03 November 2007
Bike (and swim)!
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).
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
# posted by Nicole @ 9:06 PM
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