliff.  

I have been mixing visits to the Front Range with skiing some of my check-box lines.  I had mixed feelings about bringing my skis to the Front Range being I just had my best rides yet this year up Cement Creek here in CB.  While dryness and high winds usually make for less than-ideal winter skiing conditions on the Front Range, the combination of metamorphic and granite formations plus high winds during winter create some awesome spring skiing in couloirs.  These steep rock formations often have splits or deep chasms through the rock.  Luckily the winds blow from the West, and the Cirques generally face East thus they get loaded all winter with snow.  Add some melt freeze cycles in the spring to lock up the dangerous snowpack, and its couloir season!

The weather was pretty stormy Saturday but Zach was stoked to get out.  That's one of the things I like about Zach, he is excited to get out rain or shine.  We bumbled up Mammoth Gulch road by Rollinsville/Tolland until we hit a snowplug that was not passable in our vehicle.  This meant more approach, but it's easy.  A few miles walking on a jeep road then we reach the singletrack that drops down to James Lake.  

We could never see the peak due to the storm but I have a decent visual memory of places that I have been before.  Aaron and I attempted it a few years ago so I had an image in my head what the peak looked like.

Unfortunately Isaac and J1 had to turn back because of a commitment but Zach, David and I pressed on.  We could not see the peak even when we were on it.  Hope we are walking up the right couloir! 

The storm intensified but in the couloir it was pretty sheltered.  Zach over-did the sunscreen, going for the "Dead Presidents" look. 

The couloir doglegs over a cliff and then gets tight.  The line has a sustained steepness of 5o-55 degrees.  While the rocks were wet from the warm temperatures the snow was firm/frozen cramponing with a thin layer of sticky snow.  

The couloir topped out right on the summit.    

 This was David's first time skiing Colorado, so he got the honors of dropping in first.  He drove down from Wyoming to hang with Zach and get a taste of Colorado couloir skiing.  

The first person would pretty much scrape off the new snow, but the old melt freeze was actually pretty grippy under the edges.  Certainly not hero conditions but it skied pretty well.  Zach exiting the upper chute. 

The cliffs above and below created a dramatic setting for skiing 

Around the cliff and onto the steep apron.  

Once we got to the bottom Zach was motivated for more.  We started booting towards another couloir then heard a thunder clap.  We decided it was time to go.  A short boot up to a bench, and there are a few couloirs that take the final plunge to James Lake.  We were a little uncertain about which one cliffed out, but we wanted to get down.  We never saw lightening but it spooked us none-the-less.  The turns in the 2nd couloir were the best we had all day.  It was less steep so we could really open it up!  There was two rock chokes and Zach aired the second. 

Problem was, the transition was a bit uphill.  Zach lawn-darted into the slope.  Zach got up laughing. 

But then he realized... SNAP! 

The ski was broken but held together by the top sheet.  Luckily we were not far from the lake and Zach was able to ski the rest with pretty much one ski.  Hopefully BD will hook him up with some new boards!

The walk out was pretty spectacular.  We still could not see the peak, but the storms were low down at this point and we enjoyed the sun.  

Awesome line.  Been wanting to ski that for years.  It was a bit scary at first because I have not skied in a month, but settled into a groove.  The next day we ski powder at Rocky Mountain National Park, but that's another story!  

Cheers! 

Chris 

 

Settling and cleansing

After Mesa Verde last weekend we headed to the Matt and Cat Mountain Chalet in Durango for the night.  We spent a lovely morning puttering around the kitchen, making brunch, reliving the party, and for me, delaying the inevitable return to 'real life'.  Whatever that means.  

It means confronting the fact that we're moving in two weeks into a storage unit and a car and that over the past two years, we've accumulated 'stuff'.  What this stuff is...I'm not sure, but we're spending quality time sorting through it: Trash, Treasure, and Someone else's treasure (i.e. Goodwill).  It's been good to do this after a month on the road and living out of the car because all of a sudden things that I couldn't get rid of before the trip suddenly seem superfluous.  The teeshirt from the 2009 24-hours of Moab that I was holding on to sentimental reasons easily got chucked in the Goodwill bin after three years of never being worn.  Race medals from the countless Winter Park Series mountain bike races also hit the bin.  I'm accepting of the fact that I'll never get my belongings down to one car load, but bringing a carload of stuff to the front range and distributing it between Goodwill, Community Cycles, and The Gear Movement has felt good.

Coming home also brought home the point that while I really like traveling, I really like CeeBee.  Like, a lot.  I like the trails in my backyard, I like the big views, I like the fact that it's not a million degrees out in the middle of the day.  I've also been enjoying sleeping on a mattress after a month on a yoga mat and 3/4 length foam pad which I'm pretty sure means I'm getting soft.  I'd still be completely game for moving to the desert for a winter, but I can't think of a better place in the world that here to spend the summer.

