SHE PASSES!
Okay I have a confession. Since I have always lived in Colorado I am kind of naive thinking every state has mountains to ride on. Well apparently not because Leapinlisa told me they don't in North Dakota. So I guess if you live in a state without mountains you probably don't really know how to ride them either right.:) This past weekend Lisa and her husband drove from North Dakota to Steamboat Springs Colorado to join me and several other riders for a weekend of riding. Steamboat has several mountains and also has a lot of rocky terrain (Apparently they don't have too much of that in North Dakota either). I have never ridden with Lisa before so I didn't know what to expect and I certainly did not want to limit her. Day one went like this. First Lisa and her husband did the 10 mile circle bar basin loop while I was out practicing for the ISDE. Then at 10:30 we all set out to cross King Solomon creek, ride up Mansinaress trail, then across to the Hare trail and over to look at the "Blow down". Some of you may have seen it on the news. About 3 years ago a Micro Burst of wind came out of the East and in about 3 seconds leveled huge pine trees over hundreds of acres. It is amazing to see how many trees blew over. Lisa is doing really great but thinking this is the hardest stuff she has ever ridden (little did she know we planned to do Nipple Peak the next day). You could tell her time and money spent at the Trails Training Center was worth it because she was riding standing up and hardly ever crashing. I was impressed. After looking at the blow down we rode over Farwell trail and back down Mansinaress to camp. At camp she told me she had never ridden more than 30 miles at one time and we had just finished close to 50. I jumped on my trials bike and did a loop with some other riders. When I got back I could not find either her or her husband until I saw only feet sticking out of the tent. After a nap she woke but looked really out of it. I asked her if she was ready for another ride and she said "sure:( ". Little did she know we planned to go up to the top of Hahn's Peak which is very rocky and about 10,000 feet high. Again she rode really well but never managed to look at the scenery unless I would pull up alongside her and tell her to look. At the top you have to hike about 200 yards to reach the very top of the peak so with all of our gear on we hiked up. Living at Sea Level must suck!:think When we got down we headed down the Hahn's Peak trail (very steep switch backs) and then back up the road to camp. This added about another 20 miles. She was tired but since I let her take a nice hot shower in my travel trailer she was happy and feeling better. She called it a day a little earlier than the rest but because of her time difference I won't give her too much of a hard time.
Day 2. So Lisa where do you want to ride? How about Nipple Peak? (anytime there is a trail with a name like Nipple Peak you wonder if you have any business being there) She was beginning to puke as she said sure. (I guess we should not have told her all the horror stories on the first day because it only made her nervous enough to get sick, well not really but she did comment that she felt like she should throw up.) Of we went across the water bars, down the Elk trail and then over to Nipple Peak. (Oh and yes, Nipple Peak does look like a big boob from a distance but not when you are on it) If you are afraid of heights or narrow shelf trails with rocks and tree roots I recommend you not ride the Nipple Peak trail. Lisa just seemed as if she had a determined personality that liked a challenge. I was actually ahead of her riding fast with another girl for training but I would stop every 5 or ten miles and wait and every time she would be coming. My husband was in front of her and he would wait at any nasty sections to show her which way to go and he said she didn't hesitate at all and would make it over just fine. About 3/4 of the way we stop on what we call the pass because there is an awesome view of the valley and she showed me her hands from her death grip and they looked sore. Her calluses are not quite as hard as mine yet and I am sure those blisters hurt but she was actually have fun, I think:D . While we were stopped I had to laugh because we all took our helmets off and she looked over at me and said "Do you ever sweat?" I was sure she had talked with my Hero Kerrie Brokaw because she always gives me crap about not sweating. I do sweat just not really bad. We completed the loop but not without helping a lady going the opposite direction who had fallen off the trail and was struggling to keep her bike from flipping down the hill. We offered to take them up the Hahn's peak trail but since they came down it the day before they decided to pass and take the rode it. We took the trail and met them back at camp.
The weekend ended all too soon and we had to go our separate ways. (Lisa probably being glad to get off the motorcycle and bike into a truck to rest her muscles). Too many miles separate us from riding more often but hopefully she will make it a point of coming back every year. She will be in Sturgess the rest of the week.
Thanks for a great time Lisa!
