Author: The Adventuring Heidi

I saw my first blooming wildflower yesterday – it must be spring!

Ahhh… green grass, chirping birds, little baby prairie dogs – so exciting!  This winter was hard on me for some reason, so I am much enjoying the warm temperatures and greening-up of the world.  I’m even compelled to do yard work… not sure what’s up with that, but I’ll take it (and it’s a decent work out as well!)

I haven’t posted in awhile, so here’s to a hodge-podge of thoughts

1. Oh snap, race season
One week from now I will be done with my first mountain bike race of the year, Rumble at 18 Road.  Kinda nervous, not sure how it’ll go.  Then a week after that I’ll race in the Ridgeline Rampage.  A week after that the Deer Trail Road Race.  A week after that hopefully a time trial in Colorado Springs.  Few weeks off, and I’ll round out end of May/beginning of June with the IHBC MTB race, IHBC TT, PV Cycle Derby, Beti Bike Bash, either a MTB or TT mid-week, and end the first week of June with a 5k running race.  Eeek.  And speaking of racing, I got into the Laramie Enduro through the lottery.  What the heck…. I’m sure it’ll be a bad idea, and not sure why I actually paid the entry fee, but at least I’ll get the tee shirt, right?

2.  Moab!
The race in Fruita next weekend mostly means super awesome trip to Moab afterwards!  I scored a campsite in Arches National Park (actually, the only one available for weeks and weeks… booyyyahhhh) for Saturday night.  Sooooooooooo excited!  All the hotels were $100-200 a night, so $20 for camping doesn’t seem so bad at all!  Definitely excited to ride the Klondike Bluffs trails, and especially EKG.  Nerdy nurse here, of course I want to ride a trail that looks like a scary A-fib rhythm!

3. Fitwall
Wouldn’t you know, I am still doing Fitwall!  After dealing with the debilitating soreness after my first try at it (my blog post wasn’t fully accurate… though I woke up fine, the uber soreness hit later that afternoon on a MTB ride and left me barely able to move the next two days.), I’ve learned it’s not so bad and don’t feel that sore anymore.  I’ve been going once a week due to work, but am noticing some improvements in my upper body strength, especially when mountain biking.  Who knew I’d do something like Fitwall, right?

4. Kim comes to visit oh so soon!
OK, first week of June… but that’s soon!  Soon enough to be on the new work schedule that’s coming out!  We’re all over the place on what we want to do.  Kim found a 5k running race in Westminster to do, so I might just try to do this foreign thing called “running” and waddle beside her.  Otherwise I gotta take her to see bison, and Vedauwoo, and Medicine Bow Peak.  And even the MAC store in Boulder, though I hardly wear makeup anymore.

5. Getting better on the bike
People love to hate on Strava, but I love it as I can compare my results and see how I’m improving.  Yesterday I did a rather long ride at Curt Gowdy, and knocked 30 minutes off of my Middle Kingdom time without even really “strava-ing” it.  And I’m starting to see heart rate improvements as well.  Pretty neat stuff, makes me rather giddy.  I even did this rather steep drop off off of granite yesterday.  I was pretty sure I was going to fall and knock myself out in BFE and the baby prairie dogs would eat my body, but I made it down.  I may or may not have done a dorky happy dance, which is alright because I was the only person around 😛

I really don’t know what else to write… the sun is shining, sky is blue so I’m being called to go outside.  I really want to rake leaves for some reason!

After a morning of disasters, including having to break into my own house when I locked my keys in, my bike coming out of my new Thule Side Arm bike carrier 1/2 mile down the interstate when I did finally leave home, and temporarily misplacing my debit card, I was a little hesitant on how my ride would go today.  I headed down to ride Blue Sky and Indian Summer in Colorado with the sole plan of riding without stopping – especially on the climbs – and finally starting my MTB training for the year.

But wait, you say, haven’t I already ridden a MTB this year?  Of course I have.  And sure, they were training.  But not training.  Two were pretty much social rides, one was goofing off in the snow on STC the day I brought home the Epic, and the one wayyyyy back in January with Matt was just trying to find my MTB legs again.  There’s a difference for me.  I like the company of others, but I feel I get the most bang for my buck on the MTB when I’m solo and determined.

The wind howled, and I almost felt like I was back in Wyoming for a moment.  My legs felt good and strong (I’m sure the wind pushing me helped!), and I felt comfortable on the Epic.  To this day I am still weary of the Epic’s speed and still lacking the connection to the bike like I feel with my old Rainier.  We zipped around corners and up and down the rollers, and I loved the fact the trail was empty.  Even had the chance to practice getting my bottle and drinking while moving, and realized buying the Purist bottle was the best decision ever as it fits in the pitifully small bottle space the Epic has.  I made it to the end of the zippy part of Blue Sky, to wear the railings and hike-a-bike starts and finally took a breather.  Over 6 miles in, no stopping and I felt good.  I snapped the above photo, drank more of the Roctane I’m giving a try and swung the bike around for the descent.  I played around with the idea of continuing to Devil’s Backbone, but decided the techy stuff of Laughing Horse loop didn’t quiet appeal to me and I still had Indian Summer to conquer.