Coming home also was a rapid reminder that there's a little race that starts in under three weeks and I probably need to be spending some significant time getting ready for it.  Yikes!

12 Hours of Mesa Verde: Dessert Racing

This past weekend, I played pinch hitter and raced 12 Hours of Mesa Verde with JD down in Cortez.  I've yet to be his first pick for a duo partner, but I figure if I keep saying yes when his other partners bail on him, maybe I'll get first pick one of these days.  Who am I kidding, I was always the last kid chosen to be on a team in elementary school PE.

 

Anyhow, we went into the event knowing that we both had bigger fish to fry in the very near future and the goal was to ride fast but not dig ourselves into a deep hole.  LW had firmly told us that we had to be okay with sitting in 4th or 5th and that we shouldn't place any emotional attachment to the final race results.  This was to be a social event, otherwise we weren't allowed to go.

I knew this plan was going to go downhill fast when the smack-talk between us and the dynamic duo of B-Sells and Brando started well before the sun had even set two days before the event.

JD tests how hard the ground is during our preride.  Verdict: Not too bad.

As was part of the bargain for pinch-hitting, JD did the run and as expected for 'eventing', came in within the top 10 guys off the first lap.  Out on course, a scrawny little gal passed on the first climb like I was standing still.  It was Jen Hanks. (Click on this link, inspirational, amazing story)  'Eventing' I reminded myself.  'Plus, it's hour two of a twelver, you have plenty of time to catch her later.'  JD brought back the gap I had let open up, and Jen took off like a bat out of hell on our second lap. 'Eventing' I reminded myself as I upped my pace.  'But fast is fun!'  JD brought the gap back on his next lap and came in with such a cracked out look on his face, I decided that if he was going to be cracked out on giggles, I was too.  So I rode fast, justifying the pace by saying that I was still giggling.  Jen still caught me on the final climb and we sent the boys off together.  JD once again opened up a gap, and this time it was big enough for me to hold on to in order to hold Jen off...but just barely.  

 

Unfortunately, it wasn't big enough to hold B-Sells off and after 48 hours of smack talk, we lost that one.

This was one of the few times racing that it was full on, see your competition every lap racing for me.  Most of the events I do end up being a long time trial, but getting to sit in the transition tent with Jen every lap, watching anxiously to see which one of our partners would enter the corral first was exhilarating.  Getting caught by B-Sells at the same spot every lap was comical.  Trying to figure out a way that we were going to explain this one away to LW afterward was hilarious.  Getting to hear everyone's war stories, from DB and Cat's lap where they awarded everyone who passed them on their singlespeeds a grade, to Yuki leading for the first 7 laps before ending up in a medics tent and coming back to succinctly explain 'I rode too hard', was the most fun I've had at a bike race in a while, or quite possibly ever...even the parts that I rode at non-eventing speeds and still got smoked by Jen.

 

I feel like I have friends scattered all over the west and for one weekend, they all came and camped with me in the middle of a fairground where there wasn't a soft bit of ground to be found.  If my Arrowheads, Stagecoaches, and Tour Divides are the bread and butter of my racing, this has surely got to be dessert.

The End is a New Beginning

Returning from the desert I had a feeling that there was not going to be much snow yet.  I am fully aware that most folks hate spring/mud season in the mountains.  While most consider the winter as ski season, the years past I have been full ski mode in the spring.  It was cool mixing it up on the bike this year.... but I still have a sweet tooth for steep couloirs.  

I rode a trail in the neighborhood this evening.... that I could not ride until July last year because of snow.  

It was awesome.  Some down trees, tracks from Elk, and some snow plugs.  Not much deadfall compared to last year, and the soil was virgin.  The soil was soft, duffy, and a little overgrown.  The trail condition was comparable to a powder with skiing.  It felt effortless.  It felt as soft as a carpet, and I was carving turns with a huge grin on my face. Some sections are fast and flowy, while there are some stingers mixed in.  

I moved small deadfall and snapped branches where I could.  There is a bit of work to do though.  One of the things I really enjoy about living in the highcountry is the change in seasons.  Singletack gets buried deep under a blanket of snow, and it's neat to watch it emerge in the spring.  There often is broken trees from the harshness of winter.  

Carving my bike like it was pow... so good!  

I pedaled home to a wicked sunset 

Best ride thus far of the year.  Cruising solo and opening it up in the duff.  

While cleaning out the hard drive I compiled a recap of the winter.  This winter certainly had its ups and downs.  

Cheers to bike season!

Chris 

Back in Colorado

Camping by Ophir Pass with Eszter.  I missed her after we had parted ways for a few weeks.    

I have been immersed in mountain biking this spring while at this time I am usually full bore spring skiing.  I still want to get out and ski, but I have been happy to put skiing behind us for a while.

