What is that Nicole up to?

8 clean monkeys set out on the dusty single-track trails of Santa Cruz with the goals of (1) mountain biking all the epic, awesome, primary trails in UCSC/Henry Cowell, Wilder, and Bear Mountain (2) having a fun-filled day of pedaling our hearts out, and (3) covering (at least) a distance of 62 Km (a metric century). 8 dirty monkeys came back from these trails with grit-eating grins and most of these goals accomplished (at least the important goals, #1 and #2)! Five of us even managed to exceed all three goals by biking 72 miles and climbing 10,500 feet of vertical, technical single-track. You may wanna hold your breath if you view pictures of us after many miles of playing in the dirt.


Alex, the primary creator of the epic loops(es) we rode, summarized it nicely in a letter to the peeps:

"Nerds,

The first Santa Cruz Off-Road Metric Century was a complete success!
Thanks so much to everyone who came out and made it awesome.
We started off with 8 riders (Me, Jun, Nicole, Jordan, DJ, Erin,
Carlos, Matt). Everyone rode the first loop all together which was a
great experience. That first loop was 30 miles and almost 5000ft
ascent and involved riding up magic carpet which was fun! The 2nd loop
was mostly wilder and also a blast, the group split into two at that
point, Jun and I and Nicole, Jordan and DJ. Carlos and finally Erin
peeled off at various stages. after loop two we'd done 57 miles (only
5 to go!) but everyone rallied and pitched in the extra effort and we
did a full bear mountain loop (including el chup!) for a total of 71
miles, 10,450ft of ascent. We started at 8am and finished at 8pm but
had some good breaks for lunch and afternoon tea.

Afterwards everyone who finished got a very limited edition frickin'
laser etched stem cap. Nicole organized a raffle and everyone won a
*valuable* prize from her shed. DJ and Jun worked the grills and we
showered 10 tons of dirt down Jun's drain.

This was by far my single greatest experience on a bike. I've ridden
that distance once before off road on a bike at Boggs but never such
an awesome flowy never the same trail kind of huge epic loop that was
our route. Truly Epic!"

You can also see the velonerds blog here. I am obviously too tired and lazy to write much more at the moment.

I never thought I could bike such a distance and so much vertical on single track, especially after already doing a 100 miler (with only about 200 more feet of climbing) on road four days prior, but it felt awesome, great, epic, and I loved every minute of it (even that section of Boundary Trail that I loathe!).

It all began with the introduction to an avid mountain biker, who has turned out to be one of my closest friends and biking mates. He has kept Team Velonerds very much alive with his enthusiasm, promotion of the team and sport, dedication, and love for biking and those who bike with him. With introduction to this fantastic person, came my induction to Team Velonerds.


My first official race under the propeller-head was at an 8-hour solo Mountain Bike race at Boggs demonstration forest. A beautiful, fun course of single-track bliss. For over 7 hours I kept a relatively consistent pace, completing 7 laps, riding a metric century, and getting second place for women's sport. Turns out that the woman who beat me, although 15 years younger, was also from Illinois AND wanted to be a marine biologist, as I discovered during our conversations throughout the race! Great minds bike alike (or some bike better, as in her case!). While I had time to do one more lap, and possibly gain first place, a beer seemed far more appealing than another lap of cramping quads and hamstrings. My teammates who also rode solo did an amazing job! Alex caned the course with 8 laps, getting an official fourth place, which should have been third due to a sandbagger that got first by racing in the wrong class. DJ also did 8 laps, not too far behind Alex. Bob (on singlespeed) and Jun also completed 7 laps. Erin also did great by competing in her first solo Mountain Bike race (or any mountain bike race for that matter (?), as we know she was a tough competitor for UCLA and U. Boulder on the road). I was super proud of everyone and I think we all had a superb day!

My second race as a Velonderd involved donning the full, official Velonerds kit. I not only wore the installed helmet propeller with pride, but also had the honour of wearing the official team jersey: a white collared, button-up shirt with the team logo across the back and heart, and a red tie. I was part of a co-ed 24 hour race at 24 hours of Cool in Cool, California. I rode with Bob, June, Carlos, and Scotty. Alex went solo that race. What an incredible event which was a fundraiser for cancer victims, but also treated its competitors like gold. We were fed a hot dinner, breakfast and lunch, had a band that played for us all night, and
even music and people to cheer us on half-way along the course, where we biked along a path lined with pictures dedicated to those that fought cancer. It was an inspiring event that we entered for the fun of racing and to support a worthy cause. Much to our surprise however, after
Bob caned the first lap, we were already in second place! We pressed on through the night to turn our half-hour lag into a one lap lead! What a great surprise. We worked so well as a team, particulary through our night rides, as Santa Cruzians do so well. For more detail, see Jun's great account of the race in the Velonerd blog.

