mtbskills

“It’s a cruel, cruel, cruel summer…”*

~ reluctantroadie ~ Leave a comment

It’s almost the end of July, but the high temperatures show no sign of abating. Phoenix has broken a couple of weather records this year, to which I say “Phoenix, STOP being an overachiever!” Summer riding in Phoenix is always challenging because the “coolest” part of the day occurs VERY early in the morning. I’ve managed to get myself outside by 5:30am when I want to ride my bike, but I’ve also given myself some grace to NOT ride my bike. The last few early morning rides were a little hard to wrap my head around, because the temperature was already 95-97 degrees F at 5:30am! (That’s about 35 degrees Celsius for my Canadian friends.)

What does an overheated Phoenician do to weather the heat? Escape to cooler climates! A few things I’ve done in the past couple months include:

  • a fun bike park skills clinic at Fort Tuthill in early June with Trail Lovers Sedona. This was a fun class that focused on a couple of skills used at bike parks: jumps and drops. I drove up to Flagstaff with a couple of friends and we spent a half day working on jumps (i.e., getting some “air” on the bike) and drops (i.e., when you ride over an elevated surface and “drop” down to the ground). I did execute a couple solid drops, which made me happy. 🙂
I took this screenshot from the video of my drop. You can see that my wheels left the ground! Videos always flatten out angles, so the screenshot doesn’t look as steep as the drop actually was. Well….maybe the drop wasn’t steep. It sure felt like it was!
  • A few friends and I spent a weekend in Flagstaff in mid-June exploring new trails and enjoying the cooler weather.
We ran into Joanna and Phil Yates (3rd from right and very right) at the start of our ride! They were the coaches at the clinic I took in June!
View from the Arizona Trail.
Heidi took this selfie. She is very good at that. Lani (white shirt) was our guide because she lives in Flagstaff. Kara (far right) rounds out our quartet.
I do like cooler summer temperatures!
Such pretty views!
Cool picture of us in the aspen trees.
  • In early July, my SAT (self-appointed trainer) and I visited our family in Canada. While there, we attended a family wedding, which was on a boat! Fun fact: I get seasick. 😦 However, even though the boat ride was a bit disappointing because of nausea, we did other fun things, like visit a water obstacle course and meet some animals from Australia.
Despite my seasickness, it was still pretty cool to attend a wedding on a boat.
Me and my SAT all dressed up for the first time in….years.
Water obstacle course.
Me and Priscilla the porcupine. At the time of this picture, she was 3 years old and very tame. I got to feed her some melon!
A beautiful peacock.
A wallaby, which is a small marsupial. Kangaroos are much bigger.
A kangaroo totally ignoring me. It was so fun to interact with the animals! I pet this kangaroo and its fur is really soft.
  • I went to Flagstaff AGAIN shortly after coming home from Canada with some other friends to ride bikes. Although it wasn’t as cool up in Flagstaff as we would have liked the day we went, we still enjoyed the change in scenery. We left Phoenix at 5am and started our ride shortly after 8am, when the temperature was 80 degrees F (about 25 C). The temperature was about 95 F (about 33 C) when we finished riding around 11:30am.
Yay, we’re not in Phoenix! Lani (far right) was my guide again.
Still happy not to be in Phoenix.
  • To prove that living in Phoenix is like living in an oven, I baked cookies in my truck (again). I made a chocolate cookie dough with Heath bar pieces, dropped a dozen onto a cookie sheet, and placed that cookie sheet inside my oven. Started at 10:30am and took them out 6 hours later. The max temperature inside the truck was 190 F (88 C). The cookies were DEFINITELY baked….rather crispy, actually. Although it’s super cool to bake cookies in one’s truck, I’d prefer it if Phoenix did not get hot enough to do that!! I’ve now baked cookies in my vehicle three times and each time, the max outside temperature was at least 117 F (47 C). Also, the temperature inside the vehicle hit a high of 190 F. Consistency is key, my friends.
Starting the process.
Cookies are setting up nicely.
The average of the 2 thermometers was 190 F.
Finished product!
  • The rest of July was spent in Colorado! The first half of our CO trip was with our good friends Carl and Lifan, who moved there recently. They showed us the delights of small town life and introduced us to the Phil’s World trail system. We will definitely come back!
Phil’s World trail system.
Sunflowers everywhere.
Trying to get an artsy photo.
Practicing my selfies!
Great views on the Ribcage trail at Phil’s World.
Me and Lifan enjoying a moment.
Yummy cider!
Hanging out over drinks.
A refurbished printing press.
We stamped our own tote bags at the local printing press shop!
Horse-drawn carriage…definitely evidence of small-town life!

