huh? free sunday...what to do...what to do... :)
The Plan
This weekend was blocked off for a pool tournament. Our 9 ball team won our division for both the Fall and Spring sessions - so that meant we qualified to play in the Regionals. This tournament determines who gets to go Nationals in Vegas in August and I guess that $5000 prize money for winning wouldn't be a *bad* thing. ;)
I've put pool on the shelf since the spring playoffs in late April...my cue has sat in it's case gathering dust.
And you know what I haven't missed pool one bit. But since I'm part of a team (and the person w/the highest percentage of wins) I felt it was important to live up to my obligations and give up a weekend of mtn biking to do my best in the team tournament. I figured our odds were very good still be playing on Sunday.
We stayed in the winners bracket until 6pm and then by 9pm we were put out of the tournament. I'm happy to say I played well but the whole team needed to do well as a whole and that didn't happen. I must say the bug slightly got to me again as while I was playing I easily fell back in 'the zone'....i love the competition and love the game...but it's back on the shelf until late Fall.
Breakfast and the badass gurlz
I decided to try for the ride I "shortened" last weekend today. After Dave made me get up WAY too early for a Sunday - I got all my stuff together and went to have a quick bite by myself at the Walnut before I hit the trail.
As I was leaving part of 'the gang' showed up. So of course I dallied and got caught up with everyone.
Megan and Coy had just ran the "dirty 30" - a 30 mile trail race w/12,000ft elevation gain. YES - 12,000ft elevation gain...it took them a tad over 7 hours to run that course.
oh and that's not all - Dana shows up - she had did a 24 hour hike(one of her "adventure days") the day before. Friggin' Boulder - everyone is a rock star.
I gave away my socks
Anyone that's frequented the Walnut knows Cranberry. A funky, stylish waitress...she recently cut her shoulder length blue hair into a buzz cut. You know you have to have attitude to pull that off.
Anyway - I'm dressed for mtn biking in my Jett pinstripe shorts, swobo wool jersey and my polka-dot/lace socks. I like this outfit because it means I don't have to put on much sunscreen because everything is covered.
When Cranberry sees my socks she tells me how much she loves them. About 10 minutes later she asked where I got them and she's just drooling over them. Another 10minutes later while I'm visiting with the gang Cranberry tells me 'my outfit would be so much better with your socks'. So I took off my socks and gave them to her. It may me happy that she was so happy. Luckily I had another pair of cycling socks in the car.
Platte River trailhead
After dailling way too long I finally got on the road at 9:15.
I've taken to starting at the Platte River trailhead so I can get 100% singletrack on my rides. If I start at Waterton Canyon - it's a boring 6mile gravel road climb before you get to any single track...so even tho it's ~35 - 40 minutes longer of a drive it's worth it.
As I was getting ready to ride a few riders rode by and we chatted. Several were doing the Buff Creek to Waterton thing.
I love that first climb and then the trail gets rolly after that - it's a really great section and the trail was nice and tacky.
It was funny - I caught up to a group of 4 guys while they were taking a break after the first climb and as I rode past I said "Hello Gentlemen" and I could tell they didn't want to get "stuck behind a girl" so 2 of them jumped on their bikes and chased me down. I let them pass and then jumped on the second guy's wheel. I could tell they were trying to drop me but I was able to maintain their pace. I'm a decent descender but not super fast so these guys are probably weekend warrior types. Sometimes I would try to chat while we rode but they didn't seem very talkative.
Then one of the got a pinch flat after the rocky waterfall(none of us rode the rocky waterfull - it's above my skill level) I hung around a minute to make sure they had everything and rode on. I figured they'd try to chase me down again as there was more descending before that last climb to Lennys. I rode on and made it to Lenny's without seeing anyone.
I was curious how long they it would take them to catch up to me so I hung around and it took ~7minutes. As I was sitting there I could see them look around to see if I was still around. They offered beers if I wanted to ride down to Waterton Canyon but I declined.
By this time I had decided just to do Roxborough because of time.
If i want to do the my full route then I'm gonna have to start a LOT earlier. So I rode Roxboroug which ends with that fun rocky descent and got some guy to snap my pic of me riding the 'tree line'.
By the time I get the CT to climb back up to Lenny's I was feeling pretty good. I was climbing in my middle ring (unlike last time when I was with Kim) but then half way up the climb I was getting tired so I switched to my little ring. I rode past the bench and continued back to the Platte River.
I giggled all the way down that last switchback descent. :)
Aftermath
I made a b-line for the Rio and sat down with a big glass of iced tea, a good book, a plate of nachos and some guac. Tell me I don't live a fantasy life!
