TotalCyclist recently had their third womens only Cycling Camp. Affectionately known as DivaCamp™. It was held during the easter weekend.

23 total cyclists with staff attended. The location was beautiful Beaufort, SC. The Camp spanned 4 days and it included cycling, great wine, educational seminars and of course schwag! Thanks to the great folks at Mountain Khakis for sponsoring the event since it’s inception!

Days 1 and 2 consisted of riding, getting to know each other and above all else enjoying the beautiful outdoors. Thursday was spectacular and warm. Friday threw us a curveball and was windy and overcast. (Perfect day for my “Old Faithful Sweater”. )

Days 3 and 4 is when the camp really hit its stride. The women started to gel and bond. Saturday featured a 3 hour ride and included picturesque Hunting Island State park. We shared experiences on and off the bike and the Diva’s made their way to knee deep water. Spectacular location!

Sunday was the surprise day. The Diva’s have asked us to keep challenging them at each camp. This camp was not going to disappoint. We took a tour around “Lost Island” and then came to a stop. I then informed them that we were going to have our first annual “DivaCamp Bike Race”.  Surprise! The women were obviously taken back by these turn of events, however they all realized how far they had come since day 1 of the camp. So, they embraced it. It was a great deal of fun to watch these women “tackle” the race course all in the name of fun. The women actually enjoyed it and really took the slogan for MK to heart. “Rise Above It”. They sure did!

The camp adjourned about 45 minutes after our “DivaCamp bike race”. Tears were shared. Friendships were forged. Outdoors, in the sun, for fun. DivaCamp.

Moonlight Basin Ski Resort, Lone Peak behind us, MT

Ousel Falls Trail, Big Sky, MT

Our westward trip from WV to MT entailed far more hours in a vehicle than most people prefer to endure, not to mention we crammed four of us + skiing gear for a week into (and on top of) a Honda Fit!!  We began to do a few yoga poses at each rest stop to relieve our bodies of a bit of this discomfort.  Somewhere in SD we started taking silly pictures (seriously, sitting in a car makes you go crazy) of poses and the tree pose just stuck.  We decided to do it at every significant stop along our trip.  Enjoy the vistas!

MK Ambassador Molly Gillespie watches for coral heads as the 46′ Hallberg Rassy, Mahina Tiare III, sails into Huahine in French Polynesia’s Society Islands.

Day two of the Missouri Professional Cycling Series saw top class fields contest round number 5 of the USACRITS Series and round number 6 of the NCC series on the streets of the Grove neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. With 150 riders in the men’s race, all the top NRC teams were represented as perfect weather greeted the fields for an afternoon of full tilt crit racing. With the field strung out for the duration of the 75 minute race, breakaways were few in the making and the pressure was on from the start. A three-man break enjoyed a 10 second lead at the 40-minute mark only to be absorbed two laps later, demonstrating how hard it was to escape the powerful field. As the time began to wind down everyone realized it was going to another hectic and fast field sprint. In these races there is not a lot of opportunities to get all 6 riders on the same plan as the race evolves.

3 call ups to the front row for the start

The guys have traditionally taken their cue from Adam. When he hits the front that is the single for everyone to get there. In some cases this year they have gotten their a little early, sometimes this call to action goes out too late and it proves too difficult for everyone to fight past the already in flight field. This time though with 5 laps to go as Adam began taking control of the race he looked back and was ecstatic to see all 5 team members line up on his wheel. Game on. With everyone linked up and the race coming into the closing laps the guys allowed UnitedHealthcare to take over the front, but as a unit they were able to protect Luke and keep him up there. Out of the last corner he was still there on 2 UHC riders. Luke looked like he had the right line, but those 2 UHC were going to protect the victory and you could see them taking Luke towards the barriers to shut down his speed and ensure he would be hard pressed to fight for the win. That is racing however and part of the sprinting game.

Not only was the result very gratifying for us all but how we attained that result was an accomplishment for the whole team.

1 Robert Forster, (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 1:25:13
2 Hilton Clarke, (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling)
3 Luke Keough, (Mountain Khakis/SmartStop)
4 Justin Williams, (CashCall Mortgage)
5 Charles Bradley Huff, (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda)

LOOP de LOOP Grand Prix

The Loop de Loop race is not what you would consider a small warm up race that precedes the Tour de Grove. On Friday night in downtown St. Louis the streets are alive and the crowds are thick. The strong 150 man field lined up for 60 minute race that began at 9:15 at night. With the big race the next day and only a $2000 prize list you could have predicted this event to be less than animated but it was frantic and strung out right from the starting whistle. I guess everyone was ready to open up their race legs because there was some serious racing occurring. There were lots of crashes and with about  to go we lots Luke as the opportunity for a free lap expired. The guys then focused on Shane. Shane is proving to be a fantastic last man in the lead for Luke, but also an accomplished and skillful sprinter on his own and took another 4^th place. Per Shane that is enough of the 4^th places and given his next opportunity he is definitely going to be shooting for the podium.

