Sante's back on the trail!

Becky joined me for some West Bragg Creek riding this morning. After my legs finally got into the spirit of a ride, we had a great time climbing Braggin' Rights and then down the backside of Long Distance to check out the new trail. Then we doubled back up Long Distance North and hit LD South to get back down to the parking lot.

I had the Go Pro out today to play with it some more and get some Sante footage. It's cool to see her on the trail doing her thing behind me. Well, she's behind me by the second half of the ride. I'll need to front-mount the camera one of these days to get her on camera in front of me and tearing around off the trail during the slow climbing. I wish I'd had the camera on the front and rolling today for the cow encounter.

We came around a bend and Sante froze in her tracks and started barking at the big black mass standing in front of her. For half a second I thought it was a bear. But nope, too big. Just a goobery wild-eyed black cow mama. Two youngsters behind her. She snorted a couple times and then charged at Sante, who tucked her tail in and bolted 10 or 15 feet before getting back between us and the cow. Mama turned around and barreled her way through the woods mooing at us in annoyance. I later saw her and her two youngsters on the road back to Bragg being herded by one guy on a horse and another on an ATV. Maybe we helped them get her heading in the right direction?

Anyway, enjoy the video. For some reason it doesn't seem to have uploaded in HD. I'll have to figure that out for another time. And here are a few snaps too ...

Heck Yeah!

Heck Yeah! was the name of the XCountry race in Hinton today. My first non-enduro race. And, happily, my first solo finish since I didn't manage to complete all 50k I'd registered for at Rundle's Revenge earlier this summer.

With temps in the high teens and no rain, the day was perfect for riding! I expected to do a couple of laps on the short course but the organizers wound up deciding the Masters Novice women were going to ride one short then one long. No time to psych myself up for the fact I was going to face a more technical track. Just ride. Eek!

I put myself at the back of the pack at the start line and started the prologue section with all the youth riders. I passed a handful of them and one dude. Then I was on my own for most of the time after that. Me and the course I didn't get to pre-ride the day before (Santé pulled a disappearing act in the first couple kms so I spent my time looking for her and waiting for her at the start line where she eventually came looking for me.)

The race for me was 14k and 1760ft climbing. The long lap had some technical trail I walked. Super steep, exposed, loose, and with tight switchbacks. I did ride some of the steep straight stretches so I was happy with that. The rest of the course was within my pay grade and a lot of fun. Especially the berms. I probably smiled the biggest though when I came upon the banjo guy after a long climb. Thanks banjo playin' dude! You helped me get more out of my legs!

Since there were only two of us in my category I even got on the podium for a silver medal. I'll take it! Ha ha!

A fun day outside!
Official results.

Unplanned Night Riding

I wish I had taken a moment or two to snap some photos last night. Especially when we were shooing the youngster black cows off the trail. They were everywhere on Ridgeback! Video of Gloria and I talking to them would have been even better! I don't often see the cattle actually up the trails and in the forest. I don't often see black cows either. Given that we were still speeding our way back to the parking lot after darkness fell, I'm kinda surprised we didn't have any cow collisions!

It was a club ride last night but only Wendy, Gloria, and I were there to start. We picked up Gwen and Alison on the way back down. It might be time to skip the club schedule and start earlier with our regular crew to get the most of the daylight. The 7:00 start is only going to mean shorter and shorter rides.

I'll be packing my new light set for evening rides from now on; as fun as it was to ride Blair Witch-style it's probably safer if I can see the trail and trees. I did have one minor encounter with a tree I didn't think was so close. My shoulder took it hard but I didn't come off the bike ... just felt like puking for a minute. It passed. Haha.

The best part of last night is I felt awesome on the bike. A day of rest and the day on the city pathways definitely gave my body a chance to restore itself! Nice!

Another Week Outside!

Top of Prairie Mtn with my bestie.

Things got back to a normal activity level this past week. Yay! After a busy work trip to Toronto, Sunday night to Tuesday night, it was time to get outside and into the Rockies. I'm so lucky to have so many people and dogs to get out and play with!

