Tag: biking

Mountain Biking Family Style

“Oh, c’mon Mom, you’ve ridden over much harder stuff than that!” That’s what you’ll hear if you’re around and I take the bail out, easy way around a trail obstacle. It’s the voice of my kiddo pushing me forward, urging me on, seeing skills and technique in me that I doubt in myself. We’re not your stereotypical mountain biking family….you know the ones you see at trail campgrounds and race weekends. The ones where the husband has been riding for years, the wife picked it up from him (or just watches from the sidelines), and the kiddos have been riding trails nearly as long as they could walk. Oh no. That’s not us. Not at all. At times I joke, we’re like the blind leading the blind.

But a mountain biking family we are.

A bit over 3 years ago after years of being a sloth, I started cycling as a way to get fit and lose weight. Road riding was good. I enjoyed it, but as a new cyclist in a semi-urban area, the traffic gave me pause. Riding paved paths was good, but still something was missing. On a whim in September of 2010, I attended a women’s mountain biking demo event. 2 hours later I was hooked. Convinced Hubby and Kiddo to try some local trails. In June of 2011, the whole family attended clinics at the Midwest Women’s Mountain Bike Clinic weekend. Fast forward two years, we’re a month away from our third trip to this great event. We ride together nearly weekly. Have been season pass holders at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park the past two winters. Kiddo, now 13 but at 10 years old was afraid to ride his bike fast, will be attending his second freeride/downhill camp at Woodward at Copper in July. We plan vacations around mountain biking. Bought a bike or two (each). Even tried our hands at a couple of races. I won the women’s intro class of The Brown County Super-D, while Kiddo and Hubby both earned medals in their age class at the Fall Colors Festival in WI.

To say mountain biking has changed our lives, brought us closer, made us healthier is a huge understatement.

Last weekend was our first family trail ride of the season. I’d been out riding by myself a few times already this year. In fact having done the most riding I’d done in months combined with starting a new strength training program, I was in need of an easy rest ride. Well, a full rest day, but the sun was shining and the trails were open. Hubby and Kiddo were eager to go. Especially Kiddo. He asked if he could go ahead and push to see how far and fast he could go without stopping. Last summer, our rides consisted of resting at nearly every bench and the top of every climb in our main local trails, the John Muir system in the Southern Kettle Moraine of southeast Wisconsin. Kiddo wanted to see which bench he could make it to before he had to rest. We agreed to do a 5 mile loop of the brown&white trails and meet back at the shelter. Kiddo first. Hubby behind. I’d take up rear (knowing I was going easy and stopping to take pictures). They quickly dusted me. Never saw them after the first descent. Hubby got dropped at the first climb.

I got back to the shelter to find two smiling guys. Kiddo was still breathing hard with a bit of a flush on his face behind his beaming grin. He’d done the whole loop, 5 miles without stopping. Totally clean, no dabs, no feet down. The trail is flowing up and down with a challenging, root filled, sustained climb (yeah, yeah it’s WI, challenging and sustained to our scale). He was so fired up. Kept saying how glad he was he’d tried. That he had to prove to himself he could do it. The pride and passion in his voice made this Mom proud.

Yes, we’re a mountain biking family. It’s gonna be a great summer.

Washington DC…Biking Family Style


One of the joys of family travel is rediscovering the world through the eyes of your child. With Kiddo in 6th grade beginning to understand and show interest in politics and government, a spring break trip to Washington, DC seemed a perfect idea. Planned a trip that included all the typical touristy highlights, along with side trips to reconnect with family (Kiddos sister & hubby’s brother live outside Baltimore).Of course, many of the sites were visited by bike. Others by foot. Or via the use of public transit. Or a combination of all three. We’re a get up and go kinda family with a firm belief that exploring by foot or bike allows a much deeper experience no matter where you are. WARNING: FAILED AT LIMITING PICTURES AND WORDS BELOW. Hang with me. In a complete aside for biking people: All three days I was rented a mixie (being a *girl* and all). And I don’t think I ever stepped through it. Always threw leg over saddle. Old habits.

