PHAT is BACK!!

Funny to think I was riding on dirt in 70F wx last w/e and riding in 20F on snow this w/e. We got some snow here in Victor, but we drove just 1 hr north to over a foot of snow, winter wonderland!!

 Just 33 miles from here is part of the Tour Divide trail, the road to Flagg Ranch. Jay and I took the boys here and did some reminiscing about riding on the trail, just not too long ago in completely different conditions. Now the whole family has been on this part of the trail, FUN!  We got the boys out for an hour, not shure how many miles, but enough to tire them out so we could go a on a longer ride.

Some trucks and 4 wheel drive vehicles had previous driven back to Cave Falls, ID creating a nice path to follow. The riding was GREAT and super quiet, we saw one car, which thankfully help reinforce the path through the 12 inches of still fallin' snow. The temps were cool approx 20F from my guess, but havin' the right gear and knowing how to use it totally makes our trips comfortable & fun. 

The reward:

It took us 3hrs 15 mins to ride 28 miles, more of a climb on the way in. We finished up in the dark, my batteries were dying, my light was dim, so I followed JayP's red P-Tec tail light and followed his line, not too close, not too far away or I couldn't see. I was comfortable & REALLY havin' fun, workin' on my night vision. 

The next day, I took the boyz out for another 11 miles.

To another cool place, minutes from home...

Til next time! 

Well I guess I'm not going to win if I take a 7 hr nap during a 25 hr race.

 Just another wicked time! 25 hrs of Frog Hollow was just a race I heard of until I was asked 3 weeks ago to be on a team for the event. I like to ride for a really long time, I am fer shure more of a solo rider, so I declined joining the team but since there were a few friends going as a team that could help support me, I decided to join the group and go to Hurricane UT, where it was nice and sunny and race the 25 hrs of Frog Hollow solo! Yippee-I was stoked!

I'm not in super great shape, nor have I been riding like I normally do, whatever that is. I mean I get the dogs out for a few miles a day, 4-5 days a week. I go on 2-3 hr rides on the weekends, and thats about it. So I was relying on my 20+ years of cycling to get me through the 25 hrs of Frog Hollow. Honestly, I felt great! I was a little nervous at the start, but otherwise calm and relaxed. I was totally looking forward to spending 25 hrs in the saddle, overcoming the challenges which will evidently arise. but WHAT challenge will arise today?? ahh, will my stomach go? will I bonk? will I sustain an injury? will my bike breakdown, and if it does how?? Seriously I don't think too much about these things, but they are thoughts that come and go. What I do think about is how to be efficient in and out of the pit, how to stay strong mentally through tough times, knowing they will only last a short time, remembering to eat and drink and how important that is, and how to use any resources that are available to me, oh and of course to have FUN!!

The race started with a nice jog to Magic Wanda aka Salsa Ti El Mariachi (I love this bike) and it was go time! I felt really good, and was riding a moderate pace knowing I shouldn't crush myself. It's hard not to get caught up in that speed trap in the beginning. My 1st 5 laps were between 1:03-1:20, and I felt I could sustain a 1:15 hr lap comfortably. I thought I was going to have support, but it fell through during the race. A few people checked in now and again, gave me some food and lubed my chain, but for the most part I was filling my own bottles, getting my own food and tending to my bike, which is fine, but it would have been great to know before the start of the race so I could set myself up a little better. Lesson learned.

After the 1st 3 laps the vision in my right eye started to blur. It occurs only in my right eye during intense biking and when I sweat a lot, it could be dehydration or dry eye, but since I've been racing for over 20 years and it just started happening this year 2012, it's definitely odd and of course I have to get it looked at. I do wear contacts, so I changed the right one out, but there was no difference, it was m eyeball fer shure. I've already talked to 2 doctors and it was recommended to see an ophthalmologist.

