Continuing with my 2025 recap! In April, I took a quick trip to Victoria, Canada to visit my brother and his family. I found it really interesting that I got an empty row on both my inbound and outbound flights! Amazing. 😀 Victoria is such a pretty city! Its roots go back to England and you can see many British influences all around the city, including FLOWERS, tea shops, and gardens. I enjoyed hanging out with my family, visiting cool coffee shops and bakeries, and taking long walks to enjoy all the lovely flowers.
A row all to myself!Cherry blossom treeThe smell of freshly baked bread and pastries is one of my favourite things.Inside a cool concept grocery store called The Market Garden. This market is a refurbished house and each room contains a different type of grocery item and chandelier!This is the most beautiful grocery store I’ve ever seen.The soap room.Specialty treats.A very polite, a.k.a. Canadian, street sign.Street gargoyle.The rest of the pictures in this set are from a walk I took in Beacon Hill Park.This totem pole is 127 feet and 7 inches tall!
In May, I did 2 fun day trips. The first one was to (finally!) ride at Bean Peaks in Prescott. This is a fun trail system that is modeled after conventional bike parks. That is, most of the trails are “gravity fed,” i.e., downhill! The main difference is that in order to get to the downhill trails, you have to pedal your way up, instead of taking the chair lift up to the top. Bean Peaks is great for all riding levels, as the trails are flowy and smooth. I had a fun day with my friends Janey and Keeley and we appreciated getting out of the Phoenix heat and riding new trails.
Here we go!Bean Peaks is well signed!
My second May day trip (ha, that sounds funny!) was a hike at Horton Creek with my friend Kate. Horton Creek is quickly becoming one of my favourite areas to visit because it is just so pretty and features a waterfall! We had a gorgeous day and basically had the area all to ourselves. Kate’s dog, Jasper, also had a great time running circles around us and checking out all the foliage. The hike itself is a pretty mellow 8 miles with enough elevation gain to earn a decent lunch. 🙂
Jasper having a grand time!Water in the desert!We saw a deer too!
In June, I went on another 2 day trips. Phoenix starts to really heat up in June, so getting out of town is welcome relief. Last year, I rode the Full Sail trail in Flagstaff for the first time and it was so fun, I knew I had to ride it again soon. However, “soon” turned out to be “a year later,” due to schedules and availability. This year, I got to show Janey Full Sail and we both had a blast riding a well designed downhill trail! The uphill riding to get to the start of the downhill wasn’t too bad, since we parked at a different trailhead than where I parked last year. That was a good move on my part because we “only” had to ride uphill for 3 miles instead of 8 miles and could do laps. Beautiful day with good company!
Ah, Humphreys Peak. I’ve hiked Humphreys annually for almost 10 years! I normally hike this with my friend Crystal (for example, see this post), but this year, she couldn’t make it. So, my SAT (self-appointed trainer and husband) joined me this year and we used the opportunity to make this hike our one and only big training hike for our upcoming Colorado trip (more on that in the next blog post!). For the uninitiated, the Humphreys hike is about 10 miles (16 km) round trip in distance and around 4000 feet of gain (1200 m). Because my SAT and I have high altitude hiking experience, I knew that we wouldn’t be adversely affected by altitude sickness. However, since we weren’t in top hiking shape, I wondered how we would withstand the day. (We were fine!) Our hike was great, weather was perfect, and we got to escape the Phoenix oven for a few hours, which is always a treat in summer!
We did it!
Thanks for sticking with me so far! Here’s a bonus picture of a pretty sunflower to end this installment of my midyear and the first half of 2025. Stay tuned for the third and final installment of my midyear recap!
Hello, dear readers! I say this every year, but….really….THIS year has gone by SO FAST! I am yet again woefully behind on updating this blog, but I shouldn’t complain because I get to do some cool, fun things. Let’s jump right into recapping 2025!