I still plan on getting a few turns in the high country, but it has been fun following the wind to the trails this spring.  

After meeting Eszter in Fruita, we passed through Dolores/Cortez. 

Back in CB now catching up on work, finding a place to live for the summer, and sending Eszter off on the divide.  

A little piece that I am working on about Flag.  

Cheers,

Chris 

 

Passage of Time

Every December, the inevitable email gets sent out...So, when are we going to start planning the Annual Girls Trip to Fruita?  A few dates get tossed around, campsite #16 is reserved, and meals are planned.  It's always the same group, we always go back to some of the classic rides, we always eat the most excellent food.

But something dawned on me this trip.  Maybe it's been a part of me that has spent a lot of introspective time examining the life that I've chosen, but I spent a lot of time thinking about what different life scenarios I'd come into this trip with over the years.  

My first girls trip I was 26, I think I was somewhere in grad school.  I was going to get a Ph. D. and save the world.  The year after I think I was still on track to save the world but was approaching it with maybe slightly less enthusiasm...in fact, now that I think about it, I may have been in the swan song era of my grad school career.  Then last year I'd moved to CeeBee and accepted the fact that I really liked riding and racing my bike but was still content to be working crud jobs in the valley inorder to pay rent.  

Last year, CeeBee was still just an experiement.  One which we weren't sure would really work out for us, as working for $8.50 an hour on the mountain wasn't exactly making ends meet.  We'd stay till the money ran out.

Then, sometime in the past year, a switch got turned in my brain will chit chatting about life at the nordic center.  This is my life.  There's no more 'when I grow up' scenarios, I am grown up.  No longer is working as little as possible to play as much as possible something I'm going to do until I get a real job.  I can no longer even fathom working a 9-5'er 50 weeks a year.  No longer am I faking it till I make it racing my bike.  I have made it exactly what I want bike racing to be for me.  

Girls weekend this year emphasized a simple fact for me: This is my life.  Own it.  Embrace it.  Be proud of it.

No one life formula works for everyone and everyone on the trip has chosen a completely different life trajectory from everyone else.  Yet everyone has found bliss.  It was an excellent reminder to keep chasing mine. 

Desert Drifting

Embracing the desert.  

A lot to share so here is a summary of images.  

Slot Canyons 

$6 Large pizza's in Grand Junction 

Cottonwoods 

Moab.

Canyons

More Slots

Arizona MicroBrews.... Tasty. 

Visting a Legend 

bike Packing 

Shred-Packing 

 

Cheers,

Chris 

Chasing Trail

Somehow it came up two days ago that it was May 1.  This came as a fairly huge surprise for me as I was sure we were still in mid-April.  Turns out, time flies when you're having fun.  And riding bikes.  And hanging out with cool people.  What has blown me away by this road trip was the sheer number of friends and like minded people I've gotten a chance to ride and hang out with in the past month. 

First I cruised down towards Durango for the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Conference road race finals.  Road racers are funny.  Collegiate road racers are even funnier.  It's fun to be on the outside looking in after several years racing on the collegiate circuit.  I was blessed to occupy the spare bedroom in Cat and Matt's chalet in the mountains.  We cooked with flaxseeds in every meal and I got to ride some awesome trails.  On my second ride I ran into M&O while thinking about how I was going to miss Gudy's Rest this August.  So we rode some trails together.

The next ride, I ran into Katina, Kep's sister, who I completely didn't recognize in her bike get-up, but she had Kep's Balls socks on, so I asked, Do you know Kep?  Open mouth, insert foot.  Doh.  So we rode a little bit.  Then I rode with Cat twice before heading to Cali.

Once in Cali, I got to share a room with Jill and met two rad Alaskans who very nearly convinced me to drop everything and move north.

 

Out on the Stagecoach trail, I met a whole bunch of other people, including a guy named Rick who apparently had a thing for Hunter Cycles as he not only had a Hunter frame, but at dinner afterward he had a shirt and a hat as well.  Turns out, it was Rick Hunter.  

 

I met Cale, who had a sweet pink Team Pegasus kit and helmet. When I was riding up Fish Creek, a family of four stopped to clap and told me I was the second girl and first was just up the wash.  I wondered who was ahead of me until I came around a corner to find Cale dressed in pink.  Ah, there's my girl. I asked him if there were any girls up ahead and told him he'd been mistaken for a lady.

 

On the way back to Colorado, I stopped in St. George to stay with LW for a couple of nights.  After breakfast (and five cups of coffee), I took a nap and went out riding with the enduro nutcases.

Now, I face the recovery process.  But since I get to do it in Fruita during the 4th annual Girls' Trip to Fruita, I think I'm going to be okay!

The riding has made this spring trip fun.  The people have made it spectacular.