Wednesday I went hiking with Meredith and doggie friends. We did one of my favourite shorter hikes up Prairie Mountain on Highway 66. This is not to be confused with Prairie View trail at Barrier Dam off Highway 40. Steep climb, killer views, sunshine and a windless summit (rare!). 2400 feet of elevation over only 3.8kms. Better for boots than bikes. It was so lovely at the top without any wind that we lingered for a long time enjoying the summit all to ourselves. The recovering Sante looked great on the trail but was shivering after the drive home and in obvious discomfort. I thought maybe her over-exuberance to wolf down her 4 frozen dinner patties was to blame.

Thursday it was time to shake the bike legs out with a mild ride. Becky joined Sante and I for her first ride after her epic Leadville 100 race in Colorado the week before. We rode Braggin' Rights to Reconnect and Long Distance in West Bragg. Such a fun and forgiving trail for the legs with only 11kms of trail and 1100 gradual feet of climbing. I'm going to head back out there one of these days and do Long Distance all the way up. The bottom half of that trail is a super flowy fun descent so I'd like to try it from the very top. Sante was with us for this ride. She was unusually pooped afterwards though, so I left her home the next day.

Friday's plan was for a bigger effort. Sarah and I met at Station Flats to ride the first part of the Bow 80 course. I was equipped with new tires from the previous afternoon's efforts on the deck! Kate and Craig were also riding that morning so they started out with us as far as the Sulphur Springs summit. Then they left us there with Toby to continue on with their epic day at their normal pace on the trails (warp speeds faster than my pace). We held up 5 minutes before starting our descent behind them. As Craig said, Toby never got the memo that we were now two separate groups; he bolted as soon we started down. The chase was on for him to join his mom.

Top of Sulphur before Toby ditched us.

Sarah and I rode down Sulphur and stopped at the forks. No Toby. I decided he'd know the trails and would be heading towards Powder Face parking lot where Kate was heading. So we continued that way. At the Ing's Mine Road though we stopped to call for him. A rider passed us going the other way and said he hadn't seen a little yellow dog. So we climbed back up towards the forks again. Then I thought I heard him barking back at my calls from below so we headed back down to the road. No Toby. I thought I heard him bark three different times. Who knows if it was him! We decided to continue on our way. I dropped Kate a text but she was out of range.

Sarah and I on Sulphur.

We eventually met up with Kate and Craig and Toby on Elbow Valley trail. He had made it all the way to the Powder Face parking lot to greet them. They waited 45 minutes before starting back up the trail a ways and hooking up with us coming down. Now that's a trail dog! We were just relieved he was present and accounted for on a super hot day! We split up again but this time we were heading in opposite directions so Toby stayed with Sarah and I and likely just kept wondering when his slow mom was gonna catch up. Ha ha! We had an uneventful ride back up Sulphur and down again to Station Flats. Bigger effort that day with 21kms and 2700ft climbing. It was HOT but always great to ride with Sarah. (Looking forward to some night riding in the fall Sarah!)

Bottom of Moose Packers.

Sante was back in the mix Saturday for my ride with Suz and Gloria. 21kms and 2400ft climbing, and yet it felt so much longer than Friday's ride. We started from Station Flats early and did Sulphur Springs (this day called Suffer Springs -- my legs were feeling a little fried from Thursday's climb in the heat) to the Pneuma cut off then all the way up Pneuma to Moose Packers. This was my first time descending all of Moose Packers. I had previously descended the top portion during the Dirt Series clinic. Fun trail! A couple loose tight switchbacks had me out of the saddle for a walk but otherwise it was good times. Sante was having a blast and having no trouble keeping up with us or sprinting ahead on the uphills. After the ride I stopped in Bragg Creek to soak my legs in the icy river then headed home. Sante joined me in the river but she just stood there in the water. No sniffing, no swiming. By the time I got her home she was seized up and shivering in pain ... she was having trouble walking and squealed in pain when I tried to help her up off her bed. Off to emerg we went. The diagnosis is a tear in her shoulder. Here's hoping that has been her issue this last couple of weeks and nothing more. She needs lots of rest to heal. No trail dog for some time. :(

Coffee stop!