Our first rental was from the Union Station location of Bike and Roll. We’d taken the subway from our hotel, choosing this vendor both due to location, and we’ve rented from these folks before in San Francisco (read about it). This location only had “comfort” bikes – whose wide, padded saddles are the opposite of comfort when riding all day, just saying. Once we got suited up with the proper sized bike and helmet, off we went.
First stop was the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. Spent a couple hours wandering around looking at the exhibits. In our case it was just enough time. We were ready to move on.
Started heading up the Mall, with a couple of photo opportunity stops. First by FEMA then by the Washington Monument.

In fact most of the rest of the day was stops for quick exploring of monuments, reading plaques and taking pictures. The World War Two Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial.

A spin around the reflecting pool brought us to the Martin Luther King, FDR, and Thomas Jefferson Memorials. Sadly we were a couple of weeks too late to enjoy the cherry blossoms.
The day was getting long, so it was time to head back to return the bikes. But first a swing past the White House.
A great day of sightseeing. Much, much more seen, much more enjoyable, cheaper, healthier and fun than a bus tour.
On another day, we rented bikes from Bike and Roll’s Alexandria location, opting for their Combo bike rental, Mount Vernon tour and ferry package. In this you bike 11-12 miles on a bikeway along the Potomac to Mount Vernon, receive tickets to the site, lock your bikes up on the grounds and take a ferry back to Alexandria.
It was a nice easy ride, great for families. Mount Vernon is such an interesting place to visit. The gardens, the plantation house, the glimpse of how for Washington and others of his day their lifestyle only existed due to slaves.
The ferry ride home was also quite enjoyable (even if I would have liked to bike a bit more).
Equally enjoyable were the oysters and beers when we got back to Old Town Alexandria.
Other trip highlights were visits to the International Spy Museum, and using their GPS enabled “Spy in the City” handheld to go on a walking spy adventure around the city.
Plus visits to the Ford Theater (make reservations!), the US Capitol, The Library of Congress, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Fort McHenry (oh say can you see….), seeing friends and family, catching Uncle Mike’s band perform, meeting cousin Wrenn’s fiance and hanging out with big sis, a Food Network inspired trip to DC-3, a visit to Dogfish Head Brewery, and another bit of biking this time along Ocean City, MD boardwalk.
Yes a busy week…that’s how we roll…and how we like our vacations!

Read all the way to here, and wondering why I wrote a recap of a 2012 spring break trip in spring of 2013? It has occurred to me that maybe if I either deleted or finished all the partially written drafts I have hidden behind the scenes of this blog that I might feel like writing more. Take away some of the pressure created by evidence of procrastination. Or some such. I have a tendency to start a post, give it a title, throw in a picture, and then get stuck – usually because I can’t figure out how to limit the # of pictures or words. Looking at the list in the draft folder, a few were easily deleted. Others I would like to finish.

This recap of our spring break 2012 trip to Washington DC fit under the need to finish category.

National Bike to Work Week

Ok, I admit it. I’m pretty much a fair weather bike commuter. I started bike commuting last fall and rode until the Friday before “fall back”, the switch from daylight saving to standard time. In the fall, I enjoyed riding the 11 mile route in the cool temperatures, and found the early morning frost to be a beautiful addition to the ride. However, I just am not comfortable riding in the dark, nor on snow and ice. So once the time changed, the commuter was put away for the winter.

My schedule and the rainy, crappy weather have been on a collision course for weeks (yes, refer back to the fair weather thing, and add rain and winds over 20mph to the snow, ice and dark list.) I travel extensively for work, often only going into the office a couple of times a week. But I was determined I would ride my bike this week – that no matter what it took, I would commute at least once during National Bike to Work Week. Thankfully, today, on the one day I was in the office, the weather cooperated.
Beautiful sunny morning. Enjoyed seeing a duck pair playing in water on the trail.
Ride in was great. Loved seeing my helmet and gear in my office. So much so, I kept moving it around, so others would notice. On my own little influence others to ride mission around the office.
I’m fortunate in having half of my route off road on Milwaukee’s Oak Leaf trail -both for the views of the Menominee River…… 
And because it takes me off the road – I sure am glad I wasn’t sitting in that traffic above the trail!
Loved the ride. Makes me happy to get the 1st of many bike commutes in for 2011.

