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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:

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!

Whew, I woke up today finally feeling better and apparently over that 48-hour stomach bug I had.  Great timing, as it meant I could finally ride my new Shiv, even if it was just on the trainer.  Unfortunately the streets are still snowpacked here, and not to mention it is COLD (sorry, just ain’t gonna ride in 20 degree weather… in the snow… on 1″ wide tires.  Nope).  Kind of sucks to buy a new (road) bike during winter, honestly…

The Shiv is magnificently comfortable!  My 30 minute ride soon turned into 40 minutes, and then an hour.  I could just pedal that thing all day long!  Only issue is I sit too far back off the saddle, so my, um, girly bits take a lot of the pressure and they don’t like that.  Nothing some adjusting can’t fix… or I could just steal the nice, padded saddle from Matt’s Transition.  I mean, what gives… he gets something all padded and smooshy and I get a cement firm minimalist saddle?  But either way, soooo comfy.  I’m not sure why people say the aero position is uncomfortable.  I love it!  Granted, I’m sure I’ll nearly fall on my face the first time I actually have to ride ride the bike in that position, but that’s a mute point at the moment due to snow and cold and 1″ wide tires.

So after my trainer ride, which wasn’t an ounce of torture at all (seriously, that is how awesome the Shiv is, the trainer didn’t even feel like torture!), I realized my 2012 wrap up entry from two days ago was kinda sucky.  I know, I had a fever and yuckiness going on.  So I can excuse myself.  But I figure I should wrap up my final bicycle numbers from 2012, since I am a total numbers geek like that.

• Miles Pedaled in 2012: 1,102.2 –That’s like going from New York City to Kissimmee, FL according to Google!
• Feet of Elevation Gained in 2012: 48,960 –That is Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro combined, and then some extra!
• Time Spent Pedaling: 100 hours 55 minutes –Yeah… that’s just a lot. 
• Biggest Ride: 72.7 miles –Ride For Sight 2012 in Cheyenne… I actually think it was over 73, but that was back when I was using Strava on my iPhone, so mileage got a bit wonky.
• Biggest Climb: 839 feet – Occurred on the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota between Hill City and Mystic.  Yeah, that was sucky, at that time in my life. 
• Total Rides: 85
• Highest Strava Suffer Score: 301 –This was from my 63-mile Fort Follies ride in November.  I am sure if I had a HRM and Strava Premium for Ride for Sight or even my Mickelson Trail ride, I would’ve hit a higher Suffer Score.  But alas, I wasn’t as nerdy at that point.
• Miles on my ’12 Giant Rainier 29r 0: 336.8
• Miles on my ’12 Specialized Ruby Apex Compact: 727.3
• Miles on my ’12 Specialized Shiv Elite A1 Apex: 21.4
• Miles on my ’13 Specialized Epic Expert Carbon 29: 16.7 – Oh snap, I never mentioned that I put this bike on layaway after demoing it in October 😉

And there’s all my number geekiness!  Yay for numbers!  Looking forward to what 2013 has in store for me!

OK, that about wraps things up, in a more proper way 🙂  My New Year’s Eve will probably be a bit low key.  Matt and I might hit up the gym, and then I am not sure what!

I’m at the beginning of a 6 day off stretch from work, and wouldn’t you know it… I come down with some sort of gastroenteritis (stomach bug, LOL) and have spent all day sleeping or lounging due to the upset stomach and body aches.  Woe is me… it is especially bad since I just brought home my new TT bike yesterday AND joined a gym, and yet I can’t do anything due to be sick.

So 2012… wow, what an interesting year!  Definitely one of those years where when I started the year I didn’t imagine I’d be where I was at when it came to an end!  So here’s a hodge-podge review of 2012!  Probably not the greatest, but I’m running a fever 😛
I started out 2012 in western Washington state during a visit to see Matt.  We spent New Year’s Day driving up the Olympic peninsula to Port Angeles in hopes of seeing some whales.  We didn’t find any, but we did get to listen to some awesome Canadian radio stations and hang out on Ediz Hook before heading back down to Lacey.

 

 

The spring months of 2012 were spent wrapping up my final semester of nursing school.  I was able to get out and do some car photography, and spent Spring Break visiting Matt in Washington again.

