What is that Nicole up to?

Hotel California, the Irish Way

2011-12-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

I was not in Ireland much longer than 24 hours before I heard the Eagle's song "Hotel California" playing on the streets of Dublin, and then again in Galway. Yes, twice?! Perhaps this country of only 4 million people heard about a couple of Californians heading their way? What a welcoming!

My flight over could not have gone smoother, aided by Business Class and access to the Red Carpet lounges on either end of my SFO-LON flight, including a shower upon my arrival in London! I also managed to get some nice sleep on my flat bed complete with down duvet and pillow, some entertainment with my private remote controlled television, and relatively nice 3-course meal paired with wines. I tried my best NOT to get used to this type of treatment, since it is back to cattle class for my return flight.

After landing at the airport, it was off to Dublin, where I got a taste of my first Guinness in it's mother country. We met up with a bunch of friends who were great craick (that is Irish for "good fun"), and had fun exploring the festive streets of the city.

It was an early rise to make the 7:30 train to Galway. Unlike my flight over, in true Nicole-travel-fashion, we had to sprint in order to make it onto the train, with only seconds to spare (all because of stopping off for a coffee and missing the first trolley to the train). And then we realized that we should have slept in a bit longer so as to enjoy the train ride in the day light, as the sun did not come up until 8:30! But what I did manage to see was some beautiful green country side, with miles of hand-built stone walls, and plenty of sheep and cows. Gorgeous. Reminded me a bit of New Zealand.

After getting picked up at the train station I saw a bit of the country (the village of Craughwell) and then had to dash off to a meeting at the Irish Marine Institute. I had a great tour of the facilities there, where they carry out state-of-the-art research on everything from Harmful Algal Blooms to Hydrothermal Vents. Most of their research is carried out off of the Celtic Explorer, a 33 million dollar ship stocked with top notch equipment for fisheries and oceanographic research. In fact, I got to see it all first hand. After our tour at the Marine Institute, we headed into Galway to have a look around and by chance saw the Celtic Explorer docked in the harbour. We went to gander at the outside of it, when I saw the unlocked stairway leading up to the ship. So we went up the stairs, knocked on the door and got a grande tour by a few of the crew on board!

After that, we headed into town and proceeded to sample the fine brews, hot ports and whiskeys of Galway, where I learned the art of navigating through crowded bars without spilling a drop; apparently, if you hold your beer in sight of those around you as you walk around the bar, it recreates a "parting of the red sea" of people, who would not want to see their golden nectar wasted. We wandered the streets of Galway, hit 5 bars or so, ate some fish and chips, and met lots of friends and family, and then headed home for bed. This was my first ~24 hours in Ireland. And then I slept for the next 12.

I heart Tahoe

2011-06-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Finally blood thinner-free and free to do whatever sport I want without having to worry about a lethal brain injury, I have been taking every opportunity to get some skiing in before all the snow melts. Lucky for me, Tahoe has received two times the average snowfall, extending the ski season into June. I have had a few fun backcountry trips to the mountains with Sergey, Bridget, and Josie skiing at Powderhouse, Martin Point, Carson Pass, and Elephants Back, however I was jonesin' for more. The 3-day Memorial Day weekend was approaching. Knowing that there was still snow in Tahoe, in addition to a few open mountain bike trails, I decided that best idea in the world was to do both activities in one day! The problem was that I could not think of anyone who would be willing or able to do this with me, so I decided to go it alone. This posed a few problems, as I was not very organized in terms of where I would stay or what mountains I would climb, but as it turned out, I did not really need to do anything but pack my car with all needed gear, drive myself up to South Lake Tahoe, and complete my mountain biathlon mission on day 1.

(Side-step: I have been reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Although I have not finished it, a common thread throughout the book is to pay attention to life's omens, be open, and follow life's signs with an unassuming mind and heart. To a scientist, this seems a bit airy-fairy. But after this weekend, I kinda feel like maybe there is something to this stuff?)

As I was packing the night before leaving, I realized that I forgot to return a call to my friend Jessica. When I called her, she tried to convince me to stay home for the weekend (as did Erin!), but at this point I was dead set on going. Her boyfriend Chris #1 was there and asked me where I was staying. When I said that I did not know yet, he suggested I stay at our mutual friend Chris #2's Tahoe house. Within seconds, Chris #2 called me to let me know where the key was. I was stoked because now I would not be sleeping in my car or some dingy motel!

An early morning start from Santa Cruz got me climbing throughout Desolation Wilderness up Mt. Ralston by 8:30 a.m. The weather was a little overcast, but calm. As I skinned up the mountain however, it seemed to get colder and windier. I could see snow falling in the distance, and it was coming my way, but I was determined to get to the top. It wasn't pretty as there were some icy pitches that I slid down and then had to take my skis off and kick-step up, barely able to get the toe of my boot into the icy slope (note to self: buy crampons for ski bindings). But once I was at the top, the views were stunning. I could look down into Echo Lake, I could see Diamond Peak, Mt Tallac, and a bunch of other mountains whose names I have yet to learn, and lots of cool ice formations. The ski down was more or less a sloping ice rink. NOT my prettiest ski turns, and a whole lot of scraping sounds. And because I am hopeless at navigation, I had to bush whack across a few streams, and then I overshot where my car was parked which meant I had a half-mile walk back up hill. But none of that mattered because (1) I survived my first solo ski tour, and (2) it started dumping snow. The snowfall was bitter sweet as some soft snow would make skiing far more pleasant, but I was not sure how this would affect part two of my plan: to mountain bike.

on my way up

At the top of Mt Ralston - freezing!

Echo Lake below

cool horizontal, ice formations

After stalling at the bike shop, a bite to eat, and some emailing, the sucker-hole of sun peaked through the clouds and led me to jump on my bike. Not long into my ride it started snowing, but by this point it did not matter because I was warmed up, well on my way, and the few trails that were open were in perfect condition. Lo and behold, I ran into some fellow bikers that also got sucked out on a ride by the 30 seconds of sun. A few words were exchanged and I carried on after offering to wait for them to go first, only to have them catch up to me a few minutes later. They asked me what I had been up to and when I said I went up Ralston that morning, I was immediately invited to Bob's dinner party. I was a bit taken aback and asked him to make sure it was okay with his wife before bringing some strange person to their house. However when I called him later to confirm, Bob said that when he told his wife (Michelle) that I went up Ralston and then mountain biked that afternoon, she replied "Well, I hope you invited her over for dinner!". He said that they would love to have me over. Tahoe residents rock.

The end of the Armstrong Connector due to snow

Back down the trail, snow was falling!

After dropping off my gear at Chris #2's swiss chalet (with the most AMAZING views) and showering, I headed over to Bob and Michelle's house with bottle of wine in hand, only to be greeted by 10 lovely, hard-core skiers, mountain bikers, runners, climbers, SUP (stand up paddle)'ers, made up of geologists, an architect/nurse, an accountant, and an engineer. Tom and Jim, who I had ridden with earlier were there, but so were Khristy, Sabrina, Jeff, Brian, Erin and Serge, in addition to the hosts Bob and Michelle. As I would soon find out, these are my people. After a killer mexican meal made by Bob and Michelle, yummy mango margaritas made by Khristy, and to-die-for homemade ice cream by Erin, as well as a whole lot of laughter and stories, the planning began. The gang was going to head to Kirkwood resort the next day. Khristy just had hip surgery and could not ski, but offered me her pass and suddenly I was included in the plan. "See you tomorrow morning at 7:30 Nicole. Do you want to crash here?" All my gear was at Chris #2's house so I headed home for some sleep.

The next morning I was greeted by 8+ inches of snow. I turned up at Bob and Michelle's, where I was fed (again) hearty pancakes, and then we piled into the Synchro Vanagans for our drive to Kirkwood. There were only two lifts open, so Tom says "Let's go up the lift and take a few runs. If we feel like it, we can put the skins on and climb up some other peaks to get some exercise." (as if taking the lift up and skiing down was NOT exercise.) Like I said, I found my people. It turned out to be a powder day at Kirkwood on 30 May (and I forgot my camera all day as I was having too much fun)! I had SO much fun skiing with this group. They were not only amazing skiers but also super laid back, encouraging, and rad. No blow-hards or aggression. We took a few runs down The Wall, going over lips that I wouldn't have touched with a 10 foot pole had I not been doing my best to keep up with these skilled skiers. And then we took the skis off to hike up some peaks where there was untouched snow. Tom was about to put his skis back on when one of them went skidding down the back of the mountain (telemark bindings do not have brakes on them). All I saw was Tom's feet disappear over the edge of the slope as he dove down the hill to try and catch his escaping ski. No such luck. Fortunately, Bob was able to retrieve both ski and detached binding, which apparently was not even necessary, as Tom was able to carve beautiful turns down to Bob with only one ski. With all skis (and one snowboard) intact, we continued down the mountain, each taking our own fresh lines (and I even set off a little slide which was kinda creepy but educational) and straight to the car without having to take one extra step. How did they DO that?! After a little lunch break, we broke the skins out and climbed up the mountain to another region of untouched snow, and spread out so that we could all ski our own fresh lines, once again. I should mention that not only did these people feed me, offer me a bed to sleep in, drive me up to the mountain, give me a ski pass, and guide me around the mountain, but they also carried my gear up the mountain for me since I did not have an appropriate backcountry pack. Who was I?! Spoiled, but grateful. It was such a fun day, and such great quality skiing and people. It occurred to me however, that this is just another day in the life for this group. I was filled with envy!

