The Adventures of Trail Gypsies: Adventure 2012: part 2

The team back together again!

Cole Trout getting some air time!

Ples fell so hard that he bent his key!

3rd place win for Sabrina in Super D

Jen Johnson, Liz Sampey, and Sabrina

Team Pedal Pushers!

6/6: Back on the road; headed to Angel Fire, NM for some racing! We drove down with our friends Cole and Jen. We stopped in Colorado Springs to ride but it was a swampy mess from the night before so it was a short ride. We pre-rode the the race course on Friday and Saturday and we raced on Sunday. Usually we race DH but we didn't this time because we didn't like the course so we raced super D (which is actually a better race for me). I ended up getting 3rd with Liz getting first! We had a great day, then we got on our DH bikes and rode some more and watched some more racing. After Sunday night we were feeling pretty beat up so we went out for dinner with Sienna and Trevor in Taos.

We found some great camping in the N.F. with Jeff. We spent the next day chilling, shooting guns, showering and relaxing.

I've come up with some pretty good meals, I love cooking!

The next day we drove to Durango, CO and camped in N.F and the next day we rode the telegraph trails. It was very hot for me and little shade, but after pushing our bikes up we ended up going down a great technical ridge, similar to Dakota Ridge. We then found free camping in lower Hermosa campground for free. We ended up spending the day lounging around camp and hanging in the hammock and working on the blog.

The next day we drove to Telluride and camped for free on last Dollar Rd amongst the aspens. Sienna met us Friday morning at the gondola for a ride down Village Trail. Sienna then shuttled us down a trail called Sunshine trail. Then it was time to start digging, we went to the pump track that trevor got approval to build. Trevor broke his collar bone in Angel Fire so it was a little hard to dig with one hand. So we dug for a while until we were famished.

Camping in the Aspens on Last Dollar Road

We spent the night with Sienna and Trevor and then next day we headed up to Alta Lakes campground and camped there for 2 days. It was absolutely beautiful up there at 11,200 feet. We camped around the lake and enjoyed some more relaxing and nature's beauty until this guy with a big truck and air stream decided to camp in our camp spot, he didn't ask or anything just camped right next to us, we were so annoyed; who does that?! Anyway they left the next day and we had it to our selves again. We went on a ride and found some great single track. It was so tempting to keep going because it was all downhill but we knew we had to get back up:)!

6/18: left Colorado to go to Park City Utah. We stopped in Moab to get groceries, beer and some other supplies. We spent the night in Price Canyon BLM recreation area for $8. The next day we drove to SLC and first found a barnes and noble for Ples could get his Overland Journal (It is like crack to him, and he needed to feed his addiction!) We went to REI and bought a portable solar pannel to charge electronic devices while we are out for long periods of time with out ways to charge things. It is pretty sweet, it is a goalzero 3.5 nomad solar pannel with a battery pack. Totally recommend it!

6/19: We spent the night in Jordanelle State Park for $16/night with the following services: shower, water, laundry, huge reservoir with beach and wifi and only a 20 minute drive to Deer Valley. 6/20: we rode Deer Valley on our DH bikes. It was pretty fun and different than any other bike park I have been to yet. The blue trails were easy and a DH bike was too much. The blacks were fun, our favorite was Forest Thieves and Fire Swamp. We also enjoyed the man made obstacles. I rode my first teeter totter and rode some skinnies; I was so excited that I did a lot of these. I also had a few run ins with trees and my big handle bars. The last run I fell a few times and was getting tired but I decided to do one more run and it was a bad mistake. I was sooo tired I felt like it was the first time I rode a bike, I was so timid and started walking things and falling. I am learning to find my limits, it is a challenge, especially when you are in a new place and you want to explore everything. We went back to camp and I made (attempted) fried pckles and swiss bison burgers on the camp grill.