Upon Matt’s move out to Wyoming, he pestered me more and more about getting some sort of bike so I could ride with him.  After doing some hiking in Vedauwoo and realizing the mountain biking potential of southeastern Wyoming, we settled on buying mountain bikes as a way to get me on a bike.

 

On May 15th we bit the bullet and bought the mountain bikes.  We headed out on the Greenbelt in Laramie for a ride, and I quickly tired after about… well… 1/4 of a mile?  I hadn’t ridden a bike in 14 years, so it was all strange to me, along with the fit I didn’t have an ounce of fitness in my body.

It didn’t really discourage me, and within a week I was riding hiking the Death Crotch trail at Happy Jack and dabbling in my first singletrack experiences.  When I rode 5 miles I thought I was the awesomest person on a bike ever!

For Memorial Weekend we headed up to Devils Tower, and then over to South Dakota.  Plans were to ride a stretch of the Mickelson Trail.  Well, low and behold we ended up riding about 30 miles on it!  Still can’t believe I did that to this day only 2 weeks after buying a bike!  (Now in 2013 we want to ride it again for comparison)

On June 26th I did my first ever mountain bike race.  I was actually doing pretty damn well before I decided to fly off the bike, slide on my head for a ways, and donate some skin from my elbow.  Ended up 4th, which still shocked me as I was expecting to not even be able to finish!  This started my obsession with racing, and I ended up fitting two more races in my summer.

In August we on a whim decided to do the Ride for Sight in Cheyenne.  We started off wanting to do 50 miles, which turned into 62 miles, which ended up as 75 miles.  I do not understand the meaning of “slowly build your miles.”

 

In November I hooked up with a new women’s cycling team in Fort Collins, the Fort Follies.  Did a few group rides and made some new friends!

Here we are at the end of December… bike collection is steadily growing, Matt and I are on a race team, and I’ve even begun registering for races this spring/summer.  I do find myself thinking “wow, who I am?!” from time to time… just crazy how much this single year as changed my life.  Matt and I no longer are in different time zones, I finally finished up and became an RN, I am in shape enough I can ride 75 miles on a bike, I’ve lost 15 pounds in what I feel in a very healthy/natural/permanent way, and I have a crazy new hobby to occupy my time!

I’m definitely looking forward to 2013.  New adventures, new travels, new friends, and new memories!  We plan on traveling to Fruita, CO; Durango, CO; and Pennsylvania for races.  My BFF in the whole world is going to come visit for a week in June.  I’ll finish up my BSN degree and maybe finally be done with college for awhile after 11 years.  And hopefully I learn to stop falling off my mountain bike so much, or at least maybe I’ll learn to wear some elbow pads 😀

Oh my, the time sure does fly… work has been hectic, and I did a stint on night shift before going (permanently) back to days so my days off were spent mostly sleeping.  I’ve been off of any sort of bike in over two weeks, and I feel like I’m going a wee bit crazy because of this!

So what’s been up the past few weeks?

1. I broke 1,000 miles on a bikeDecember 2nd I finally rode my 1,000th mile, woo hoo!  Considering I started out on May 15th with barely any ability to ride a bike after my 14 year bike-free stint, I’m pretty darn proud of this!  I went from not being able to ride 1/2 mile on Laramie’s Greenbelt to being halfway capable of suffering through 65+ mile rides on the road, and hammering the single track on my mountain bike.  Everyone now is asking me what 2013’s mileage goal will be.  I honestly can say I have no idea.  I’ll definitely be way above and beyond 1,0oo fairly quick into the year due to actually training, but other than that I can’t say…

 

2.  Ruby got a new look
My 38cm handlebars came in, so I decided to spice up Ruby – my road bike – a little bit with some pink grip tape.  Adding to the awesomeness, the mechanic at my LBS added some pink cable ends that he had laying around.  I never quite liked my bottle cages, so I added neon pink Specialized Z-cages.  Pink, pink, pink, oh my!

The handlebars feel good…so far.  I actually have not ridden the bike since the new makeover.  But on the trainer it felt more natural.  I also did some more fit adjustments, added MORE varus shims to my shoes, and hopefully got my knees in a more neutral alignment.  I seriously just don’t know what is up with them… damn knees.