By early afternoon we were satisfied and ready to get back to Bob and Michelle's where we polished off the rest of the previous nights dinner and hung out for a bit. Then I headed over to Tom and Khristy's house, where Jim was also staying, and hung out there for a bit longer and watched the Travel Station, salivating over the top 20 sexiest tropical beaches and getting talked into SUP'ing by Khristy. And then Tom pulled out a backcountry pack that he no longer uses and gave it to me. I tried to offer him money but he would not take it. So now, not only was I fed three times, offered a bed to sleep in, driven to the mountain, given a ski pass, guided around the mountain, and given advice about where to ski next, but I was also given free (needed) gear. Oh, and did I mention that all of them offered their spare rooms as a place to stay whenever I want? My. People. I hope that they visit me in Santa Cruz so that I can return the hospitality. I will have to figure out a way to make up for my matchbox-sized place though!

The next day I decided to utilize that pack Tom gave me, so I chose to climb up Round Top Peak, since Sergey, Bridget and I attempted to do this a few weeks ago but were lead astray by the cross-country signage only to end up at Elephants Back by the longest possible route. With a few tips from the locals and remnant skin tracks to guide me, I got to the Round Top Peak relatively quickly. There were a few ice patches on the way up, but I managed to sniff out some perfect snow and swished my way down the mountain under a clear blue and sunny sky. I ran into another guy who suggested I skin up to Elephants Back Peak and around the back of it for another run down. Although when I got there I saw a lot of rock and little snow, so I skinned back around to the front side of Elephants Back Peak, ready to get back to the car after much climbing and skiing. However, due to my "keen navigation skills" and lack of compass, I got off-track and ended up having to don the skins yet one more time for a mile or so hike out (note to self: buy a compass/GPS and get some navigation skills!). I was completely shattered by this point, but I had no choice but to take this much longer route back, yet again. Deja vue. Luckily I ran into some snow shoers who were great company and made the hike back more enjoyable. It was so inspiring to be around other people also also thriving in their environment.

Elephants Back

Round Top

That is Round Top Peak behind me, another hour or so away

View of Lake Tahoe in the distance, from the top

If you look carefully, you can see my tracks!

Exhausted but elated, I piled my gear and myself into the car and prepared myself for the 4+ hour drive home. On the way back, I swung by Chris #2's Memorial Day barbeque for the mountain bike team "Quadzilla" that I am a part of, and started scheming for our next mountain bike rides, races, and bike parts. I believe these are my people too.

As my friend Sergey likes to say: "I had in illegal amount of fun". But I also feel like I learned a lot about backcountry by skiing on my own, as well as from the new, rad friends I made. I also realized that traveling on your own can be loads of fun if you go with the flow of events with an open mind and heart, minus a firm agenda.

A few more pics here.

Weekend in Chi-town with the P.'s

2010-08-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have done lots of fun stuff this summer that I haven't had a chance to blog about (because I am having too much fun to blog), but I have to say that one of the highlights of this summer was my trip home to Chicago to hang out with my Mom and Dad.

I got in friday night and Mom and Dad swooped me up from the airport and we went out for a lovely dinner outside, where it was a comfortable 80 degrees or so. This, as I would soon find out, is the optimal time to spend outdoors in Chicago during August. We got home from din pretty late, which meant a nice lie-in bed the next morning to catch up on sleep and enjoy my big, huge, large, gargantuan bedroom (which is larger than my whole studio in Santa Cruz!). Upon waking, we made coffee and hung out in the backyard just continuing our chats and catching up on life. Our neighbor Norm swung by for a wee chat about the goings on in the town where my parents live, since he is on the city council/board. I found out that Mom is on the hot list for being a bit "heavy footed" on the gas pedal. It is good to know that nothing has changed. Then Mom and Dad whipped us up an amazing breakfast. Dad served up his homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers slathered on some bagels, and Mom accompanied this with eggs, fruit, and yogurt yuminess. (Dad even packed up some of those beautiful tomatoes for me to take home with me, but most of them didnt make it to Santa Cruz, as I count resist eating them on the flight home!) Since it was now 1pm, we figured we might as well get out of our jammies and head to the city for some fun!

We headed out to Navy Pier, where we based ourselves and then walked through the city. It was a hot day - but "cooler" than usual - which I struggled with now that my California-induced comfort zone only varies by a few degrees from 68F. But once we found our way to the Trump Tower for some cool Mojitos, I was doing JUST fine. The views from the 16th floor deck were amazing as it felt like we could almost touch the Sun Times and Wrigley buildings, and stare down hundreds of feet to the Chicago River below. Great fun! After a bit more strolling around, looking at the architecture and art displayed outside, as well as a bit of shopping, our tummies started to grumble again, so we went to Riva's where we had another incredible meal and got to look out across the lake and lit up city. What a wonderful late dinner! Just as I thought it couldnt get any better, we stepped outside and realized it was almost time for the fireworks. Chicago puts on a fireworks show every Saturday in the summer. And they are not piddly or lame. It was on par with a 10-15 minute Grande Finale. I have some footage of it here if you want to get a taste of what it was like. Of course, nothing beats actually being there, so I highly recommend it should you find yourself in Chicago on a Saturday night.

Navy Pier at Night

So just as I thought we were heading home, Mom asked us if we would go on the Ferris (Bueller) Wheel with her. Dad wasn't interested, but it didnt take much arm twisting for me to go, as I have never been on this particular Ferris Wheel. Turns out that it doesnt stop and keeps rotating, and it goes VERY high as you can see in this video of Mom, very bravely, introducing us to the Ferris Wheel (ignore her attempt at mathematics, this was likely influenced after too many mojitos and glasses of wine!):

However, her reaction was a different story once we hopped in the continually rotating Ferris Wheel
:

Another late night home and another late morning lie-in, another fun morning just hanging out, chatting, eating more of Dad's yum garden goodness, and then Mom and I dashed off on a shopping mission to find a dress to wear to my friend(s) wedding(s)! Within a few hours we had found both shoes and dress (and a few other awesome goodies!). What can I say? My mom is a professional shopper and this mission could not have been accomplished without her.

That night we squeezed in another fabulous dining experience and a late night flick, Inception. Just as well we didn't have too many glasses of wine at dinner or none of us would have been able to decipher the level/dream we were watching. Then again, maybe another glass of wine would have helped?!

It was a short but sweet trip, and I had such a wonderful time with Mom and Dad. However, next time I will be sure to (A) visit at any other time than mid-summer (can I get away without a visit mid-winter? probably not!) and (B) make sure I stay a bit longer, so that I have more time with Mom and Dad, as well as my brother, Karen, Evan and Owen.

AVALANCHE!!

2010-02-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

Hopefully this word will never come out of my mouth in the case of a real, live emergency. That was the point of the Avalanche awareness course I took last weekend up in Tahoe. A 3-day intensive course that taught us about observations, planning, human factors (ie. choose your partners wisely!), terrain, weather patterns, and even some searching with avalanche tranceivers/beacons. I was surprised that the course only spent a minimal amount of time on the searching bit, as I thought that finding someone buried under the snow of an avalanche would be pretty important. But as it turns out, it is even more important to avoid the avy in the first place - duh!

So how does one avoid getting caught in an avy? Well, I learned that it is about being an investigator from the moment you start THINKING about planning your backcountry tour. First, you need to follow the weather and snowpack in the region you plan to tour. When was the last snowfall? What have the temperatures been doing to the snowpack? What is the temperature (and snow) doing now? What does the sierra avlalanche center say about the snowpack conditions? What time of the year is it? What aspect has the most stable snow conditions? Green means Go! Yellow means watch your step. Orange, red or black means that I am gonna get my ya-ya's somewhere/somehow else. My instructor tells me that bowling is a great alternative.

OK, so the snowpack looks reasonably stable at low and high elevation on the North-Northeast faces, with some pockets of terrain that should be considered. Good time to go. So who are you going to go with? The blowhard friend with minimal experience sliding on snow, that thinks they know all there is to know about the backcountry and will not listen to anyone else? Or the friend(s) who know what they are doing on one or two planks, have the appropriate gear and knowledge, and are willing to work as a team? I know who I would choose.

