Ride all day . . . Ride all night

Christmas is over and it was another wonderful time with the family and traditions that have real meaning behind them. No, not Santa… Jesus is the reason for the season and is in every part of Christmas from the tree to the gifts that we don’t deserve!

I have been slowing down with my sore ribs and due to my recent influx of flats, I have had my rides cut short lately. However, this break from work has me catching up fast on some much needed training for the VQ and build for this season. Ride, ride, ride…

Last night Monique and I stayed with Dez and Jason so we decided to head out with Jay on his local “fix gear” bike loop around the hood. Hard. . . Hills and fast pace we were off and hammering after 10pm through the streets of Lake Forest. Such a fun and scenic loop . . . Jason’s got quite a bit of power behind that one gear and we had a hard time keeping up.

(in between rides and the spandex)

The next day Monique was going shopping with the girls in the morning so I pulled myself out of bed to do some much needed climbing out by Black Star… Corby picked the place and it was so perfect for what I needed. I have not had a long steady climb in months . . . Corby got a new GPS for Christmas and a new route to show me at that. We were going for an out and back that would climb up to Beek's Place and then drop down the other side to Corona. The fires still have many of the roads closed off and even the soccer ball is off limits.

Trail time set in on the climb and it was nice to catch up with Corby. He has packed in the miles this year and should get to 2000+ miles logged on Geoladders. Nice! All of those miles have definitely made him faster and wiser on the trail too which lead to even bigger goals in the future. Goals!! Maybe Corby will be out at VQ 2009???

(Corby and Corona...the other side of BlackStar)

Riding down the Corona side I realized that I had come full circle. . . So strange how you can remember a trail that you have been on even if it was years ago. Long before (well, more like 3 years) I ever had any bike I used Joe Westa’s trek to go on a ride with Anthony and some friends. His friend lived at the base of this trail and little did I know how much that morning would change the amount of time I would be sitting on a bike seat. Is that good or bad?? Shortly after that ride I purchased a trek of my own and I have been loving the trail every free minute since. I totally forgot about that trail and ride until today.

(the girls with Salt Creek setting in the background)

By the night time we met up w/ Dave and M&M for a secret tour on forbidden bike(horse?) trails around Dana Point. SO FUN! Riding with the sun fading, conversation flowing and plans for a big dinner is my kind of way to end the day. After the climb with Corby I was pretty beat but the pace was perfect and the views were too good for words. No GPS of this trail network but hopefully we will be back on it again very soon.

Happy Holidays and happy trails!!