All that needs changed now is that damn white stem…

3. New team, new kit, new excitement
Matt and I were fortunate enough to get added to the Spradley Barr Wind Chill Cycling Team based out of Cheyenne.  Matt’s been beyond delighted about it, and it makes me pretty darn excited as well!  We attended the fit kit party, where the fit kits were surprisingly good looking… no puke-like patterns to deter you from just stealing the fit kit!  Though we’re some of the youngest on the team (I’m pretty sure I am the youngest female), everyone was awesome and welcoming!  We ended up staying long after most left chatting up bikes and races and listening to stories of years past of Wyoming’s cycling history.  Definitely really looking forward to race season to start, and rocking my new team’s kit!

4. The Shiv
I can’t resist getting a new bike… so I dropped the ball and ordered me up a Specialized Shiv… just the base model, so it’s all “UCI/time trial” legal, because everyone knows I don’t like water and you can’t get me to run, so triathlons are out!  Time trial racing really appeals to me.  The only way I can think to explain it is that it reminds me a lot of drag racing, which I did a ton of back in my “younger” days with my little modded up car.  And I also tend to ride all out when I ride alone.  That’s why I’m such a Strava nut, there’s really only on and off, and no “well, let’s take it easy today.”  And I like the challenge of learning how to ride in a completely different position.  The bike still needs to be built, but I am looking forward to bringing it home soon and at least getting use to it on the trainer!  Then I’ll save up my pennies to upgrade the wheels!

5. 2013 race season planning
I haven’t wasted any time getting my races lined up for 2013.  Looks like my “season” will be kicking off with the Frosbite Time Trial on March 2nd.  Then mid-April I plan on racing in Fruita, CO on the mountain bike, which should be a nationals qualifier.  Last night I went ahead and registered for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic mountain bike race and the time trial race, which will be over Memorial Weekend in Durango, CO.  (How cool is that?  Racing my mountain bike one day, and time trial the next!  Perfect blending of Matt’s preferred discipline and my preferred discipline!)  July is dedicated to the US MTB Cross Country Championships, where I plan on rocking category 3 like any proper beginner would!  In the back of my mind I am contemplating the Dog Dead Classic in Laramie in June and the Copper Triangle Ride in August.  Then filling in when my work schedule allows any races in between.  Whew!  I got my USAC license the other night which was pretty awesome, though for some reason they don’t list my team under my MTB license, only road and cyclocross.  Only huge disappointment is that since I turn 30 in October, I have to race the 30-39 category all year…

6. New car!
Nothing to do with anything really, but on December 1st I bought myself a new-to-me car!  My little Nissan Sentra SE-R is just getting too little for everything, so I got a 2009 Subaru Forester XT.  Now I have room for all my stuff, can fit a bike inside my car, and I have heated seats.  Heated seats being the most important thing 😉  It is a bit weird having a grown up car, but I have been enjoying it, and it’s been awesome for my long commutes to work.  Now I just need to get some cross bars for the roof rack so I can get it all swapped over.

I think that just about does it… since I haven’t pedaled in awhile, I am hitting the trainer hardcore in the next few days.  Cheyenne got about 15″ of snow yesterday, so outside riding is out (though I am tempted to see how the mountain bike does).  Guess winter finally arrived?!

 

Well, that about sums it up, right? 😀 Not really sure what else I really need to say…
Just kidding, I’ll write a real blog entry

After a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday filled with lots of food and family, Matt and I had a relaxing Black Friday that didn’t involve fighting over TVs or other craziness American-ness that accompanies this day.  We grocery shopped at Walmart, and I picked up a new, little Nikon point and shoot camera for $69.  Then we kicked it at our favorite local bike store, the Bicycle Station, where my beloved bike-guru Wendy took a look at my road bike’s fit, since I was having elbow pain the weekend before.

Well, wouldn’t you know, I oddly enough already have 40cm bars on my road bike (it should’ve come with 42…), which is what I was recommended to buy during my BG FIT in October – good thing I didn’t go ahead and buy 40 bars!  Wendy ordered me up some 38cm bars (and I was a good girl and went with alloy instead of dropping the $$$ on carbon 😛 ), and now I am awaiting those to come in so we can see if that fixes the issue of me being uncomfortable riding on the hoods.