Next is the plan. Mom taught me long ago that sometimes life is not always better than plan B, and whaddayknow, that is what our instructors told us is a necessary part of a tour plan! So, to plan a tour one usually needs (1) Plan A: the smartest and funnest route that you think will work out and (2) Plan B: the bail out option if Plan A looks too dangerous or doesn't pan-out. I have been practicing Plan B lots, so I should be pretty good at this! Planning involves having some idea about the area you will ski, and having the correct map, a compass, a picture of the mountain you plan to climb, and a route up and down (and a the bailout plan, of course). This part is a bit tricky, so best to start off in the shallow end (baby slopes) and work your way up. They gave us some key "secret" places to hit, which I have vowed to keep to myself. Although I imagine what they really gave us was the places that they no longer bother to go to. I guess I will have to earn my way up to ski with the big guns.

Finally, plan execution. But the planning doesn't necessarily stop there. As you head off, cutting tracks up the mountain, you take in bits and pieces of information about the snow pack, the weather, the time it is taking to travel. All of these pieces of information are used to evaluate whether or not to carry on with Plan A, revert to Plan B, or go bowling instead. There are tons of snow tests you can do along the way, from poking the snow with your pole or probe, to making a snowball, to digging a pit, to ski cuts and "safe" attempts at triggering an avy yourself. Now is not the time to let your guard down, but to take in every piece of information possible so that you can savour the lovely run down the mountain that is in your near future, and so that you can plan and take many more tours and turns throughout the lengthy remainder of your life.

Y-o-s-e-m-i-t-e!

2009-12-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

As you can tell by the "foreshadowing" revealed in the first photo of this blog entry, this trip to Yosemite did not go quite as planned. However, AAA did save the day, and we managed to salvage the trip so that it turned out to be much more than a memory of tow trucks, mechanics and bad news.

The last time I had been to Yosemite, I was attending the wedding of Jay and Liz. Turns out it was raining buckets and I was experiencing muscle spasms in my intercostal muscles, which lead a trip to the emergency room (I am sure my family is not surprised to learn of this) and a Vicadin-induced experience. I was hoping this trip would be an improvement upon my last visit!

Bob and I headed out, bright and early, to the Valley of Yosemite National Park. Smooth sailing on our drive into the Park, then a quick overview of the Valley from the lookout where we got an incredible view of El Capitan and Half-dome. It was a brisk, clear-as-a-bell day (we were informed, by a passing guide, of the very low particulates in the air that was perfect for picture taking). We anxiously moved on so we could start our first hike! While the Yosemite Falls trail looked inviting, it also seemed far daunting for our first hike. So we decided to set out on the Mist trail to Vernal Falls. There were a few options and extensions you could do from this trail, and being the ambitious exercise-lover that I am, I asked Bob if he wanted to continue on from Vernal Falls, up to Nevada falls, and then back down the Jon Muir trail. An 8 mile hike - about twice that of just the Vernal Falls hike. Bob hesitated with a "maybe, we will see". Anticipating that we would end up taking "the longer way", I suggested that we make some sandwiches and pack a few snacks ... just in case. 11am and we were on our way to the trailhead.

Yosemite gets millions of visitors each year, so in an attempt to keep the trails intact, they often have to pave the paths. So the first 1.6 miles of the "trail" was paved. Let it be known that it was not a stroll, but rather a push up a somewhat steep slope. This was fortunate for our overly ambitious acquaintances that we passed on the start of the trail. They decided to take a few things with them including a wheeled suitcase, as well as some sleeping bag/blankets, still in the original shrink wrap, which they must have picked up at the local Target on their way to Yosemite! While I had no idea how far they planned to go, or how long they planned to stay, I was not filled with envy as we scooted past them with one small backpack each. Mind you, if an overnight was on the cards, they would have been far more prepared. It was a crystal clear sunny day, but as soon as that sun dipped below the horizon, the temperature quickly dropped.

Once off the paved path the hike lead us up what was, I think, 600 or so steps, to the top of the Vernal Falls, which was more like a trickle relative to its Spring time freshet, but it was beautiful nonetheless. My knees were definitely not prepared to go back down those set of stairs (see windy trail in picture), and we were both feeling pretty good, so we decided to carry on (yay!). The next stint up to the Nevada Falls was lots more stairs and switchbacks, but it was well worth the view and lead us to a fantastic spot for lunch. And those PB and honey sandwiches that Bob almost opted not to bring definitely hit the spot! The sun started to drop so we decided we had better carry on. We were half way done with the hike - only downhill from here! We decided to take the longer, but less steep way, and my knees were grateful for this. It was a pleasant hike down for the first mile or so, where we had to cross some icy and snowy patches, but we never got too cold. We even ran into our "friends", who were slumped over at the side of the trail, looking mighty deflated with their cumbersome bundles of blankets and suitcase by their side. When they asked how much further to a "flat spot", we estimated one mile. At first, this did not bring joy to their faces because this was apparently the same story they had been hearing all along. But somehow we convinced them that it was really one mile and there was a great spot to set up camp. This seemed to invigorate them and they literally jumped up and started running up the trail, suitcase in tow.

We got back to the car just before sunset, tired and hungry but excited to head to our wee log cabin in Wawona, about 29 miles from the Valley. We had packed up loads of yummy food and were deciding whether tonight was to be marinated skirt steak or chicken for dinner. When we started driving however, we heard this scraping noise. At first I thought there must be a pine cone stuck in the wheel or the brake. But we couldnt see anything. So we decided to go grab a hot drink in the village and figure out what to do. Lucky us, there happened to be a garage in the village. A garage with super nice mechanics that were happy to help us without charging us an arm and a leg! The mechanic got under the car and came back up with grease up to his elbows declaring that we would not be driving any further: the axle had come apart from the CV joint. Wait, you mean the axle and CV joint that I just had installed, NEW, a few months ago?! Yup. Crap. Oh well, at least I have AAA. (We will skip the bit about the anger-based steam coming out of my ears.)

So I call AAA to see how many miles of towing I had. When they told me that I had 5 miles of towing - their treat - I quickly calculated the 200 miles times $7-9 per mile extra it would cost to get my car back to Santa Cruz and even more quickly, I became deflated. Luckily I was able to upgrade my AAA to the premium package that gives me 200 miles of towing, but it would not be available for 2 days (I highly recommend that you sign up for your premium AAA package today)! LUCKILY, Bob had signed up for his AAA plus package and had 100 miles of towing. And luckily Bob had booked a wonderful, warm, comfy cabin in Wawona (only 29 miles from the Valley) to stay in for two days (thanks for not listening to me about getting an inexpensive hotel Bob!)! So within 20 minutes, our car was up on the tow-truck bed #1, and we piled in the cab for a very slow drive to Wawona. Little did I know that our tow truck driver would also be a bit of a tour guide. Bob tried to engage the driver by talking about the "jake-brakes" on the vehicle and all sorts of other "guy talk", but the driver did not seem interested. Then Mr. Tow truck driver points out a lookout where he likes to stop and have his cup of tea?! This topic is right up my alley, so I asked him what types of tea he liked to drink. The next thing you know, we are discussing the ins and outs of different types of teas such as herbal versus caffeinated versus medicinal, the types of teas available within the Valley, and what our favourites are. Our driver goes onto say that he tried a new tea, but he didnt know quite how to pronounce it, so he spelled it out for us: "C....H....A....I". Chai! My favourite too- we bonded. Now, you might make some sort of judgement about the pronunciation capabilities of my new-found tea drinking friend. Never fear. As we headed into Wawona, we turned onto a road called "Chilnualna Falls" which seemed to just roll off his tongue, yet took days for me to get straight. Our driver was kind enough to give us a wee tour of Wawona as we entered, including pointing out the sewerage plant. At least this was civilization. Please get me out of this freezing cold tow truck!

It was dark by the time we got there, but our cabin was perfect! Perfect to hang out in without any form of transport for two days! And we were stocked with food, wood for the fire, and even internet, phone, satellite TV, DVD player, and stereo, should we resort to such things. This place was better equipped than my own studio in Santa Cruz!

Wawona is a great wee spot. Although it was out of season, and there were few people around, there were plenty of hikes out our back door, as well as a little historic town to peruse, the historic Wawona hotel, and the Mariposa Redwood Grove just up the road. We saw it all, in Wawona!

The day before we were to get the tow truck, we also managed to get the nearest car rental company to bring us a vehicle, so that we could take the "long" way home via the Valley, while our car took the tow-truck #2 lift back to Santa Cruz. Yay AAA! So in our rental car we went, well rested, fed and inspired to do another Valley hike!

Now, back to that Yosemite Falls trails, which prominently stands out above the Valley revealing the elevation one has to climb in order to reach the top. An amazing fact about this trail is that it was blazed back in the day when apparently the most direct route was thought to be the best way to go. It was somewhat daunting, and we really had not anticipated doing this hike on this trip, but over the past few days we psyched ourselves up for it. Another incredibly clear day and up the steps we went - apparently 140 switchbacks of steps, over 4 miles plus, and 3000 feet or so lead us to another one of those fantastic lunch spots with a view of Half Dome that planted a seed for our next hike in Yosemite (this is a 15 miler!). This time, we had no choice but to go back down the steps from which we came (unless we wanted to hike much further to Tuolumne). I was scared for my knees but they held up. While we were both pretty tired, it felt good to do the whole hike, and even better to sit! We got back to the car, made a quick trip to the Village for a hot drink, and then the Ahwahnee Hotel to warm up by their big, gorgeous fire place. And then smooth sailing back to Santa Cruz, where my car was waiting to be repaired. Happy endings are great, arent they?

