What is that Nicole up to?

I had a very special person come to visit for a long week (that would be Sam). During this week, we packed alot in. We travelled alot, we played alot, and we also learned alot about life and eachother. However, one of us learned a bit more about crashing on mountain bikes than the other (and it wasnt me - although the sight of these crashes did bring MYSELF to tears at one point!).

Our trip started off by rendezvou'ing at San Francisco airport and hopping on the next flight to Chicago to visit Mom and Dad ("Ooooooooooo", did I hear you say?!). This almost didnt happen, because we waited at the incorrect gate, only to find out that we were attempting to board the wrong flight when we showed the attendant our boarding passes! I guess that is what happens when you play kissyface in the airport and dont check your flight numbers. Luckily, this flight which wasnt ours was boarding only slightly later than our actual flight, and our actual gate was only 20 meters away. They were about to call our names as we frantically ran up to the gate. Phew. This potential mishap doesnt have a patch, however, on what happened when we tried to make Sam's return flight from San Fran.

Seeing my parents was a blast! We talked, we ate lots of beautiful food, we explored the city (architectural cruise, dinner on the pier, millenium park, and the jazzfest), and we relaxed and hung out in my Dad's beautiful garden. We also posed for alot of photos, thanks to my mom's affinity for photography. I know I will thank her one day, but if you look at the progression of the photos I think my smile becomes more and more forced! But I AM really glad to have them, since despite the camera that my dad gave me as a gift, I fail to take as many pictures as I could (I am too busy having fun and I forget - but I am working on this!!).

Our next destination was Santa Cruz. This is where the adventurous portion of the trip begins. Sam gets on a mountain bike. I mountain bike. ALOT. Sam mountain bikes. Never. (I am still cursing his friends Tom and John for not being more persistent in getting Sam to ride dirt - thanks alot guys!). I didnt think the transition from a road bike to a mountain bike would be as arduous as it turned out to be. But it was. What amazed me was Sam's tenacity. I was the one that was about to put away that mountain bike for good after DAY ONE of going over the bars THREE times. Alot more blood and alot less skin later, Sam was willing to carry on. Is that true love or what? I cant believe it wasnt the end of us. Sam is an amazing sportsman (or just a far too polite Brit). I then realized that this was indeed a VERY different sport from road cycling, so I wound the intensity back a few notches and decided to (1) get Sam a full suspension bike that is more forgiving and that fits him better than the last one we used and (2) take Sam on an Emily-Ride (this is where my friend Alex carries along his 2 yr old daughter on the top bar of his bike and rides trails. This inevitably tones down the technical bits of the ride - even if they reach a max speed of 39 mph and jump logs, which Emily loves!). This went well. It was a beautiful morning, and we reduced our number of 3 big crashes to one little bingle. I was so proud, and I actually think Sam enjoyed himself. So then I immediately turned things up a few notches, and that same day took Sam on his first mountain bike night-time ride! I figure, if he doesnt see the objects on the trail, he will simply ride over them before he even realizes he's done it! What a better way to learn to ride a trails, right? Almost. Sam did amazing. He powered up and down the hills like a champ. Only two crashes - and I dont think either of them were over the bars. This must be progress. I think Sam is ready for the big one. Tahoe.

After a few days of hectic work in Santa Cruz, we decided that if we were to spend any quality time together, it would have to be elsewhere. We packed the car, got in a morning swim, breakfast, and then headed up to Tahoe for a long weekend of Mountain Biking Bliss. Our first ride was an out and back up a mountain that brought us to a bench that overlooked the entirety of Lake Tahoe. I had to give Sam a grande introduction to this particularly grand place. I think this was a breakthrough point. About a half hour into the ride, Sam started expressing how much fun he was having. But then he made it even more clear by saying that the last hour was one of his best with me! I was so stoked, and so super proud of him. We made it to the top of the mountain, which included some rocky technical sections that Sam powered through without ANY CRASHES. Zero! Zilch! NONE! I think it is safe to say that we were both extremely happy about this. TRUE progress - in less than five days?! Legend! The views were fantastic. We gazed over the lake, played kissyface for a while, took lots of pictures, and then geared up for the downhill. This was the true test. Sam cleaned the most technical section of the ride without a hitch. At one point, he even exclaimed "Why would anyone want to ride on the road, when they can float down beautiful trails like this?!". That's my boy. After floating down the trail, we trucked on down to the lakeside for a sunset dip.


The next day was an amped up version of the previous day. We drove up to Tahoe Meadows and rode down and along The Flume Trail , the most scenic of trails in Tahoe. We then hit another great downhill (Chimney Trail) which dumped us out onto the road, far from our car (probably about 20-30 miles and a thousand or so feet in elevation). After a few attempts at hitching, we started to ride there. Just as we were about to turn up the road to start the hill climb to Tahoe Meadows, a women pulls over to the side of the road to ask us how to get to Tahoe Meadows?! "I would be happy to show you - personally", I said! So Sam waited with the bikes while I showed this super friendly (and inspiring) person where my car, ahem, Tahoe Meadows was. Perfect. Now we had time for one last sunset dip in Lake Tahoe.