working girl ride

It's the ride where you go fast, without a purpose, trying to beat the sun going down, stressed because you haven't been on your bike in days so let’s hit LT right from the gun. Not much different from the "Sport ride" except I didn't have anyone to race, brag or wipe out with.

As I headed back on South Rim I came up on 2 dudes. Little did I know one of which was the legendary Grewal until I introduced myself and he said, ‘hi, i'm Jeet.’ Of course I had some chick response like, ‘i know you!’ I'm smooth like that.

what else?

My 4 year old {road bike} has been adopted and is on her way to Idaho. A new ride will be unveiled shortly. And yes, it too is PINK.

My long lost friend Cell is in town. She’s racing her moto in a secret place that I can’t reveal since she hasn’t purchased a valid trail pass.

AC is also in D-town. We’ll see if he keeps his promise to take me kayaking. If not, maybe I can go tubing with the real joey.

I met Jeff yesterday. He's supercool - probably 'cause he's from the midwest.

Tomorrow I’m riding home from work on the Hermosa Creek Trail. It will be prime monsoon time...I better go pack the rain jacket.

hangin' out at work

copyright Tom Stillo 05

to Aspen and back

a beautiful drive
a sweet condo
a cute grocery delivery boy
a king size bed with 10 pillows

The morning sunshine and the smell of chocolate chip pancakes woke me up on Saturday. How nice it is to not have to set an alarm! I enjoyed my breakfast and watched the end of the tour TT before heading up to Snowmass for the XC "ride".

no more living the high life
Since I registered late, I didn't get a call up. When I looked at Frosty he smiled and said 'you're last'. I smiled and said, 'thanks'. Well...if there's a time to be on the back row, this would be the time. We headed up the paved road, the gravel road, the dirt road, a single track switch back and another dirt road before descending on some single track and more roads. I picked off a few girls on the descent and a handful on the second lap but mostly I just rode with zero power and the 10,000 ft headache.

On a good note, I finished before the insane lightning storm and was able to take cover under the Giant tent. On a not-so-good note, my travel buddy was MIA. Hours later, still freezing and now starving, I gave up and headed back to town only to find the condo locked. I paced the wet streets, looking for something to eat while dialing numbers. Finally... MIA answered. He told me where the hidden key was and said he'd give me the 30 min bath story later.

out on the town
By 9pm we were done telling stories and ready to meet up with some friends for dinner. I was not too excited to go back out in the rain but it turned out to be a wonderful time! The restaurant was warm and vibrant, full of a cast of characters and much laughter. It was a lovely ending to a rough day at the office.

ramble on

llamas on coal bank pass
I left work at 4:11 on Wednesday to ride. Brunso didn't go with me because 'i'm not leaving until 4:15.' So we rode 2 minutes apart from each other for an hour and met back in the Purg parking lot. He stated that our new jerseys were HOT - temp? or looks? - and claimed 2 people wanted to buy the thing off his back. 2 people? On Coal Bank pass? All I saw were 2 llamas.

cleaning with Pledge and dropping names
Next stop was Dr. Frank's where I was stuck behind Wherry and the HealthNut guest star of the week - Sayers. I hung out in the waiting room with Shriver and the love of his life - a gorgeous, glowing mountain bike. I think he sparkles her up with Pledge.

into thin air
I'm leaving tonight for the 5th NORBA National in Aspen. I haven't been there since I was 14 when my hamburger was $6.00, my brother and I launched off the loft onto the first floor sofa and my horse trotted into the lake. I'm pretty much dreading this race. Jason gave me a non-inspiring course description: hot and slow! and asked me to bring him legs and lungs. I'm hurting already.

our Purgatory jerseys

just in time for the Iron Horse

3:20 am

That would be when Rebecca G woke me up to go to the airport. I mumbled goodbye to Kim, grabbed the blanket and crawled into the back of the Suburban. Thank you Sam for the moonlight escort! We arrived first to the ticket counter followed by the ticket agents, LunaTix, GT Wells, JHK and most of the NORBA circus.

Shonny and I shared USA Today's Sports section, RG studied for her test, Wells dreamt about his tee time, Pat re-enacted his feed zone sugar shower and Katerina busted Waldek for not making a run at the River Swing. We determined he must have been scared off by the beer drinking locals.

The circus cleared security - all but Pat who got a thorough pat down - and parted our ways. Katerina, Heather and I were on the same flight so we picked up some coffee, waited in our designated "B" line and found 3 seats together. We chatted until take off, fell asleep during the flight and woke up to a rough landing. Katerina jumped not from the landing but because she 'missed the feed. Or whatever you call it.' Heather assured her she'd get one on the second lap. We transferred planes and said goodbye. See you in Aspen!

cross country

There is no easy way to get to Schweitzer. We drove to SLC, flew into Seattle and back over Mt. Rainier to Spokane where our newly appointed Team Director picked us up. There was still plenty of daylight to get a ride in (‘must be because we’re so close to Alaska’) so off we went on the fast, flow-y singletrack that was no longer fast, flow-y or singletrack. How sweet it once was, I’ll never know, but it was fun to ride fresh trail.

We woke up to breakfast in bed (thanks Miss Peggy!) and some tour action. After picking up new kicks from John, the chicks picked up Sam and went out for a spin before the semi-pro race. Brig-star 1-up’d his Deer Valley performance and finished in the number 2 spot.