Turning around I was faced with the wind, which halved my speed, but still felt a lot nicer on the trail than it does on the road.  I was bound and determined to make it to Indian Summer and up and over that trail without stopping, preferably to the junction with Coyote Ridge after the big Blue Sky climb.  I knew it was ambitious, but could be done.  I tend not to stop as much when I’m solo as when others are around (explain that one…).  The Epic and I started our granny gearing switchbacks up Indian Summer.  Every once in awhile a big wind gust would hit us and threaten to blow us off the hill, but we persevered.  Climbing, climbing, and more climbing.  Pedal stroke, pedal stroke, pedal stroke.  It’s true, sometimes a person just has to focus on keeping the pedals moving and nothing else.  Finally the steep portion that caused me to stop the last time I rode this trail appeared and attacked it – up and over I went, and I continued on.  Eventually I was on the descent and so completely satsified with myself.  “Do I stop at the bottom and have a snack?  Or do I just keep the rhythm going?  Mmm, Big City Burrito sounds good, I’ll treat myself.”

I kept going.  Almost immediately after coming off of Indian Summer you head up the Blue Sky climb.  First time I rode this in January it didn’t go so well and I walked parts of it.  Second time I was bound and determined to make it up it without stopping, only to have to stop when some people didn’t heed to the whole “yield to uphill riders” thing.  Third time is a charm?  Yes indeed!  The climb seemed short.  I reached the Coyote Ridge junction and wondered where all the hill had gone.  It didn’t seem as long or as hard.  What in the world?!

I pedaled against the wind the rest of the way down Blue Sky, but not feeling bad at all.  I finally was feeling one with the Epic.  We swooped around corners and I actively talked to myself about letting off the brakes a bit more.  I spun the legs out for a few miles on the Inlet Bay trail, only being stopped by trail closures due to the wildfire.  Otherwise I bet you anything I would’ve rode to Lory State Park just because I could it it felt good.  The Epic covers ground amazingly fast, it would’ve been cake.  People, please stop setting forests on fire – it hampers my trail time, dammit!

15.2 miles in less than two hours.  I rocked it today.  Best of all, I knocked 1 minute 15 seconds off of my personal best on the Blue Sky climb.  No wonder it seemed shorter!

And yes, I did reward myself with a Big City potato burrito!

First MTB race is April 13th.  I’m still wondering if I’ll be ready.  I feel a bit better after today, but know I need to hit the trails hard until race day.  Weather hasn’t been playing very nice lately, which always puts a damper on this.  I’m also battling skittish mental demons that plague my mountain biking.  I always fall off my bike to the left, no matter what, and therefore have a huge issue with left sided exposure.  Even if I’m not even close to falling or riding off the trail if I even give it a one second thought usually somehow my body will make sure I try to fall off that left side.  Last week it sent the Epic into a rock and me running 50 feet down an embankment for Horsetooth Reservoir.  I’m also having an issue with taking corners at speed.  I’m not sure where all these demons have come from but I wish they’d go away.  The clock is ticking…

Oh the things I find myself doing…

So one of my teammates is a FitWall instructor, and the studio is also one of my cycling team’s sponsors, so in turn we have little team workout sessions at FitWall-The Studio here in Cheyenne.  Matt went last week and was raving about how I had to try it, though he said I would probably hate it and wouldn’t do well.  Challenge accepted!

FitWall is a vertical training system that engages our body’s “fight or flight” system (sympathetic nervous system for all you science nerds like me!  Which lead me to think about how I won’t wanna eat or pee while I’m doing it…).  By engaging the fight or flight, you engage a whole heck of a lot more muscles than your typical on the ground/sitting work out.  Also, your joints are decompressed while on the wall, which reduces the change of injury.  Pretty interesting stuff!

My main hesitation were about my knees.  I baby the crap out of my right knee, and all it’s suppose to do in life is pedal a bicycle happily.  I’ve decided to call it my Princess Knee, as I treat it like a spoiled princess.  Makes the left knee not so happy, but that’s how life works.  I whined about this to Matt, and he pretty much told me to suck it up and just go.  Ok…

A FitWall workout takes about 30 minutes, and since you’re engaging more muscles at once, you get way more of a workout in 30 minutes than you would in the gym in 30 minutes.  Even better!

So how did it go for me?  It was a sweaty, finger numbing good ol’ time!  Holy crap did that 30 minutes work up a sweat, and get my heart rate up!  Even better is only one or two of the exercises made Princess Knee angry, so my fears of hurting my knee were unfounded and I found ways to work around any discomfort.  I think I did discover new muscles in my body that I didn’t know I had.  11 minutes in, and my fingers were protesting having to get back on the wall, but I fought through it.  I really enjoyed some of the leg exercises, then again, any time I can point my toes and pretend I’m a pretty, graceful ballerina in my head is a good thing!  We ended with using bungee rubber rope cord thingies and doing some ab exercises, which was a nice cool down.  Thankfully I have decent abs naturally!

Now the big test was to see how sore I would be.  I woke up this morning pleasantly surprised!  I had that slight “I worked out, I’m sore, and it feels oh so good” soreness in my shoulders, arms, and calfs.  The only part of me that doesn’t seem to be working right are my fingers, and I fumbled around with the toothbrush a bit.  Fine motor skills are a bit off, but no T-Rex arms.  Not too bad for spending nearly 30 minutes hanging from my fingertips!  Actually made me excited to go do more, which is weird because I have a strong aversion to any sort of exercise outside of riding a bike and the occasional hike/walk.