By lap 5, my forearms were KILLING me! I had never felt this pain before, it was very sharp, uncomfortable and made it hard to ride over any kind of bump, which there were a lot of. I figured my arms were out of shape, but I soon found out I had been riding rigid the entire time. My fork was broke, didn't move up and down. If you rode this course you would know the importance of front suspension. I also had some front derailleur issues, like it wouldn't drop into the granny gear.

After my ninth lap and riding one eyed in the dark I decided it was time to rest my eye with the hopes it would fix itself and stop burning. It was 11pm, I set my alarm for 1am. When I woke up my eye was still burning, so sleep it was. I woke at 6am, 7 hrs later-ugh, my eye was betta, I ate some food and started riding again.

I finished with 11 laps, less then I had anticipated. Overall I had a great time at this event and highly recommend it if you wanna have fun! The course was a mixed bag of terrain, which was awesome and kept it interesting. In the future I would definitely bring my support man JayP, no one does it betta and I shure did miss him at this event!! I am undecided about the bike choice and wonder if the Salsa Spearfish would have been a better ride for this course, guess I'll have to find out next year!

Til next time!!

Fitz-Barn 2012

Wow! Fitz-Barn was a WICKED good time!  I definitely recommend this ride for 1st time bike packers, for those who are gear testing for a up coming longer ride or for anyone who just wants to have FUN!

As I was getting ready for this "ride" I focused on carrying the least amount of gear that I could, which of course changes with every ride depending on temps, wx conditions and terrain, very hard to figure out sometimes. Being that I was on home turf made it a little easier.

My gear list was as follows:
Sleeping system: NeoAir therm-a rest & Montbell sleeping quilt
Clothing: Montbell rain, wind & puffy jackets, tights, ultra light wool long sleeve top, arm warmers, warm hat & gloves, 1 and a half buffs
Fix it: 2-29er tubes, quick links/small piece of chain, lube and rag, zip ties, duct tape, patch kit, pump
Personal: eye drops, toothbrush and paste, vitamin I, chamois cream, contacts, antibiotic ointment, phone, camera
Food: Kate's real food bars, licorice, sunflower seeds, nuts, grilled cheese, nut rolls, misc, no bags of hot nasty

It was so great to be able to leave pretty much right from my house with several friends! The start was a little delayed but ya gotta be flexible, a lesson I learned long ago. Roll out was fast & furious as usual, there is always talk of this casual group ride start but it just never seems to go that way. I headed out with JayP, TJ & Bill M and was able to keep up until my seat post started to slide down and I had to stop ant fix it just outside Tetonia, after that, I was on my own-which I kinda like & am getting more used to.

This part of the road was a little knarly, but didn't last for long.

I had no idea these sand dunes were so close to my house!

I had no idea there would be snacks in the middle of where?

Heading toward Dubois where I caught up with JayP & TJ.

I caught up with JayP & TJ just about 20 miles outside of Dubois, it was freakin' HOT! I was still feelin good   but that changed within 10 miles of Dubois. My stomach started cramping and I needed something cold to drink. 5 of us showed up in Dubois and had lunch. I wanted to leave with JayP & TJ which I did, but I just wasn't able to keep up. My legs started cramping, no way did I stop, I began to rub my legs and move around on the bike asking the cramps over and over to go away, I just dealt with it and ate some more electrolytes. 10:30 pm rolled around and I was at the bottom of Banock Pass, it was time to sleep. I dread going to sleep cuz it's so hard for me to wake up. I ate a grill cheese and set my alarm for 3:45 am, which I have discovered is unrealistic for me, unless I am with someone, which makes it easier to get up. My sleep was restless and the cramps made me whimper in the night, but I just fought thru them and kept asking them to go away. I surprised myself when I heard my alarm and woke up. I saw what I thought was like 4 people riding and moving around, only to find out later it was just Bill and I was hallucinating in the dark. I got up about 430am and started to move. Lemme tell ya, it's cold & dark, I do not like it. Getting redressed is tough, and within minutes I changed only to change again, and again. It was very cold coming down the Banock Pass, I couldn't feel my hands so I put them down my pants every few minutes and continued to ride towards the sunshine! I did stop at one point and cry, but all was good after that and the sun finally hit me. It was kinda freaky going the opposite way I had just come 2 months ago, very cool to be in a familiar place.

