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“It was a calming, reassuring realization, and I was a little embarrassed by the simplicity of the thought, banal as a greeting card, But I was happy, and beyond happy; at peace. It didn’t matter if I ever did anything worth a darn. It didn't matter if I never did another bike race. It was all dust, but gosh, I was happy.”

Fatbiking, December 2017.

Night Climb

You CAN ride mountain bike trails on your touring bike.... and, you SHOULD

The century of the century.

More than a hundred miles, more than a hundred emotions.

Sunday morning I met Aubrey at our favorite coffee shop for an americano before taking apart the bikes and stowing them in the back of her small Audi. We stopped at the gas station for Gatorade and snacks and made the 90 minute scenic mountain drive out to West Yellowstone. It was a beautiful day. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds, everything was green. I made the mistake of reading in the car on the way there, and was feeling a bit carsick once we parked inside the west entrance. We got ready for the ride regardless, and started the first 10 miles nice an easy, warming up. I was having trouble regulating my heart rate - the ride began with about 700 feet of climbing, which we did not expect. We paused at mile 20 so I could try to slow down my breathing. It was very sunny and hot, with no shade, we had 3 miles of a continuous 8% grade, and I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough energy for the entire ride. Aubrey refused to let me turn around and after a little rest, we continued on. I peeked at my Garmin, “Aubrey no wonder I feel so lightheaded, we’re at 8,300 feet!” I felt better, knowing that we were riding at a pretty quick pace at over 4,000 feet above what we were used to.

At last: Canyon Village visitor center had a gas station and we decided to refill on water there. I bought a Pop Tart and was amazed how much better I felt after eating some “real food”. Feeling recharged, we set out for the next section of the ride. On our way to Fishing Bridge, we came up on some traffic- everyone had stopped on the 2 lane road for a bison directly on the side of the road, about 3 cars ahead of us. We tucked in behind a green sports car, and the bison slowly made its way onto the road, walking the double yellow line directly towards us. Aubrey and I crouched down and slowly walked our bikes around the other side of the car, keeping it between us and the enormous bison. He slowly walked on and we quickly hopped back on our bikes and took off. I glanced down at my Garmin; my heart rate monitor read 169. Absolutely terrifying moment! Just seconds after recovering from our close encounter with the wildlife, it began to rain. I immediately pulled over and stuffed my camera into the ziplock bag in my pocket. Just in time - we were instantly hit with a downpour of ice cold rain, and wind. We powered on, keeping a steady 17mph pace through it all. Neither of us had a jacket, vest, or arm warmers since the weather reports did not mention anything about rain or lower temperatures. (Thats the Rocky Mountains for you!) Aubrey was down in her aero bars, in the zone, just pedaling through it all. I looked at my computer; mile 51. I looked down at my socks, which were once white. Now a translucent gray against my soaking wet legs. Gravel, and and pollen starting to stick to my shins and arms. I looked up again, squinting against the dark sky. “We are literally chasing this storm!” Aubrey shouts over the wind and rain. I was wishing I had a taillight on my bike. It was only 1:30 p.m. but the sky had gotten so dark, all the cars had their lights on. Finally, 7 miles later, the skies cleared again. We took a quick photo by the lake to celebrate being past the halfway point. Passing mile 60, we encountered more rain. Both us and our bikes covered in a layer of yellow pollen powder, gritty chains grinding away through the bipolar weather. We kept climbing, up and up, wondering if we were ever going to descend. We stopped at West Thumb to refill on more water and then kept going. Both of us were feeling the distance, and the climbing in our legs. Ready to be done. Aubrey continued to pull against the gusty winds, keeping me safely in her draft. She was fresh off the podium in Idaho, finishing in second place in the half Ironman. I have just been taking a break from training, commuting everywhere, but not really paying attention to numbers. She was the stronger one for this ride, and there is no way I would have been able to go as far or as fast without her.

We were low on water, and it was 17 miles to Old Faithful, and from there it was roughly 25 more miles to the car. We had a few good downhill sections, very windy and winding, I was gripping the bars tightly to keep my deep carbon rims on the white line, and not go off the small shoulder into the gravel or rocks. Again, the cars were all very considerate and gave us plenty of room, and we had no flats or mechanicals the entire day.

That 17 mile section felt like the longest ride. It was awful, it just didn't seem to end. Rollers kept teasing us with false summits, and we were both out of water. I focused on my breathing, and my mind wandered. Aubrey was convinced the geyser did not actually exist, even though she had been there before. I saw road signs as people... blurring pedestrians and speed limits as the same thing. My contact lenses were irritated from all the wind and pollen, I couldn't see clearly. After what seemed like hours, we finally arrived at the visitor center at Old Faithful. Aubrey grabbed bottles of water and food, and we went as quickly as possible, refilling for the final miles of the day. It was 5:00 p.m. and we were cooked. The wind gusts continued, and got even stronger as we found our way into the road again. Aubrey marched on; her strong, uniform cadence putting me in a daze as I hung on behind her, trying to stay close to her wheel. Many times she was stronger than me on the climbs, and a few minutes after getting to the summit, I would see her waiting for me at a turnout. Sometimes we would check in and chat, other times just say nothing at all and press on. I was hurting. I had forgotten my gloves and my hands were sore and red. The back of my neck ached. We talked about what food we wanted to eat when we got home. Fantasizing about hot, salty meals, and ice cold recovery drinks with a straw. Its funny how your mind drifts on those long rides.