6/21: we rode IMBA classic: Mid-mountain trail. It was an awesome climb with beautiful views! We cranked up the hill and the downhill was a bit dissapointing. It was in an aspen field with tight switch backs and we couldn't go fast but it was still nice. There is something about a good ride and then enjoying a nice cold beer after and chilling with good friends; I haven't felt like I have been able to find that yet, Ples doesn't drink beer and we haven't met too many people yet to hang out with and talk bikes or whatever. We went into the town of Park City and had a beer and then walked the streets. We were starting to become famished again so we went back to camp.

6/22: It just happened to be that Tooele, Utah was having a Toyota Land Cruiser Festival called Cruiserville; and it was only about an hour away from Park City and well we had nothing else planned so why not?:) It was a festival for Toyota trucks and mainly Land Cruisers; the group started in Moab and fourwheeled for 3 days to get to Tooele. We paid $75 for 2 nights camping, entree into cruiserville and Miller MotorSports Park, 2 dinners and 1 breakfast and 2 t-shirts. We also ended up with a $20 gift card for toyota parts, a bunch of stickers and some good memories. Miller MotorSports Park was having a national off-road race and we watched several races on Friday and Saturday. My favorite was the big trucks the 4x4; they were loud, fast and were able to get some major air! I learned a lot about trucks, racing and land cruisers. The down part to the weekend was the non stop wind and the heat. I didn't sleep for 2 days; it's the downfall of having a tent on top of a truck (flap-flap-flap!) Saturday we walked around and checked out the land cruisers and went to the opening of the heritage museum that was dedicated to Land Crusiers. We then had an opportunity to help a guy drive back his cruisers to the garage; Ples got to drive a FJ40 Troopy, right hand drive and a BJ42 right hand drive. We felt so cool and it totally made our day. We hung out with some local people from a 4x4 club in Denver; exchanged info and settled in for another windy night. I woke up early not in a great mood; I would say I was a "monster". Two nights without sleep and I am not a happy camper! All I wanted to do was sleep and get out of the wind. We packed up camp quick and headed north to Ogden.

Me, enjoying the redneck lifestyle!

Miller Sports Park, Lucas Oil
Off-road series

Cruiserville Gang!

We were told from a guy at the festival about a ski resort called Snow Basin that had a chair lift with bike access so we wanted to check it out. All I wanted to do was sleep so I took a quick nap and Ples went took a lap. I woke up from my nap and we took 2 more laps. It was fun to ride our bikes downhill on sweet single track for several miles (see bike info for more beta and pics.)

6/25: That night we camped in a national park campground and I fell asleep around dinner time and didn't wake up till 9 am. I feel rested and ready for a fresh start. We drove through some great national forest to Jackson, Wyoming. We found some free camping in the national forest out side of the Teton national park. We were the only ones camped down here and it was by a river with some ponds, lots of rocks and pine trees. The interesting part was that we went down a dirt rode with a grade of 33%. It didn't seem so bad going down but now we sit here looking at it wondering how we are going to get the truck and trailor up the hill. We have some ideas: we can empty the trailor and carry all the cargo boxes to the top of the hill (ugh); we can winch the trailor up; or we can go balls to the wall and hope it makes it up. Stay tuned for further info to see how we made it up the hill. Anyway, we had a nice relaxing day. We showered with the sun shower, I sun-bathed naked and did naked yoga (what a thrilling and feeing experience); however I am burnt in places that I don't like to be burned:) I made 3 nice meals; did some organizing and a little work out and read some magazines. We are out of food and will head to town tomorrow to get some beta for biking and get groceries and hopefully find some wifi so I can post all this info.

We made it up! No problem,
just deflated the tires and gave it hell!

Spa day!

We were in Wyoming until fourth of July then we went to Idaho. While in Wyoming we did some great biking and enjoyed some amazing camping. My favorite biking was at Jackson Hole Resort; this is where I learned to rail corners and clear table tops; I had this "ah-ha" moment and all of a sudden things started to click and I finally felt like I was riding my bike and my bike wasn't riding me! The resort had a "free-for-all day" so we went and rode for free and hung out at the bike festival.
This was the first time Ples went to the Tetons without climbing, it was a different perspectiv for him and he enjoyed doing something different.