You can check out the other photos here if you like!

My New Bike Frame!

2009-07-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I cracked the seat tube on my '02 Ellsworth Truth.

But thanks to an awesome bike company, I have a brand new '09 frame in Rainforest Green - complete with a wee frog on it! It is so pretty - I can hardly wait to build it back up so I can go for a pedal!

Swinging Monkey

2009-06-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

In the past, my friends (and I) have referred to myself (ourselves) as a dirty monkies. This is because I am (we are) usually riding mountain bikes along the duffy, dusty (or muddy) paths that wind through the Californian Redwood Forests. While my bike was in the shop getting some needed repairs and T.L.C. I decided to get a different perspective of the Redwoods. Rather than looking up at the trees, or darting through them, I got to go to the top of them and look down...

It was Friday night and I was joining my friends Jun and Charlotte in the celebration of the completion of their doctorates in Archaeology. A fantastic party, with a live East Coast Swing band, great friends, food and fun. Then a friend of mine, Big D., a fellow mountain biker and one who works at a camp up in the Redwood Forests just outside of Santa Cruz, asks me if I would like to join him and his crew on one of the many rope courses that they run at their camp. It is something I have been wanting to check out for a while, and with no option to mountain bike through the trees, I figure, why not swing above the them instead?

So the next morning my goal was to seek a partner in crime to accompany me on this exciting and new experience. I went to an early morning swim practice, and between sets, asked my friend M. if she would like to join me. With only a few seconds to communicate between each set of 25's and 100's, we hatched a plan.

A windey drive up the mountain roads of Eureka Canyon brought us to a camp called Koinonia. I wasnt aware of what this word meant, but when I looked it up on Wikipedia, I saw after the fact that it is defined as "communion by intimate participation". That it was.

Our leader was L.Jay. Right off the bat, you knew that this was someone special. More enthusiasm and charm than you realized someone could possess, and just the perfect amount of leadership and encouragement to get people to go beyond their comfort zones and limits. The other crew were just as fantastic and all experts in ropes and safety.

L.Jay, Big D. and the rest of the crew introduced us to the ins and outs of ropes safety. Helmet and harness adjustments, crab claw attachments, and the dos and donts so that we would be safe from a 60 foot drop once we were suspended in the trees. With rock climbing experience in my back pocket, I felt relatively comfortable with their instructions, and appreciated the reminders and refreshers as it has been a few years since I have used any of this knowledge.

And off we went. There were two options to get up to the first platform that was 60 foot in the air. One option was a climb up a ladder of giant staples that were set along the length of a Redwood. The other was a bit more challenging - to scramble up a hanging ladder rope followed by a rope web. This was known as the Firecracker. I couldnt resist the latter (ladder!) option, so up the Firecracker I went. As I hauled myself up the swinging rope(s) I had to use just about all my strength and whatever climbing technique I could recall - and I knew that I would be feeling it in my shoulders and back muscles the next day! But it was worth it. I made it to the top - yay! Now what is next?

After clipping the crab claws to the wire lines above me, which were attached to the ropes tied into my harness, I was to step to the next platform without much hesitation or fear. It was a big step but doable. The next step was slightly bigger, but didnt require more than a hop to get from one platform to the next. But then there was another gap to cross. This one required jumping. Definitely a leap of faith, knowing that you could easily jump across this were it a big puddle on the street, but that if you didnt make it, the line that you were attached to above would catch you should you fail. It took a few deep breaths but I went for it and made it. Yay! Now what do I need to do?

At this point, I met up with L.Jay who was prancing around on a four inch wide, 15 foot log that bridged two redwoods. Paralleling this log was one of similar size. I thought that I would be walking along ONE of these, since they were set so that as you walked along one log, the other one got further away. But no. L.Jay looks me in the eye and asks me to make a committment. Without even knowing what the commitment WAS, I find myself mesmerized by her enthusiasm and encouragement, trusting her, and saying "Okay". Then she stands on one log and has me stand on the other log while facing her, and asks me to place my hands on her shoulders and lean into her, keeping my body straight and strong, while she did the same. then we start walking sideways to get to the other side, using each other as support. The first few steps were fine, until the logs started getting further and further apart. The angle between the apex of our shoulders got wider and wider, having to rely on the support of each other more and more as we bridged further apart. It was the epitome of commitment as without the other, you would have fallen most definitely. And we made it to the next platform. Yay - we made it!! What next? "Nicole, go back to the other side. Let's try something else" says L.Jay. "What? But I made it? I have to do it AGAIN?". So I quickly jotted across the log to the other side, with some fear about what was to come next. This time, we did the same thing, but faced away from each other, arms locked, back and shoulders pressing up against each other. This took even more commitment than before, because now you were no longer looking each other in the eye, but rather had to rely on communication and sensation of pushing into and away from one another for support. We shuffled across and were one step away from the platform - one last, tricky step from the platform. Then, my foot slips and we swing amongst the trees, laughing with exhilaration! What a thrill. And lesson in trust.

The next feat was to walk across a pair of SLACK wires. This I shuffled across, trying to push my feet outwards to keep the lines taught so that I did not slip off of them and find myself swinging in the air once again. A., one of the crew, talked me through it and I made it. Luckily I didn't have to go back and try that one again - Phew!

The next challenge was to walk across a swinging bridge, that may have been 30 feet or so long. It actually looked relatively easy, until you realized that the bridge was made of planks loosely lined together by a wire, and narrowed to a single plank in the middle. And that you had to do it without holding onto the rope above which was to catch you if you fell. Big D. was awaiting me on the other side and demonstrated how the bridge could produce sine waves if you jumped up and down on it. Luckily he did not do this while I was crossing. So I attempted to cross the bridge without hands, but then grasped onto my rope as a security blanket as I crossed. This apparently, was not challenging enough, so Big D. said "Nicole, go back and do it again - this time with no hands!". What?! But I made it to the other side - I have to do it TWO more times?! But the next thing I knew, I was running back to the other side across the swinging bridge, filled with fear but also the excitement of getting to try it again. "Step right in the middle" instructs Big D., so that the single plank doesn't tip sideways as you shuffle across it. And so I did, and so I went - look Mom, no hands!

The next challenge was a sight to behold. A series of lodge poles (logs standing on end) strung together on a wire string like Christmas Tree popcorn garland. We were to, quickly, walk across the tops of these logs before they pendulum'd out throwing you off balance. After watching Big D. go across, and waiting for the logs to stop swinging, I assessed the challenge, took several deep breaths, and off I went. I found it near impossible NOT to hold onto my lifeline (rope attached to wire above). And I made it! Yay! But then, as you can guess, Big D. asked me to go back across and try it again without hands. You have GOT to be kidding me?! And what do you know? I didnt put up a fight but made my way back to give it another go. On my way back I tried without hands and I almost made it but hesitated and swung into mid air. Not a problem. My lifelines caught me so that I could recover and make it back up to the platform. My final time, I stood there, taking many a deep breath so that I could get the courage up to try balancing across the poles without hands. After the poles stopped swinging I took a few more deep breaths and went for it - fast and nimble I kept telling myself (fyi, I am not this type of person - I like to be more deliberate and in control, taking my time as I nudge my way through technical situations). I instinctually put one hand on my lifeline as I crossed. However, to give myself some credit, the line remained slack the whole time, and I made it across without falling or relying on any leverage my line may have given me. I was psyched! I could really do this.

The second to last challenge was to swing across swinging platforms suspended from each corner by a rope. M. belayed me down to this next challenge. This one was the most ominous challenges, as one could easily get clocked in the shin by a the platform as it swayed to and fro. Big D. demonstrated one way to try this. By swinging from the first platform, you were meant to grab onto the ropes of the next platform as it was within reach as you swung towards it. If you didn't get it within the first or second swing, you were unlikely to reach it (as I found out), and had to generate more swing to get back within reach. I found this took more strength, if you decided to forgo the skill and agility aspect. I found that I was using my upper body strength more than anything so that once I grabbed the lines of the neighboring platform, I could lift my legs up and swing them over. I made it to the other side, without any more bruises to my already heavily bruised shins. Thankfully, I was not asked to try that one again!