This weekend was blocked off for a pool tournament. Our 9 ball team won our division for both the Fall and Spring sessions - so that meant we qualified to play in the Regionals. This tournament determines who gets to go Nationals in Vegas in August and I guess that $5000 prize money for winning wouldn't be a *bad* thing. ;)
I've put pool on the shelf since the spring playoffs in late April...my cue has sat in it's case gathering dust.
yes - the case has seen better days
I "fixed" the broken strap w/duct tape and a biner ;)
I "fixed" the broken strap w/duct tape and a biner ;)
And you know what I haven't missed pool one bit. But since I'm part of a team (and the person w/the highest percentage of wins) I felt it was important to live up to my obligations and give up a weekend of mtn biking to do my best in the team tournament. I figured our odds were very good still be playing on Sunday.
We stayed in the winners bracket until 6pm and then by 9pm we were put out of the tournament. I'm happy to say I played well but the whole team needed to do well as a whole and that didn't happen. I must say the bug slightly got to me again as while I was playing I easily fell back in 'the zone'....i love the competition and love the game...but it's back on the shelf until late Fall.
Breakfast and the badass gurlz
I decided to try for the ride I "shortened" last weekend today. After Dave made me get up WAY too early for a Sunday - I got all my stuff together and went to have a quick bite by myself at the Walnut before I hit the trail.
As I was leaving part of 'the gang' showed up. So of course I dallied and got caught up with everyone.
tracy snuck this pic on my new camera while I wasn't looking...sneaky...Tracy...sneaky!
Megan and Coy had just ran the "dirty 30" - a 30 mile trail race w/12,000ft elevation gain. YES - 12,000ft elevation gain...it took them a tad over 7 hours to run that course.
coy and megan still able to smile after trashing themselves
oh and that's not all - Dana shows up - she had did a 24 hour hike(one of her "adventure days") the day before. Friggin' Boulder - everyone is a rock star.
rock stars - megan/dana/coy
I gave away my socks
Anyone that's frequented the Walnut knows Cranberry. A funky, stylish waitress...she recently cut her shoulder length blue hair into a buzz cut. You know you have to have attitude to pull that off.
Anyway - I'm dressed for mtn biking in my Jett pinstripe shorts, swobo wool jersey and my polka-dot/lace socks. I like this outfit because it means I don't have to put on much sunscreen because everything is covered.
When Cranberry sees my socks she tells me how much she loves them. About 10 minutes later she asked where I got them and she's just drooling over them. Another 10minutes later while I'm visiting with the gang Cranberry tells me 'my outfit would be so much better with your socks'. So I took off my socks and gave them to her. It may me happy that she was so happy. Luckily I had another pair of cycling socks in the car.
buh-bye socks - I'll miss you!
Platte River trailhead
After dailling way too long I finally got on the road at 9:15.
I've taken to starting at the Platte River trailhead so I can get 100% singletrack on my rides. If I start at Waterton Canyon - it's a boring 6mile gravel road climb before you get to any single track...so even tho it's ~35 - 40 minutes longer of a drive it's worth it.
I LOVE this building - it's .24 miles from the trailhead
Bridge at trailhead
As I was getting ready to ride a few riders rode by and we chatted. Several were doing the Buff Creek to Waterton thing.
I love that first climb and then the trail gets rolly after that - it's a really great section and the trail was nice and tacky.
It was funny - I caught up to a group of 4 guys while they were taking a break after the first climb and as I rode past I said "Hello Gentlemen" and I could tell they didn't want to get "stuck behind a girl" so 2 of them jumped on their bikes and chased me down. I let them pass and then jumped on the second guy's wheel. I could tell they were trying to drop me but I was able to maintain their pace. I'm a decent descender but not super fast so these guys are probably weekend warrior types. Sometimes I would try to chat while we rode but they didn't seem very talkative.
Then one of the got a pinch flat after the rocky waterfall(none of us rode the rocky waterfull - it's above my skill level) I hung around a minute to make sure they had everything and rode on. I figured they'd try to chase me down again as there was more descending before that last climb to Lennys. I rode on and made it to Lenny's without seeing anyone.
I was curious how long they it would take them to catch up to me so I hung around and it took ~7minutes. As I was sitting there I could see them look around to see if I was still around. They offered beers if I wanted to ride down to Waterton Canyon but I declined.By this time I had decided just to do Roxborough because of time.
If i want to do the my full route then I'm gonna have to start a LOT earlier. So I rode Roxboroug which ends with that fun rocky descent and got some guy to snap my pic of me riding the 'tree line'.
By the time I get the CT to climb back up to Lenny's I was feeling pretty good. I was climbing in my middle ring (unlike last time when I was with Kim) but then half way up the climb I was getting tired so I switched to my little ring. I rode past the bench and continued back to the Platte River.
I giggled all the way down that last switchback descent. :)
As I left the trailhead - I think I saw JJ's horses from last week.
AftermathI made a b-line for the Rio and sat down with a big glass of iced tea, a good book, a plate of nachos and some guac. Tell me I don't live a fantasy life!
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