Food was scarce during this ride so good planning was essential, but very hard at times. I did run low on food between resupplies and ran out of water 2x's 20 miles out of resupply, which is fine, so long as it's not 40 miles out. I was excited to get to Grant, as it was familiar and I knew there was water there. I ran into a man who lived next door to Ned & Ester the water resupply in Grant. He wanted to chat and tell me where to go, but you can't listen to these people, b/c they have no idea what you are doing or willing to do to follow the track and they don't ride bikes! When people tell you its downhill, it's not, they have no idea how far anything is even though they have been living there for 30 yrs. It was NOT all DH from Grant to Jackson, not even close. The road was washboard and this car with the license plate Spine DR, kept driving back and forth around me stirring up the dust-ugh!

Ahhh, Jackson! What a relief, food and cold drinks! The hot springs here were very tempting! I Got a good meal and a grill cheese with fries to go. It's very interesting how different grill cheese's can be. There was a man who was touring to PA who said Jay and TJ had been in 3 hrs earlier, boy did I want to catch them! I was happy about not staying here too long & got on my way, wanting to make it as far as I could that night.

I laughed when i saw this thinking, I wonder if anyone will try to ride this. Shure enough I later found out TJ tried, fell in but had his get out of broken bike card with him. 

It was definitely smoky, which made it hard to swallow food. As I headed over to Skalkaho Rd, I ran into 6 huge horses that were on the rd. It was dark and they wanted to race! I tried to get around them but they just kept running faster kicking up the dust, after about 10 mins they finally tore off into the woods. It was cool except for the dust. I went to bed about 1130 Sat night, and really, really wanted to get up at 4am, but was unsuccessful, instead I woke at 630-ugh! I believe the time for me to get up is 5am, that is doable, guess I'll find out next time. The grill cheese was not appetizing, it was soggy, so I had a Kate bar which was great. Once it warmed up a bit I was able to choke down the GC, and again was running low on snacks, so the rationing began. By the time I finished all I had left was salty sunflower seeds & no water. 

The roads were quiet, and I hardly saw anyone. I did see lots of wildlife though, cows, horses, big horn sheep, regular sheep, skunks, a heard of Elk which ran right in front of me, a huge buck, some other deer, rabbits, snakes, a monkey, & coyotes howling in the night  

It was thru here I was unable to shift down into my front small chain ring, about 50 miles from the finish. The housing on the cable was shredded and was rubbing the cable itself, so I peeled as much of it as I could off, tried turning the adjuster barrels but eventually just dealt with not being able to down shift, I certainly did not want my cable to snap! Welp, I gotta lotta miles outta those! Hopefully my mechanic will replace them. 

It was so amazing to be riding through this area, as I looked around I could see the rds to where I was going and it seemed so big, very FUN! The terrain was very friendly, a good time fer shure!

The finish! I was super stoked to make it! There are so many variables and things that can happen in these multi-day rides, ya just never know, so I always feel very fortunate to get to the finish!

As always I learned a few more things which I will carry to my next adventure!

Thanks to Magic Wanda Salsa Cycles, Fitzgerald's Bicycles, Red Barn Bicycles, Princeton Tec, Montbell,  WTB, Giro , Kate's real food & Trackleaders for being a part of another successful ride! 