Day with Kiddo…..1st ride of the Spring

This has felt like the winter that wouldn’t end. Combine that with some unusually busy weekends, and a focus on training for a half marathon, and I just haven’t been out riding. Kiddo and I were home alone this weekend, while Hubby was down at the Masters. As we planned our weekend, Kiddo suggested we go mountain biking. When I explained the trails were closed because they were too wet, we discussed riding Milwaukee’s lakefront trail. We’d done this last year, this same weekend, and I’d written it up here. I knew the South Shore Half Marathon was Sunday, and was worried the lakefront trail would be too crowded due to the race. I’ve been wanting to try the Lake Country Recreational trail, so this is where we decided to ride.
The 13 mile Lake Country trail runs along the southern end of Pewaukee Lake and Lake Nagawicka from just west of Hwy T in Pewaukee (the trailhead is close to Country Springs Hotel on Golf Road) through Delafield and on to Oconomowoc. This is a good map of the trail.
After airing up the tires, and giving both our bikes the once over, my first challenge was loading the bikes. I’ve never put the hitch rack on my car, and didn’t feel comfortable attempting without a demo – the vision of rack and 2 bikes falling off on the highway was a bit too scary. Throwing my road bike in the back of the car is easy. But my hybrid is bigger, heavier, more unwieldy, and a second bike adds to the difficulty. I can never remember front wheel first or back wheel, but somehow I got them both in, using an old yoga mat to protect the paint and drivetrain of my bike.

The trail runs along a right of way under Wisconsin Electric lines. The first 3 or so miles are paved, a bit further down the trail changed to crushed gravel.

Views ranged from golf courses to marsh to lake views. Though suspect once the trees leaf out, lake views will be limited.

 Kiddo and I enjoyed our time out on the trail. Being the 1st ride of the season we realized we could use a bit of work on our endurance. Nonetheless this ride whetted our appetite for more. We’re both excited to hit other trails, make a family ride a weekly event. 

As young as you feel (or act)…..

With the exception of 21, birthdays which bring you to an age ending in a 1 are not exactly milestones. Milestones would be the ones ending in a zero, the ones signifying a decade passing…30..40..50..60.. Or the ones ending in 9, bringing the “I’ll stay 29 forever” mentality. In fact, the namesake of my junior high school, comedian Jack Benny, made a whole schtick out of being 39. So much so, that our team name was the 39ers. Seriously, google, it, in Waukegan, IL there is such a school, my father taught there for much of his career, my brother and I attended.

This picture is of me, yesterday, on my most recent 1 birthday, a birthday on which a friend tweeted “no way you were as cool then as you are now”. The weeks leading up to this birthday had caused me to acknowledge the change in me over the last couple of years. And to reflect on the birthdays before.

I was excited about turning 30. At that time, I’d just been promoted to my first true management role. 30 felt like a good transition, an age to take me away from the uncertainty and indiscretions of my 20s. Five short years later, everything had changed. 35 was a tough birthday. I cried much of the day. Was at a miserable place in my life – unhappy marriage, feeling stuck in my career, obese, health problem after health problem. Unable to see a bright future. I felt old, really old.

In hindsight, attending a school where I was a 39er, seems to have been karma for me. Set up a bit of fate.  Not in the “I’ll lie and say I’m 39 forever” sense (tho’ it has crossed my mind), but in the idea of challenging conventional age wisdom. The point where I started to get it right. The age I got re-married. Not too long before my 39th birthday, I discovered I was pregnant. Was going to have my first child. An unexpected surprise, but one I am thankful for each and every day. I don’t have any memory of hand wringing or fear over turning 40, was probably too far into the sleep deprived world of the mother of an infant to care. Never really thought of it as a milestone.

Seems like the next few years passed in a blur. Career moves by both my husband and I moved us around a bit. I got settled. Maybe too settled. Slipping once again into a life by rote. Comfortable, yet increasingly uncomfortable. Sedentary. Health issues creeping up as my weight crept back up. Slowly coming to the realization that if I continued down this path I would not be able to keep up with my son. That my health, my weight was affecting the things I loved. Many of the activities I enjoyed, visiting amusement parks, gardening were becoming harder and harder. Unable to do horseback tours or ziplines, because I was over the maximum weight limit. Beginning to avoid or dread activity. Knowing this 39er was about to be a 49er….it was time for a change, time to once again challenge conventional wisdom around age.