January in the desert is lovely. It’s cool and one can get outside whenever one wants. Unlike summer in the desert, in the winter, there’s no rush to get outside at dark o’clock in the morning to “take advantage” of the “cool weather” at 5am. Most of you know that I am NOT a morning person and prefer to get as much beauty sleep as possible! 🙂
I started 2025 with a fun ladies’ theme ride: New Year’s sparkle! The next major event for me this month was a local, homegrown mountain bike festival called Hawesfest, which took place at the Hawes trail system in east Mesa. I volunteered at the Hawesfest “kitchen” with my friends Vicki, Tawnia, and Scott and we worked our buns off (pun intended) ensuring that all Hawesfest riders got lunch!
Mountain bike gals posing in their sparkly best!Hawesfest kitchen crew!Someone gave me this drink because it had my name on it. Too bad I didn’t like it.Lunch is almost served.Look at all the bikes!There were a lot of games and contests at Hawesfest. This picture is from the mini bike relay race. I am cheering on my teammate.We had a good turnout!There were a good number of local mountain bike vendors on site.
February’s trip was a weekend getaway to Bisbee, AZ. I’ve wanted to visit Bisbee for a long time because of the artsy vibe to the town and the famous “Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb.” My SAT (self-appointed trainer) and I hiked the Stair Climb race course and had a fun time finding all 9 staircases. Another cool thing to do while in Bisbee is to drive over to Erie Street, which has been preserved as a quasi-museum of classic 1950’s cars and storefronts. In between all the hiking and sightseeing, we enjoyed some great food, some of which was at Cafe Roka. 10/10 recommend!
We had dinner our first night at Cafe Roka — highly recommend!Found staircase 1!One of many colorful murals along the Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb race route.The end!Repurposed string instruments.Nationally renowned bakery!Erie Street has a lot of vintage cars and storefronts.Technically, Erie Street is in Lowell, AZ, which is literally 5 minutes down the road from Bisbee.
March is birthday month! My annual Sedona birthday weekend this year turned into “Snowdona” because of a huge dump of snow that weekend. However, that snow only dampened our boots (and not our spirits). We pivoted our plans to include more hiking and less mountain biking, due to the very muddy trails, and took advantage of our amazing Airbnb to cook and eat lots of yummy food (including birthday cake!) and spend some quality girl time. Fun fact: this annual birthday weekend celebrates 5 of us!
All packed up and ready to go!First stop in Sedona was for chai. The cute pup was a bonus!Welcome to “Snowdona!”At our Airbnb taking pictures before diving into dinner.I’m taking the picture in this picture!Beautiful snowy morning.The snow was melting quickly on day 2, so we still got to see the beautiful red rock.Yay, cake! (Excuse the mildly questionable language.)One of my friends is a great photographer and she insisted on a “photo shoot” to mark my milestone birthday! The dress and shoes were purchased at a thrift store an hour before.On our way back home, we stopped in Cottonwood for a ride. It was completely dry there!Group picture — enjoying the gorgeous scenery together!
A couple weeks later, I got to hike Picketpost Mountain with my friend, Gladys. This is a hike I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and the stars finally aligned for Gladys and I to hike this fun trail together. She is very knowledgeable about the trails and hikes in the Superstition Mountains and I felt very lucky to benefit from her guiding expertise! Just take a look at the views from the top! Although the trail isn’t long, there is enough uphill to make this hike a great workout. I enjoyed the scrambling near the top and loved soaking in the views at the top.
RIght before we got to the trailhead, we passed some friends who were doing a backpacking overnighter in the same area!Here we go! Such pretty light.The iconic Weaver’s Needle is in the middle of this picture.Quick photo break — we are definitely climbing!Paying homage to the rock gods!We did it! Made it to the summit mailbox!Enjoying the well-earned view from the top.And….back to where we started.
