Holiday Weight Gain


Many Americans fear the battle of the bulge over the holiday season.

 Not my Mom. She's looking to go big.


 In fact she is just hoping to get fat!
(the current bike is a rental) 
 Tires. 
(If you look closely you can see the Carp River below)
Lumpy and bumpy and I don't mean cellulite on the dumpy. 
No, no, no.....grippy tires. 


 Full reports to come on Fat biking and a fabulous Thanksgiving complete with a visit from Grandma & Grandpa as soon as I get caught up on some sleep.


Epic Is....

Well folks it's Annika Ruth taking a break from all my play to report in on the latest news....
Guess what? I learned what "Epic" means...Apparently it means a weekend away.....
Sans child!
And when my parents are away, they will play!
I showed up to story hour this past Monday morning and there was a hush, a whisper, and a where were you last Monday. Followed by a giddy "Oh didn't you hear Jen had a fabulous weekend a way, with her husband and Annika stayed home with the Grandparents" ...and then there was a cheer. Get that? A cheer amongst the SAHM (Stay at Home Moms) the PTSAHM (Part time stay at home Moms) and the SAHD (Stay At Home Dads) . Yes. A cheer. Amongst all of them. H-E- double hockeysticks even the few nannies cheered. Now get this they said "and she did something really fun, but we'd be excited if they took a trip to Skandia, 5 miles down the road. Do you hear that? Really seriously? How could one get excited about that when I'm in town?

I mean really. I keep busy. I entertain myself. I "hardly"need any supervision. OK, that was a bit of a fib.
 Anyway, my Dad was gone for 2 weeks to the Olympic training center and when Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit do you think my Mom stuck around? Nope! She headed for higher ground. And I do mean higher ground.
There was a Friday flight. A Saturday acclimatization run
OK, there may have been a bit of walking and scrambling on the first mile of the incline. 
A mile of steps up turns out to equal 3 miles of a fun flowing trail down.

After a total of 10 miles of testing out the altitude my parents decided they would climb to the top of Pikes Peek the next day. 
So the next morning they started up the incline in the dark and at the top saw the sunrise. 
 I'm sure they'd describe it as 'Epic" but that word is so overused and so 2012.
By running everything they could soon they were at the "half way" point
 
Feeling pretty good.

From what I am told Barr Camp is an awesome place and most sane, non acclimated people spend the night here vs doing the ascent in one day. I do believe they have a jolly good time. However, when you have only a weekend away you have to move a little faster than that. 

So onward!
 Hmm! It appears my Mom is looking pretty good here, despite her statement  that she gets ugly in places where trees refuse to grow. This photo is around 13,000 ft.
 Likely just before the post whole-ing through the snow began. The air is thin, the head feels achy, and each step is a bit slower and more wobbly than the last.

This is how my Dad looked/felt a week prior on his first ascent. He promised her she would feel absolutely giddy on the way down.

She believed him or at least kept her calm, kept moving on ...and at least did not have an "Epic breakdown" verbalizing with great despair "Why? Why? Why can we not take vacations like normal people and ride our bikes on pavement?" Ok that was after the 5th time her bike sank into mud higher than her bottom bracket.The bike stopped and her mud caked pedal did not release allowing her to tip over sideways into the mud. The mud that smelled like duck poo. Perspecitve is...

See how happy my Dad looks with 2 weeks of acclimatization and how my Mom looks as if she isn't sure her chicken soup is going to stay down but feeling good again was just a 5 K away.

5K away = 2,500 ft of defending via post whole-ing.  At this elevation (above 12,500 ft) bringing up the winning time of the Pike Peek marathon would not be wise. She would tell you, they are professional runners who weigh 100lb, live at elevation, and probably use EPO....and she would say ungraciously to stick it where the trees don't grow.

 
 But guess what? At exactly 12,500 ft the trees where growing, joy returned and my Mom got zippy again a was basically able to run the rest of the descent, making the 25.6 mile journey into...well still a whole days affair. A really, really good one.

More adventures soon to come!









Trick or Treat!

 Happy Halloween!
 Think this is a trick or a treat?
Wrong answer! Water is warm(er than the air) It's a treat!
 You just have to be in the right frame of mind and no how to dress for it. I dressed as Elmo. I read Elmo books and have two Elmo stuffed animals and an Elmo sweatshirt. I like them a lot but I didn't really appreciate it when people tried to tickle me. That must just happen on TV, not in the books and not in real life. Anyway....
I partied hard this Halloween!
But not as hard as my buddy George did in 1941... George never gets to smoke a pipe in todays editions.
Work hard. Play hard!
 And then get some z's



October Isn't Over

October ain't over. We haven't even had Halloween yet. I have yet to use my line "trick or treat." My Mom says this weekend was a real treat. You can thank Grandma and Grandpa for that. Just a few more shots of my parents weekend rides. 
Before all the leaves are down.
 and the snow starts to fly.
 My Mama always says to be on your best behavior. You never know who is watching you.
Even where the wild things are.

11 months of....

 
What do you know folks? My brand new home town was just rated as one of America's top mountain biking towns.
 


Gee, I wonder why?
 So my parents are not eccentric, just ahead of the curve. The article says it is a great place to live if you can enjoy/endure 11 months of winter.
Hmm... my math skills aren't that great. I count "one, two, three, four, five, eight, ten." So maybe I'm not one to talk. However, I'm reviewing the stats and it just doesn't add up. Winter includes snowflakes. I have yet to see one fly and we have been here for over 3 months. A year is 12 months. I'm not sure what 12 -3 is, but it ain't 11. O.K? And another thing....the midwest isn't flat!
 
Maybe people just talk. Come to think of it in 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue....and people told him the earth was flat.
I've taken sometime to think things over.  After full reflection this is what I know.

It's fall not winter and it is an excellent season for bobbing for apples. Especially when it actually is not an apple on a string but a cookie, shaped like an apple. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to use my hands. No hands, shmands! I have a conspiracy theory. People say these things so that too many people don't overcrowd this gem of a place to live.
Fall is also cyclocross season. Last Sunday my parents both took to the course. It basically all out for 30 minutes of biking with obstacles. I'd say it's kind of like a 5K cross country run, only with a bike. The great thing is that my parents race at different times so I get to come to the event and  cheer lead for both of them. I found out cookies from the Huron Bakery were the prizes so when my Mom was racing I cheered extra hard. I stole one of those orange flags and waved it in the air. My plan worked too well because I think both of my parents will be Cat-ing up a level. I'm certain this will leave them finishing out of the cookie zone. Ahh...you know they are Cat-ing up just because they don't want me to have all that sugar.