So there, I tried a workout program, and surprisingly it went well and I see myself going back!  Unfortunately work will dictate how often I can go, but I definitely can see myself adding FitWall in between all the bike riding and couch sitting I do!  Maybe it’ll grow my little puny baby arms into something, right?  🙂

Time to mark my first race on pavement off the list of To Do items!  Today I competed in the Frostbite Time Trial in northern Colorado – a ~11.5 mile long out and back rolling hills windy time trial.  First race of the season, first race on pavement, first nerves of the year, first race for my team, first time wearing a team kit, first race on the Shiv, first time wearing a TT helmet, first time road riding without gloves… the list goes on and on!  Lots of firsts!

I went into this race with a lot of hesitancy and nerves.  A few posts back I talked about my lack of training and general slowness and dislike of road riding.  A week ago Matt and I rode the course, and I struggled to get it down in 40 minutes.  It was so discouraging.  I suddenly wondered if I should change my goal from “make the top 10” to “finish DFL.”

Matt and I arrived at the site around 8:10am.  Matt was scheduled to race at 10:06 and me at 11:31.  So plenty early, but I like being early.  We picked up our numbers and hung out until our teammates arrived with the Spradley Barr trailer.

After some chatting Matt and Kirk jumped on the trainers to begin their warm up.  I fiddled around feeding Matt bananas and water and wondered how my aching knee would handle the race.

Soon I was pinning on Matt’s number and sending him off to the start.  Definitely had some fun with spray adhesive and the number… oh the random tips you can find on Google!  I hustled up to the start with my camera, forgetting how far away it was, as I usually ride it by bike.  I barely made it time, as Matt was already lined up and ready to go.  I hung out and took photos for about 30 minutes, and then hustled back to the trailer so I could get ready, barely missing Matt’s finish (which led to me missing out on getting good photos of him… sigh).

I slapped some KT Pro Tape on my right knee, pulled on my knee warmers, tossed on my shoes, and piled myself onto the trainer.  For the record, this is the first time I have ever warmed up for a race.  For my mountain bike races last summer my warm up consisted of riding across the parking lot to the hut to sign in, and riding back to my car.  Maybe a 1/4 mile of “effort.”  So I didn’t know what to do, except I knew I didn’t want to stress out my knee too much.  I pedaled off and on for about 23 minutes and munched on a PB&J and banana and drank a bottle of water with Hammer Fizz (the bad thing to starting late… breakfast was out of my system and I was hungry!).  The pee started to come on like crazy, and I actually had to take a bathroom break on the trainer.  I finally gave up on the trainer and started just nervously wandering around.  My teammate Shareen was awesome enough to let me borrow her TT helmet.  One final pee break (seriously, what was with all the peeing?!), and Shareen fixed up my hair and adjusted the helmet for me.  Then off I went to the starting line!

I was first up to go in my class, SW4.  Much to my dismay there was no one to hold me at the start, so I would have to worry about getting my left foot clipped in after I started.  I kept telling myself to not go too hard at the start, as I would have 11.5 tough miles ahead of me in the wind.  Before I knew it the official was counting down and I went at GO!

I quickly settled down onto the aero bars (even got clipped in rather quickly-ish), made a\m/ and stuck my tongue out at Matt and his friend, and got on my way.  Time trials usually don’t have a lot to discuss, but lest I forget the WIND.  This event is known for the horrible wind!  Now, mind you, I live in Wyoming, I know about wind and bikes, but it’s a whole ‘nother animal on aero bars.  There was a terrible side wind, and since the race is held on a frontage road of I-25, the semi trucks would leave a wind wake that would swish me around.  One time I grabbed the cowhorns in panic, but soon figured out how to hang on tight and just go with it.  The out portion of the course goes downhill, so I reminded myself to not go too crazy.  I looked at my Garmin and saw I was cruising at a pleasant 23mph which I was pleased with, so I quickly turned to singing “1994” by Jason Aldean in my head (seriously, the most annoying country song out there at the moment, yet so catchy!) and remembering to keep my cadence up.

Two girls in my class that started several racers back whizzed by me, yet I remained unfazed.  I came up to the turn around, and cautiously took it and then hammered back up to speed.  I enjoyed about a mile of a tailwind until the wind swirled into a vicious side/head wind the zapped my energy.  I tried to power up the hills and recover when I could.  Soon I was getting passed by stupidly fast male racers.  I still concentrated on even breathing and my cadence.  I knew coming back in my time and speed was nothing like going out, but I was still ahead of my personal best time.   I randomly picked out girls in my class that I did NOT want passing me, and used this for motivation on the long steady climb back.  I had a scare about a mile from the finish when a huge gust of wind caught me and images of myself tumbling down the road at 22mph came into my head.  A quick break from the aero position saved the day, and I settled back down.

I was soon on the last climb and headed towards the finish.  I could see it!  I found every last ounce to pound down on the pedals and push as hard as I could.  Another girl slipped by me near the finish, and I used this as motivation to put my head down and sprint for it.  And then it was all done!