The final test was not one of skill, but pure exhilaration and (a leap of) faith. A giant rope swing! Sitting on the edge of a platform with a seat belt holding me in place, Big D. attached the end of a 40 foot ( or so?) long swing to my harness. I was instructed to slide off the platform, without leaning forward or backward, so that I did not hit my head on the platform or swing upside down. My heart was beating strong but I was excited to do this. Big D. undoes the seat belt, which was necessary because the pull of the swing once attached would have surely pulled me right off. And I slide myself off the platform, only to find myself free-falling (and screaming with excitement) for a few seconds before the lines caught me and swung me in a large ark through the giant Redwoods. Me Jane. I felt like I swung so high that I could flip backwards but the next thing I knew I was swinging backwards so high that I thought I might be able to land back on the platform like a trapeze artist! But then I found myself swinging back and forth, and this time without screaming, but rather looking around, letting go of my tight grip on the ropes, and just letting my limbs finally go limp, sitting back, and enjoying the ride. K. was down below, ready to grab a foot and let me down. I was spent. I was adrenaline filled. I was elated. I felt challenged. I felt accomplishment. And I felt ready for a nap!

A huge thanks to all the great crew at Koinonia for allowing me to test my skills, courage, and limits in an inspiring and encouraging environment. It is an experience that I will never forget.

M. also has an amazing perspective and recollection of her experience on the ropes course, if you are interested in finding out about a completely different viewpoint. She probably got more out of this day than anyone there.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. But there are a few pictures of some other rope courses on their website, to give you an idea of what we were "up" to!

Mele Kalikimaka!

2009-01-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to spend Christmas and much needed holiday in Hawaii with Sam. I was a bit sad about not getting to spend the holidays with my family in Chicago. However I think that the world works in strange enough ways. Perhaps the snow storms hitting the rest of the country was Mother Natures way of telling me to go to warmer parts of the world this season, as my plane may not have made it to the midwest (well, not without spending a portion of my time in airports).

I cant remember the last time I was this relaxed. I spent the next two weeks getting double digit sleeps every night, drinking at least one gin and tonic daily, swimming a minimum of one mile in the ocean each day (see videos introducing our swimming beach below), and being attached at the hip with Sam for two whole weeks. What more could a girl ask for? Of course, Sam and I did more than just sleep, drink and swim. We also road bikes! Surprised?! The rides started off as relatively minor bike rides with destinations, such as the 1200 steps to the top of KoKo head, a trip out to Makapu'u Beach, but then we got more ambitious and decided to bike to the North Shore. This ride was a bit longer, as it took us around the entire island of Oahu (see inserted map showing our route). We started off in Kai Muki (near Waikiki - letter B), headed up the windward side (C, D), to the North Shore (E), and then back down the middle (F-I), through Honolulu/Pearl City (J,K,L), and back to Waikiki. The first half was relatively flat with a very strong tailwind. However the second half took us up and over the island, AGAINST the wind. In all, it was a fantastic ride (except for the dead toad in the bike lane that almost took me out since Sam thought it was just a coconut husk and didnt feel the need to warn me!) and I would do it again in a heart beat. I cant think of a better way to see the island. Or a better way to ride a century (except perhaps on sweet single track). We took loads more pics, if you haven't gotten enough yet.

As I mentioned, each day included an ocean swim. But rather than explain it, you can check it out in the videos below, where we take you along our walk across the park on our way to Kaimana Beach, and then talk about our swimming experiences while on Kaimana Beach just before getting into the the water:

Sam and I also paid a visit to my great friend Carol who lives on Maui. We met tons of great people, like her roommate Johauna, her neighbors Katie, Waimea, and Makena, and her good friends Aviva, Jonah, Hugo and Eunis. And of course the pooches Duke and Juniper. We went for a lovely, cruisey hike to some water falls one day, checked out the surf site Jaws, followed by Paia Fish Market Ahi (Tuna) Burgers (YUM). This meal was devoured due to the lack of food throughout the day as discussed in the video below.

The next day, we had a lovely snorkel at Mackenna Landing, where we saw the most gorgeous turtles and fishes and sea urchins. And then we hung out the rest of the day at Little Beach, where we had lunch (a gorgeous salad that Johana created, accompanied by Poke, Mackerel and seaweed salad, and a few beers - a true oceanic feast!), played in the waves, scrambled across the rocks, and lied in the sand. Here are a few more of the videos that Sam and I took to entertain ourselves. You can always ignore them if you are sick of watching us - but the one of the girls building sandcastles is pretty cute. And Sam shows us his mad skills and gives us the ins and and outs of skimboarding on a boogie board.

Carol saw us off in true style by taking us to Sensei for yummy cocktails and the best sushi in THE WORLD, so that our tummy's were full and minds afloat for the brief 40 minute plane ride back to Oahu.

In all, a wonderfully relaxing, fun, and active trip where I got to spend some quality time with Sam. Now we just need to get him back to Santa Cruz (but perhaps after it warms up a bit...on that thought, perhaps I should plan to go back to Hawaii sometime soon?!).

Learning, Loving, and Losing (a bit of skin)

2008-09-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

I had a very special person come to visit for a long week (that would be Sam). During this week, we packed alot in. We travelled alot, we played alot, and we also learned alot about life and eachother. However, one of us learned a bit more about crashing on mountain bikes than the other (and it wasnt me - although the sight of these crashes did bring MYSELF to tears at one point!).

Our trip started off by rendezvou'ing at San Francisco airport and hopping on the next flight to Chicago to visit Mom and Dad ("Ooooooooooo", did I hear you say?!). This almost didnt happen, because we waited at the incorrect gate, only to find out that we were attempting to board the wrong flight when we showed the attendant our boarding passes! I guess that is what happens when you play kissyface in the airport and dont check your flight numbers. Luckily, this flight which wasnt ours was boarding only slightly later than our actual flight, and our actual gate was only 20 meters away. They were about to call our names as we frantically ran up to the gate. Phew. This potential mishap doesnt have a patch, however, on what happened when we tried to make Sam's return flight from San Fran.

Seeing my parents was a blast! We talked, we ate lots of beautiful food, we explored the city (architectural cruise, dinner on the pier, millenium park, and the jazzfest), and we relaxed and hung out in my Dad's beautiful garden. We also posed for alot of photos, thanks to my mom's affinity for photography. I know I will thank her one day, but if you look at the progression of the photos I think my smile becomes more and more forced! But I AM really glad to have them, since despite the camera that my dad gave me as a gift, I fail to take as many pictures as I could (I am too busy having fun and I forget - but I am working on this!!).

Our next destination was Santa Cruz. This is where the adventurous portion of the trip begins. Sam gets on a mountain bike. I mountain bike. ALOT. Sam mountain bikes. Never. (I am still cursing his friends Tom and John for not being more persistent in getting Sam to ride dirt - thanks alot guys!). I didnt think the transition from a road bike to a mountain bike would be as arduous as it turned out to be. But it was. What amazed me was Sam's tenacity. I was the one that was about to put away that mountain bike for good after DAY ONE of going over the bars THREE times. Alot more blood and alot less skin later, Sam was willing to carry on. Is that true love or what? I cant believe it wasnt the end of us. Sam is an amazing sportsman (or just a far too polite Brit). I then realized that this was indeed a VERY different sport from road cycling, so I wound the intensity back a few notches and decided to (1) get Sam a full suspension bike that is more forgiving and that fits him better than the last one we used and (2) take Sam on an Emily-Ride (this is where my friend Alex carries along his 2 yr old daughter on the top bar of his bike and rides trails. This inevitably tones down the technical bits of the ride - even if they reach a max speed of 39 mph and jump logs, which Emily loves!). This went well. It was a beautiful morning, and we reduced our number of 3 big crashes to one little bingle. I was so proud, and I actually think Sam enjoyed himself. So then I immediately turned things up a few notches, and that same day took Sam on his first mountain bike night-time ride! I figure, if he doesnt see the objects on the trail, he will simply ride over them before he even realizes he's done it! What a better way to learn to ride a trails, right? Almost. Sam did amazing. He powered up and down the hills like a champ. Only two crashes - and I dont think either of them were over the bars. This must be progress. I think Sam is ready for the big one. Tahoe.

After a few days of hectic work in Santa Cruz, we decided that if we were to spend any quality time together, it would have to be elsewhere. We packed the car, got in a morning swim, breakfast, and then headed up to Tahoe for a long weekend of Mountain Biking Bliss. Our first ride was an out and back up a mountain that brought us to a bench that overlooked the entirety of Lake Tahoe. I had to give Sam a grande introduction to this particularly grand place. I think this was a breakthrough point. About a half hour into the ride, Sam started expressing how much fun he was having. But then he made it even more clear by saying that the last hour was one of his best with me! I was so stoked, and so super proud of him. We made it to the top of the mountain, which included some rocky technical sections that Sam powered through without ANY CRASHES. Zero! Zilch! NONE! I think it is safe to say that we were both extremely happy about this. TRUE progress - in less than five days?! Legend! The views were fantastic. We gazed over the lake, played kissyface for a while, took lots of pictures, and then geared up for the downhill. This was the true test. Sam cleaned the most technical section of the ride without a hitch. At one point, he even exclaimed "Why would anyone want to ride on the road, when they can float down beautiful trails like this?!". That's my boy. After floating down the trail, we trucked on down to the lakeside for a sunset dip.