My most recent feat under the Velonerd name was the Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge Century. Alex, Mark and I set off with propeller-heads revving and spinning (and Alex and I in our formal-wear) up, around, down, up, along and up (and up and up) the gorgeous mountains surrounding and within Santa Cruz. These roads, close to my very own backyard, were absolutely incredible. I feel as if we got to see more than 90% of the redwoods in this county! It was a breathtaking day, in more ways than one! While Mark had to bail at mile 70 due to an injury, Alex and I pressed on to complete the century. I give Alex the highest accolade not only for doing his very first century on one of the hardest courses around, but also for doing this on a fully rigid mountain bike with slicks (and for the record, he did NOT use his granny gear!). Did I also mention that his bike was complete with GPS, two bike computers, a bell, plenty of Gu's and Shotblocks, as well as a fender? A very well-prepared cyclist no doubt.
I felt as if the ride was difficult enough on my carbon road bike! And the funniest thing about this feat was when Alex looks at me at around mile 80 and says with a perplexed look on his face "Ya know Nicole, I am really surprised that I havent seen ANY other mountain bikes on this century ride?". I thought this was most humourous, and then explained to Alex that it is not really NORMAL to ride 100 miles on road, climbing almost 11,000 feet, on a mountain bike! But then again, Alex is not your typical cyclist.
On a serious note, I couldnt have asked for a better riding partner that day - our faces ached, probably more than our quads ached, from smiling so much! At one point, while pushing ourselves up the last major climb, one of the riders we passed remarked that we were having too much fun! So we tried to have a tiff with one another, but that turned into a laughing-fest as well (particlarly when we turned up a steep, dark, tree-covered switchback to hear Alex exclaim "Turn your headlights on Nicole", which he read off of a road sign - he added my name onto the end, obviously). We were also treated with an awesome surprise at the end of our ride, when a teammate of ours, Erin, rode the course backwards, catching up with us for the remaining 10-15 miles of the ride. Thanks Erin!! You are a total star. It was so refreshing and encouraging to see you and have you ride with us those last several miles. We were pretty tired at that point, but your energy saw us through to the end!

While I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I met my best biking mates and became a Velonerd, I could not be more proud of my teammates and to represent my team - and I cant imagine life WTHOUT being a Velonerd. Love you guys!

Anything goes in Kalalua, so long as it is organic, open-minded, free, and "at one" with nature. Sam and I discovered this (when caught) out under various circumstances!


Sam and I set out on an adventure to the pristine nook of the North Shore, Kauai. From the town of Hanalei, it is a short jaunt to the start of the Kalalua trail which traverses the Na Pali coast. The Kalalua trail is likely to sustain and protect itself from the masses due to its strenuous and sometimes harrowing 11 mile hike.


For those who do endeavour to hike the trail rather than view by helicopter, boat, or plane will be replenished with guavas galore, endemic hawaiian apples, and (if you can reach them) juicy, juicy mangoes (most of which coat the trail over which you tred). During our trek, we were even offered Billy goat-taro stew. This delicacy couldnt have been created more locally or more fresh than from the billy goat that scampered the cliffs and the taro that resided in the rainforests along side the very trails we hiked. (Dont worry, the billy goats are a nuisance, as they are consuming all the plants that cover the cliffsides. This not only turns lush hillsides to fields of dirt, but also increases the rate of erosion. Even "official" park rangers set out to reduce billy goat populations.) Of course a culinary expert, previously a chef at the Crow's nest in my home town of Santa Cruz and now a "semi-permanent resident" of Kalalua, knew what he was doing when he made this delicious dish from the goods that he and his dog Koa hunted and gathered. It was absolutely delicious and sent us off scampering along the cliffs (until the last mile, which I will leave out of the story for now).


Using the word "Trail" is a benign term to describe the path to Kalalua. While worth the trek, this trail narrows to a 6 inch wide slippery and rocky surface. A slip of the foot would send a careless hiker several hundred feet down a sheer cliff, only to be swallowed up by the aqua blue waves that crash along the Na Pali coast. Sure-footedness required. This is no walk in the park. With an average speed of 2 miles an hour along undulating, rocky rooty trails and stream-crossings, we managed to reach Kalalua in 6 or 7 hours, but not without paying a price. Cycling and swimming had prepared my lungs and quads for the aerobic lunges I carried out over the duration of the hike, but the high impact of a heavy pack and stomping down hill took a big toll on my calves and knees (and Sam carried most of the gear - especially during that last mile which I still wont discuss!). Luckily, Kalalua was the perfect place to kick back, relax, and heal.


Landing in Kalalua made me feel as if I was discovering a truly magical piece of the world. Steep, undulating cliffs jutt straight up from the mile long beautiful sandy beach which melts into the balmy and wave-crashing Pacific waters. A waterfall, a few hundred feet high, feeds Kalalua with freshwater for drinking, bathing/showering, and serves as a communal place to meet others who are usually hidden away in their campsites. Although there appeared to be quite a community within the area (some of which have made this place their semi-permanent home), most people were tucked away in their homemade abodes built within the shade-supplying trees just beyond the gorgeous white sands. Directly behind the campsites were volcanic cliffs and a winding river that tracked up through a lush valley of rainforest. The river weaves itself through boulders and rainforest, offering refreshing swimming holes and body-massaging mini waterfalls to play in.


A few miles venture up this river bed leads to larger, still pools filled directly by high waterfalls, which we have yet to explore. On days when the waves and rip-tides of the ocean were less intimidating, we were able to swim in the Pacific. What a treat, to float around in crystal blue waters without wetsuits or shivers! The remainder of our time was spent relaxing among the trees, doing yoga on the beach, making breakfast, lunch or dinner, and simply lying around the campsite, beach, and river together. Life couldnt get more relaxing and healing and wonderful as this.

For a few more photos, click here

Labels: holiday