Stay tuned for a couple more recaps in the next week! Until then, get outside. 🙂
In my last post, I discussed a weekend bike park trip to Big Bear, California. Bears were everywhere there! That bear theme was also evident at the Tour of the White Mountains (TOWM) race the first weekend in October in Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona. How so? Well, the top 5 finishers in each of the race categories win a custom, locally-sourced carved bear. More on that in a bit….
I was interested in doing the TOWM two years ago, after successfully finishing the Whiskey 30 race. However, due to other events and not wanting to ride my bike during the summer (it’s HOT in Phoenix!), that didn’t happen. I don’t remember what I was thinking when I registered for TOWM on a whim at the end of the summer (for the 50 mile option!), but I figured I’d be ok despite the lack of training. I mean, I’ve done lots of long rides and I have a little experience doing mountain bike races, right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
How did things go, you ask? All in all, I had 3 weeks of actual training, which included my “long ride” and my taper week. (For those who are curious, “tapering” simply means to reduce your training intensity and duration a couple of weeks before the event.) My focus was to ride every day with one rest day per week and build up my “time in the saddle.” It was harder than I thought to ride everyday during the summer!! And by “summer,” I mean the last 3 weeks of September. We actually got a heatwave here in Phoenix the last 2 weeks of that month, which made me regret my decision to do this race (again) and doubt whether I could do it.
Race day!
My friend Tina and I drove over to the race venue and arrived around 6:50am. The 50 mile category rolled out at 7:15am, so this gave me time to situate myself and decide whether I REALLY still wanted to do this. (Spoiler alert: I did the race.) By 7:05am, the 50 mile riders were corralled into the starting area. Funny story: when the race announcer indicated that the US national anthem was going to be sung, I thought we ALL were going to sing it. So, when he started singing the anthem, I heartily joined in and very quickly realized I was the ONLY rider singing along. I stopped singing pretty quickly!
Finally, the shotgun went off at 7:15am. We were off! I knew I had to pace myself and not sprint right out of the gate, so I took it easy and concentrated on pedalling smoothly and warming up. There were 221 riders in the 50 mile category, most of whom were men. I did pass a few ladies somewhere in the first 5 miles and I also passed a few guys, which motivated me to maintain a steady pace. The first half of the race went well: I didn’t stop, I managed to eat and drink on the bike, and I wasn’t regretting my decision to do this event.
The course goes through this blue arch.The start / finish line.List of ALL riders in all the categories (i.e., 9 mile fun ride, 30 mile gravel ride, 35 mile singletrack, 50 mile singletrack).Friday night check-in.Checking out the race venue.There were several food trucks on site.The amphitheatre.Tina and me at the start / finish line…visualizing our respective races!The race logo.My race plate! We had the option of personalizing our race plate!About 10 more minutes before the 50 mile race starts…Almost there…Do you see any other lady riders??
The latter half of the race did not go as well as the first half, which was to be expected. However, I didn’t expect to struggle so much! Around mile 36? Mile 38? I honestly don’t remember now. But somewhere around there, a wicked steep “hike a bike” (or HAB) started, which stopped me in my tracks. Literally. That HAB section was about a mile and a half in distance, but gained almost 1000 feet in elevation. If that wasn’t bad enough, the actual trail was extremely loose with lots of little rocks and tons of dirt, which made upward progress laughably slow. And if THAT wasn’t bad enough, my legs decided to cramp. My left quad muscle was first and the cramp was so bad, I couldn’t walk. I almost fell down, actually. Then, after a few minutes of measured breathing and praying, that cramp subsided. I started my HAB again, then my right leg cramped. This pattern went on for a few more cramps.