Til' next time! T-Race

Finishing place	4
Race Status	Finished
Last Update Rec'd	09:17:58 PM (MDT) 08/19/12
Current speed	0.1 mph
Route mile	404.56 mi
Route average speed	6.7 mph
Route distance per day	161.02 mi
Moving Time	1:13:37
Stopped Time	0:22:33
Moving Average Speed	10.8 mph
Current Elevation	3675 ft

http://fitz-barn.blogspot.com/http://fitz-barn.blogspot.com/http://fitz-barn.blogspot.com/

I can't keep up with myself! My right hand is not back to full working order yet, I'm not totally caught up at work, damn that paperwork seems to multiply like rabbits, but I'm super stoked to be gearing up for the Fitz-Barn! Even though this ride will 'hopefully" be just a few days, I am looking forward to the freedom and fulfilling this addiction I have acquired, ride, eat, sleep, repeat.

I was back on the bike a week after I got back from the TD, leading the ladies ride. I've been riding here and there, getting the boyz out on Rush Hour, a sweet new local trail, a few single track rides, which kinda freaks me out knowing the bears are around, plenty of time on the road bike, which is good but I do get bored of, even did a local hill climb, which I thought I was going to do betta in but I was slower then last year, some volunteering at local events, Victor ID fer shure has it going on! Back at the farm, lemme tell ya, people think it's this easy volunteer job, but that farming is physically demanding, some days it's like doing 5 hrs of squats, harvesting & weeding. Pretty awesome we get a homemade lunch afterwards. Since I do get so many veggies and love to cook, that takes time as well. The days are just too short, or maybe I need to hire a house cleaner, chef, grocery shopper, bookkeeper and quit my job.

I started commuting again over Teton Pass last week, drive in, ride Magic Wanda home, ride road bike in, drive home. I love it! Am I recovered from the TD? I don't know. I haven't been sleeping as much as when I first got back, but I am certainly not in any fast kinda shape, I do know that I can ride for a long time. And thats where I am at. I've actually been here for  awhile. I have done a few "fast" races over the past couple years, but my main races have been multi-day & I my 1st real solo race was the Stagecoach 400.

So, I have much to say, many memories to share, I'd love to publish my gear list if I get a chance, and eventually will, but this is all for now. Gotta get ready for the FITZ-BARN!

Long time coming...

I am working on my TD update. I have been catching up with work and life and doing many great things. Be shure my story is something I can't wait to share!

Stagecoach 400/road trip

This was a great trip, ride race! I am currently gearing up for the Tour Divide 2012, and am very excited, so the Stagecoach 400 was a shakedown to help me prepare, and I learned a TON! I have actually never done a MTB race of this length solo. I was responsible for all the decisions, taking care of myself and my bike. Of course I had plenty of prep help from JayP which is priceless.

Our vacation started with a local dig day on Sunday, I have never raked rocks before, very interesting. 

Then I went for a quick spin and we finished loading the van. This was also the 1st road trip we had taken our dogs Rippin' & Chillin' on, and they proved to be great travelers! 

We made it to St George late Monday afternoon and got in a short, but warm ride.  I love the desert fauna, it's so wild looking. 

We spent the night in the Valley of Fire just outside Vegas, what a cool little camp spot, then made it to Idyllwild the next day Tues to do a little pre-riding. Big pine cones and pretty forest. 

Camping was available right in Idyllwild which was very sweet. 

So we did some more gear fiddling, then met up with Brendan to get some info about another pre-ride near San Diego. We got to take the boyz to the doggie beach and they loved it, and so did I, I love the beach and ocean. Then we did some more pre-riding, met up with a couple friends. We spent the night at a campground we had been to before which is right on the beach, but it was raining, so all four of us, our bikes and gear slept in the van on our very, very cozy mattress. we headed back to Idyllwild the next day. Camped again right outside Idyllwild and took the boys to their acclimation at the kennel-they passed with flying colors and got to stay. 

Go time! The race was originally scheduled to start at 8am, but was delayed due to the spots arriving late. Then we finally departed 1030 am. 

