Pinktastic

Week 19: July 7-July 13

Bike: 77 km (32 on the road, 45 on trail)
Run: 26 km
Swim: 1500 m + 40 minutes in Marsh Lake

What do you do when the garage has no room for cars and you are late every morning because you can't decide which bike to get to work with? Simple - you buy a new bike. Believe me, I realize that the last thing I need in this world is another bicycle. In fact, most of the winter/spring was spent pimping out my existing mountain bike into a pink goddess. You might ask - how did I give up Frederika the Wonderbike? Simple - I found a pinker bike. More importantly I found a pinker bike that rides like a La-Z-Boy.

Thankfully, I was able to sell Frederika to someone who I knew would value her looks - fashionista extraordinaire Barb. The best part of this little deal was that now Barb has an awesome bike, so I can force her to ride with me more often. In the end New Pike Bike + Friend With New Bike = Sierra Wins X 2. My new bike is named Shera Princess of Power:

The first few rides on Shera weren't fabulous, but after making some adjustments she has become a wonderful ride and threatens to convert me from a road rider....gasp.

In celebration of the new bike, I have been spending lots of time exploring the trails of the Yukon. Tuesdays, I've been joining the Dirt Girls on all female rides; and Fridays has become a traditional beer and BBQ ride out of our house. This picture is from the aptly named "Broken Truck Trail", about 15 minutes before this picture was taken a log left me with a permanent fear of wood. Riding after rain (and boasting about mad log jumping abilities) led to a slide-out crash that threatens to have me walking over ever twig i ever pass.

One of my favorite trails is R n' D, a loop located behind Copper Ridge and created by a work colleague's husband. This trail has some fun tricks that are easy enough for me (which says something). We tend to ride this trail with many stops to accommodate unexplained bouts of fear, followed by idiotic delusions of grandeur that result in retrying tricks. I am not nearly as brave as Jennifer, who somehow found the guts to ride the teeter-totter, despite what appears to be overwhelming fear.

Speaking of fear... this week also marked the arrival of Tony's friend Tony (it was a confusing week). We dragged Tony on his first couple mountain bike rides and learned that inexperience is not a deterrent. Little Tony was brave enough to try out jumps in the Riverdale jump park, some were awesome...some did not end so well...

The mountain biking week ended with a trip to Haines Junction and the Alsek Trail. I have to be honest, I do not enjoy riding the Alsek trail. In the end, it is about 30 km of riding on rocks that are slow and bumpy (even on a La-Z-Boy). The views are gorgeous, and some might say worth the riding (those some are probably not me). I did enjoy the creek crossings and was thrilled with the good weather.

Unfortunately the weather did not last and our plans to hike on Saturday were ruined by yet another day of rain.

Sierra posted this on Jul 18, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link