36 minutes 28.428 seconds

Yay, new personal record!  That right there made my day, knowing that I could ride the course in under 40 minutes.  I rode the race with an average heart rate of 185, which is just crazy.  I tried to get it down, but couldn’t, even on descents (thank you crazy wind).

I rode back to the trailer, clumsily got off my bike and sat down before my rubbery legs got the best of me.  I was pooped, and I’m not even sure I was forming proper sentences.  I dug out my chocolate milk (and spilt some while shoving an ice pack under my knee warmer), choked it down – ugh, milk just isn’t appetizing after an effort like this!  Matt wandered back from taking photos and we just hung out chatting up our teammates.  Finally we realized they were posting results, and wandered over to take a look.

Much to Matt’s utter surprise, he placed 9th out of 28 racers in his category!  This was also his first race ever, so big accomplishment!  I am so proud of him, but then again, I’ve known for a long time that he is a rockstar on his bikes!  His time was over 5 minutes faster than mine, also not surprising.  Great race debut for him 🙂

I then found the sheet with my category’s results.  I also finished 9th, out of 15 racers.  I met my top 10 goal!  Woo hoo!  Not dead last, either!  Not too shabby for my road debut, even with all my road slowness and semi-hate of it!  I had to laugh though… the top finisher in my category laid down a time that rivaled the pro men.  Yeahhhhhhhhh.  LOL.  She was 3 minutes over the 2nd place finished.  What a beast!

So I am quite fired up for the race season now!  And I’m definitely buying a TT helmet because they’re pretty sweet 😉  My next TT is not until Memorial Day at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, so I have a ways to wait.  Next up on the schedule is Rumble at 18 Road in Fruita, CO, which is a mountain bike race.  I might try to fit in a weekend or two with some other races, pending my work schedule.

I definitely want to get a BIG THANKS to my wonderful team – Spradley Barr Wind Chill Cycling!  The trailer is a blessing, and I really enjoyed meeting and chatting up all my fellow teammates.  There’s nothing like getting congrats and high fives after a race!  Another big thanks for team sponsor The Bicycle Station who I got my Shiv from, and Wendy from fitting me and being my cycling goddess guru that she is!  And thanks to my right knee, though causing me pain, it kept it to a minimum so I could make it to the finish!

Snowmageddon is upon us here in Cheyenne (and most of southeastern WY and the front range of Colorado as well).  It’s actually kind of exciting to have a big snowstorm finally this winter, and I’m not that upset about it.  In fact, I was downright filled with glee to hop on my mountain bike alongside Matt, and go tear up the snow!

It was 23 degrees with 22mph winds, so I had my doubts.  But then it turned out to be one of the funnest days I have ever had on a bike!  There’s something freeing about just jumping on a bike with big ol’ snow boots and jeans, not wearing a heart rate monitor, and not caring about times/speed/cadence.  Just us two goof balls smashing through snow drifts and getting into general shenanigans!  Sometimes things end up being too serious… training, teams, racing, gear.  Just nice to have a day to get away from it all and do something completely goofy.

We found some awesome paths through Lions Park and enjoyed just riding in endless circles.  We even tested out our skills on stairs and steep bridges.  A workout and training without it feeling like one!  Our Giant bikes did awesome.  I was worried about the tires on my Rainier 29er being too whimpy for the snow, but I could plow through deep drifts.  Which led me to the whole “fat bike? I don’t need no stinkin’ fat bike!” thing.  (Nothing against fat bikes, I’m just showing that a “skinny” tire mountain bike can survive the snow as well!)

We ended having 6.3 miles of fun, and spent a little over an hour.  I was having a blast, I could’ve stayed out a lot longer but my cheeks were feeling the wind and cold – I really need a balaclava!

So what did I wear to keep warm on this adventure?  I wore my Specialized RBX shorts, Specialized leg warms, Smart Wool wool hiking socks, my big ol’ winter boots I’m pretty sure I got at Walmart years ago, blue jeans, UA long sleeve thermal shirt, Columbia jacket, scarf crocheted by me, Specialized thermal skull cap, Specialized helmet, and some of Matt’s big thick winter gloves.  I was downright toasty!  Still less than what some roadies in warm climates wear on 50 degree days 😉

Hard to believe I am suppose to be racing in 6 days when I look outside!  I was semi-tempted to take some silly shots of me on the Shiv in the snow all geared up with the clunky winter boots and TT helmet, but the warmth of the house lured me away from that idea.  Tomorrow (and the rest of the week for that matter) will be spent back on the trainer with the Shiv and the Sufferfest: The Long Scream video.

Since last August I had been rocking a Garmin Edge 500 on my handlebars, with much success until Garmin did a screen replacement for me, which totally skewed my GPS reception (the reception had been completely normal with the shattered screen!).  Waiting 25 minutes for satellites to get located (no, really!  That long!) and horrible reception that actually showed me riding in circles in a field once, when I was really riding down a perfectly straight road, started to wear on me.  Garmin told me to just reset it, which didn’t work.  I had to start using my iPhone to “back up” my Garmin in case of bad data, which meant some Strava uploads didn’t have heartrate and cadence info (oh my!).  So when I heard that Garmin was releasing the predecessor to the Edge 500, I was more than happy to jump on the bandwagon!