The second half of our CO trip was to ride at Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park. The drive there from Carl and Lifan’s is absolutely gorgeous. We passed through a few mountain passes and were inspired by all the “14ers” we saw along the way. I’m thinking that we’ll be making our way to hike up some of those 14ers next year! One nerdy highlight was seeing the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, which features prominently in the American opera “The Ballad of Baby Doe.”

Coal Bank Pass summit.
Fun mural in Gunnison.
Monarch Pass summit.
There’s a gondola at Monarch Pass summit. We didn’t have time to ride it. Maybe next time!
Tabor Opera House in Leadville!

Finally, we met up with our friends at Trestle. We rode there for two days and wow, who knew that downhill riding could be so tiring? By the end of the first day, my hands were cramping so badly that I couldn’t hold onto my handlebars. I was fine the next day, but I was definitely tired! It was fun being at a bike park with my SAT; it was the second time at a bike park for both of us. What was great about being part of a group at the bike park was that we could ride with other people who were more at our level, as well as riding with each other. For me, my Trestle experience was like a personal workshop in downhill cornering, jumping, and getting used to speed. Of course, the weather was awesome! I keep saying this, but we will be back to Colorado as soon as we can!

Me and my SAT riding the gondola up to the downhill trails.
Nice view, right?
Getting ready to ride!
The lodge at the top of the gondola.
I rode a lot with my friend’s husband, Joe, since we were at a similar riding level.
Another great view.
My group stayed in a condo an hour away from Trestle, so we had to drive in both days. This is the enormous bike rack used to shuttle all the bikes!
View of the Trestle “village” area.
I had to take a photo with the Coke bear!
Another cheesy photo opportunity.
Trying to take yet another artsy photo.
Me with Heidi, Joe, and my SAT.
Me and Cheryl.
The entire Phoenix crew.
Playing tourist in Frisco.
Frisco is super cute.
Pretty gelato and sorbet.
Words to live by!

*Any guesses as to what song the blog title comes from?

I’m alive!!

~ reluctantroadie ~ Leave a comment

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!

I hope all of you are having a great 2023!

Summer is over…finally!

~ reluctantroadie ~ Leave a comment

Hello, dear readers! It’s late October, which means summer is finally OVER here in Phoenix, AZ. Mornings are actually pleasant and, dare I say, a wee bit chilly, which is such a welcome change from the months of heat, humidity, and general crankiness (I’m not referring to myself at all…). I’ve been enjoying the option of riding later in the morning or — gasp! — late afternoon.

One recent highlight I wanted to share was a spontaneous girls’ weekend in Sedona last month. A few friends and I decided to check out some new-to-us mountain bike trails and visit a couple of mountain bike coach friends in Sedona. Not much to say, other than a great time was had by all. Gorgeous scenery, silly photos, and awesome friends = wonderful time.

Hard to take a bad picture in Sedona.
Exuberance
Amo, me, Joanna. Amo and Joanna are 2 fantastic mountain bike coaches based in Sedona.
Action shot!
Just look at that red rock!
We visited the Amitabha Stupa park, which is an outdoor venue for prayer and meditation.
Our 2nd day started with a photo opp by a sinkhole!
Showing off our best sides in our Shredly mountain biking shorts!
Another fun photo.
Heidi and I attempting some partner yoga on top of the “Ant Hill.”

At the end of last year, I wrote a list of mountain bike goals for 2022. I realized today that I’ve achieved most of them! Here is my list:

  1. Ride 2,000 miles this year.
  2. Complete the Whiskey 30 race in one piece. (DONE! For proof, check out this blog.)
  3. Learn how to jump intentionally, not accidentally. (I’ve taken a jump clinic and have actually jumped intentionally during rides!)
  4. Go to a bike park for the first time. (DONE! Went to Angelfire in July. For proof, check out this blog and that blog.)
  5. Continue working on my list of technical features. (This will always be a work in progress, but notable achievements include clearing 3 rocky sections on the lower National trail at South Mountain.)
  6. Build endurance to ride my first dirt half century, i.e., 50 miles. (Still working on this one.)
  7. Continue the skills practice by taking clinics and practicing specific skills on my own. (Still working on this.)
  8. Continue to meet and encourage beginner riders to ride. (DONE! I just started my weekly ladies’ mountain bike ride again!)

Not too shabby! Still have time to knock off a couple more items….

Send it, again!