Not letting achy elbows deter me, Matt and I set out on a Fort Follies group ride on Saturday morning around Carter Lake south of Loveland, estimated to be 50-60miles.  Doesn’t sound bad, right?  Oh, did I mention the 4,400+ feet of climbing it involved, or the stupidly hard winds in Loveland, or the fact I was riding with people with about 5x the fitness that I have and 10x the years of experience?

Yeah…

I just always feel bad and discouraged when riding with strangers, and strangers that are faster than me.  I didn’t want to hold everyone up, but it reached a point that my body just couldn’t push any faster.  But hey, I did a good job at hanging in there the first 30 or so miles!  Then we turned and headed west towards Carter Lake and I was greeted with the wind.  Winds so bad that certain gusts actually stopped me dead, mind you.  4mph was a struggle to maintain.  Even Matt dropped me.  Poor pitiful me was riding all by my lonesome, half crying, half pissed off, and holding onto my 19 pound carbon road bike for dear life in the wind gusts.  All the usual thoughts started to occur:  “Why exactly did I pick this as a fun thing to do?”  “I hate this, screw this, I’m going back to being a bum on the couch.”  “I hate everyone else and their monster legs that go forever, screw them.”  “WTF is Carter Lake and why am I here?”  “what’s for dinner?”  “Maybe I can hitch hike back to Fort Collins…”  “What would Georgia Gould do?  Oh, she’d probably just laugh at me…”

One of the guys riding with us came back and rode with me, leading so I could draft off of him.  I love him dearly for this act of kindness towards a noob with no little engines that could!  I felt bad because I didn’t get the chance to thank him for doing this.  (Thank you guy in the red jersey, whoever you are!).  No worries, the group quickly dropped me again on the climb up the Carter Lake dams, except this time Matt stayed closed.  On the torturous climb up I started crying.  Seriously, why do I pick something to do that makes me cry?!  Then I realized that I couldn’t really stop, as I wasn’t about to really hitch hike back, and all of this torture just proves to myself that something torturous is actually fun and does help with the whole mountain biking thing.  So after a couple of F bombs and tears on the dam when I swore the wind was going to blow me either into the water or off the side of the mountain (I have a fear of water and heights… oh goody), I buckled down and went as hard as I thought I could with this much riding behind me.

We had a fast, fun descent that put a smile on my face (and 4th out of 80 women on a Strava segment, haha!).  Then another long boring flat-ish climb.  I didn’t even try to stick with anyone anymore.  It was just Matt and I, with me hoping someone would wait up so we’d know how to get back to Fort Collins as getting lost was not something I wanted at the moment.  My entire right leg from butt cheek to ankle had started to cramp, regardless of the Hammer Fizz I was consuming in my water, gels, and electrolyte Clif Shot drink mix.  My right knee screamed in protest every pedal stroke.  Now my only thoughts were about my glorious Nissan Sentra waiting for me back in the parking lot, and how great those econobox’s seats would feel on my tush during the ride back to Cheyenne.

Glorious thing to behold, Whitney and Lila had waited up for Matt and I.  We started up the CR38E climb, with Whitney and Matt out front, and me trudging behind like 20 feet.  This honestly is not a climb that should be bad, but with 50 miles already in me (mind you, I usually only ride 20-30miles normally, this was the second time ever going over 40 miles…) I was in pain.  Deep, deep, deep inside the pain cave.  And then…

Georgia Gould pedaled happily by, saying a cheerful “Hi!!!” as she passed me.

OH MY GOD!!!

I seriously can’t even expressed my excitement over this.  I honestly thought it was Lila that had caught up to me.  It wasn’t until I saw the Luna kit and Georgia’s hair (I know, creepy I recognized her by her hair… I swear I am NOT that creepy, just observant!!) that it clicked.  I frantically started quietly yelling “Matt, Matt, MAAATTTT!!!” and started pedaling like an idiot on crack to catch up to Matt, who turned around with huge eyes and a shocked expression.  Whitney nonchalantly goes “Do you guys know who she is?” and both Matt and I giggled like obsessed school girls “Georgia Gould!!”  As fast as she appeared, she disappeared up the road.  And my day, week, month, possibly 2012 was made.  I giggled like a retard, giddy with what just happened.