At last we approached the turn from Madison Junction towards West Yellowstone. Aubrey took off and I let her go. I tried to think about anything besides how much my knees were aching. Tried to enjoy the gorgeous scenery all around us. There was a lot more traffic now, truck after truck passing by at 45mph trying to leave the park too. I looked down at all the dirt and pollen collecting on the inside of my elbow. Wondered how many more hours it would be until I could take a shower. Kept doing the math, trying to guess how many miles were left. I squinted at each trailhead, looking for Aubrey’s little silver car. Finally I saw it... my math was wrong and we were done 4 miles earlier than we anticipated. I don’t think I could have done those few extra miles. We ended the day at 104 miles, and 5,904 feet of climbing in just over 6 hours. It felt so slow at the end, I am shocked we made it in that time.

Aubrey and I loaded the car as quickly as we could and took fistfuls of baby wipes, wiping the pollen and dirt from our arms and legs and face. “I need chocolate milk now! Lets go.” She commanded. I didn't argue and collapsed into the front seat. So glad we did it, but so glad it’s over. We both agreed. What a day!

#centuryride #femmevelo

2 months, no car.

Something changes when you stop driving your car and start riding your bike.

You forget radio stations and start remembering the names of the dogs at the park.

You forget about blinkers and gas stations and start noticing the flowers in the neighborhood, the potholes in your street.

You get stronger.

Your arms are tan, your legs feel powerful.

You learn exactly what you need at the supermarket because you can only carry about $35 worth of food in your pack.

You look at cars differently.

You look at people walking differently.

Your social life changes because it takes you at least 20 minutes to get somewhere.

You keep a clean shirt at work just in case you decide to take the hilly route on weekdays.

You become a regular at the coffee shop and the grocery store near your house, because, well, its nearest to your house.

I’ve saved money and learned more about myself. I think everyone should try it at least once in their life.

It will make you grateful for little things.

<3 Happy riding!

#bikelife

I was like a kid in a candy shop. I wanted to do anything and everything all at once. The first few months I lived here, I had enough money saved and didn’t have to find a job immediately. Those June days were long and full and wonderful. I learned a lot. I learned to wear the right boots for whatever job I needed to accomplish. I learned to drink a lot of water, a lot of Gatorade. It didn’t take me long to discover that no matter how efficient I was, I had to stop and eat at some point.

Caroline Duvall

#bikemechanic #womenmechanics #cyclinglife #girlsthatride #girlsonbikes #girlswithink

To bike, or not to bike: that is not a question.

#ridelots

I applied!

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/specialized-launches-global-womens-ambassador-program-2017.html

Moab-ing

If you have never visited Moab to go mountain biking, just forget everything you know about rich forested trails, or muddy singletrack. This is like riding on Mars! My friend Charlotte and I arrived in Moab on Thursday night and secured a campsite along the Colorado River, absolutely beautiful! We have both been riding for years, and went down to Utah for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. Charlotte had lined up a few different rental bikes for herself, as she is in the market for a new one currently. I brought the new Stumpjumper 6fattie with me (a 27.5 inch wheel with a 3 inch tire!). Anyway, after a good breakfast Friday morning, we drove into town to pick up her rental and then headed out to Navajo Flats area to hit up a variety of trails.I was so pumped to be out there, I immediately charged out onto the first portion of the trail, which happened to be an off-camber section of slickrock. I instantly hit the rock as my wheels slipped out from under me! Talk about a completely new terrain than what I'm used to! Whoops. It took me a full day to get used to riding on top of these massive flat rocks.'I let some air out of my tires to get better traction on the smooth trails. The next day was much better. We drove out to Dead Horse State Park and spent the day riding those trails (which were actually trails!) I would recommend riding here first, just to get used to some of the rocks, before attempting something like Porcupine Rim. It was a huge learning experience for us, and we spent much of our time practicing the same problems over and over again just to get practice on this new terrain, and try to get used to these crazy rocks!Overall it was an amazing trip, and we had a great time. Its always good to just get out of town and see some new scenery every once in a while. Its important to keep perspective in life, and especially in mountain biking. What a refreshing weekend to be surrounded by those tall, red rocks. I recommend 4 or 5 days in the desert to everyone. Cheers!

#moab

Arches National Park, April 2017.

Pace. April 24, 2017 What's your pace? I have to admit that I hate this question. For one, my pace seems to be different every day. I can run the same loop from my house- the one that I run all the time (some days it's just the only way running is going to happen)- and have drastically different paces. This all depends on what day of the week, what time of day, what I ate, what other work outs I have done recently, the weather, my mindset.... a lot of things. Also, I also don't always know what my pace is. I have a GPS watch (the Garmin Forerunner 220- love it), but I don't always wear it. Keeping pace, racing myself, and keeping track of my mileage is fun- but constantly being connected to that is just not good for me. Sometimes I just need to get out and run without it mattering how far, how fast, or for what length of time. Running on a trail vs. a road, uphill, downhill, or flat also create very different paces. I used to set my GPS watch to pause if I stopped. I stopped doing that after it paused as I huffed & puffed up a particularly steep hill. Not to mention that pace when running with others varies. Some of us always run fast or always run slow, but not all runners are like that. Everyone is different. Personally, I go with what I am feeling on that day. If I am running with others I sometimes really enjoy the challenge of keeping up or going at a faster pace, other times it's nice to settle into "talk pace" and just enjoy getting out and running. At times it's easy for me to get caught up in pace as a comparison. Am I too slow? Am I fast enough? But pace doesn't define your worth as a runner. (Sure- we have goals, but do they have to be defined by speed? More on goals later...). For me... sometimes pace does matter, but when I am just getting base miles, when I am exploring, when I am trying to get a group run together... it's about the experience, not the pace.

Elizabeth Spartas

Common Ground Promo from Eli Abeles-Allison on Vimeo.

#vimeo

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