In the middle of my cramps, a Good Samaritan named Bev appeared out of nowhere and offered me some pickle juice, which is really great for restoring sodium and electrolytes. She stayed with me for about 10 minutes, until I told her to finish her race. After she left, I felt brave enough to continue my sad, slow climb, stopping every few minutes to rest so I wouldn’t cramp again. That whole HAB section killed my time and speed and put my goal of finishing the race in jeopardy. After reaching the summit of the HAB section, I still had about 20 minutes left to ride the 2.5 miles to the last aid station. If I didn’t make it, I would DNF (“did not finish”). There was NO WAY I was going to DNF. I did NOT want to come back next year and do the race again. I HAD to finish. So, I kept on talking to myself as I pedalled those 2.5 miles to that last aid station. I made it there with 6 minutes to spare! Bev also made it to that aid station 3 minutes before me! What a relief. That was definitely the highlight — and lowlight — of my race experience!
This is one of the professional pictures I bought and my Good Samaritan, a.k.a., Bev, is right beside me! This is foreshadowing at its best!Grinning and bearing it…Finished!Look at how dusty we are! I actually have a dust beard.Celebratory selfie with Bev!My 3rd place “trophy.”Cute bear!My hard-earned prizes on my mantle!
After reaching that last aid station, there were still 12.5 miles to go. Ughhhhh….well, after a few minutes of rest, I pedalled away, slowly and steadily. Thankfully, there was not much climbing left, so all I had to do was keep my turtle pace and keep the end in mind. FINALLY, there it was….the last right turn through the finish line arch. Tina met me at the end, having finished her 35 mile race a few hours ago. I was so very glad to finish within the time limit!! I earned a finisher’s camping mug for my effort, haha. Tina also told me that I got 3rd in my category, which meant I won a hand carved bear! WHAT?? Stranger things have happened!
I mentioned earlier in this post that 221 riders signed up to do the 50 mile race. A few days after the race, I did some poking around the race website and learned that of the 221 riders, 174 finished (in other words, 79% of the riders finished). That made me feel a little better! I was not the only one suffering, haha! The 35 mile category was the biggest one with almost 700 riders.
Will I do this race again? Not sure. If I do, I will definitely train so I can walk up that HAB section easier!
Gear and stuff:
I didn’t wear a vest or jacket as it was forecasted to be on the warm side. That was the correct decision. Although it wasn’t warm by Phoenix standards, the temperature hit a high of 26 degrees Celsius (around 80 F). I also didn’t wear elbow or knee pads because I banked on the fact that the course would not be super technical. I was right about that as well. There were a few chunky sections, but nothing crazy. Everything was well within, if not below, my current skill level.
I was thankful that I didn’t have any mechanical issues!
I was very annoyed that I had leg cramping issues. Grrrr….Next time, bring some pickle juice.
Food: I prepared a baggie of Skratch Lab chews and Shot Bloks and put that in my top tube bag for easy access. I also had a Camelback hydration pack, which carried my water and a few additional snacks.
Water: I filled my 70 oz Camelback with 4 packets of Skratch Lab electrolyte drink mix. I also had an extra bottle of water with drink mix that went into my bike’s bottle cage. My thought was that I’d drink most of my calories and eat a few chews every half hour or so.
Music: I wore one of my AirPods and listened to a Spotify playlist focused on steady tempos called “Riding Music.” Little did I know that “riding” music included ALL kinds of riding, including road bike riding, horseback riding, and um, after hours riding. Please do not ask me to elaborate on that last one! My AirPods didn’t last the whole day, but I was distracted enough for most of my race, so that was good.
Other considerations: perhaps bring a portable charger? Is that a thing on these long “race” type of rides? Obviously, that would indicate that you’re NOT super competitive! Also….lesson learned: train longer and better. 😉
I say this every year, but how is time going by so quickly? It’s already the middle of April! So far, 2024 hasn’t been too bad. It’s been full of much of the same things as last year: work, cats, riding bikes. However, one new unwelcome development is my recent tennis elbow diagnosis (or, as the medical types call it, “lateral elbow tendinopathy“). That diagnosis has forced me to dial back the intensity of the trails I ride and the frequency I ride. Bummer. However, I’ve been seeing a physical therapist for the past month and am seeing improvement, so I’m trying to take some comfort in that. Being patient is NOT a strength of mine!