Heading towards my 49th birthday, I changed. As my weight went down and my fitness up, I gained back confidence in myself, in what I could do. At 49, I finally got scuba certified, entered and completed my first half marathon (and my second), began to re-discover the joy of cycling, bought a road bike, learned the empowerment of fitness.

 
Turning 50 didn’t slow me down either.  This was the year I truly began to believe the mantra “you’re only as old as you feel”. That being fit not only changes your health, it changes your life and how you see things. Opens up so many more possibilities. 50 was the year that being active became a part of who I am. Another half marathon. Renting bikes while on vacation, trying mountain biking (and getting my first couple of battle scars), while Kiddo learned to snowboard, I re-learned how to ski.

Here’s to 51….the year I will complete a triathlon, run a couple more half marathons, finally run my first 5k, continue to learn to mountain bike, continue to bike commute, hopfully, try a zipline or two. Continue to set an example of a fit, active lifestyle for my son. Continue to bring activity and fun into my family’s life. Maybe inspire a person or two. But mostly, relish the freedom and agelessness being fit provides me.

Ride Like a Girl…Ray’s Women’s Weekend

Seriously, they expect me to ride up that ramp the very first thing…don’t they realize topping little steep hills is one of my weaknesses…I am going to embarrass myself right from the start…I have to get to the top…..


Ok, I know what to do, pedal hard, shift weight forward when losing momentum towards the top, keep pedalling…..

And so began the day at the Women’s Weekend Ride and Clinic at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Milwaukee. I’d read about the women’s weekends (they also do one each year at their Cleveland location) on the forums of  Team Estrogen and MTBR.

I was both nervous and excited about this day. Kiddo and I have been talking about checking out Ray’s since it opened, but I’ve been a bit too intimidated by my lack of experience and fear of riding ladders to go on my own. However, when I saw they’d be having the park closed down to women only with a free clinic, I jumped at the chance.

I arrived as the day’s format and trainers were being introduced. I chose to rent a bike for the day. I’m trying to get a feel for what kind of MTB to invest in, and want to ride as many as possible. I choose a XC (cross country) style bike – dirt jumpers were also an option. 
I’d estimate there were close to 75 women in attendance – all levels from “1star” beginners like myself to “4-5 star” advanced riders looking to hone their skills on the expert jumps. Many had traveled several hours to attend, were making a weekend of the event. In addition to the women only clinic day, the weekend included half price admissions for clinic attendees on Saturday and Sunday plus a party on Saturday night. 
After the introductions, the groups split into different areas of the park based on ability and goals for the day. Some headed upstairs to the pump track, others to the more advanced sport/XC area, a group on the beginner jumps, an advanced jumping group, and the beginner XC group I’d joined. We’d been told to meet at the top of the ramps by the beginner section. Somehow, I made it up the ramp (I really have struggled with powering up short inclines). In fact getting up the ramp was easy.

Then it hit me, the other half of the equation. That the MTB mantra of “Momentum is your friend” meant…

Oh shit, they expect us to ride down the ramp to hit the ladders….now I’m seriously freaking. I don’t know how to do this. The one time I tried to ride the wooden skill obstacles at Muir had been a bit of a disaster.

I must not have been the only one with a bit of fear showing on her face. When Tania and Jeni, our coaches, arrived, they sized up the group, moved us off the ramp, and over to a flat area to work on beginner skills. Tania and Jeni are both graduates of the International Mountainbike Instructor Certification (IMIC) program and followed that program for beginners. We learned bike-body positioning from neutral to attack position, how to brake, steer, shift weight forward and back, stop fast bracing our heels down, and began to work on front wheel lifting.  Tania or Jeni would talk us through the skills, demonstrate and then have us practice on the flats, offering comments and suggestions to each rider individually.

Quickly our confidence grew and the group headed back over to the ramps, to the beginner sport area. It was time to use our new skills on the trails. The coaches stayed down on the runs. This position allowed them to coach the riders as they passed; often giving extra pointers as the rider headed back up to the ramps. They encouraged us to try increasingly difficult obstacles. The teeter tooter, going over a small log, a larger log, riding over a boulder, pedaling our way through a rock garden.

