4th of July Adventures

 I love doing new things and this weekend was full of them!  I knew I'd be in for an epic weekend with the gang I was hanging with.  It didn't disappoint.  AND I'm happy to say I'm all in one piece as I sit here on Sunday evening looking back on the weekend. 

Learned a lot. Worked out a lot.  Ate a lot.   Survived the challenge.  Loved every minute.

Here's how it went.

Headed up to Big Bear, a great little mountain town that's just a 2+ hr drive from San Diego.  I joined a couple people from Intense Cycles and the three of us, along with off-road racer Slater Fletcher and his wife Monique, stayed with none other than uber adventure racer, Big Bear local and super host, Team Sole's Paul Romero. All of us were looking forward to a weekend full of everything and anything outdoor adventure. Have to mention that Paul's other half, super Karen Lundgren, is off in Sweden competing in the epic 1100km adventure race, Explore Sweden.  Her team, Team Sole Herkules, is currently 3 days into the race and have slept only  8 hours.  Part of the course so far has included a 300km MTB.  Unreal.  Then there's Paul's son Jordan Romero is on a quest to climb the Seven Summits of the world, the tallest mountain on each continent. He's climbed FIVE so far.  Coolest kid.

FRIDAY = DOWNHILL MTB + KILLER CORE

We went straight to Snow Summit Ski Resort.  Paid $20 to take ski lift up and ride the trails down over and over for a few hours.  Less work, more play!  Mom was happy to know that I used a full-face helmet and knee and elbow pads.  I was in a little over my head at times, but never I'm-gonna-die type stuff.  I was on a new bike: Intense had brought me a demo bike to use that was more suited for downhill...heavier and more inches of travel (bigger shocks.)  As usual, I got more and more comfortable as the day went on.  Sweet part of the day was the cafe at the top of the mountain where we all stopped to eat. Delectable tri-tip and pulled pork sandwiches in the sunshine. Heavenly. I made it through the day with only a couple cuts and scrapes which I was thankful for.  In the end I was thinking that I DID miss the climbing.  That somehow downhills are a lot sweeter to me if I've worked HARD to earn them. Good feeling.  Here's a few pics...

After that we chilled a bit then Paul's core workout coach came over and put us thru a killer 45 min session.  The kind that you love to hate...

 

Night finished with BBQ under the stars and late dinner at the Himalayan.  Awesome Indian and Nepalese food in downtown Big Bear. They know Paul well, and treated us like part of the family. Special.

SATURDAY + SUNDAY =  PADDLE + RIDE

Saturday started with a paddle on the lake, and go figure, it didn't end up as a cruisey paddle, but a full on race paddle lesson.  Thanks to my functional training and body awareness, I took to the pointers fast.  Which just meant when he cued me to do something I could do it.  Being smooth at it came a bit later in the lesson.  When you do it right, using your core and hips/glutes, not your arms, its effortless. I couldn't hold onto that form for long, but I knew with more practice I'd be able to.  Here's a snapshot (thanks Paul)...

The rest of the weekend was all MTB.  It was a ton of climbing and fun, fast descents.  My climbing position, according to the crew is great.  I feel super powerful climbing.  Downhill with speed is another story.  Again, I was treated to many, many tips to help me get more natural going downhill, like getting lower over the front of the handle bars to lower my center of gravity...among other things.  Not easy, but I'll be working on it. Here are a few shots.  Awesome awesome awesome. 

 

It was a weekend I'll never forget.

Next up is the Carlsbad Triathlon, one of San Diego's gems.  I'm hoping that all this riding will transfer over to the road!!  This week I'll be back in San Diego gearing up for that...and watching the Tour, of course. GO GARMIN!!!!  Good stuff.