The next day was an amped up version of the previous day. We drove up to Tahoe Meadows and rode down and along The Flume Trail , the most scenic of trails in Tahoe. We then hit another great downhill (Chimney Trail) which dumped us out onto the road, far from our car (probably about 20-30 miles and a thousand or so feet in elevation). After a few attempts at hitching, we started to ride there. Just as we were about to turn up the road to start the hill climb to Tahoe Meadows, a women pulls over to the side of the road to ask us how to get to Tahoe Meadows?! "I would be happy to show you - personally", I said! So Sam waited with the bikes while I showed this super friendly (and inspiring) person where my car, ahem, Tahoe Meadows was. Perfect. Now we had time for one last sunset dip in Lake Tahoe.

hard-CORE

2008-08-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

As if I haven'd had enough activity for the week (a road century on Saturday and an offroad metric century + 15% on Wednesday - both which at least 10,500 feet of climbing), I participated in an event that is a fundraiser for CORE (an organization by the kids for the kids, which gets kids involved in fun, adventurous after-school activities such as surfing, junior life-guards, etc). This event started at the Santa Cruz wharf and ended 6 miles away at the Capitola Village wharf. While there is a road that travels between the two, this race travels along the sand and shore. And all you need is a swimsuit (and a pair of goggles) and you are good to go! Oh, and you also had to start at 6am.

The sun was just coming up, but not long enough to provide much warmth to the sand or air. Minutes before the race, we all got our crash course in "dolphin-diving" past the breakers. This was a great reminder for the shore break we were about to encounter. I felt sorry for any competitors that did not feel comfortable in big swell. We all lined up at the Santa Cruz wharf, and at 6am we were off and running down the beach, chasing after that sun that was just peaking up over the horizon. We would be chasing the sun for the remaining hour or so. The first leg was probably about a 1.5 mile run. Despite the miles of cycling I had done over the past few days, I was feeling good and started passing people towards the end of the first leg (I started way in the back of the line up).

Next, we had to jump in the water - my body was pretty warm by then, so it wasnt a big deal cold-wise, but there were sets of waves that were by no means "ankle-biters". The waves were crashing onshore and overhead, so we had to be careful when entering and exiting the water. There were many junior lifegaurds competing who were great to model oneself after, as well as lifegaurds that were on the course to guide us past the breakers. Their knowledge of the ocean was extremely valued during this time and throughout the entire race. Every time I looked up, I seemed to see a guard which made me feel very safe throughout the whole event. After a 300-400 yard swim, I got into shore safely and started the next leg of the run

The next run leg was probably another 1.5 miles. It was so beautiful galloping along the sand and in the sun! However, as soon as we hit the shade of the cliffs I started to get cold again. I couldnt feel my feet! I think they were moving beneath my legs, but those were kinda hard to feel too!! Then it was the second swim leg - probably around 800 yards long. There were bigger waves to navigate and a longer swim during which to withstand the cold - and the body was cooling down. So I just kicked harder to warm up. I also realized that I was continuing to pass people, and even caught up to the men, who started few minutes ahead of us! Getting back into shore was a bit hairier than the previous time. A big set was coming through so I tread water just behind the breakers until the set cleared and then swam as hard as I could to get into shore and hopefully beat the next set of waves. I got caught by one last breaker just as I was almost out of the zone. I was shook up a bit but no biggie. I needed to start running to warm back up!

It was probably less than a mile to the third and final swim so I ran as fast as my sorry tired legs could take me. At this point I caught up to Alex (my neighbor) and we entered the water together at the last swim leg. Not as hairy at the last entrance but you still had to have your wits about you. I followed a hard-core lifegaurd/competitor who tied her dreadlocks back with the dreadlocks themselves and then dived into the surf without goggles! Following her really helped me to navigate past the breakers, as it was obvious that she knew what she was doing. During the swim, I passed her, and a few others, and then I came to shore a bit shy of the actual place we were supposed to get out. This was unfortunate, as it was directly over this really rocky reef. I cut myself up a bit trying to get out, as there were tons of holes and rock to stumble over, and waves that kept pushing me all over the reef. It took me a while to get out of this mess. Meanwhile Marta caught up to me and we ran up on the beach to throw our shoes on and run the last 2 miles on road. It was too rocky to run on the beach, which was real bummer, as the road was so rock hard compared to the sand. Another difficulty was running RIGHT past my street. I was so cold I couldnt feel my feet - running past a nice hot shower that was less than a block away was almost as challenging as finishing the race!! But I pressed on, and then ran past Erin who came out on her cruiser bike to give me support as I ran along the cliffs. It was so great to see her! This is the second time she has come out to offer support during an event! She offered water and warm clothes but I just wanted to keep moving so I could finish. One more mile to go, mostly downhill. I was starting to warm up. Finally, I could see the blue flags indicating the end of the race - I crossed the finish line along with Alex and Marta - it was SO fun! We were freezing so we put all our warm clothes back on (the organizers of the race transported them from the start to the finish for us) and drank lots of hot chocolate and coffee and ate yummy burritos! SUCH a fun event. I cant wait for the next one! But this time, I am going to get into running shape before I do it. I have a feeling that I could be a bit sore tomorrow?! Perhaps the 1 and 2 mile roughwater swims I am competing in this weekend will help shake out the lactic acid (or at least numb my body from the aches and pains!).

Dirty Little Monkeys: The Santa Cruz Metric (+ 15%) Century

2008-07-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

8 clean monkeys set out on the dusty single-track trails of Santa Cruz with the goals of (1) mountain biking all the epic, awesome, primary trails in UCSC/Henry Cowell, Wilder, and Bear Mountain (2) having a fun-filled day of pedaling our hearts out, and (3) covering (at least) a distance of 62 Km (a metric century). 8 dirty monkeys came back from these trails with grit-eating grins and most of these goals accomplished (at least the important goals, #1 and #2)! Five of us even managed to exceed all three goals by biking 72 miles and climbing 10,500 feet of vertical, technical single-track. You may wanna hold your breath if you view pictures of us after many miles of playing in the dirt.

Alex, the primary creator of the epic loops(es) we rode, summarized it nicely in a letter to the peeps:

"Nerds,

The first Santa Cruz Off-Road Metric Century was a complete success!
Thanks so much to everyone who came out and made it awesome.
We started off with 8 riders (Me, Jun, Nicole, Jordan, DJ, Erin,
Carlos, Matt). Everyone rode the first loop all together which was a
great experience. That first loop was 30 miles and almost 5000ft
ascent and involved riding up magic carpet which was fun! The 2nd loop
was mostly wilder and also a blast, the group split into two at that
point, Jun and I and Nicole, Jordan and DJ. Carlos and finally Erin
peeled off at various stages. after loop two we'd done 57 miles (only
5 to go!) but everyone rallied and pitched in the extra effort and we
did a full bear mountain loop (including el chup!) for a total of 71
miles, 10,450ft of ascent. We started at 8am and finished at 8pm but
had some good breaks for lunch and afternoon tea.

Afterwards everyone who finished got a very limited edition frickin'
laser etched stem cap. Nicole organized a raffle and everyone won a
*valuable* prize from her shed. DJ and Jun worked the grills and we
showered 10 tons of dirt down Jun's drain.

This was by far my single greatest experience on a bike. I've ridden
that distance once before off road on a bike at Boggs but never such
an awesome flowy never the same trail kind of huge epic loop that was
our route. Truly Epic!"

You can also see the velonerds blog here. I am obviously too tired and lazy to write much more at the moment.

I never thought I could bike such a distance and so much vertical on single track, especially after already doing a 100 miler (with only about 200 more feet of climbing) on road four days prior, but it felt awesome, great, epic, and I loved every minute of it (even that section of Boundary Trail that I loathe!).

My life as a Velo Nerd

2008-07-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

It all began with the introduction to an avid mountain biker, who has turned out to be one of my closest friends and biking mates. He has kept Team Velonerds very much alive with his enthusiasm, promotion of the team and sport, dedication, and love for biking and those who bike with him. With introduction to this fantastic person, came my induction to Team Velonerds.

My first official race under the propeller-head was at an 8-hour solo Mountain Bike race at Boggs demonstration forest. A beautiful, fun course of single-track bliss. For over 7 hours I kept a relatively consistent pace, completing 7 laps, riding a metric century, and getting second place for women's sport. Turns out that the woman who beat me, although 15 years younger, was also from Illinois AND wanted to be a marine biologist, as I discovered during our conversations throughout the race! Great minds bike alike (or some bike better, as in her case!). While I had time to do one more lap, and possibly gain first place, a beer seemed far more appealing than another lap of cramping quads and hamstrings. My teammates who also rode solo did an amazing job! Alex caned the course with 8 laps, getting an official fourth place, which should have been third due to a sandbagger that got first by racing in the wrong class. DJ also did 8 laps, not too far behind Alex. Bob (on singlespeed) and Jun also completed 7 laps. Erin also did great by competing in her first solo Mountain Bike race (or any mountain bike race for that matter (?), as we know she was a tough competitor for UCLA and U. Boulder on the road). I was super proud of everyone and I think we all had a superb day!