 
Before we knew it, it was time for lunch, and then the group picture. Finding a spot to get this many people in one shot was difficult, but the expert BMX area provided a decent set up.
After lunch the group headed back over to the Sport/beginner area. Much of the group was ready to progress from the beginner area, while a couple of us did a few more runs in the beginner area. Jeni went with the more advanced group, Tania stayed with the rest of us. 
Eyes up, Kim…..
I think that’s my new slogan. Somewhat of my Achilles heel. When I get nervous I look down. Not sure how many times Tania had to tell me that. I can’t say enough about how great and patient she was with me. How encouraging. Pushing me when needed, talking me through my first time down the steeper ramps, helping me find lines, determine where to look.

Even “picking me up” when this small patch of rocks, taught me a slightly painful lesson about momentum… specifically what happens when the bike stops and you don’t, my first “endo”. Not going fast enough, looking down, my front tire stopped by a rock, me flipping over the bars, hitting my head. Being both embarrassed and just slightly disorientated. A quick check over by one of the Ray’s staff. Then being encouraged by Tania to try a slightly easer run to get my confidence back. And finally moving back to this line to make it through, prove to myself that I could do it.

I feel like I learned so much on this day. I’m getting more confident in trusting that I can look ahead, becoming more aware of my position on the bike. Understanding a bit more of the difference between controlled momentum and out of control speed. That much of this sport I am enjoying learning is a mental game, pushing both physical limits and those set by our minds…..which makes it all that much more appealing to me.

Ray’s has done a great job in building this facility.  There’s something for all skills levels. A great option during the cold and snow. And this women’s weekend a perfect way to get acquainted. I can’t wait to take these skills out on the dirt. And am even more excited for the Midwest Women’s Clinic in June; an event hosted by Sub-9 productions, a company owned by Tania and her husband. Can’t wait!

Time to try something new, a bit of mountain biking………

In one of the many biking forums I pop into from time to time, I discovered there would be a Women’s MTB Skill Clinic at the Fall Color Festival. TrekWomen’s Demo team was doing the clinic (and providing some great demo bikes) while the festival itself is hosted by the South Kettles chapter of WORBA (Wisconsin Off-Road Bicycling Association). The Fall Color Festival is a mountain bike event held annually at the John Muir trails in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest of southeastern WI. The festival consists of several races of varying length, a children’s ride, and of course, the women’s skill clinic. Oh, yeah, and a beer garden…….. How could I resist?

I’d emailed the Trek Fit for Women team the day before to ask about a demo bike for the clinic. Lindsay Bradley of Trek emailed me back that she’d hold a Trek Fuel EX 8 WSD ( a sweet, sweet full suspension model) for me. Because I sent my height and weight, she even had the proper size bike selected and had pre-set the hydraulics. All that was left to do was swap out to SPD pedals.

Wasn’t really sure what to expect with the clinic. After all, I’ve only been biking for a bit over a year, and with the exception of a few loops around the Hoyt trails in Wauwatosa, WI (a project by Metro Mountain Bikers, the Milwaukee chapter of WORBA), I’d never been mountain biking. I was worried that my lack of experience would hold back the rest of the group. And that I’d be the oldest by far. Didn’t need to worry about either. Of the 9 or 10 women in the group, I’d guess 5 were in their 40’s or older. There was a variety of levels of experience in the group with other beginners like me. I, though, was the only beginner wearing click in shoes. And on that note, let’s just say while I would never ride without them, I have done myself no favors with my road bike habit of clipping out well in advance of stops. That is not an effective habit for mountain biking, and I desperately need to develop more of a second nature of clicking out quickly (more on that in a bit)!

We began the clinic in the brand new skills section of the John Muir trails. Lindsay was our instructor. Here she made sure everyone understood how to shift, how to brake (gotta work on that single finger thing), explained about momentum over obstacles, standing and riding with pedals level, always looking 30 or so feet ahead and a variety of other tips.

We made several laps around the skills course. Signs entering the area explained this is a work in progress – to date three wooden skill obstacles are built. Lindsay augmented the course with a small log for us to ride over, and a section of 2 4×4’s laid parallel about 8-10″ apart. It was this narrow obstacle that gave me the most trouble. Lindsey reminded me to look ahead, not down. Mentally I really struggle with keeping the bike on a narrow path. The look ahead hint makes a huge improvement. Did have my first fall in this area – solely due to having to stop quickly as someone balked at an obstacle and not getting unclipped. Scared the other women, bruised my ego a tad bit, but jumped right back on.