Today I managed to get my hands on the new Garmin Edge 510 at my local REI.  REI only offers the bundle package in stores, which I was fine with since I already needed another GSC-10 Cadence & Speed Sensor, and apparently I got the only one that they had gotten in stock!

DCRainmaker has an absolutely AWESOME in-depth review of the Edge 510 – way more in-depth that I would ever could expect to go.  For all the little details and how-to’s, I suggest reading his review.  I am just going to showcase my unboxing, size comparison, and my overall impressions, especially in comparison to the Edge 500.

What’s in the box:

• Edge 510 unit
• 2 standard Garmin mounts and a large pile of varying sized rubber bands
• “Out-Front” Garmin mount
• Premium heartrate monitor
• GSC-10 Speed/Cadence Sensor with zip ties
• Mini USB cable
• Lanyard tether
• AC charger with US and European adapters
• Manuals in many many many different languages.

As seen in the photo, all the included bits are in their own plastic bags, which does lead to a lot of trash if they’re all opened, but does make everything organized.  And oh yay, the Out-front Bike Mount!  I totally was not expecting this to be included, especially since it is a $40 accessory on its own!  Definitely relieves the pressure of having enough bike mounts, since I currently have 4 bikes (working on a 5th).

Impressions:

• Size: whoa, it dwarfs the Edge 500!  It’s like the middle bear of the Edge family, with the 800/810 being too big and the 500/200 being too small, there’s the 510 right in the middle!  Photo shows comparison to an iPhone 4 and Edge 500.  This doesn’t necessarily bother me, except it gives it a whole lot more area to get broken during a mountain bike mishap, so I might have to look into alternative mounting options on my mountain bike.

• Touchscreen:  I was hesitant when I read the 510 would be touchscreen.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised!  It uses a resistive touchscreen, so it does work with gloves (I confirmed this by using my thick winter gloves).  Respond is definitely slower than the screen on my iPhone, but is accurate.  Besides, I’m not texting on the 510, so this doesn’t really matter!  I have not tried it while wet, though other reviews say it works well.  The screen is bright, and I did set it to be backlight at all times so I can see it.  Some reviews say it is hard to read in bright sunlight; however, I read this about the 500 as well and never had issues so I am not sure what to think.  If it wasn’t a cloudy, gloomy, impending-snowy winter day, I would be able to say more on this subject.  I love how the screen has colors, which is nice because you can color code different activities, and to me that just makes it fun!

• Usability:  I LOVE IT!  You can profile up to 10 bikes, which is awesome for a bike-a-holic like me that must own one from every category.  The 500 could only profile 3 bikes, and it was a pain in the butt (aka time consuming) to switch bikes – 5 or so different menus to click through.  On the 510 it is merely a swipe of your finger left or right to change your bike on the home screen before you start a ride.  This right there sells me on the 510.  Who cares about the other features, it’s finally easy to change my bike!Also new to the 510 is the ability to have activity profiles.  On the 500 the same data fields were always shown, and were only changed if you went into settings and changed them.  On the 510 you can profile up to 5 different activities and chose what data fields are shown.  I set up 3:  Race, Ride, and Trainer.  The activities are color coded to your choosing (yes, pink and purple are options and of course I am using them).  Just another great feature that adds to the usability of the 510.  For example, when I ride the trainer I do not care about elevation and ascent/descent, so I have it show me time, speed, distance, time of day, cadence, and heart rate all on one page.  For racing I have it set up to show time, distance, speed, heart rate, and cadence on one page, as I am too busy suffering to care about anything else.  For my ride setting I have 3 different pages that go into a lot more detail, including elevation, total ascent/descent, temperature, calories, heading, etc.
  Overall the menus are easy to use, and I didn’t have to bust out a manual to figure them out.  Granted, I am experienced with the 500, which helps out.  The 510 just seems overall more user friendly and intuitive.  I find using a touchscreen much easier than buttons like on the 500.  With the 500’s buttons I constantly would find myself pressing the wrong ones.  Touchscreen is just simpler, touch where I want for what I want!  No remember what button you hold down for menus, and what takes you back, etc.