My second race as a Velonderd involved donning the full, official Velonerds kit. I not only wore the installed helmet propeller with pride, but also had the honour of wearing the official team jersey: a white collared, button-up shirt with the team logo across the back and heart, and a red tie. I was part of a co-ed 24 hour race at 24 hours of Cool in Cool, California. I rode with Bob, June, Carlos, and Scotty. Alex went solo that race. What an incredible event which was a fundraiser for cancer victims, but also treated its competitors like gold. We were fed a hot dinner, breakfast and lunch, had a band that played for us all night, and
even music and people to cheer us on half-way along the course, where we biked along a path lined with pictures dedicated to those that fought cancer. It was an inspiring event that we entered for the fun of racing and to support a worthy cause. Much to our surprise however, after
Bob caned the first lap, we were already in second place! We pressed on through the night to turn our half-hour lag into a one lap lead! What a great surprise. We worked so well as a team, particulary through our night rides, as Santa Cruzians do so well. For more detail, see Jun's great account of the race in the Velonerd blog.

My most recent feat under the Velonerd name was the Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge Century. Alex, Mark and I set off with propeller-heads revving and spinning (and Alex and I in our formal-wear) up, around, down, up, along and up (and up and up) the gorgeous mountains surrounding and within Santa Cruz. These roads, close to my very own backyard, were absolutely incredible. I feel as if we got to see more than 90% of the redwoods in this county! It was a breathtaking day, in more ways than one! While Mark had to bail at mile 70 due to an injury, Alex and I pressed on to complete the century. I give Alex the highest accolade not only for doing his very first century on one of the hardest courses around, but also for doing this on a fully rigid mountain bike with slicks (and for the record, he did NOT use his granny gear!). Did I also mention that his bike was complete with GPS, two bike computers, a bell, plenty of Gu's and Shotblocks, as well as a fender? A very well-prepared cyclist no doubt.
I felt as if the ride was difficult enough on my carbon road bike! And the funniest thing about this feat was when Alex looks at me at around mile 80 and says with a perplexed look on his face "Ya know Nicole, I am really surprised that I havent seen ANY other mountain bikes on this century ride?". I thought this was most humourous, and then explained to Alex that it is not really NORMAL to ride 100 miles on road, climbing almost 11,000 feet, on a mountain bike! But then again, Alex is not your typical cyclist.
On a serious note, I couldnt have asked for a better riding partner that day - our faces ached, probably more than our quads ached, from smiling so much! At one point, while pushing ourselves up the last major climb, one of the riders we passed remarked that we were having too much fun! So we tried to have a tiff with one another, but that turned into a laughing-fest as well (particlarly when we turned up a steep, dark, tree-covered switchback to hear Alex exclaim "Turn your headlights on Nicole", which he read off of a road sign - he added my name onto the end, obviously). We were also treated with an awesome surprise at the end of our ride, when a teammate of ours, Erin, rode the course backwards, catching up with us for the remaining 10-15 miles of the ride. Thanks Erin!! You are a total star. It was so refreshing and encouraging to see you and have you ride with us those last several miles. We were pretty tired at that point, but your energy saw us through to the end!

While I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I met my best biking mates and became a Velonerd, I could not be more proud of my teammates and to represent my team - and I cant imagine life WTHOUT being a Velonerd. Love you guys!

No Worries Mate, It's Kalalua

2008-07-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Anything goes in Kalalua, so long as it is organic, open-minded, free, and "at one" with nature. Sam and I discovered this (when caught) out under various circumstances!

Sam and I set out on an adventure to the pristine nook of the North Shore, Kauai. From the town of Hanalei, it is a short jaunt to the start of the Kalalua trail which traverses the Na Pali coast. The Kalalua trail is likely to sustain and protect itself from the masses due to its strenuous and sometimes harrowing 11 mile hike.

For those who do endeavour to hike the trail rather than view by helicopter, boat, or plane will be replenished with guavas galore, endemic hawaiian apples, and (if you can reach them) juicy, juicy mangoes (most of which coat the trail over which you tred). During our trek, we were even offered Billy goat-taro stew. This delicacy couldnt have been created more locally or more fresh than from the billy goat that scampered the cliffs and the taro that resided in the rainforests along side the very trails we hiked. (Dont worry, the billy goats are a nuisance, as they are consuming all the plants that cover the cliffsides. This not only turns lush hillsides to fields of dirt, but also increases the rate of erosion. Even "official" park rangers set out to reduce billy goat populations.) Of course a culinary expert, previously a chef at the Crow's nest in my home town of Santa Cruz and now a "semi-permanent resident" of Kalalua, knew what he was doing when he made this delicious dish from the goods that he and his dog Koa hunted and gathered. It was absolutely delicious and sent us off scampering along the cliffs (until the last mile, which I will leave out of the story for now).

Using the word "Trail" is a benign term to describe the path to Kalalua. While worth the trek, this trail narrows to a 6 inch wide slippery and rocky surface. A slip of the foot would send a careless hiker several hundred feet down a sheer cliff, only to be swallowed up by the aqua blue waves that crash along the Na Pali coast. Sure-footedness required. This is no walk in the park. With an average speed of 2 miles an hour along undulating, rocky rooty trails and stream-crossings, we managed to reach Kalalua in 6 or 7 hours, but not without paying a price. Cycling and swimming had prepared my lungs and quads for the aerobic lunges I carried out over the duration of the hike, but the high impact of a heavy pack and stomping down hill took a big toll on my calves and knees (and Sam carried most of the gear - especially during that last mile which I still wont discuss!). Luckily, Kalalua was the perfect place to kick back, relax, and heal.

Landing in Kalalua made me feel as if I was discovering a truly magical piece of the world. Steep, undulating cliffs jutt straight up from the mile long beautiful sandy beach which melts into the balmy and wave-crashing Pacific waters. A waterfall, a few hundred feet high, feeds Kalalua with freshwater for drinking, bathing/showering, and serves as a communal place to meet others who are usually hidden away in their campsites. Although there appeared to be quite a community within the area (some of which have made this place their semi-permanent home), most people were tucked away in their homemade abodes built within the shade-supplying trees just beyond the gorgeous white sands. Directly behind the campsites were volcanic cliffs and a winding river that tracked up through a lush valley of rainforest. The river weaves itself through boulders and rainforest, offering refreshing swimming holes and body-massaging mini waterfalls to play in.

A few miles venture up this river bed leads to larger, still pools filled directly by high waterfalls, which we have yet to explore. On days when the waves and rip-tides of the ocean were less intimidating, we were able to swim in the Pacific. What a treat, to float around in crystal blue waters without wetsuits or shivers! The remainder of our time was spent relaxing among the trees, doing yoga on the beach, making breakfast, lunch or dinner, and simply lying around the campsite, beach, and river together. Life couldnt get more relaxing and healing and wonderful as this.

For a few more photos, click here

Magical Mountain Bike Tour

2007-12-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

I took a friend of mine, Markus, from Washington DC on a ride through the Redwoods of Santa Cruz (on all legal tracks of course!). He had a nifty little phone/camera/gps/video that he was playing around with during our ride and put together this fun video starring.......ME, of course! ;) While it gives you an idea of the type of trails we pedal here, we were not able to capture any of the technical bits, and didnt have our super-duper-jumper friends along to impress us with their big airs....perhaps next time? If the embedded video (bottom) doesnt work, you can click on the pic below to get to the video web page (warning....11 minutes!)

If you want to see someone actually catch air, check out this link - what is almost as impressive as the jumps, is the fact that the rider took all the footage himself!

Mountain Biking in Santa Barbara?

2007-11-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

I ventured down to Santa Barbara for the weekend on a quest for new mountain bike trails to ride. An hour North of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara has the aire of "Shee-Shee" that many of the rich and famous flock to. But it is also a beautiful area with mountains to climb that give you amazing views.

However, trying to find local single track without a local guide was no easy task. Regardless, I think we did pretty darn well overall. It seems that the San Ynez mountains divide the mountain bike trails into downhill on the seaside and cross-country on the backside. We camped out in the San Ynez Los Padres Park at the Upper Oso campsite, which gives great access to the backside of the mountain range. LOTS of mountains ... high mountains ... It appears that, front or backside, most of the Mt Biking around Santa Barbara consists of LONG climbs up fire roads, followed by either super technical downs, which seem to be ridden by many others, or overgrown and/or fire-burnt single track downs, which tend to get less traffic. But in either case, the views that you get by all that climbing are phenomenal, giving great rewards by getting to overlook this truly picturesque, gorgeous place.