Once we were comfortable here, it was time to ride a trail. We were somewhat limited to where we could ride because the races were still running. Had a bit of confusion at the beginning, accidentally ending up on the race course where several riders flew by our group. Found the brown trail. Formerly known as the red trail, this is a great beginner trail. A couple of gentle rock gardens, some fast downhill sections (remember I’m a beginner), a punchy uphill section. Took a bad line in the sharp turn leading to the uphill section, rear wheel caught a big root as I turned and spun out from under me. Once again, didn’t get a foot out fast enough to catch myself. Fall two. Did I mention I need to work on un-clipping fast?

After the ride, we went back to the skills area, where Lindsay demonstrated how to change a flat tire, and patiently answered all of our questions. Questions which ranged from bike repair and maintenance, full suspension versus hard tail, 26 vs 29, best group rides, bike clothing and gear.

As to the festival itself….very nicely run. Bikes and bikers everywhere. Riders of all ages and sizes.

Beer and food. Highly recommend going if you are in the area – it’s the annual fundraiser for the trails, and a darned good time.

Unfortunately, I was in the clinic during the main races so don’t have any pictures from those. However, was fun to see the kids taking over the course in the afternoon.

Even with that fall (ok, 2, but who’s counting), really loved the day. Mountain biking brings an entirely different aspect into riding. On the road, there’s a rhythm to riding that becomes almost hypnotic, mindless; while mountain biking requires a constant connection with the bike. Getting off your saddle, shifting weight forward and back, holding pedals in a position to not hit rocks or roots, finding lines. All provide a challenge, a change. Still love the road bike, but can tell I will do more of this style of riding. Having the opprotunity of learning this within a group of women was a bonus, a huge bonus.  (Thanks, Trek!!) And they even gave us gifts, and not to mention let us ride some great bikes.

Wine Country Trip: Part 4 Biking

Alright, this 4 part series on my trip to wine country is finally coming to a close. You can catch the other pieces, by clicking below:

One of the things I was most excited about on this trip was the opportunity to bike my way around Napa and Sonoma. Because of our schedules, I did two separate rentals. One in Sonoma and one in Napa. This gave me an opportunity to try out a couple of different kinds of bikes. I searched on-line, read reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor and decided to rent through Wine Country Bikes in the Sonoma town of Healdsburg, and Napa Valley Bikes Tours in Yountville. Both shops provided maps and excellent guidance and suggestions. Highly recommend either. Napa Valley Bikes tours has a sister shop in the city of Sonoma (called, guess…….yep, Sonoma Valley Bike Tours). However, because we were staying at Korbel, Healdsburg was both closer, and in the area I wanted to ride.


Day One: Sonoma, Wine Country Bikes

Wine Country Bikes is located a couple of blocks outside downtown Healdsburg. They rent Trek bikes with a variety of options from Hybrid/fitness style Trek 7200 to high end Trek Madone road bikes for those wanting to feel like Lance Armstrong for the day. I knew our day riding in Sonoma would be the longer and hillier of our routes, and decided to go with their Trek 2.1 Road bikes. These bikes were nicely equipped with a computer to track mileage, time and speed, a back rack and expanding trunk bag big enough to hold a bottle of wine, or pair of shoes, a jacket or lunch – or a combination of the above. They’d also swapped out the standard pedals for a set of Shimano SPD Sport clips. A couple of spare tubes and a multi tool completed the package.

Well, not quite….the rental also includes free roadside service within the area shown on their guide maps. Which proved to be a good thing.

Wine Country Bikes location in Healdsburg gives you the option of heading south towards Windsor/Graton/Sebastopol for a much more challenging hilly route, west out River Road towards the coast, or north through Dry Creek Valley. We choose to head north, creating a 26 mile route through somewhat rolling terrain (a bit over 1000ft elevation gain/loss). The shop suggested that with winery stops, lunch etc this would make a good days ride.