1 Charles Bradley Huff, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
2 Cole House, Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
3 Alejandro Borrajo, Jamis/Sutter Home
4 Shane Kline, Mountain Khakis/SmartStop

Dutchtown Classic – On the job training

The Dutchtown Classic is a USACRITS TEAM race. A new concept for 2012 is the Team Expense and Management fund (TEAM). A year-long prize list will be awarded to the men’s individual overall standings, while a separate purse will be awarded to men’s teams based on TEAM standings. Six USACRITS TEAM races are scheduled. The first one was held in Roswell, GA the day after the Terrapin Twilight Criterium, followed by the two days in St. Louis surrounding the Tour de Grove. Points earned at both USA CRITS Championship Series events and TEAM races will be calculated into a team’s overall.

Given that it was a TEAM race and the fact that the guys have been under so much pressure to perform, the plan today was to give everyone free rein to pursue a result in a manner that best suited each of them and the how they felt. In a race with a top class field and a small purse there was not that much to lose if we failed.  We could observe how each of them read the race and responded tactically. In addition it would be fun to race without all the pressure to perform that these guys have bore in every since early March. This would be real world on the job training. I do not think many teams out there would take that approach at this point in the season. If we see an opportunity to teach or better prepare our riders we will always take it.

Well, the outcome from this experiment was not so great! It was fun, but after Ben won the mid race preme a large break went up the road and the guys missed it. That was the first mistake and several more ensued as the guys attempted to make amends. Not so much a comedy of errors as it was a little difficult to watch. From this experience we know we have a lot to learn and a lot of work to do to make sure the guys are capable of correctly reading a race and responding in the appropriate manner. We are always going to strive to be better, ask more from our riders, and drive towards perfection. It is a signature of our program and of our riders and we are proud of that. The outcome of this race could have been much different, but it was not and going into the next important race we know that our riders will be better prepared to perform because of THIS important race.

I am excited to announce that this year’s Joshua Tree event went extremely well. We set up at the Indian Cove section of the park at an area known as the Amphitheatre. The setting was grand and we were completely encircled by the towering formations of rock that Joshua Tree is known for.

We were lucky to have nine participants with disabilities join us for the day! The whole group meshed well and the not only was there a lot of great climbing going on throughout the day but a lot of camaraderie as well. The climbing was mixed from some lower angle face climbing to some intense scrambling. Participants were able to learn that every part of your body is a useful climbing tool as they worked their way up the 50 ft. walls.

One of our participants, Corey Reed, aside from missing his right leg below the knee, is also severely visually impaired as well. It was super impressive to see him use his natural physical talents as well as his sharpened senses to make quick work of all five of the top ropes that were set up.

Another participant, Anna, missing her leg at the hip due to cancer, found that sometimes the easiest way up is not always the straight forward way. After some difficulty on the first climb, Anna ascended the majority of her second climb backwards! The awesome thing about climbing is that there is no one set way to do things and the same climb can interpreted a million different ways. When she got to the top she spent an hour there enjoying the view.

We were lucky to have some great weather, spend time with all of our amazing participants and volunteers, and be in a grand setting like Joshua Tree. In between climbs friendships were being made and solidified, and everybody was hiking around enjoying the day and exploring the endless amounts of killer views and scenery that Joshua Tree has to offer.

Disability is only a state of mind, and I think we all learned that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to, no matter how intimidating it might seem.

One of my goals at these clinics is to give participants access to equipment, clothing, and gear that will help them live a more active lifestyle. Mountain Khakis generously donated gift cards so that our participants could be built for the mountain life! Our guides, who donated their time to be there with us, were excited to also receive MK gift cards as well. Their old clothes are tattered from years of use, and they are psyched to sport some new gear that is not only comfortable but built to challenges and demands of their line of work!

Thank you to our title sponsors Athletes w/ Disabilities Network, Inner Passage Guiding Service, Black Diamond and Evolve Sports and Design as well as our other sponsors prAna and Mountain Khakis.