A late morning downpour had the pro racers scrambling to change tires. Rain, hail and cold temps had me struggling to finish. Team b.u.t-R crossed the line and headed for the hot tub. Becky and I drowned our sorrows and told war stories until we had feeling back in our hands and smiles back on our faces.

Today I’ve been cheering on the marathon, expert and short track racers and resting up for the biggest game in town - the River Rope Swing. Giant boys, show us the way...

angel fire

world cup racing

poster signing

two chicks climbing

our fans posing

cause it’s here that i’ve got to stay

For lunch the Girls from Purg went to Aspen Cafe for Steve Miller Band sing along and to check out the construction workers. Shania seemed to know every one of them...must be her southern charm.

This afternoon I talked to Ronnie who is shipping my PINK Mitis Dama, Rebecca who is stuck in her condo at Angel Fire, my bike wrench who is pimping my ride, Cell who is adventuring in Telluride, Aunt Lynnie who is en route to Durango and Gloria who is sporting her new biker tan lines in South Padre.

Sven is telling me my "blog time" is not billable as he's opening the fridge and secretly replacing the stash of Red Bull with Miller Lite. I've gotta roll anyway as tomorrow I'm leaving for the World Cup. allez! allez!

durango [tour] time

On the morning of the Team TT, there is no rush to get to work. The first leisurely stop was Bread where Jason and I ran into Wherry who was on his way to the airport for his next gig, the Cascade Classic. Two coffee re-fills later, it was over to Chris and Kathy's for more Tour watching. We stayed long enough to see the crash and Discovery walk away with the W.

It was after 10am by the time we landed at Purgatory...hey, we're still the first ones in the office! Sweet, we can make more coffee and check out the Tour coverage online. By 1pm everyone made it up to the mountain so we had a lunch meeting (miniature golf) to discuss current events (Fraser has a roommate). By 3pm we had to get back to our desks to log onto DWC for our Tuesday night "ride" schedule. And by 4pm it was time to head back down the mountain and get race ready!

A new kid showed up for this weeks showdown. C-Dog they called him. The powerhouse was pulling us through the Valley and then blew...a tire or something...right before the climb. This left Hal, Jeff, Joe, Scott and I to battle it up old Shalona. I was not a threat for long as I cracked 6 minutes in. The boys attacked each other at the RR tracks and when all was said and done, it was Joe who won a week of bragging rights.

for the girls

thanks to Jonathan Devich

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

freedom

slumber party
I left the house Friday night in my favorite PINK pj bottoms carrying a bottle of wine to go to dinner and a sleep over at my friend's house. Finally, a chance to chill!
Dinner was magnificent and I slept in, missing Chris and Kathy's Tour de France party. I hear Matt was the first to arrive and Sven, the DMR coffee-getter, got coffee. Fortunately, the B&B I stayed at was equipped with Tivo and I watched the 4 hours of coverage in 1 while eating chocolate chip pancakes. Rough life!

my Sha-rona
Ooo you make my motor run, motor run... Enough chill time, it was on to my 3rd hard ride of the week - the Valley and 4 climbs up new Shalona. I was rollin' pretty well until the 2.5hr mark when I ran out of water and needed food. Instead of climbing home, I picked up some Bread goodies, met up with a few fellow biker dudes and headed to the river where we ran into the Cowboy's long lost cousin.

"kristi, you're a wa-ter-per-son"
Sunday's mountain bike ride was sweet!
I ran into the D-town boyz who just finished a local race - Chase Ned through the Gulch. We rode Dry Fork together before I had to turn off so I could get home in time to go rafting! Fearless river guide, Cyrus, took a group of us out on the Animas. We had a blast! Irene and I stayed busy bailing water out of the boat and hanging on for our lives as Cyrus tried dumping us out at Smelter. I’m addicted!

silver lining
To celebrate the 4th, the crew enjoyed a picnic and fireworks in Silverton.

whirlwind

tired head
The week started with a 4am wake up call to get to MKE and back to DRO. My driver was still sleeping when I landed but the mention of breakfast at Carvers shook him out of bed. The afternoon was spent riding up Hesperus and down Wild Cat followed by a visit to Dr. Frank where I caught up with Kristin. Final stop - the Valley for dinner, coffee and a game plan for July's training and racing.

party central
Kiera & The Girls were on their best behavior at Lady Falconburgh's on Tuesday night. I passed on Beastie Boys karaoke and hung out with Robin who is going to Michigan for 3 weeks. The next night Irene had a backyard bash which ended early when the propane ran out. As I was heading home, Christian called from Skinny's to invite me to a parade on Main Street. Last night was Robbie's victory party where we talked SRM's, 80's rock and about the mysterious - Hincapie - look - alike Kate calls 'not George.'

the little engine that could
Yesterday afternoon the land yachts and I huffed and puffed our way up and over Coal Bank. My HR had to stay in a zone that hurts...just below race pace. I was happy when I passed the 10,800 ft sign without passing out or getting taken out. As I descended back to Purgatory, Jennifer Rideshare called with excited news! We couldn't chat long, however, as I was taking the corners too hot, narrowly avoiding a kricket off the cliff.

3 day weekend
I better get some sleep tonight as I have Tour parties, Mesa parties, Purg parties, rafting trips, hot spring soaking, 4 climbs up Shalona and 2 climbs up the Colorado Trail.