We rode a quick tour of Healdsburg then west to pick up the southern end of West Dry Creek Road (which parallels Dry Creek Road). The shop had warned us the only place to pick up lunch would be the Dry Creek General Store, requiring a quick mile across Lambert Bridge Road (and the actual Dry Creek) then back after grabbing our lunch to go. The plan was to continue onward with the lunches, picnicking at either Preston or Bella. The plan got slightly altered when in a bit of deja vu to our Ride for the Arts experience, my husband got a rear flat.

We aired up the tire, and it immediately went flat again. Neither of us are adept bike mechanics, so decided that rather than waste time and add frustration, we’d take advantage of that roadside service. They were out quickly with a new bike – actually just pulled the rear tire off that one and swapped it out and off we went. Cute metal sculptures at the corner of West Dry Creek and Lambert Bridge.

At the north end of Dry Creek Valley we stopped at Ferrari Carano, having been told I shouldn’t miss the gardens. Thought we’d picnic here, but signs said no picnicking. Did take advantage of the chance to try their wines, then headed next door to Dutcher Crossing winery. So glad we did. This small independent (not nationally distributed) winery is owned by a woman from La Cross, WI. Has an old time bicycle as its logo. Provides a lovely, scenic picnic space. And has great wines – we even joined their wine club.

Still not sure where the whole day went. Never did make it to Preston, or back over to Quivra to tour their gardens. Next time.
Day Two: Napa, Napa Valley Bike Tours
As the name implies, this company leads a lot of tours. The carry Specialized bikes, a brand I am fond of – now owning both a road bike (Dolce) and hybrid/all trail bike (Ariel). The napa terrain along Rt 29 and Silverado trail is much flatter than Sonoma. For this day, we went with Sirruis, Specialized hybrid/fitness model. The shop also rents  road bikes (Roubaix and Dolce models), full suspension MTB, tandems, and electric bikes.  The women on the yellow bike on the right of the picture above is on one of the electric bikes – her husband rented a regular bike. And they were already arguing as they pulled out. That might have been a pair to follow. NOT.

Our main Napa ride was an easy 16 mile loop from Rutherford across to Silverado Trail down to Yountville to look around, have lunch, then back up Rt. 29. Just enjoying the scenery and leisurely riding. Did make a fortuitous stop at Bottega to see if we could get reservations.Open Table said they were booked – sometimes doing things in person pays benefits. Dinner here was my favorite of the trip.
We kept the bikes over night – which allowed us to do some early morning riding around the vineyards at property at BV. Such fun. Riding over the dirt, discovering the grape vine covered pergola in the picture at the top of the post. Seeing the workers put up netting to keep the geese out of the vineyards. One of the highlights of the trip.

Fortunately, for this rental we did not need to use Napa Valley’s roadside assistance! They do offer it free within a fairly large area around their shop. Even telling us we didn’t need tubes or tools, because all we had to do was call them. As mentioned before, both shops provided excellent maps and advice, helped fit the bikes, supplied the pedals to match our bike shoes, and of course, helmets and locks. Great companies, great bikes, really nice people.
Can’t wait for my next trip out there. Will be much more bike riding next go round! 

My first real bike “ride” – Miller Lite Ride for the Arts

This weekend I did my first organized bike ride. Until now all of my cycling has been done either solo or with one or two other riders – in fact with the same one or two other riders, my son or my husband. Unless of course, you count time on a compu-trainer with other “real” riders, teaching me that my pace has, well, some room for improvement.

The combination of worrying about pace combined with an uneasiness in having another bike too close to my wheel (defined by within several bike lengths) had me just a tad concerned about an organized ride. At the same time, it is something I want to do – and if I do plan on finishing a triathlon, something I need to get over.

This was the perfect first ride. Many different options for length (5, 12, 25, 65, and 75 miles) with staggered start times, many volunteers along the route to keep you on course, well placed and stocked oases, and as we found excellent rider support.

Hubby was doing ride with me and we choose to do the 25mile distance – one we can easily ride, and knew would not be a challenge. The ride had an early start so the night before we got everything set up, clothes laid out, drink bottles filled and chilled, rack on car, spare tube and tool kits, and road ids set on the counter next to car keys and coffee mugs. I checked the pressure and aired up my bike tires. Morning brought the hint of a beautiful but cool day – perfect riding weather. And the first of our mishaps – two flat tires on my bike. I’d not closed either valve correctly. Oops.

Starting line was the Summerfest main gate, and it was filled with bikes when we arrived.