It was a bit rainy on Saturday, so we loitered around town hoping that the sun might come out. On State Street are loads of designer shops, lots of variety in cuisine, and interesting people watching. We ate breakfast, made some bike repairs at the shop, and even did a bit of shopping and acquired some of the hip locally-made clothing. Finally, we meandered through town to the start of the Romero Canyon Trail around 3pm. Despite the spitting rain all day, our late departure turned out to be perfect timing. We climbed up the sea-side of the mountain range for about 7-8 miles, which got us above the clouds and rain, and we watched the sun set over the clouds, mountains, and ocean. It was absolutely stunning. After donning our lights, we started on our way down an unkown singletrack, only to find that this particular section hadnt been ridden or hiked in a LONG time. After hike-a-biking and getting our shins scratched to bits for as long as we could withstand, we turned around and scooted back down the fire road a few miles to a portion of the single track we KNEW was rideable. This turn-around was fortunate, as we got a view of the moon over the sea, which was lit bright red by the sun that was well set below the Pacific horizon (sorry, no camera....). It was a sliver of moon, painted bright red that seemed to float over the horizon. It was gorgeous! The rest of the single track down was rocky and technical. Not steep, but in the dark, navigating the boulders took alot of commitment, which was not on board for me that night. So I ended up pushing my bike downhill for some of it (SO WRONG!) but in the end, had a great, semi-epic ride!

The other rides we went on were on the backside of the Santa Ynez mountains and we could bike to these trails right from our campsite. On this (non-sea) side, you dont get the ocean vistas, but the mountain vistas are just as breathtaking. These rides were on sunny days, which made the extensive climbing even hotter! Luckily we managed to get some shade on one climb, and went late enough in the day that the other climb, to avoid some of the heat. If you come riding here, be prepared for quite a bit of climbing either up winding fireroads or ledgy single track. The out-and-back ride on the Santa Cruz Trail offered a challenging but rideable climb and a really fun downhill (but super ledgy, with some areas that are eroding away pretty quickly). The Portrero-Mathias-Red Rock single track was loads of fun - but at times we were riding through shoulder high grass due to lack of use (so get out there and ride you Santa Barbarans!). We managed to find one river to take a dip in, but most of it was pretty dried out this time of year (mid-November). Next time, we hope to hit the hot springs dotted around the place! Feel free to check out the other photos.

Bike (and swim)!

2007-11-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

I love to ride my bicycle. I prefer the unpaved paths, but some of the views in the mountains and lakes around California can even make cycling on pavement spectacular!

I REALLY love to ride my mountain bike! It is the start of November and I will quickly exceed 2000 miles of unpaved paths through the loamy, swoopy trails of the redwood forests, trails through mountain passes and around mountain lakes, and even trails through sand dunes, boulders, snow, and mud. I love every mile of it. This year, I signed up for a few races that involved riding my mountain bike. Myself and four of my girlfriends formed a team that competed in a 24 hour relay mountain bike race called the 24 Hours of Adrenalin at Laguna Seca near Monterey California. Much to our surprise, we won our category! It was a very exciting race, as we were head to head with the Hamana Ho's until the last few laps. But in the end, it was Tits of Steel that stole the yellow jersey! We went back to defend our title a few months later, only to find that our competition bailed - so we won again (but I guess you can say we also lost?!). Needless to say, we had loads of fun riding through the sunny days, the foggy and windy nights, and even some moments of crystal clear and calm nights. One of my teammates Dawn wrote a great blog shortly after the first race and captures much of the spirit, if you are interested in reading more about it! We were also accompanied by other teams, such as the Velonerds and the Google Earthlings, which made staying up over the period of 24 hours that much more fun!

With a yearning for more, a few of us decided to ride solo for 8 hours in a mountain bike race in Whiskeytown, CA. We camped out the night before, and turned up to the start line at 9am, with the intention of slogging it out on beautiful mountain single track for the next 8 hours. The loop was not for the faint-hearted. About 10 miles of (90%?) single-track, some loose and rocky fire road, and about 1600 feet of climbing for each lap. DJ was our superstar rider, completing 8 laps and winning second place - go Deej! Alex wasnt far behind and didnt stop until he completed 7 laps - awesome job Alex! Myself and Ben decided to stick together and make the day of it: we stopped for lunch, treats, and even managed to take a nice icy dip in the river, while managing to get 6 laps in. It was a perfect ride! Sophie and Geo biked together as well, and pulled off 5 laps - well done! We all loved the challenge, the terrain, the scenery, and the company, however no one mentioned whether or not they were ready for the full 24 hour solo - anyone?

I am not solely dedicated to riding on dirt. I competed in the Santa Cruz Sentinal triathlon with two other friends of mine - Sam and Marta - as the cyclist on a relay team called SNM - S(am)N(icole)M(arta). (I had to do the race just so I could compete on a team with such a great name!). We did pretty darn well, I have to admit, for a last minute, throw-together team! We placed third in the open, women's category. And within the category of cyclists, I had the fastest time within the women's team, and 5th fastest women overall (there are 100's of female competitors in this popular event). Not bad for a measley ol' mountain biker...

I can also do things other than ride my bike! I joined five other women in a relay that swam across the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe. We shared the 12 mile distance to cross the Northern width of the lake - no wetsuits allowed! It was a gorgeous, beautiful day. The water temperature was tolerable (somewhere between 60-65F, slightly warmer than the oceans we swim in off of Santa Cruz) but the mesmerizing, beautiful rays of sun that shot through the bright blue waters below took away any thoughts of cold or fatigue that may have set in. It was a super fun event. I cant even remember how we did - there happened to be many teams from the Olympic Swim Club there which cut out some hefty competition for us. Despite that, I think we managed getting somewhere in the top five for open water women's category. This however is no feat compared to my friend Virginia, who competed the swim solo! For more photos, go here.

And THEN, after the race, a teammate and I joined a bunch of friends for ... you guessed it, mountain bike ride! The views over the lake after swimming across it were that much more spectacular than usual (see more photos here).

My Present Job: Marine Scientist at UCSC

2007-11-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Career: Marine Scientist
I am nearing the end of my Postdoctoral term, which started at the University of Connecticut and lead to my current position here at the Ocean Sciences Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. My research has ranged from studies of phytoplankton production in the New Zealand fjords, to the pollution of Long Island Sound, to the study of a unique type of phytoplankton in the waters off the coast of Hawaii, and now, the phytoplankton community off the coast of California. (fyi, phytoplankton are the microscopic plants in the ocean - base of the food chain - very important little buggers!) Much of the research I do these days is theoretical - so I spend much of my time a the computer, writing and running code for models that simulate phytoplankton production (their growth and mortality). It is pretty fun - think of it as video games for science geeks (when it isnt making me feel like the character in the movie below!)!

So what next? Well, I have about one more year to figure that out. I am debating whether I would like to go into academia, and become a professor, or whether I would like to apply my skills to environmental issues by working for a non-profit organization or a consulting firm. Hopefully, in one year, this question will be answered!

Catching Up.... My home in Santa Cruz, CA

2007-09-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am not exactly quite sure where to start, since some of you may know where I have been and some of the things I have been up to. I apologize in advance for any redundant information but I probably need to set the scene and groundwork before moving onto the fun stuff!

Home: Santa Cruz, California
I love this little surf town. I feel extremely lucky to live here - and hope to continue to do so for as long as possible. I live a block or two from one of the top surf spots in town - Pleasure Point - in an area we refer to as the "surf ghetto". Lots of cool, funky houses practically stacked atop one another. There is not alot of privacy in my 350 square foot studio (with a shed that just about increases my real estate by 50%!), which lies a foot or two either side to our neighbors, but I can walk to the surf with my board (and quickly home afterwards - the ocean is chilly here - and jump straight into the outdoor shower and/or hot tub). I also ride my bike to work (UCSC) as well as to all my favourite mountain biking trails. I rarely drive my car. I am lucky if I fill up on gas every other month these days. I have also been logging my road and mountain bike miles over the past year ( I will end up dong somwhere around 4000 miles on road and 2000 miles on singletrack/dirt), so feel free to use me as a carbon credit! Of course, such a lifestyle is made possible by the very mild, temperate climate here. It averages 68F and never gets much above or below that, except for the occasional chilly mornings and nights. It gets a bit rainy in winter, but that is always welcome as the grounds dry out with long rainless summers. Summers are a bit foggy, which is a nice break from overexposure to sun. I also swim outdoors year-round with the Santa Cruz masters team in the 50 meter pool that overlooks Monterey Bay atop the UCSC campus. It is the best way to watch the sunrise in the morning. I thrive on activity - it is what keeps me sane, healthy and happy - Santa Cruz seems to have this effect on most everyone that lives here!

Behind the times ....

2007-09-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Family and Friends! I figured that since I am terrible at phone calls and update emails to my family members (including the non-genetically related ones), that I could keep them up-to-date on my life by recording it in a blog. It is a wonder that I have taken this long to even start a blog, considering that I am surrounded by computer-minded people (aka computer geeks) such as my brother as well as my favourite Mt Biking partner and others that work at Google. I initially avoided the blogging trend as I thought it was a little narcistic, in which case I am not forcing nor expecting anyone to read this. However if you happen to be the one taking a peek at the going-ons in my life - then it is probably because you love me and want to ensure that I am alive and well! Kisses backatchya and thanks for taking the time to check up on me!