Troy Built

I mentioned in my previous post that I finally got to do the Troy Built loop last weekend. This is very good. I rode it 3 years ago and have been declaring ever since that it's the gnarliest trail I've ever ridden. The last time I rode it, I had to turn around and save some man in his 60's that everyone else had left out on the trail. When I found him he was out of it, scared and very injured. I helped him through Mary's Loop and Troy Built. Watching him barely able to walk his bike through made this trail seem super nasty and technical. He turned out to have a broken wrist and several cracked ribs. I watched him fall several times AFTER his initial injuries. We made it out, but it also turns out the trail is NOT that technical or scary. It just seems like that when you're trying to help an injured guy off the trail and it's getting dark. At least I can stop declaring that this normal trail is super gnarly. People gave me weird looks for that and now I know why.

Success!

So, the biking trip was a success! I biked ALL four days! w00t!

The usual mayhem followed me with things like dogs peeing on my tent, all my electronic devices failing, and getting lost and having to hitchhike on the highway - but it didn't get in the way of the important stuff like biking and having beers with cool people at night in front of the campfire.

I rode all the staples like 18 road, the Kokopelli area ( I finally got to do the Troy Built loop!), Rabbit Valley and even the new trail on the Grand Mesa. I also tried out a demo bike, the Yeti 575. *droool* I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about it here :).

Biking Trip: Take Two

So, I am about to embark on another all weekend biking trip. I hope this one goes a bit better... This time, I plan to actually ride my bike :).

Yoga

I do a lot of pretty intense activities, but the one that kicks my ass most is yoga. It's one thing to be on your bike and riding along and huffing and puffing... you're thinking about the next rock or how pretty that tree is or just trying not to crash. When practicing yoga, you are stressing your muscles with your full focus is on them. There's something about doing that. I'm more sore after a 1.5 hour yoga class than a 4 hour bike ride. Weird! The motivation to write this is that the yoga class I was planning on going to today started 3 minutes ago. I'm still sore from Monday night's class! I'm not going today :).

Grasshopper

I saw a grasshopper up close yesterday. It jumped up right next to me on a tomato plant. It was absolutely beautiful. I've seen grasshoppers thousands of times, but this is the first time since I was kid that I was so awestruck by one. It was a much different experience a few weeks ago when I saw a praying mantis in my yard. They look so weird, like aliens. The first thing I thought when I saw it was, "I wonder if it's eaten any heads lately."

The Biking Trip From Hell, or Florida

I went on a biking trip to Moab this weekend. I never rode my bike on any singletrack. It was a weird, weird time but I managed to have a little fun laughing at it all. Here's a summary of how it went:

Drive to Moab for 6 hours.
Set up tent and everyone almost gets blown away it's so windy.
Wake up in the morning (does not imply anyone actually got any sleep) and take a couple hours finding a new campsite.
Set up new camp and get ready for biking.
Tent blows away - with me in it. Twice.
Shove my tent in a car while getting blasted with sand.
Get to the trail head and the one person in the world I don't want to see is parked there.
Immediately start freaking out and heading back to camp.
Went hiking in Arches instead and cried a lot. Had good company though :).
Went to dinner, rode a hardware store fish and went back to camp.
Wow - it's actally a nice night now and we can have a camp fire.
Slept in a car because my tent might blow away.
Get up and ready to ride.
Ride to the trailhead to avoid a $20 shuttle fee.
Wait for 1.5 hours while freezing my ass off - group never shows.
I go back to camp and get out my emergency blanket to try to warm up. All my stuff is in a car in town that I have no key to, oh and my wallet is in there too doh.
Make a fire to keep warm with the stuff left at camp (2 in our group were staying another night).
People show up and by now it's pretty obvious they didn't get shuttled to the top of the Porcupine Rim trail.
Many apologies.
Ride from camp to town.
Drive home for 6 hours.

I'm Hungry But That Belly Full

I can't say much more than that is exactly how I feel these days. There's something to be said for pondering life while running to Rage Against the Machine.

Dark Times, New Friends, Bad Friends

It's been a very dark few weeks for me. I've been feeling bad about myself, my life and my situation. It's not a good place to be. The good part is that it forces some self reflection which I sorely need. I'll pull out of it just fine, but it does make for lack of blog entries because I refuse to make this the gloom and doom blog. No one wants to read that and I have no desire to look back and read about it either.

A change of perspective... I've been feeling a lack of friends ever since I moved to Colorado. Over the past few weeks, good supportive friends have been coming out of the woodwork. These are people I considered acquaintances, but it turns out many are much more than that. I've also met new people and they are awesome. I hope some will become life long friends. I am so thankful for those who have reached out to me lately.

About best friends... The only person who hasn't been supportive at all is the person I have always called my best friend. I have some more thinking to do about why I chose to call her my best friend. Perhaps it's because I've known her my whole life. She's given me a friend model with incredibly low expectations and that is not acceptable. I believe this is the root of my trouble making long lasting, meaningful friendships. My friends deserve better than I have been giving them and it's taken me 20 years to figure this out. The friendship bar has risen and if she falls off so be it. I deserve better. Harsh, yes - but it's the truth.