~ reluctantroadie ~ 1 Comment

I just got the professional photos from the Homegrown clinic and they look great! Vernie Aikins is the photographer and he worked hard during the clinic; he would ride to where all the different small groups were to take individual photos of all the ladies. (His Flickr page is here and his Instagram (@pedalpics) is here.) He also took lots of candid group pictures. These pictures are great souvenirs!

Coming in hot!
I miss the lovely trees right now, as I’m stuck in the Phoenix heat.
Cornering practice.
Beautiful night sky.
All the ladies.
Waiting for the raffle to start!
Vernie took this photo of me and Paula, also from Phoenix, at lunch.

Doing all the mtb things

~ reluctantroadie ~ 2 Comments

This blog is way overdue for an update! Why haven’t I updated lately? Because I’ve been consistently riding my mountain bike. This is not a joke. Although I’ve had my mountain bike for 5 years, I barely rode it. I was seriously considering selling my bike in October 2020 because it was a waste to have a great bike and not ride it. (Also, due to the pandemic, it seemed like EVERYONE was spending time outside on bikes, which meant that bikes were in great demand. I figured that I could tap into that demand and get a pretty great price for my bike.) However, my SAT (self-appointed trainer, a.k.a., my husband) persuaded me to give mountain biking one more go and I agreed. I even signed up for a clinic….and that was the clincher. Not only did I learn some fundamental skills, I met some great women riders, who introduced me to a lot more women riders. Now, I have a community of women riders!

I wanted to blog about each of my mountain bike rides and trips that I’ve done this year, but because there are way too many rides and trips to document, I’m just going to bullet out the highlights of my mountain biking year thus far:

  • Set a mileage goal for 2021: 30 miles / week (i.e., 1,520 this year). As of June 26, 2021, I’ve ridden 927 miles (1,492 km)!
  • Gone on lots of group rides, both self-organized and via a few groups I’ve joined.
  • Met lots of lady shredders!
  • Trips taken include 3 Sedona trips, 2 Flagstaff trips, and numerous valley/local rides.
  • Successfully completed the Slaydies 30 day skills challenge, which means that I intentionally practiced mountain bike skills for at least 20 minutes a day for 30 consecutive days. Over the 30 days, I spent 28 hours and 27 minutes on my bike and rode 184.1 miles. That’s a lot of practice!
  • Took 2 bike skills clinics (cornering and downhill with PedalTherapy).
  • Accomplishments: I can actually lift my front wheel! I can also do baby level lifts and something resembling a back wheel lift. Additionally, I can now ride ALL of the Beverly Canyon downhill sections, the Javelina downhill, most of East Loop in both directions, and much of the Hawes trail system. I also rode a couple sections of the Black Canyon Trail for the first time in May and that was really fun.
  • Residual benefit: lost a few pounds. 😉

Goals for the rest of this year include exceeding my mileage goal and focusing on new trails at South Mountain to learn, such as Mormon and National (yikes). Right now, getting out to ride is a bit more challenging due to the heat here in Phoenix, but I’m managing to continue riding by getting up at 4:30am (this is not a joke). I cannot wait for fall.

I’ll end this blog post with lots of pictures from all the riding I’ve done this year!

  • On top of the “Helipad” at South Mountain with Jodey and Jess.
  • Lovely view of the Sedona red rock on Valentine’s Day.
  • Rode with Lifan and Carl on Valentine’s Day in Sedona.
  • Riding some trails at Hawes in east Mesa on my birthday.
  • Another Sedona ride in mid-March.
  • Sedona girls’ ride with Jodey, Vanessa, and Kara.
  • Saw burros on the trail at Browns Ranch!
  • Just after “cleaning,” i.e., successfully riding, the south side Beverly Canyon downhill. I focused on downhill skills for a week leading up to the PedalTherapy downhill skills bike clinic I took in April.
  • Getting the hang of what the proper downhill body position should feel like during the PedalTherapy downhill skills clinic in April.
  • Riding a portion of the Black Canyon Trail in May.
  • Barely saw this critter on the Black Canyon Trail!
  • All the ladies who completed the Slaydies 30 day challenge.
  • Girls’ ride in…Sedona! (It’s a great place to ride.)
  • Played hooky for a day and rode in Flagstaff with Sara and Tori to escape the Phoenix heat in June.
  • Another ride in Flagstaff, but this time, with a different group.
  • I’m getting up at 4:30am to ride to beat the heat. One benefit: glorious AZ sunrises.
  • AZ sunrises really are beautiful.
2021 MTB Snapshots….so far!

How low can you go?

