What is that Nicole up to?

I ventured down to Santa Barbara for the weekend on a quest for new mountain bike trails to ride. An hour North of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara has the aire of "Shee-Shee" that many of the rich and famous flock to. But it is also a beautiful area with mountains to climb that give you amazing views.

However, trying to find local single track without a local guide was no easy task. Regardless, I think we did pretty darn well overall. It seems that the San Ynez mountains divide the mountain bike trails into downhill on the seaside and cross-country on the backside. We camped out in the San Ynez Los Padres Park at the Upper Oso campsite, which gives great access to the backside of the mountain range. LOTS of mountains ... high mountains ... It appears that, front or backside, most of the Mt Biking around Santa Barbara consists of LONG climbs up fire roads, followed by either super technical downs, which seem to be ridden by many others, or overgrown and/or fire-burnt single track downs, which tend to get less traffic. But in either case, the views that you get by all that climbing are phenomenal, giving great rewards by getting to overlook this truly picturesque, gorgeous place.

It was a bit rainy on Saturday, so we loitered around town hoping that the sun might come out. On State Street are loads of designer shops, lots of variety in cuisine, and interesting people watching. We ate breakfast, made some bike repairs at the shop, and even did a bit of shopping and acquired some of the hip locally-made clothing. Finally, we meandered through town to the start of the Romero Canyon Trail around 3pm. Despite the spitting rain all day, our late departure turned out to be perfect timing. We climbed up the sea-side of the mountain range for about 7-8 miles, which got us above the clouds and rain, and we watched the sun set over the clouds, mountains, and ocean. It was absolutely stunning. After donning our lights, we started on our way down an unkown singletrack, only to find that this particular section hadnt been ridden or hiked in a LONG time. After hike-a-biking and getting our shins scratched to bits for as long as we could withstand, we turned around and scooted back down the fire road a few miles to a portion of the single track we KNEW was rideable. This turn-around was fortunate, as we got a view of the moon over the sea, which was lit bright red by the sun that was well set below the Pacific horizon (sorry, no camera....). It was a sliver of moon, painted bright red that seemed to float over the horizon. It was gorgeous! The rest of the single track down was rocky and technical. Not steep, but in the dark, navigating the boulders took alot of commitment, which was not on board for me that night. So I ended up pushing my bike downhill for some of it (SO WRONG!) but in the end, had a great, semi-epic ride!

The other rides we went on were on the backside of the Santa Ynez mountains and we could bike to these trails right from our campsite. On this (non-sea) side, you dont get the ocean vistas, but the mountain vistas are just as breathtaking. These rides were on sunny days, which made the extensive climbing even hotter! Luckily we managed to get some shade on one climb, and went late enough in the day that the other climb, to avoid some of the heat. If you come riding here, be prepared for quite a bit of climbing either up winding fireroads or ledgy single track. The out-and-back ride on the Santa Cruz Trail offered a challenging but rideable climb and a really fun downhill (but super ledgy, with some areas that are eroding away pretty quickly). The Portrero-Mathias-Red Rock single track was loads of fun - but at times we were riding through shoulder high grass due to lack of use (so get out there and ride you Santa Barbarans!). We managed to find one river to take a dip in, but most of it was pretty dried out this time of year (mid-November). Next time, we hope to hit the hot springs dotted around the place! Feel free to check out the other photos.

Labels: autumn, mountain bike

I love to ride my bicycle. I prefer the unpaved paths, but some of the views in the mountains and lakes around California can even make cycling on pavement spectacular!