On to happier things….last month, I got to do my now-annual Sedona weekend with some friends. There are a handful of us who have March birthdays and we’ve made a weekend celebration a tradition. This year, the weather was on the cloudy / rainy side, but that did not dampen our spirits a bit. Most of us arrived in Sedona early enough on the Friday to take a hike and promptly got drenched. It rained SO HARD! The trails dried up enough overnight though, so we got to ride the rest of the weekend. I’m so grateful for my “girl gang” and always have such a fun time with them! We booked a fantastic Airbnb and had a blast cooking, eating, watching stand-up comedy shows on Netflix, and just hanging out. Happy birthday to us, indeed!
Coffee Pot mountain! We hiked around this on Friday afternoon…in the RAIN…Another moody picture from Friday’s rain.Taking a lunch break during Saturday’s ride.Demonstrating my awesome dance moves.Group selfie!Look at all that red Sedona mud!Say “cheese!”Background is always pretty.Group selfie from Sunday morning’s ride.Sedona’s views do not disappoint.
Things coming up on the horizon include a White Rim trip next month and a Colorado trip this summer to celebrate a big anniversary. 🙂 I hope you all are enjoying a lovely spring!
What is Roamfest? It’s a mountain biking festival for the ladies that lasts a full weekend! Lots of group rides, vendors selling tons of mountain bike stuff, free food and swag, panel speakers, a film screening, and the most fun “silent disco” you’ll ever experience. 🙂 This year is the last year that Roamfest occurred in Sedona, so I really wanted to go. Starting in 2024, Roamfest will only happen in one place — Fruita, Colorado.
I had the great opportunity to volunteer at the Sedona Roamfest this year for the first time. Because this year was my third time attending the Sedona Roamfest, I wanted to get a different perspective and volunteer. I got to help at the registration desk all weekend, checking people in and answering questions. It was really fun and I met a lot of people that way.
I drove up to Sedona with my friend and roommate, Liezl (we stayed at the Wildflower Inn, which is a 2 minute walk from the festival venue), then after parking in the hotel lot, we headed over to check in. It was great to reunite with some friends from various mountain biking events I went to over the past year. (I’m looking at YOU, Jes, Danielle, Christina, Lani, Jen, Loni, Joanna, Hannah….so many familiar faces!) After checking in, I found the volunteer coordinator and got myself situated to start my first of three volunteer shifts. I decided to volunteer first thing in the morning all weekend, because that gave me the rest of the day to ride, check out workshops, hang out, or just sit down and catch my breath! The weekend went SO FAST….I got very little sleep, as expected….it was such a lovely time. I’ll end this post with some pictures. If you have any questions about Roamfest, let me know!
Check in time!Some of the vendors.Another view of the venue site.Jen and I at the check in desk.The weekend schedule.Jes, Danielle, and me pausing for a picture during our Friday afternoon ride.Gotta have a pic of my Sassy Cat in Sedona!Lani and I did a fun ride together Saturday morning.Informative derailleur workshop.My costume for the silent disco dance party. Of COURSE I went as a cat!Jes, Danielle, and me right before we started the silent disco dance party.The raffle prizes (I didn’t win anything, booooo!)The Roamfest staff dressed to impress, haha.Me and Liezl at the disco!Joanna and me sporting her cool hats. She’s a mountain bike coach based in Sedona and has a jewelry line found at http://www.mtbvibes.com. We see each other a few times a year and it’s always fun to connect with her!View of the silent disco. We all wear headphones that have 2 music channels and choose which channel to dance to. If you take your headphones off, you won’t hear any music….perhaps some off key singing…therefore, it’s a “silent” disco!