Within the 1st 3 miles I was greeted by a man  and his big utility truck which almost hit me shouting "get outta here, this is private property!" somehow I rode around him and just kept going. There was a bit of climbing, but a lot of descending. About 15 miles outta Borrego Springs I sliced my tire, probably on one of these metal elephants in the middle of no-where? 

Not knowing there was no slime in my tubeless tire, I had to stopped every five miles to fill it up, thinking it would seal, no luck, but I knew I would be in Borrego Springs soon to fix it. The 1st store I came across was a True-Value, I knew they would have slime! I got the slime then headed to the burrito shop and spoke with some fellow racers who were more then eager to help me out, but we could not figure out how to get the presta valve out. Fortunately Brendan had shown up and we got the tire all fixed up as I was on my way. I am shure I spent more then an hour at this stop trying to figure this out.

I got 2 burritos, ate 1/2 of one there and carried the others, which probably weighed about 2 lbs each to the Stagecoach RV park. For some reason, I did not have enough food from the start, and boy was I feelin' it. So when I arrived the RV camp at 130 am, I just ate the other 1/2 of burrito. I was getting tired of carrying this 2lb burrito so when I woke at 4am I ate 1/2, threw away a quarter, which I would later regret and stuffed 1/4 in my pack, with no more food. The next time I was able to get food was mile 151. I ate a bucket of soup, snack mix and the reloaded til mile 205, in San Diego. I got there at 1am, I was tired and hungry, so BK fish sandwich it was, then I searched for a cheap room, which I finally found. I showered, slept, devoured a couple danishes and felt like a million bucks. 

I started heading thru SD and really wanted and egg and cheese, which I got and headed towards Sea World, only to get very confused by people and my GPS. I think I spent about 2 hours riding the same path back and forth trying to figure it out, and finally did-ugh! that was trippy! It wasn't til mile 271 that I got another meal, Mickey D's fish sandwich, (BK's is better) and some more food to go, but still not enough. All I had left for the last 25 miles was 2 cheese crackers and about 20 chocolate covered espresso beans. 


I began stumbling and need to rest, I only wanted to lay down for an hour but did not hear my alarm and woke 2 hours later. I tried to move forward again, but wasn't able to get on the bike and pedal, so I just laid down in my rain jacket for 20 minutes and that seemed to do the trick. I like being able to just get up and go. 


The Anza Market was closed when I got there but there was some water left out, which I was also out of. I still felt good though and just cruised along. I saw someone catching up to me so of course I started charging. Luckily the Hemet Lake market was open 15 miles before the finish, I grabbed a coke and cinnamon bun and continued the climb to the finish, only to get turned around 6 miles from the finish by a woman in a white car, who followed me almost all the way back to Idydlwild. I was disappointed to not be able to finish the original course and really didn't like the hwy climb, but rolled into Idyllwild just before 10am, to be greeted by my amazing husband who had won,  and other racers. 


I got changed, ate a very great b-fast, took a shower and we headed home! We were home by 430 am the next day. I was at work by 10am, doing Payroll, catching up all the day ends and then finally got to fold and stuff invoices. Whirl wind of a trip at the end, but very much enjoyed! I would highly recommend this race!

The Togwotee Winter Classic was a BLAST! We didn't have to decide which milage we were doing until we got out there, super cool! I thought I would do the 35 miler but knew I would have more fun riding 25 miles. Yes conditions were soft, but ridable, except those few hills in the beginning, were a few had turned around to go ski powder. It was snowing and blowing, but not too bad and it was just great to be out there. Many think I like it when the conditions are soft and nasty, and they are correct! But it's not so much that I like them, it's just favorable to me because I know how do deal with it and know it's only gonna last a few hours. And here is where I use my perception. We were 7 miles, approx 1.5 hrs into the race, on and off the bike and another male racer says to me "I'm turning around." I asked why? he says "because this isn't fun." a huge smile came across my face as I replied "I think this is a blast, it's only gonna last 5-7 hrs, you might as well enjoy it!" guess he turned around because I didn't see him again. The start was fast and furious and it took a bit for the crowd to break up.

