Sadly, I just returned from Bend. Sad, because a really wonderful trip with Sue (yellow) just had to come to an end. We had 4 terrific days of mountain biking the sweet single track of central Oregon. We did the classic river ramble to Benham Falls and the loop at Sisters, where we found Marney’s penstemon pillow from May but with dried stocks where once there were purple blooms. Jason (newly an Oregonian citizen) took us to Swampy Lakes and we had an epic descent to Tumalo Falls, Whoops, Phil’s and past the Flaming Chicken. Day 4 saw us exploring the upper elevations with Jason but Miss Petunia had to stay home nursing a bum leg. We did some truly serious root climbing up North Fork where I finally got to ride the Metolious-Windigo and Flagline Trails. They lived up to the hype. This was an epic ride day, especially with our 4 mile scenic detour. Fall has arrived in the high country.
Sue and I discovered that we must be sisters separated at birth. So many similar experiences and preferences – including soft and chewy molasses cookies. It was very fitting that I met my climbing goal with her on the Peterson Ridge loop in Sisters as she has been of major support in my quest to become a stronger hill climber. While WrenchBoy was the one who broached the wild idea of a goal of 100,000 feet, or the equivalent of 80 Empire State Buildings, I embraced the idea whole-heartedly. I’m amazed that I met the goal so early in the year and can only credit it to the sisterly support of all the girls on the TE forum who egged, er, cheered me on – Veronica, Kim, Jobob, Adventure Girl, Snapdragen, et al. Couldn’t have done it without them. I wish all of them could have seen the way I scaled the challenges of the North Fork climb, I think they would have been pleased.
Amici Veloci began when a group of Calif women participating in a women's cycling forum formed a team for a charity ride. Our team grew to include our ride buddies, male and female, roadies and dirt riders, across the USA. Though some of us have never met we've become good friends and ride together whenever we can. This blog is to keep all our members up to date on our happenings as well as sightings of our tattoo and jersey. Read below for our shared adventures and maybe a recipe or two.
2 comments:
Yellow's additions:
1. We decided that my helmet isn't crooked...my head is (also note photograph in Fleming Meadows post).
2. Valuable lesson learned: don't wait until the third day to have your martinis. Have martinis after the first and second days.
3. To see some of my photos, visit my Yahoo! photo page: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/suelizlee and choose the Bend album.
4. This mountain biking thing is pretty fun!
5. I must emphasize that Sarah kicked some major booty on those climbs!
Thanks, both of you. Princess Zippy would like those trails also.
SK
PS - Helmets don't look crooked after martinis.
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