• GPS: The 510 uses GPS and GLONASS, and I’m finding it to be super quick to find satellites, even indoors away from windows (within seconds… even when my 500 was working properly it struggled to connect to satellites indoors).  I’ll be able to truly judge accuracy the first time I go on a wooded mountain bike ride.  Like on the 500, I set it to data record at 1 second intervals.  As long as the 510 doesn’t show me making crop circles while on a straight road, I think we’ll get along just fine!
• Bluetooth and iPhone Connectivity:  The big “feature” of the 510 is the Bluetooth connectivity to iPhones and Android phones.  Using the free Garmin Connect app, you can send stuff back and forth between the phone and 510.  For example, the 510 can be set to automatically upload an activity to Garmin Connect via the phone.  You can also enable Live Tracking, which is just that – live tracking of your activities for users you approve (or hell, you can link it on Facebook and let everyone stalk you).  Since I often ride solo, this is a nice “peace of mind” feature for Matt, so at least if I bonk my head and am laying on a trail somewhere he can hopefully eventually find me.  Now this is all dependent on cell service, naturally, so wandering off in the wilderness most likely won’t get tracked.  You can also use the app to send workouts and courses to the 510.  The phone can also send weather updates to the device, though only showing 3 hours and no radar data so it is fairly minimal in its usefulness if you ask me.  All of this fancy stuffs was easy to set up.  I am not good with technology, and I handled it all without using the manual, so I’d say it’s pretty foolproof for set up.  My only complaint about this feature is the lack of support for third party sites such as Strava.  Yes, I back up all my activities on Garmin Connect, but Strava is the guts of where I store and analyze and fret over my ride data so if I could instantly upload to that site it would make the 510 that much better.
• Extras: The 510 has lots of little extras.  One of these is “Personal Records” which keeps track of longest ride, fastest 40k time, biggest climb, among other things.  Neat little extra.  There is also a way to set time and distance alerts (and if you have a power meter, power alerts).  I can see how the time one could come in handy for a nutrition reminder, which is something I definitely need to work on so having a device beep at me might be the answer!  For each bike profiled you can choose from 20 bike icons.  Once again, nothing really of importance, but a nice snazzy touch that brings some fun into the picture.  Then of course there is the Workouts and Courses features, which I have not had a chance to work with yet, but is something I should at least try out (other reviews, such as DCRainmaker’s, go more in depth about the workout and course features).

Do I think that it was worth upgrading to the Edge 510 over just replacing my 500 with a 500?  YES!  The biggest selling points to me was the added GLONASS satellite system, ability to profile 10 bikes, and activity profiles.  These are all features that I find important.  The Bluetooth and Garmin Connect features are an added bonus, but not a make it or break it for me. I am definitely looking forward to getting some good use out of the device, and finally being relieved of the frustration my Edge 500 was causing me (hopefully… knock on wood!).  There’s a snowstorm moving in, so most likely my first trials will be on the trainer.

Retail Price: $329.99.  Performance Bundle is $399.99.  I find the bundle to be a great bargain for the extra $70, as you’re getting roughly $170 in extra accessories.  I needed the extra Speed/Cadence Sensor, so that right there made it worth it to me.  Sure, don’t exactly need a spare heart rate monitor, but no biggie.  The added bonus to me was the out-front mount.  I definitely feel as if I got my money’s worth out of the bundle.

For a follow up post about how I am liking the Garmin Edge 510 after 7 months, click here!

Disclaimer: I purchased this item at full retail price for my own personal use.  All comments and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for the review.

My first race of the 2013 season, the Frostbite TT, is less than 2 weeks away.  Where’s my give a damn?  Apparently missing…

*sigh*

The winter, the wind, the cold… it’s all getting on my last nerve.  It’s made me lazy, and now on my days off I just sit on the couch instead of hitting the bike in some form.  And it does have me worried with the first race approaching, but I justify that with the fact it is a time trial on pavement, and that means I’m not a fan.

I’m a crappy roadie.  I’m just not fast on the road.  This fact is clearly evident when I actually have to ride with other roadies.  I haven’t been on a group ride since my humbling experience being dropped like a hot potato on a ride in Colorado in November by a bunch of “cat-way-faster-than-I’ll-ever-be” awesome riders, which was only slightly redeemed by Georgia Gould also dropping me like a bad habit.  I know that experience led to my strong aversion of group riding… I put them on my calendar, I swear I’ll make them, and then I find every excuse not to go (most common current one is the wind, haha).  So this all culminates in me not really caring about the Frostbite TT, but ironically I do care.  Otherwise why did I buy a Shiv and register for the race, right?

I’ve done a few pre-rides of the course, laying down a best time that would’ve placed me 6 out of 20 in last year’s race.  I know, a poor way of judging how I’ll do this year… but… semi-inspiring.  I really want a top 10 finish at least, that’s my goal.  With only 3 of us registered so far, I’m now worried if I should do my mountain bike fall back of dead last as a goal.  Because I’m just not fast on the road… at least it’s a time trial so there’s no dropping per say, just passing!

All I want to do is mountain bike, dammit!

I finally brought home my Epic over a week ago, and was lucky enough to hear that the trails at Curt Gowdy were “dry.”  So they weren’t really, but Matt and I did get in a lap of Stone Temple Circuit before playing around in the skills area.  Sadly a lot of people don’t want to walk/bike over snow drifts, so they’ve taken to making new trails around the snow.  Ugh – no bueno!  It’ll be interesting (and sad) to see the final damage in the spring when all the snow melts.  Riding through the snow was definitely interesting, though XC race tires aren’t exactly the best.  I gummed up my pedals and cleats badly, too, which lead to lots of spills standing still because I couldn’t unclip.

It’s just so exciting to finally have the Epic at home and at my hands to ride anytime I want!  I’m very eager for everything to just dry out so I can spend my days mountain biking and training for that kind of racing.  My first MTB race is April 13th in Fruita, CO, and I’m quite excited for it!  Don’t get me wrong, I love road riding for the fitness it gives me, but there just nothing comparable to being off the road on a mountain bike!