I was able to ride with Fitzy and Chad for a bit then broke away after about 3 hrs, I musta been getting warmed up by then. I listened to my tunes and pedaled away to the finish in 1st place for the women (outta 3) and 5th overall in a time of 4hrs43mins. There were some people out from a newspaper in Laramie taking pictures and cheering me on, thats always fun, and I saw about 3 groups of 10 snowmobilers, so it was pretty quite out there.

I tried to keep my bike as light as I could by not using any frame bags, just poggies and a feed bag, which worked out great! I carried my fix-its in my hydropack, along with 70 oz of water I drank about 20 oz of-I brought too much water which = weight, booo. But better to err on the side of too much then too little. I drank a 20 oz bottle of emergency, ate 1 stinger waffle and 1 bag a stinger chews. I like to eat a burrito in the morning which keeps me full through a race of this length. Being as warm as it was I was able to get away with a wool base, wind vest and my favorite Fitzy long sleeve jersey.

I had my camera with me but failed to take any pictures, which I need to get back in the habit of doing.

Looking forward to more adventures! Til next time!

T-Race

Arrowhead 135, 2012

I would like to thank Princeton Tec for helping us get here! They paid our entry fee and of course have the best lights in the world! I used the Apex Extreme, the EOS Bike and the Swerve. With the possibility of running into a snow mobiler I knew fer shure that I would be seen!

You would think I have this snow bike racing thing all figured out by now, well, I don't, and that's OK. Every race has its variables and with the majority of my past races being multi-day events, preparing for a 135 mile "sprint" race is obviously different. I knew from the beginning it was going to be a fast pace and that I wouldn't be sleeping 'til I was done.

The journey to the race always seems like just as much as an adventure as the race itself. We drove to MN from ID in the winter. We were expecting driving conditions to be heinous, but overall we lucked out. There was a blizzard going on when we left but by the time we were through MT, the roads were clear, but very windy. We made it to Bismark, where they have the shitty-est coffee in the world! We slept and completed our drive on Friday. We arrived in I-Falls, MN Friday evening where we met our host housing, Anton Oveson. What a trip! This guy is a true original. Upon entering the house, we were shown the pinball machines along with several other very interesting items. It was like a museum, just fascinating! Anton is like a never ending book full of fun, exciting and interesting stories. He is also very kind and generous. It was great cuz he knows the Arrowhead Tr. like the back of his hand, since he grew up in I-Falls, I guess he should, therefore he was able to give us a guided tour through parts of the course as well as some details and what to expect.

We went for a short ride Sat morning and checked out the beginning of the course, it was flat, but pretty. The trail goes through swamps and forest. We did our gear check and race packet pick up, which was very smooth. In the afternoon we took a ride with Anton to check out some other parts of the course where there could be some confusion, then out to diner at the Chocolate Moose, which is the best place in town to eat. Then back to Anton's for some more fun stories.

We slept in Sunday, found the good coffee/breakfast place in town and did some race prep, packed the bike with food and gear. I wasn't really shure what to bring, and at this point I wasn't shure of what I would wear. The temps were predicted to be in the 20's and that to me is warm. So I wind up switching some of what I normally wear, ie. vapor barrier and Montbell soft shell jacket, for Fitzy jersey and light wind jacket and was very comfortable. I also brought what I call, my honey jacket, Montbell lightweight puffy and balaclava. The pre-race meeting was fun with LOTS of great raffles.