It’s officially fall and I am SO excited for the cooler temperatures! Phoenix is actually cool in the mornings now and I am definitely taking advantage of that by getting outside as late as…..7am! 🙂 This post will sum up a few fun trips I was fortunate to enjoy this summer. First, as I write this, I am reminded of where I was, literally, a scant month ago. I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio for the first time to visit my friend Vanessa. We packed in a lot of fun stuff in 4 days, including biking, hiking, karaoking (yes, really), going to the musical “SIX,” eating lots of yummy food, getting all cultured at the art museum….etc. It was great to escape the Phoenix heat and experience a different climate and landscape. Thanks for being the hostess with the mostest, Vanessa!
Getting my kitty fix with Arya!Nice view of the lake.Some of V’s friends joined us for a hike at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP).We did the “Ledges” hike.Yes, there is actually a cemetary in the park.About to watch “SIX” the musical!Listening to a fabulous concert at Blossom Music Center.The armoury was my favourite part of the Cleveland Art Museum.Yes, this is THE “Water Lilies” by Monet.View of the main entrance area.Don’t remember what this statue is called. Let’s call it “Contemplative Dude.”Self-explanatory.There were random decorated pianos around the city!V’s brother’s dog, Jolla (pronounced “Hoy-a”). He looks very dapper here!
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I had a few days at home after my Cleveland trip to unpack, only to turn around and pack for the Slaydies Sunrise weekend. This weekend was held at the Sunrise Ski Resort in Greer, AZ and the objective was to guide and empower women mountain bikers down the various trails at the resort! I was fortunate to serve as a “sweep” for one of the coaches, i.e., I rode at the back of my assigned group to make sure that everyone rode down the trail safely. I even got to carry a walkie-talkie for emergency purposes. THAT made me feel really important, haha! The weather started out perfect, then….it started to rain…and pour….and boy, things got muddy at the end of the first day. The second day started out partly cloudy, but the rain largely stayed away. I left that weekend with some new friends, great experience riding some new trails, and more confidence in my downhill riding skills.
Just arrived and it’s a beautiful day!Setting up tents and preparing for all the riders who will arrive soon.Weekend schedule!Everything is set up and things are happening!Cool view from the chairlift.Another view from the chairlift.End of day 1. It rained a little and I got a wee bit muddy.Here’s my better side, haha!We all enjoyed a happy hour social event with a great charcuterie board!View of my Airbnb’s front yard.Morning yoga to start day 2.With Stefanie McDaniel, Slaydies founder and organizer of this weekend.Silly photo of the group I assisted.All of the weekend riders.The coaches and assistants.
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I always view Labour Day weekend as the start of fall because for the longest time, I’d start school the day after that weekend. However, in Phoenix, summer temperatures do not follow the calendar. So, in another attempt to escape the heat, I organized a downhill mountain biking weekend during Labour Day weekend for a few friends at the Angelfire Bike Park in Angelfire, New Mexico. I went to Angelfire last year for the Homegrown ladies’ weekend and had such a good time that I knew I HAD to come back. It was such a fun weekend, despite the long drive, because we got to play outside and hang out in our Airbnb the whole time. Are we really adults? 🙂
On the chairlift, looking into the light!At the top of the chairlift….girl gang!Pretending to drink some lemonade before dropping into Lemonade.Girl gang pic on the chairlift. We’re either doing some yoga stretches or pretending to give birth.Such a pretty view!Combi trail was so pretty with all the flowers!Had to stop and take some pics!More prettiness.We saw deer on the trail!Dear deer. 🙂Going up on the lift to ride down.We didn’t get a group picture until the last night!
I have a few more trips coming up and am really looking forward to the cooler temperatures (did I already say that, haha?). I hope you all are enjoying fall and the glorious colours that come with it!
Hello, dear readers! I can’t believe how fast this year is going! I’ve been pretty busy with work, lots of visits from friends and family, and outdoor adventures when I can fit them in. I want to recap a few of the more notable events in my 2023, largely for my own benefit, haha.