The January thaw is an observed but unexplained temperature rise in mid-winter found in mid-latitude North America.During this “thaw” period, usually lasting for about a week, temperatures are generally about 10 °F (6 °C) above normal. This varies from year to year, and temperatures fluctuate enough that such a rise in late-January temperature would be unremarkable; what is remarkable (and unexplained) is the tendency for such rises to occur more commonly in late January than in mid-January or early February, which sinusoidal estimates have to be slightly warmer. — Wikipedia

Dry trails in our neighbor to the south and temperatures in the 60s?!  Time to break out the mountain bike – ’nuff said!

Road riding gets to me.  I’m not a roadie at heart.  The monotony of the road can drive me bonkers, and there’s always the fear in the back of my head some redneck or angry idiot will take too much offense to me using the right most 12 inches of the road and decide to do something crazy and harmful.  So when I saw that temperatures were suppose to reach the 60s, I quickly researched trail conditions in Fort Collins to see if there was a possibility of getting off the roads and on the trails.  Oh boy, I was in luck!

Thursday, January 24th Matt and I headed down to ride the Blue Sky trail outside of Fort Collins, which connects to Devil’s Backbone in Loveland.  We took the Epics on a day pass from prison (um, ok, layaway.  Feels like prison… they told me so!), and exposed our blindingly white legs to the world.

Oh man, I forgot how hard mountain biking is!  It’s a big readjustment going from 3 months on the road/trainer back to the trails.  Luckily I didn’t have any crashes (amazing for me!) and soon found a rhythm.  The Epic still isn’t sized me to, so I know it’ll feel more comfortable with a shorter stem and new seat.  I still can’t get over how fast the bike is!  We rode about 13.5 miles and headed out for some Mexican food.  Great reward for a long day getting my “dirtie” legs back under me!

Not to miss out on the warm weather, on the 26th I headed back down with 4 guys from Cheyenne for a group ride on the same trail.  Epic-less, I dragged out the good ol’ Giant, which I grumbled about riding.  Much to my surprise, the bike isn’t really that bad aside from the tires which were sketchy at moments, and the retarded half SPD/half platform pedals.

Saturday I had a better rhythm, and felt better and stronger in my climbing.  Which is ironic, considering I was riding a bike that is 10 pounds heavier than the Epic, and geared more wonky.  Maybe it’s not about the bike?!  I can’t quite decide… I only fell once, and it was really that I just fell over into a bush that caught me and held me upright.  Still bruised up the left knee.  Then carrying my bike down a technical feature I slipped and bruised my butt pretty bad.  But damn, the elbow pads are completely fall repellent in my mind!  We finished out 15.03 miles at a nice, easy pace which was awesome.  The trail was a little crowded and busier than I liked, but I guess that’s what happens when it’s 50 degrees in January on a Saturday in Colorado, right?

My faith is now restored in my Giant Rainier.  I think the plans are some better tires (probably the same that the Epic comes with), and normal SPD pedals (no more hybrid crap).  What I like about my Giant is I’m not afraid to scratch it or wreck it, as it’s already beat up.  It’s a great bike to go out and try some crazy stuff with.  The Epic I’m still too scared to scratch, and of course it still needs tweaks to make it fully comfortable.

Getting out on the trails was just beyond awesome… and makes me do a whole lot less of this:

And wouldn’t you know, it’s all snowy and cold again.  I’m thinking I”ll hit up the trainer in the basement and then head to the gym.  Finally getting back on a mountain bike reminded me I have absolutely no arm strength, which leads to some sketchy moments on the bike.  Hopefully the “resolutionists” won’t be hogging all the equipment… LOL!

Time for another review… Since I’ve clicked over about 900 miles so far on my Specialized Ember Road Shoes, I decided I’ve had more than enough time to form a solid opinion and offer my review!

I have the 2012 model version of this shoe, but I believe the changes to the 2013 lineup were the color schemes, sole stiffness, and only accepting 3-bolt cleat designs.  I chose white/red, which is amusingly strange as I am not the biggest fan of red and it clashes with my road bike.  Go figure!  Black versions are offered for both 2012 and 2013.

To start, the details straight from Specialized:

• Women’s-specific contoured fit
• Stiff, injection-molded and glass-reinforced sole with generous vent ports at the front and rear: 5.0 stiffness index (2012) version) 6.0 stiffness index (2013 version)
  
• Performance-enhancing BG features in the outsole and footbed
• Lightweight Boa® L4 rotary closure and forefoot Velcro strap for on-the-fly tunability and dynamic fit; features a quick-release lace pull
• Synthetic upper with mesh venting for supple fit
• Fits both 2-bolt SPD (2012 versions only) and 3-bolt cleat systems (2012 and 2013 versions)
  
• Approximate weight: 265g (1/2 pair #39, 2012 version), 250g (1/2 pair #39 2013 version)

Retail Price: $160 US for 2013 models, $150 US for 2012 models (available on the Specialized website under the outlet category)

My thoughts:

• Love love love love the Boa system: I hate velcro, I always have.  So I fell instantly in love with the Boa system, and my views haven’t changed.  I love how easy it is to throw on these shoes, spin the dial, and go.  The Boa lacing holds constant pressure/tightness, so I rarely have to adjust.   Removing the shoes is just as easy; pop the dial and pull the quick release lace pull and that’s all!  To boot, these are the only women’s specific road shoes that Specialized offers with the Boa system aside from their $400 S-Works model.  The Boa system is offered with a lifetime warranty, and from what I have read on the internet, they are really good about warranty claims and sending in replacement parts if needed.  I haven’t had any issues with this lacing system since getting the shoes last July and riding all these miles in them.
• Sizing/Fit: I wear a size 41, which I think roughly translates into a US sizing of 9.5.  That means they’re pretty true to size.  There’s not a single part of this shoe that isn’t comfortable!  Now I must disclose that due to my funky varus issues with my feet and high arches, I do use the BG Green Footbeds in the shoes.  But even when I added those footbeds the shoe did not fit smaller and I had the same amount of toe wiggle room.  I’m weird about my toes, and freak out a bit if they are squished or don’t have enough wiggle room, so this factor was important to me.  These are just about the comfiest shoes I own, with only my Specialized Motodiva mountain bike shoes eeking them out (and that’s only do to the fact I can wear the MTB shoes normally and not worry about slipping and falling on my butt).
• Ventilation: This is a double edged sword.  It is great in warm/hot weather and during the summer.  I like feeling the breeze and knowing my feet aren’t overheating.  In cooler temperatures and in cold winds, however, this changes and these shoes are definitely NOT warm!  Shoe covers and nice wool riding socks become a necessity.  These shoes become a little too breezy around 50 degrees and colder.  I have worn them in 35 degree weather with no shoe covers before, and quickly lost all feeling in my toes.
• Cleaning them up: White shoes never stay white.  I was pleasantly surprised how easy these shoes cleaned up with a bit of leather cleaner.  I had all the chain grease, road dirt, and even grass stains (not sure how those got there??) off the shoes in no time.
• Off the bike:  They’re road shoes, therefore that automatically equates to clacking around when off the bike.  I use Look pedals, so I have the very large triangular plastic cleat mounted to mine.  I clack.  I don’t mind, honestly.  Comfy shoes are comfy!  Just watch the surface you walk on carefully… smooth painted concrete, tile floors = slipping hazard.  The day I bought my road bike I stepped off the trainer during my fit and swiftly did a cartoon slip flat onto my back in the middle of the bike shop because I didn’t realize the shoes have no grip.  You’ve been warned.
• Pricing: I think you get a hell of a lot of shoe for $150/$160!  They’re like baby S-Works shoes, without the price tag.  I’ve looked at other brands of shoes in this price range, and just do not feel you get the same amount of features or quality.
• Overall:  I’m enough of a newbie that I don’t really know the intricate nuances of sole stiffness and details like that.  What I do know is I love these shoes and how they fit.  They keep me pedaling, which in turn keeps me happy.  I foresee a lot more miles with these shoes (when do road bike shoes “expire” anyway?  See, still a newbie…).  Because I am such a fan of the Boa system, I foresee myself staying in the Ember line in future purchases, as $400 S-Works shoes are way out of my shoe budget (pending future lottery winnings, of course!).

The styling on the 2013 models is a bit more sleek.  I like the white/lavender scheme, and have to really try hard not to just jump and buy a pair because of that (they also offer a black/teal).  I also like how there isn’t all the mesh that made it look more of a gym shoe.

Disclaimer: I purchased this item at full retail price for my own personal use.  All comments and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for the review.

As a child I practically lived on cross country skis if there was snow on the ground.  I had an elaborate course around my home that even included jumps.  It’s been about 15 years since those days.  So, the other day I decided to dig out those old skis I’ve had since I was 11 (so… about 18 years old!).  I could barely squeeze into the boots, so I had Matt pick up some cheapy boots at REI.  They fit perfectly, both on me and the bindings, so I figured here goes nothing!

Happy Jack, east of Laramie, has groomed/ungroomed cross country ski trails on the very same trails I mountain bike on.  So I headed up there Tuesday morning to give things a try again.  OK, whoa… 15 years off does make me very ungraceful and kind of bobbly!  But soon I was gliding down the trails, relearning my rhythm.  I quickly learned I was wearing 3 too many layers, and wished I didn’t forget my sunglasses at home.

Groomed trails make me feel clumsy.  I just don’t think my skis are made for groomed trails.  They’re not skate skis, and otherwise I just felt slow on them.  After looping around some of my go-to mountain bike trails (Ridge, Rollercoaster, and Lower UW… all of which are funner on a bike…), I headed down Middle Aspen, which is ungroomed.  Oh man, I just flew!  My skis like that ungroomed stuff!  I actually was getting scared with how fast I would get going downhill, and I would just fall to slow down.  Funny, considering I’ll go twice that speed down it on a bike, then again, bikes have brakes.  I looped back up Pole Creek, thirsty and reminded of how hard cross country skiing is.

I ended up doing just shy of 5 miles, and spent about 1.5 hours on the trail.  Not too shabby!  I was tired and thirsty when I got back to my car, and drenched with sweat from wearing far too many layers.  I’ve noticed some soreness in my thighs that I haven’t had before, so I’ve concluded I had a pretty darn good work out, and it got me outdoors and in the snow, instead of in the basement on the trainer.  I’m not quite sure how often I’ll make it out skiing, but at least I know I have the equipment for when I want to do so!  I must admit, I’m quite proud of myself for recycling my old skis and putting them back into use instead of just rushing off to buy new ones.  Sure, they’re not the newest technology, but they still work great!