Seriously, Georgia Gould is totally my biking idol.  And the fact she lives practically in my back yard (southern Wyoming, northern Colorado, eh… close enough) is freaking awesome, and it’s even more awesome she’s always out riding and is awesome and friendly enough to say Hi to those she passes.  I really don’t think anyone could grasp how awesome that Hi was to me, at that moment where all I wanted to do was flop over and die.  I grew up idolizing the Olympian gymnasts of that era (and the era of decades before such as Olga Korbut) – Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, and so on, but I’ve never seen any of them in person.  I never had the chance for them to just cartwheel on by me.  So to see my current role model/idol in the wild just amazes me.

The rest of the ride back into Fort Collins was still torturous, but just a little bit better to endure!

Looking at that, who in their right mind rides from Fort Collins to practically Berthoud?  Oh wait… me.  In my BFF Kim’s words, “you cray cray” and she’s right! It was a quite alright ride, though, besides me feeling crappy for holding everyone up.  But I guess the only way I am going to get faster is to ride a lot, right?

I’m now just 22.7 miles away from my 1,000 goal for 2012.  We were going to ride in Cheyenne on Sunday, but my knee was done for.  Even just “air pedaling” caused excruciating pain.  So we just relaxed and bummed around, and then I headed up for my work week.  It’s now Wednesday, and the knee feels fine again.  I seriously don’t know what is up with it.  I think it goes beyond bike fit issues now.  (For the record, randomly, my tush didn’t ache at all on this 63 mile ride… woot!)  We’re been blessed with some unusually warm weather so far this fall/winter, so I’m planning on riding more this weekend and breaking the 1,000 mile mark and beyond.  Thinking a weekend ride with the Fort Follies, maybe some more with Matt, and weather cooperating, maybe breaking out the mountain bike at Gowdy.

On a final note… I decided to be silly on Strava, and ended up with good results!

 

AHHHH, so excited!  So a week or so ago I saw a post on Facebook from Your Group Ride out of Fort Collins, CO about an all-women’s cycling team that was forming.  What perfect timing, right?  I had been wanting a team to ride with, and make new friends that are into cycling and to learn new things.  I wasn’t able to make their first meeting, but was still welcomed into the group, which is called the Fort Follies. 

This past Saturday the team held a group ride (was suppose to be A/B and beginners, but we all ended up riding together).  Of course I jumped at the chance to go!  Fort Collins is NOT windy like Cheyenne and the weather was suppose to be gorgeous, and I was just so excited to do a group ride!  Though… I would have to face my fear: a paceline.

OK, so going 25mph down a rocky descent on a mountain bike doesn’t phase me (usually).  Riding with a bunch of others on a road bike?  Scares the heck out of me!  Luckily Whitney gave us the basics before we headed out, and we rolled out on a 24 mile ride east out of Fort Collins.

First thing I learned how social these things are!  Instead of my usual solo ride mode of cussing out the wind out loud, and go at full force 100% of the time, I got to ride at a moderate pace and hold conversations with the fellow ladies around me.  Definitely awesome!  And whoa, definitely love how pacelines give you a break from wind (“wind” is more proper… sorry Fort Collins, you ain’t got real wind!).  I was sketched out by the fact I couldn’t see down the road like I use to, but I became more and more comfortable as the miles went on.  By the end I could ride about a foot off of the person in front of me, woo hoo!

And look at that, I finally had a crazy motorist yell something at me while on a bike!  Some cranky old lady yelling something about single file or something… gotta love drivers in Colorado…

I was so giddy when I got done with my ride, it was so exciting to finally hang out with girls that share the same interests as me!  They were doing another group ride on Sunday, so I made the trip down to Fort Collins once again.  This time we rode up by Horsetooth Reservoir.  Ugh, huge climbs!  Which is funny, it totally reminded me of how 6 or so years ago I would drive up that same road in a car and chuckle at the cyclists and say “look at those idiots riding up this!”  Umm, yeahhhhhh… I am now one of those “idiots!”  Whoops, be careful of who or what you mock 😉

The descent was fun, but scary.  I still can’t get use to speed downhill on the road bike, especially with others around.  4 of us then broke off and rode some more roads for a total of 34 miles.  Whew, hard work but once again I felt so giddy!

So I am super happy as I learned some new skills and made new friends!  It is awesome to be surrounded by so many experienced cyclists I can learn from, and have others that can push me, especially on those killer climbs!  This coming weekend there’s more rides planned, so I am looking forward to laying down the miles (85 to 1000 for the year!)!