Taking advantage of our first “real” spring break, my family hustled off in late March to tour the California coast with our daughter. Both my husband and I have great memories of tide pools and kelp and marine mammals and all the other wonderful things to be found on the Pacific Coast.  With a curious and active daughter who is as fascinated with science and the great outdoors as we are, we thought this was a perfect opportunity for the hands-on experience.

But we were leaving warm, sunny days in Colorado with forecasts for a cold, rainy week on the coast.  And more importantly, a mare at our barn was already one week overdue to have her foal – an experience that my daughter and I were going to be able to watch happen.  Unless of course she decided to foal while we were in California.  When we boarded the plane at DIA, it was not necessarily shaping up to be as magical a vacation as we’d hoped.

Oh how wrong we could be!  Weather cooperated with us – our first day had more sun then clouds as we traipsed up the coast from Bodega Bay to the lovely Albion River Inn. The Pacific Coast Highway unveiled a constant array of pastoral scenery and stunning coastal bluffs.  Harbor seals lolled on the rocky outcrops.  Wild turkey gobblers strutted their stuff for the ladies. Gray whales spouted constantly, and even “spy-hopped” out of the water as we ate dinner that night at The Ledford House on a bluff overlooking the ocean. It was truly a day of outdoor splendor.

While Day Two was grayer with periodic showers, we were not to be daunted.  And sporting my MK Teton Twills, we headed farther up the coast.  At Fort Bragg we found Glass Beach with its “sand” of small weathered glass pieces – a reminder of days gone by when the beach was the former dump for the town.  At MacKerricher State Park, a walk amongst the tide pools revealed green anemones, sea stars, sculpins, hermit crabs and so much more. Seals and Black Oystercatchers watched us from the rocks.  The showers passed, the tide came in and we ventured further through majestic redwood groves.  Our rental car drove through Chandelier Tree in Leggett before we continued back to our inn.

The next days found us enjoying wine in the Anderson Valley, skirting the Bay Area for a stop in Monterey.  The view from the Monterey Bay Aquarium revealed a number of sea otters and seals, all while enjoying fresh, local fare at the aquarium’s amazing restaurant.  After leaving the aquarium (because the sun was shining!), we drove around the peninsula and Asilomar State Park brought even more beautiful coastline, 17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach golf course – at least what we could see because fog had rolled in to the point that you couldn’t see much beyond the pounding surf. Heading back inland, we bought artichokes as large as my daughter’s head in Castroville – the artichoke capital of the world!

And all the time, we were hoping that we wouldn’t receive a text with a picture of a new foal – and we didn’t!  We arrived home late on Friday, stopped in to check on the still very pregnant mare on Saturday and received the call just before 3 am on Sunday morning that it was time.  After my daughter and I watched the birth we went home for a quick nap before heading back to the barn in my MK’s for the vet check.  An April Fool’s Day baby, the beautiful sorrel colt is a feisty and fun addition to the barn.

All in all it was an exciting week of fun and adventure – made more comfortable with my MK’s.

**Live the MK lifestyle you won’t regret it**

I just got back from my trip to Thailand. What an amazing place! On our approach into Bangkok I could only think of scenes from “Hangover 2” and asking myself if I knew what I was doing; praying in my head that I make it out of here with all ten fingers. After spending a couple days exploring the city’s temples (wats) and markets I couldn’t wait to get down south to the islands and out of the city because then again, I have been living in an Asian city of 15 million people.

Arriving in Ko Phi Phi I finally felt the tension of the city lift off my shoulders. Ko Phi Phi are remote islands off the Andaman coast; a two hour ferry ride from Phuket. Ko Phi Phi is where the movie “The Beach” was filmed. Exiting the ferry you could still see the bare trees from the tsunami of 2004.

As a SCUBA diver I couldn’t come to Thailand without SCUBA diving. I have been diving for almost 13 years now and have pretty much seen it all. It’s to the point now that if I’m not spearfishing or lobstering then I’m not going to go. But, again, I couldn’t come to Thailand and not dive. Usually when you approach a dive site it’s just you, the water, and the reef / wreck below you. As we approached our dive site, we pulled right up to the giant limestone cliffs Thailand is famous for. As we entered the water we swam towards the cliffs before descending below. Looking up, water trickled off the roots of the trees at the top like mini waterfalls. Bird’s nests were erected inside every crevasse and crack all the way up. Descending below we saw black tip reef sharks, the ever poisonous lionfish, and a handful of sea turtles. But, as we surfaced I will never forget the breath-taking view of looking directly up the monstrous limestone cliffs bearing down on me reminding me that I am powerless out here in nature.

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