My Mountain Home

Another Ride

I rode the North Valley Rail Trail into town again this morning.  It comes out at 16 miles roundtrip.

When I leave the house in the morning, trying to go early to beat the heat, I'm never sure where I'm going!  This trail is so enjoyable though, that I usually head across the highway and take it in to town.  At one point I heard a clunk, clunk, clunk and stopped to examine the chain, but it was fine.  Started off again and clunk, clunk, clunk.  Then I realized that the water bottle cage had lost its top screw and my water was leaking out the top of the upside down bottle!  I stopped and removed the cage and hoped there would be new screws for me at Hometown Sports.  Yes!  What a helpful staff they have!  They have pumped up my tires, too.

The Yak

It's a modular Point 65 Martini.

Nature

I've been riding almost every day, from 6 to 15 miles, and really enjoying getting to know the roads and trails.  

There is a hawk on the top of the crossbar.  I see quite a few hawks, but most fly when they see movement on the ground.

A kayak arrived at my house and I paddled the Meanders with Dina yesterday.  I knew, and was assured by many, that I would love it--and so it was!  We saw a moose pair, lots of different ducks, and some fish.  I'll be taking my pole next time!  It seems like quite a few women friends have kayaks so I hope to go often.  The water up there is calm by this time of the summer and a great place for a beginner or a leisurely paddle.

Summer is flying by!

Granite Mtn Lookout Hike

Yesterday we hiked into Granite Mountain Lookout, which my Garmin says is 6.16 miles with 1680' of elevation gain.

 

I was concerned that our older dog, 10 yo Sasha, would have problems with the distance/elevation but as it turns out she did just fine.  It was I who had the problem!  I hadn't remembered it being that hard and thought I would find it much easier after my bike riding of late.  It wasn't.  Suffice to say, after 5 salt tabs, I did make it.

 

I've posted all the pictures on Facebook,  Granite Mtn Lookout Hike, but here are a couple of good ones.

 

You can glimpse the lookout on the left.

 

Before the Heat

The forecast is for 95 F today so, once again, I got out there early.  I picked up a copy of Steve Stuebner's book, Mountain Biking in McCall yesterday and decided to do all the easy trails in the list first.  Heading across the highway and down Heinrich, I picked up the North Valley Rail-Trail.  I'd wondered if it were marked from this direction since I've ridden that road and never seen the sign, but there it was.  

 

It must be what they call single track because the dirt trail was barely a foot wide with tall grass and brush on both sides.  I didn't stop to get a picture of that part, but will when I take this trail again.

 

Part of the trail runs through some trees and the shade was welcome, then it opens out onto a paved wide path that follows the road.  It was a very nice ride, 12.2 miles and took 1 1/2 hours.  I stopped only once to tell some tourists about nice drives in the area.  I guess I stopped another time to snap a picture:

 

Here's the map part.  I haven't figured out how to start with a fresh map when I upload so I just changed today's track to blue :)

 

 

Speed

I love speed, the wind through the slits in the helmet, the flapping of the collar, the feeling of the world whipping by.  Of course I only get that going downhill in the lowest gear pumping as hard as I can.  But all the climbs are worth it!  Makes me think riding the chair lift up the ski hill and coming down might be a thrill.

But, on a mountain bike.  My mountain bike is ancient, has flat tires, and tempermental shifters.  Guess I should think about how to fix that problem.

I'm lovin' the shifters on my new bike and I'm trying to tune in to the subtle art of precisely when to shift up or down, and how to guage just how much energy it will take me to make the next hill.  I love so much about that bike, including the comfort grips that support my hands so much better.  

Today I rode over 12 miles but I hadn't cleared the Garmin before I started so I don't have the time calculation.  I'm guessing just under an hour and a half.  Whatever.  I'm feeling stronger and look at the hills differently now!

Here are some pictures:

This is just a shot down the valley.

 

The osprey build their nests of large sticks intricately woven together on top of telephone poles.

 

Hard to make out but there is a mama and at least one baby.  She makes quite a racket when I go by there every day.

 

This afternoon and tomorrow I'm teaching a fiber felting class in the city youth summer program, and Friday we plan on hiking to Granite Mtn. Lookout.

A Fine Summer Day

We had a terrific hail storm last night, and then thunder and lightning for quite a while.  This morning the sun was fiery brilliant and much redder than this picture shows.  Only smoke can do that.  I've heard the fire planes coming and going.

 

 

I went for an early ride, around the subdivision east of us and then across the highway to the back roads just to fill out the hour.  It was 8.3 miles in 58 minutes today, so although that is very slow it's still faster than I have been doing.  I know I'll have to gradually increase that to 10-14 mph average this summer.

 

A beautiful new colt.  As I tried to get closer for a better picture Mama kept moving farther away.

I saw a friend's picture on Facebook after a kayak outing.  Since that's something I want to try I asked if she could take me out and show me the ropes.  We'll do that after my trip to Vegas next week for my mom's 99th birthday.

The Long Ride

I'm wanting a little more adventure in our lives.  Not this sort: Foray Incident when my husband got lost overnight when mushroom hunting.  More like some personal goals which will challenge me.

 

Although I've had a wonderful new bike for the past two summers I hardly rode it, until a few weeks ago.  I started with a 2 mile ride, then a 6, then an 8, then a 13, and last Friday I made it 18.5 miles.  I couldn't think of any goals except the one I'd heard about, a century, riding 100 miles in one day.  The problem is I'm slow.  It would take me 15+ hours with no breaks at my present rate of speed.

 

I'm planning on increasing my speed and distance until I can complete a century next summer.

 

Here's the route of my last ride, and some pictures.

I mounted a Garmin 450 on the bike to keep track of where I was, where I was going and how far along I'd gotten.

Lots of cows, little traffic!

Not a lot of pavement either.  This section was so deep I thought I'd had a flat.  I ended up trying to navigate the narrow shoulder and its rocks.

 

I haven't developed a training schedule, nor figured out how to maintain training in the winter although maybe a trainer contraption that you hook up to the bike might be valuable.

 

Never one to narrow my interests I'm also thinking of trying out kayaking.  After all, we live near a lake.

 

Snow

In anticipation of the summer camping season we drove up to Upper Lake. The entrance was blocked by about 4 feet of snow. Maybe next month!

Eat Your Vegetables

I admit I've always had trouble getting enough vegetables on a daily basis.  After watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead I decided to act on the suggestion of juicing in order to increase veggie intake.  I've had a Green Star masticating juicer for several years, although it hasn't gotten that much use.  This week though I pulled it out and have made a green drink for one meal each day.  

First I make sure to have my fridge stocked with a variety of vegetables!  Then I pull out a big heap and prep them for the juicer.  I peel ginger, cucumber and any of the dirty dozen.  I buy organics when I can. I believe in using lots of different colors and flavors!

Here are the ones I used for this morning's juice.

Carrots, scallion, radish, celery, bok choy, spinach....and...

 

kale, cilantro, tomato, apple, cucumber, lime and sweet peppers!

 

It made enough for two servings, so I vacuum sealed a pint jar and put the rest in a glass.

I added a T. of ground flaxseed to the glass and Na Zdorovie!  To good health!