I REALLY love to ride my mountain bike! It is the start of November and I will quickly exceed 2000 miles of unpaved paths through the loamy, swoopy trails of the redwood forests, trails through mountain passes and around mountain lakes, and even trails through sand dunes, boulders, snow, and mud. I love every mile of it. This year, I signed up for a few races that involved riding my mountain bike. Myself and four of my girlfriends formed a team that competed in a 24 hour relay mountain bike race called the 24 Hours of Adrenalin at Laguna Seca near Monterey California. Much to our surprise, we won our category! It was a very exciting race, as we were head to head with the Hamana Ho's until the last few laps. But in the end, it was Tits of Steel that stole the yellow jersey! We went back to defend our title a few months later, only to find that our competition bailed - so we won again (but I guess you can say we also lost?!). Needless to say, we had loads of fun riding through the sunny days, the foggy and windy nights, and even some moments of crystal clear and calm nights. One of my teammates Dawn wrote a great blog shortly after the first race and captures much of the spirit, if you are interested in reading more about it! We were also accompanied by other teams, such as the Velonerds and the Google Earthlings, which made staying up over the period of 24 hours that much more fun!

With a yearning for more, a few of us decided to ride solo for 8 hours in a mountain bike race in Whiskeytown, CA. We camped out the night before, and turned up to the start line at 9am, with the intention of slogging it out on beautiful mountain single track for the next 8 hours. The loop was not for the faint-hearted. About 10 miles of (90%?) single-track, some loose and rocky fire road, and about 1600 feet of climbing for each lap. DJ was our superstar rider, completing 8 laps and winning second place - go Deej! Alex wasnt far behind and didnt stop until he completed 7 laps - awesome job Alex! Myself and Ben decided to stick together and make the day of it: we stopped for lunch, treats, and even managed to take a nice icy dip in the river, while managing to get 6 laps in. It was a perfect ride! Sophie and Geo biked together as well, and pulled off 5 laps - well done! We all loved the challenge, the terrain, the scenery, and the company, however no one mentioned whether or not they were ready for the full 24 hour solo - anyone?

I am not solely dedicated to riding on dirt. I competed in the Santa Cruz Sentinal triathlon with two other friends of mine - Sam and Marta - as the cyclist on a relay team called SNM - S(am)N(icole)M(arta). (I had to do the race just so I could compete on a team with such a great name!). We did pretty darn well, I have to admit, for a last minute, throw-together team! We placed third in the open, women's category. And within the category of cyclists, I had the fastest time within the women's team, and 5th fastest women overall (there are 100's of female competitors in this popular event). Not bad for a measley ol' mountain biker...


I can also do things other than ride my bike! I joined five other women in a relay that swam across the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe. We shared the 12 mile distance to cross the Northern width of the lake - no wetsuits allowed! It was a gorgeous, beautiful day. The water temperature was tolerable (somewhere between 60-65F, slightly warmer than the oceans we swim in off of Santa Cruz) but the mesmerizing, beautiful rays of sun that shot through the bright blue waters below took away any thoughts of cold or fatigue that may have set in. It was a super fun event. I cant even remember how we did - there happened to be many teams from the Olympic Swim Club there which cut out some hefty competition for us. Despite that, I think we managed getting somewhere in the top five for open water women's category. This however is no feat compared to my friend Virginia, who competed the swim solo! For more photos, go here.




And THEN, after the race, a teammate and I joined a bunch of friends for ... you guessed it, mountain bike ride! The views over the lake after swimming across it were that much more spectacular than usual (see more photos here).

Labels: bike, mountain bike, swim

Career: Marine Scientist
I am nearing the end of my Postdoctoral term, which started at the University of Connecticut and lead to my current position here at the Ocean Sciences Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. My research has ranged from studies of phytoplankton production in the New Zealand fjords, to the pollution of Long Island Sound, to the study of a unique type of phytoplankton in the waters off the coast of Hawaii, and now, the phytoplankton community off the coast of California. (fyi, phytoplankton are the microscopic plants in the ocean - base of the food chain - very important little buggers!) Much of the research I do these days is theoretical - so I spend much of my time a the computer, writing and running code for models that simulate phytoplankton production (their growth and mortality). It is pretty fun - think of it as video games for science geeks (when it isnt making me feel like the character in the movie below!)!

So what next? Well, I have about one more year to figure that out. I am debating whether I would like to go into academia, and become a professor, or whether I would like to apply my skills to environmental issues by working for a non-profit organization or a consulting firm. Hopefully, in one year, this question will be answered!