Back in the Saddle

well, so to speak...I've been IN the saddle, my mountain bike saddle, for the past few days in beautiful Durango, CO, so I've been out of the blog saddle. I love Durango so much, love the riding, love the friendly, awesome people (hello, cute bartenders!!!!), and great beer. I love this community is committed to active lifestyles of all kinds. Anyway, to sum up the last few days:

Ride the First
The last time I was here was September. Also, it was the END of the season, and if there was any doubt whatsoever about whether or not I am more fit at the beginning or end of the season, let's just clear that up...I am more fit at the end. I did this ride off a place called Horse Gulch. One part was Telegraph Trail. Here's your history lesson for the day...Durango was a mining town and was in its heyday in the late 1800s. The Victorian influence is apparent in the old hotels still standing downtown, so it's neat to poke around and see a "Wild West" town. Anyway, as I'm sure you know, the talking wire was a big deal, huge technology in the day, and Telegraph Trail displays the relics of that time...there are several old telegraph towers out there. It's funny to be riding along, do ti do, and then all of a sudden, you're surrounded by these old telegraph poles. I was doing it slower than I remembered doing it in the past, but suddenly I didn't even care, because the trail was technicolor with the blooms of the spring flowers. I also rode a trail called The Meadow...and would you believe it goes through an actual meadow? Weird, I know. Now for those of you who don't mountain bike, you should know that rides tend to roll this way: "Let's see where this goes!" It's part of the fun, the adventure, and yes, occasionally it provides...a "learning opportunity" as opposed to calling it a mistake, because as Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "It is impossible to make a mistake." So to no one's surprise at all, I decided to see where Cuchilo went. Please don't ask me how you say that because still after 3 days, I still don't know. This trail was more challenging, with lots of "V" dips. If you're wondering what a "V" dip is, please refer to the capital letter V and you will have an idea of what I'm talking about. I've never been able to do them before, and I felt a tightness in my rear end that had nothing to do with Yoga when I saw the first one, but I DID IT!!!! Yes! Victory was mine!!! Mwah ha ha! I did it twice more and was feeling pretty much like a bad ass. And then, I came to a rock section. Now, I don't mean there was some gravel in the road. I mean there were boulders, people! I had to dismount, but felt better when I saw that a guy who had passed me also had to get off. There was some tricky descending as well, and then SURPRISE! there was a climb. Now for all my shortcomings as a mountain biker, I can climb (thanks Asheville!). Whoo boy, I got my ass dumped on the ground on this climb. Since mountain biking is different from fishing in that we don't lie about our burly rides like a fish that got away, please believe me when I tell you this climb went STRAIGHT up. Anyway, I fell to my right because I couldn't clip out fast enough (I always try to fall to the left if I'm going down because you want to fall away from your drivetrain), so I was pissed. My bike was just fine, but I have a bruise approximately the size of Texas on my hip. After I got back on Bette, there was a sweet ass descent back to the car. It makes me smile now thinking of it.

Ride the Second (otherwise known as Our Heroine Earns a Beer)
I decided to ride Lime Creek Trail, and instead of doing a shuttle (which would have involved hitchhiking. Before you get excited and need to lecture, please know that I would never consider it under other circumstances or in another place. It happens ALL the time out here, and I have picked up girl hitch hikers here myself.) I decided that I would do an out and back. Apparently something happened to my brain when I got dumped on Friday because I did not check the weather Saturday. I ALWAYS check the weather, and if I had, I would have known there was a chance of a thunderstorm. Please keep this fun fact in mind for later in our story. The ride is not necessarily hard, but it's rocky and it's 11.2 miles one way. About 6 miles of that is climb. So for those of you who agree with me that math is the devil, let me break that down for you: I was riding almost 23 miles, with 12 miles of climb. You know what else I forgot to mention to you? The elevation here starts at about 6500 feet. I climbed up to almost 10,000 that day. Each Way. When people say elevation doesn't matter, I am going to punch them right in the stomach from now on and ask them if that matters. The pay off here is the beauty surrounding the ride: a beautiful, lush creek, a beaver pond, a crazy beautiful rock pass, stands of Aspen. Breathtaking enough to make you forget it's hard to take a breath. Do ti Do, I'm pedaling, having a great time, and when I got to the end and got off Bette to enjoy my peanut butter sandwich that I did thankfully remember to bring, I saw some clouds scowling at me. I thought that was very unfriendly, and that's the exact moment I realized I forgot to check the damn weather and I realized my weather report was in action. I decided I would race the storm. Also, the trail map was wrong, it was NOT 11.2 miles, but closer to 11.5. You would count those three extra tenths, too, if you had been there. I started climbing and cloud watching. They didn't get any friendlier. I got to a bit of a descent, and before I knew it, I got into a hidden rut in the road and got my ass tossed off, nicking my right knee... poor right side! I got back on and started attacking the first climb because the wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping. I kept thinking that all in the world I wanted was to get back to the car safe and dry. I got to the second ascent to the summit and picked great lines and before I knew it I was at the top. I knew better than to feel cocky because the sky above me was nothing but impending doom. Descents still scare the shit out of me and I had MILES of descent ahead. I settled in, went as fast as safely possible, and I got back down to the Beaver Pond and felt the first drops. It was still almost 5 miles to the car. I said some very bad words, and saw the first whip of lightening. I immediately changed my mantra to "get to the car safe" as dry was no longer an option. The temperature dropped AGAIN and the stinging rain started. I did not think Awesome! when that happened. But once the big fat rain started, I was actually grateful because at least it didn't hurt like that stupid little rain. I was cranking about 20 miles an hour, which is pretty damn fast on a mountain bike, but it felt like I was going about 2 miles per hour. I finally arrived at the car, safe! My agenda for the rest of the day? Nap, beer, dinner. Durango has 4 or 5 microbreweries, but Steamworks is my hands down favorite and yes that's about the beer and food and not the cute bartenders...that's just a bonus, friends!

Yesterday I took a whole day off and went to Trimble Springs. They are natural hot springs and they are magnificent. I met some nice people there from Texas and had beers with them last night. I love this town!!!

Getting Away From It All, with cable included
I'm camping and I love this campground, but last night I got new next door neighbors. They set up their camper, rolled all of the shades down, and then I heard their tv start up. And it didn't shut off until after I went to bed last night. This morning, their tv started right up, and I kid you not friends...I still haven't seen these people! I am glad the campground has WiFi so I can bring you this blog, but seriously: who the hell goes camping to sit closed in with a TV???? Weirdness abounds.

Heading to Moab today. I am going to upload pictures one day. Maybe. :)

on the iPod: Rollin Back, My Morning Jacket