Okay I have a confession. Since I have always lived in Colorado I am kind of naive thinking every state has mountains to ride on. Well apparently not because Leapinlisa told me they don't in North Dakota. So I guess if you live in a state without mountains you probably don't really know how to ride them either right.:) This past weekend Lisa and her husband drove from North Dakota to Steamboat Springs Colorado to join me and several other riders for a weekend of riding. Steamboat has several mountains and also has a lot of rocky terrain (Apparently they don't have too much of that in North Dakota either). I have never ridden with Lisa before so I didn't know what to expect and I certainly did not want to limit her. Day one went like this. First Lisa and her husband did the 10 mile circle bar basin loop while I was out practicing for the ISDE. Then at 10:30 we all set out to cross King Solomon creek, ride up Mansinaress trail, then across to the Hare trail and over to look at the "Blow down". Some of you may have seen it on the news. About 3 years ago a Micro Burst of wind came out of the East and in about 3 seconds leveled huge pine trees over hundreds of acres. It is amazing to see how many trees blew over. Lisa is doing really great but thinking this is the hardest stuff she has ever ridden (little did she know we planned to do Nipple Peak the next day). You could tell her time and money spent at the Trails Training Center was worth it because she was riding standing up and hardly ever crashing. I was impressed. After looking at the blow down we rode over Farwell trail and back down Mansinaress to camp. At camp she told me she had never ridden more than 30 miles at one time and we had just finished close to 50. I jumped on my trials bike and did a loop with some other riders. When I got back I could not find either her or her husband until I saw only feet sticking out of the tent. After a nap she woke but looked really out of it. I asked her if she was ready for another ride and she said "sure:( ". Little did she know we planned to go up to the top of Hahn's Peak which is very rocky and about 10,000 feet high. Again she rode really well but never managed to look at the scenery unless I would pull up alongside her and tell her to look. At the top you have to hike about 200 yards to reach the very top of the peak so with all of our gear on we hiked up. Living at Sea Level must suck!:think When we got down we headed down the Hahn's Peak trail (very steep switch backs) and then back up the road to camp. This added about another 20 miles. She was tired but since I let her take a nice hot shower in my travel trailer she was happy and feeling better. She called it a day a little earlier than the rest but because of her time difference I won't give her too much of a hard time.
Day 2. So Lisa where do you want to ride? How about Nipple Peak? (anytime there is a trail with a name like Nipple Peak you wonder if you have any business being there) She was beginning to puke as she said sure. (I guess we should not have told her all the horror stories on the first day because it only made her nervous enough to get sick, well not really but she did comment that she felt like she should throw up.) Of we went across the water bars, down the Elk trail and then over to Nipple Peak. (Oh and yes, Nipple Peak does look like a big boob from a distance but not when you are on it) If you are afraid of heights or narrow shelf trails with rocks and tree roots I recommend you not ride the Nipple Peak trail. Lisa just seemed as if she had a determined personality that liked a challenge. I was actually ahead of her riding fast with another girl for training but I would stop every 5 or ten miles and wait and every time she would be coming. My husband was in front of her and he would wait at any nasty sections to show her which way to go and he said she didn't hesitate at all and would make it over just fine. About 3/4 of the way we stop on what we call the pass because there is an awesome view of the valley and she showed me her hands from her death grip and they looked sore. Her calluses are not quite as hard as mine yet and I am sure those blisters hurt but she was actually have fun, I think:D . While we were stopped I had to laugh because we all took our helmets off and she looked over at me and said "Do you ever sweat?" I was sure she had talked with my Hero Kerrie Brokaw because she always gives me crap about not sweating. I do sweat just not really bad. We completed the loop but not without helping a lady going the opposite direction who had fallen off the trail and was struggling to keep her bike from flipping down the hill. We offered to take them up the Hahn's peak trail but since they came down it the day before they decided to pass and take the rode it. We took the trail and met them back at camp.
The weekend ended all too soon and we had to go our separate ways. (Lisa probably being glad to get off the motorcycle and bike into a truck to rest her muscles). Too many miles separate us from riding more often but hopefully she will make it a point of coming back every year. She will be in Sturgess the rest of the week.
Thanks for a great time Lisa!