Sunday arrived and I contemplated a day off. I knew for sure I didn't want to climb anything. As the morning progressed I decided an easy city ride on my cross bike and skinny tires would be good for my legs. So I dropped Gloria and Suz some texts about my plan and both of them joined me. What a great day of easy riding with friends and a coffee stop. I need to do the city paths more often for recovery! We did 70kms and gained all of 500ft. It was a beautiful sunny day and the pathways, parks, and waterways were all being enjoyed by Calgarians. It's very cool that you can ride and ride and ride and rarely be in traffic ... much of the time you can even be riding through forest soaking in the amazing pine smells.

That's the update! I'm planning a lighter week this week and a race in Hinton on the weekend, weather permitting. Get outside!

View from Prairie Mountain.

Toby cooling off Friday.

Sequoia on Prairie Mtn

Meredith Prairie Mtn

Gloria at bottom of Moose Packers

Me and Toby Prairie Mtn

Dog parade Prairie Mtn

Suz and Gloria

Back to Riding!

Daunting trail signage for the Bow 80

After a couple weeks of travel, it's back to biking. Yay! Before embarking on the cruise ship I fit in a Seattle run with some hills and ocean front. Nice. Not that I enjoy running ... but in a pinch it worked. I also managed to take a few spin classes on the ship as well as get in a couple workouts on the elliptical trainer. None of that is like mountain biking though; not in terms of the energy output, the concentration, or the thrill. Friday I got back to it, but without Sante. My trail dog and bestie had a rough weekend before I came home and is off the trail for a bit while her feet heal from some cuts and an infection. She is missed on the trail already!

Friday, Gloria and I headed out to West Bragg after I dropped the guys at the airport. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Our first loop was new to me: Braggin Rights to Reconnect to Long Distance and back to the parking lot. Then, after a pit stop for a snack and some water we hit Ranger Summit to Strange Brew and back to the parking lot. All in we did 20kms, 2.5hrs, 2200ft of elevation. As my first ride in a couple weeks, I suffered sufficiently but it was fun! 

Saturday, after I watched the women's Olympic mountain biking race on TV with Kate, Suz and I set out to try and do the back half of the Bow 80 race course. I'm not back to my pre-vacation riding form so I wasn't sure how I'd feel. We had an adventurous kind of day. We set out on Powderface and discovered the climb is beyond our rookie skill level. We did a lot of hike-a-biking ... we learned afterwards that we were doing it in the opposite direction as we'll do it on race day. This makes me feel a little better but I'm not too excited about riding down some of those sections either. At any rate we eventually found our way to Powderface Trail Road and ticked off some kms with some speed down to Prairie Creek Trail which was mostly descent. Along the way I heard some hissing coming from my front tire. Sure enough there was some Stan's bubbling out of the sidewall. I put the bike on its side and coaxed some Stan's into the hole and it slowed the leak down. Pumped it up and continued down successfully. My tires are done though ... on top of that issue the sidewalls on the back tire had some Stan's seepage showing on both sides. Wednesday's project (when I'm back from my quick business trip interrupting my "summer of fun!") will be to switch out the tire set. We ran into Sarah and Sean on the trail and again in the parking lot. They invited us to do a little extra with them so we tacked on an extra 5km with Elbow Valley Trail. All in all we did 27 kms and climbed 2900 feet over 3 hours of riding.

Solo spin on the cross bike.

Today I got in a 2 hour E2 city ride on the cross bike. It was nice to be back on the Scott! I saw 6 food trucks at the East Village but resisted the urge to stop and headed home for a healthier lunch. :)

Get outside! Summer's burning ... 

Having some play time with Sequoia.

Friday's Ride

Saturday's Ride