Monday, race day! Breakfast, get dressed, stuffed the food on the bike and headed to the start. Lots of racers doing last minute gear adjustments and taking pictures, the energy was exciting! We all lined up and ready go! Of course there is always that fast group in the front that takes off, its hard not to get caught up in it. So right out of the gate I was thinking I could maintain 11mph for the whole ride. I felt good and was having a good time. The course was flat and mostly firm. I rode with a couple guys and Eszter for a bit, but I was still fiddling with some of my gear. I was trying to keep Eszter in sight, but then 2 guys passed me and it was like they all hooked together like a train. I thougth fer shure I'd catch them. When I arrived at CP1 my competition was 20 minutes ahead, I stopped for the bathroom and a warm drink, then on my way. There were lots of people around cheering. About 15 miles of out CP2 I ran out of water, but so did a lot of others. Got to CP2 for some really good bean stew, chips, grilled cheese, plus one to go and some cookies to go, and of course water. At this point I was and hour behind, but as I always say "it ain't over til its over". It started to get hilly and dark, I like the night. Shure it was hard to stay awake but I just kept moving forward. I was excited to get to CP3, and see some people, get a warm drink and continue on. There were lots of wolf tracks around but I never saw any, not even any eyeballs. I wasn't scared cuz I knew there were people behind me. The last 25 miles of the race, I started sleep riding and did some running to help wake me up. I began to see some racers pulled over sleeping and I was kinda surprised. For me I knew I would be awake however long it took me to get it done, and thats what I did. I finished at 6am, 23 hrs later.

Overall the course was mellow, not too much pushing up hill, which I think was mainly due to using the Nate tire in the rear. I do think that the Endomorph would have been a better tire choice for me in these conditions and I certainly didn't need the balaclava! I learned a few things and I would change some of my food/drink choices.

The Arrowhead135 was well organized, had great energy and was fun. Thanks all!

The riding conditions in ID are excellent right now, so I am looking forward to putting down some miles, along with some boot camp training and spending time with the boyz. Up next maybe a skate race and fer shure the 2012 Togwotee Winter Classic, which already has 27 racers signed up! Yeehaw!!

'Til next time!

T-Race

What's going on??? Well I had a very interesting year, one I wish to not revisit, which is why I am so looking forward to 2012! It's here, it has begun and it's gonna be fun!!! I have been busy doing stuff, living life. We all know it goes by so quick and day to day life takes time. To start off we have been doing lots of riding in West Yellowstone, and it has been amazing! Not only is the riding out of this world, but it's a quick little w/e get away for Jay, myself and the boyz. The 1st few times we went, people were asking if we were sleeping in the van or outside, but we haven't been, we have been sleeping inside hotels, kinda like "normal" people. We like to head up on Friday, get the boyz out for a couple hour ride along the way and then make our way up to West, either for a quick skate or another ride and spend the night. The next day we get the boyz out and then get ourselves out.

Let's talk about the riding. We have gone several w/e since Thanksgiving and the conditions have always rocked, lots of riding, not much pushing. We haven't had any run ins with the snowmobilers and have gotten plenty of thumbs up! I am comfortable saying there is over 500 miles of sweetly groomed trails for our riding enjoyment! But, it is still a work in progress. We "snow bikers" are a new user group, so details need to be worked out and I agree we should have to contribute some $$ to help pay for the grooming. There are many opportunities for our new sport to grow, many people are gaining interest and want to try it, including some bilers!

The local ski resort, Grand Targhee, has introduced snow biking, and even had it's 1st race Jan 15th, which was a huge success, 46 snow bikers showed up to race! We attempted the West n Back, but due to fluke conditions there was a re-route ridden with a great lunch at the Pond's with lots of brainstorming and story sharing.

So what does my exciting year hold in store? Well I will be heading to MN, instead of Alaska this year to partake in the Arrowhead 135. I am really excited about getting into this race and conquering it! The conditions haven't been favorable for snow biking in MN, but of course it changes constantly, and you never know what'll you'll get but it is fer shure what you make of it! I am looking forward to some nordic skating, more riding in Feb, the Togwotee Winter Classic, spreading the word about snow biking and getting more people on snow bikes! oh and some more riding!

Got some other adventures up my sleeve for the year, so stay tuned!

Til next time!