Right after the new year, my dear SAT (self-appointed trainer, a.k.a., my husband) volunteered us to foster a pair of feral brother kittens. His boss had been feeding these kittens, along with their mama and sister, and took the kittens to get neutered. My SAT thought his boss would appreciate us fostering the kittens while they recuperated from surgery. We were only supposed to have them for a week or so. WE STILL HAVE THEM. But, I think we may be rehoming them to his boss’ place soon. Anyway, I named them Mario and Luigi and they were about 5 months old when we got them. They are pretty cute! Mario has the white chest and paws and Luigi is all grey. My cats, Jack and Simone, have largely tolerated the kittens’ presence. The kittens LOVE Jack. They would totally engage more with Simone if she let them. Here are some pictures of Mario and Luigi (let me know if you’d like to adopt them!):
(First picture is shortly after the kittens arrived at our place. Luigi is behind Mario. They were about 5 months old. The second picture is Luigi enjoying the flowers. He’s about 6.5 months old here. The third picture is Mario lounging on our bed (approximately 8 months old here).
For the past few years, I’ve ridden in Sedona with friends to celebrate my birthday. This year, I got a small group to spend my birthday weekend in Sedona. We booked an Airbnb close to some trails and just hung out the whole weekend. We mountain biked, hiked the Devil’s Bridge, and ate lots of yummy food! It was a fantastic weekend and such a great way to celebrate. There were 9 in total and 5 people had a March birthday, so the mood was VERY festive. I made a “Birthday Queen” sash for the birthday girls to take turns wearing!
This year was the third year I participated in the Slaydies Spring Challenge. For the month of April, participants commit to practicing a few mountain bike skills every day for at least 15 minutes. On May 1st, there is a celebration ride and party to mark the end of the challenge. Pivot Cycles hosted the party and provided demo bikes for us to ride (Pivot bikes are super nice, so that was a real treat). I focused on climbing for this year’s challenge and I think I’ve improved my overall body position for attacking technical (i.e., chunky, rocky) climbs. The celebration was last night and I got to lead the “beginner/party” ride option. Why was it a “party” ride? Well, apparently, I have a reputation for “making” my riders take part in a mountain bike dance party, hahaha. I like to have fun 🙂 One cool thing that happened at the end of my ride was getting a group photo taken by a professional photographer! He posed us in a “V” formation and caught the sunset. After the ride, we all enjoyed pizza and drinks and received our challenge t-shirts. It was such a fun time!
During the first weekend of November, I went to Roamfest Sedona, a women’s mountain biking festival weekend. This event is essentially a party on bikes all weekend! I went last year and had such a good time that I decided to go again. The format was the same as last year: lots of group rides, workshops, and general hang out time with old and new friends; good food and drink all weekend; lots of free stuff provided by the festival and the onsite vendors; clean portapotties, haha. The biggest difference this year is that I knew what to expect and therefore, was MUCH more efficient in what I packed. I drove up with a couple of friends and shared a hotel room with a friend 5 minutes away from the festival venue, which was VERY convenient!
The festival provided demo bikes for people to test ride. I demoed 6 bikes and rode them on the same trail to make it easier to compare the bikes. The bikes I tried, in order of the photos below, are: 1) Transition Scout, XS frame and S frame, 2) Pivot Shadowcat XS frame, 3) Rocky Mountain Instinct, S frame, 4) Rocky Mountain Element, S frame, 5) Pivot Mach 6, XS frame. I really liked the Shadowcat, Instinct, and Scout. Did not like the Pivot Mach 6 at all. I’m slowly narrowing down potential new bike options…
The non-biking activities I participated in included a climate advocacy discussion, a bracelet making session, and a silent disco. The disco is one of the funniest group activities I’ve ever done! Everyone had their own headphones, which connected to 2 different music playlists. You chose the song you wanted to dance to. When I took my headphones off, it was hilarious to hear the (somewhat off-key) singing of all the ladies, but no actual music recording. Most of the group wore costumes, which added to the fun.
Of course, riding mountain bikes in Sedona means sharing beautiful views with lovely people. Looking forward to next year!
reluctantroadie 