We choose to hang back and leave behind the initial rush of our group.
About a mile into the ride, shortly after we’d crossed the Milwaukee River, I heard a loud bang. Really loud. Everyone jumped, some nervous laughter, a women commenting that’s why you should always carry a spare tube. Over the next half mile I kept turning around wondering where my husband was in the crowd. Then my phone rang, and I found out. The sound was his back tire exploding with the force of 120psi. I turned around and went back to help. Neither of us had ever actually changed a tire, but we were making an attempt when the SAG vehicle arrived.
The tire wasn’t cooperating and even the SAG guys couldn’t get a small section to stay in the rim. We decided to load up the bikes, and head back to the starting line where Wheels & Sprocket had professional assistance. They quickly got us on our way and we once again started from the Summerfest grounds.
After that, the rest of the ride seemed uneventful, but hugely enjoyable as we headed south along the lake.
Stopped at the halfway oasis and the 20 mile one. At halfway to remove layers and at 20 miles paused for an apple and a refill of water.
The skyline in sight, we knew we were close
As we headed into downtown, we came to the stretch I’d traveled four times: on initial start, heading back to find Steve, on our second start and of course the “race” to the finish.
One last trip over the river and the finish line/Summerfest grounds were in sight.
Once back at Summerfest we enjoyed the after ride party. Re-fueling with Wisconsin greats – brats and of course, the cold, great taste of Miller Lite. What could be better?
While triathlon pace I do not possess, this ride did teach me I can manage in a bike crowd, that clicking in and out of pedals is becoming somewhat second nature, and that organized rides are fun.
Also learned that hanging back and starting well after the others is a good strategy for me. That said, the competitive bit in me was glad to realize our pace wasn’t the worst. We ended up passing the people who were around us when the tire blew – so made up close to 45 minutes on them. Will do this one again, however, will choose a more challenging length in the future!

Appreciating things close to home and heart…

From reading this blog, you’d think I lived in Chicago. There was a post about bike riding along their lakefront trail, a streetscape post, another streetscape post, and yet another streetscape post. Fact is I live in a suburb of Milwaukee – another city with a great lakefront along beautiful Lake Michigan. This weekend my son (one of the things closest to my heart) and I took advantage of a gorgeous spring day to ride along Milwaukee’s Oak Leaf Trail in the section from the Summerfest grounds, around Lakefront Park and north to Bradford Beach.

First stop was a cruise around Lakefront Park which brought us to the back-side of the now empty Henry Maier Festival Park, aka Summerfest grounds. So odd to see this empty – but the Harley stage and the Miller Lite stage brought a smile to my face – honoring these two icons of our proud city.

Moving onward, the smart (read, sneaky) Mom in me knew that in order to make *my* goal of riding 10 miles that we needed to take the occasional break. Which we did, first stopping at the park in front of Discovery World to play some tunes – on the bench and the pebble waterfall, a quick pause on the promenade by the art museum to watch a couple of spear fishers and finally a stop to check out the kite shop in Veteran’s Park.

McKinley Beach caused us to wonder, how crazy you have to be to be swimming in Lake Michigan in early April. While Bradford Beach brought another hint of summer, and that beach’s strong volleyball tradition.

We enjoyed our stop at what appears to be a new fitness area. I got a kick out of showing the guy you see struggling on the yellow apparatus how an assisted chin-up machine works – I did a couple of sets of squats, assisted chin-ups and back extensions, while my competitive gymnast son gave the p-bars a work-out.

After we left the fitness area, kiddo asked me if he’d ridden 1.5 miles yet. I fessed up and told him, he’d ridden almost five miles. Which led him to proclaim he was going to ride 10 miles this day. We made several laps around Lakefront Park in order to accomplish this goal. What fascinated me was how often he stood to ride, or assumed the bent over determine pose of acceleration. Made me realize the fun of riding as a child – and maybe understand a little the draw of single speeds. Not that I’m going *there* anytime soon – but I get how they might re-connect with the childhood joy of riding.

Once we accomplished the goal of 10 miles, we headed back to the car. With the kiddo telling me his next goal is 15 miles, and then 20. Meanwhile, I was reminded of what a great city I am privileged to live in! Not to mention I am blessed with one great kiddo!