~ reluctantroadie ~ 1 Comment

I’m doing a new thing! I’m shifting my focus to mountain biking, now that my “rim to rim” hike is done and to that end, I registered for a mountain bike clinic! I’ve never taken a mountain bike clinic before and it seemed like a good time to do one, given what little there is to do this past year (thanks for nothing, global pandemic).

The clinic I’m taking is part of the “Slaydies” series through Adrenaline Coaching. Each series includes 4 classes; my series is the November one and meets each Tuesday afternoon for 2 hours at South Mountain. Class sizes are limited to 5 ladies. The first session was on Election Day and I was very glad to have the distraction! We focused on the correct position for descending (i.e. “active stance,” or “get as low as you can on the bike”) as well as braking on descents.

One of the best things about taking a clinic is getting feedback from a totally objective third-party, i.e. someone other than my SAT (self-appointed trainer/husband). For whatever reason, hearing my SAT tell me to “get lower” when I go down descents doesn’t seem to resonate as much with me compared to when Stefanie (clinic coach) tells me the same thing (maybe because Stefanie doesn’t live with me?).

In addition to verbal feedback, Stefanie assigned us “homework” based on her observations of our current skill level. My takeaways from week 1 are to practice getting as low as I can on the bike while going downhill. Here’s a picture showing what my body position looked like during my first attempt going down a chunky descent vs. the last attempt (we had 4-5 attempts):

(My goal is to match the red line on the right as much as possible when descending.)

I have a ways to go before I would consider my active stance “low enough.” 😉

(Stefanie showing Lauren the video of her descent.)

At the end of the class, we had a quick debriefing session over sparkling water (thanks, Stefanie!) and mini banana muffins (thanks, Lauren!) during which we all shared what we learned.

Before writing this blog post, I went for a ride to practice my active descending stance. I can tell that I was much more aware of my body position and could tell when I wasn’t as low in my stance vs. when I was low (or, what I consider “low” for now because I’m still trying to make the low stance second nature). Hooray for getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things!

The end of the world (or something like that)

~ reluctantroadie ~ Leave a comment

They say that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Well, March definitely arrived with a vengeance. For those of you who’ve been living in a cave the last couple of weeks (and honestly, that’s probably one of the safest things you can do right now), the current global issue is COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus. This virus is the cause of the current global pandemic and has affected hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Here in Phoenix, schools have closed until April 10th, bars/restaurants are closed except for takeaway and delivery, and basically all “non-essential” services are shuttered. Grocery stores, medical institutions, and other essential services (e.g. utility companies, banks) are still open. Those who can are working from home. Most people are “social distancing” themselves from anyone outside their home, i.e. staying at least 6 feet away from each other when in proximity to other people. It’s a strange time for sure.

One of the few things one can still do is go outside and take a walk, hike, or bike ride. Although the 6 foot social distancing rule still applies when going out into nature, it’s a relief to be able to get some fresh air and sunshine. It’s somewhat amusing to see how many more people are visiting the local trails; I’ve noticed some dads riding mountain bikes from the 90’s….those bikes were probably collecting dust in the garage!

I’m still going outside and working on one of my goals this year: developing some mountain biking skills. I’m making some progress….slowly, yes, but progress nonetheless. For instance, I’ve ridden on some sections of trail at South Mountain (the closest biking area to me) that I hadn’t done before. I’m doing better on most uphill sections. And I’m not uttering all of my thoughts out loud while riding uphill. 😉

Last weekend, my S(elf)A(ppointed)T(rainer) and I checked out the Ma-Ha-Tuak Perimeter trail to try something new. WOW. It was hard. Super steep in so many places. It was a pretty trail and there were lots of wildflowers along the way. Not a lot of people (see “super steep” sentence). We ended up taking the road back for the last few miles because my legs were done and close to cramping. While I was crying and dying inside, my SAT went on about how “this trail rocks!” and “this is so cool!” and “yeah, this trail is a bit steep.” Dear readers, I really tried to keep most of my thoughts to myself, but sometimes, enough is enough and a few thoughts did not stay filtered. Don’t worry, my SAT and I are still on speaking terms. 🙂

However, I have to admit that the scenery was pretty nice. I’ll leave you with a few pictures and well wishes as we all continue our #socialdistancing and #quarantining. Stay well!

  • So much green due to the recent rain.
  • Smiling on the outside, dying on the inside.
  • More pretty scenery.
  • Are we done yet?
  • Beautiful desert bloom.
  • More pretty wildflowers.
Scenes from Ma-Ha-Tuak Perimeter trail, South Mountain, AZ.