We are building a "wall of fame"- collecting stickers to all the places we visit

These are a few of our favorite things!

We eat pretty good out here.
I love to cook; I love that I can turn something
bland into gourmet!

Appetizers!

7/2/12: We left Jackson and headed to Driggs Idaho. I was in desperate need of a hotel: relief from the bugs, a good shower, TV, and just a break from camping. It's crazy that my biggest stressor is finding camp and tearing it down each day; really not a big deal at all; what a rough life? Anyway we got a cute cabin near Grand Targee Wyoming, the back side of the Tetons. I think it is just a good refresher. The funny thing is that we didn't sleep well at all and we were glad to be back on the road and camping. 7/3: we rode Grand Targee resort and enjoyed the alpine feel without any people and not having to pedal! I saw my first black bear, it was practically on the trail.

7/4: We drove to Sun Valley Idaho to participate in the "Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival" and watch my bestie Liz race in the USA national cross country championship races! We didn't ride for 5 days, we just hung out and watched Liz race and be her support and surround ourselves with bikes. It was nice, we were able to park our home for 5 days and not move, we rode our bikes into town and chilled at the truck. It was nice to spend time with Liz and watch her take home 2 national championships! During this time I got a kidney infection and felt pretty miserable so it was a perfect time to just be able to hang out. I am pretty sure I know how this ugly bug spread to my kidneys, and I will try my hardest for that to not happen again!

Sweet campsite near Boise. Getting
good at learning how to do nothing!

7/9 and 7/10 we rode our bikes; I think I was still recovering from the bug and was really struggling in the heat but luckily we went on rides with plenty of water. I even went skinny dipping for my first time in an alpine lake during mid day! It was absolutely Freeing!

7/13: Today is city day, I have a love and hate for this day; day full of laundry, grocery shopping, errands and spending money; and traffic! So we bought a water filter and some good bug spray (No more bugs!) and some clothes that I needed, Barnes and Noble for Ples' reading stash; target for some necessary bathroom supplies and by the time this was all done it was getting late so we decided to get a hotel room for the night. We got a good deal and now I am able to catch up on this blog; I am trying to not make it a job, but when I get so far behind it is hard to want to do it and this little note pad computer I am using doesn't work very fast and I think it is being over used. Anyway, we did laundry and ordered pizza and of course caught up on our TV watching, and now it is time for me to go take a nice bath!

7/14: We left Boise and headed to Bend, Oregon. It was a nice drive; a whole lot of nothing is out on the east side of Oregon but it was better than driving through Kansas! High desert plains with a large amount of farming and some canyons. Driving into Bend Ples was shocked by the population that was on the welcoming sign (80,000 +); he thought it was going to be a small town. So we did our usual thing and drove to a bike shop and asked for beta. We bought a great map of the area and headed out of the city. The thought of being in the city is entertaining to me but when I am actually in one I feel very overwhelmed, congested and stressed. Part of me wants to explore towns, go out and hang with the locals; but when I get into town I really don't know what to do, where to go and it's a struggle parking our truck and trailer. So we usually do drive by's and head out into the forest to camp. I leave slightly disappointed and feel like I am missing something. I am not sure exactly what I am missing; I think it's the idea of being in cities and doing what everyone else is doing, it's where the entertainment is. I have struggled with this since the divorce; I first moved to Denver because I thought I wanted to be close to everything and have the ability to go out and party all the time. So I did a little bit of that but once I got that out of my system I wasn't happy in the city; I was tired of trying to be someone that I wasn't, I am not a city girl,I will never be and I am ok with that. That doesn't mean I don't like to go out and have a good time. I think it's easier if you know some people and know where to go. Sometimes I crave a good microbrew and some good conversation (with someone other than Ples:)). I just figured out that I have to remind myself of the purpose of the trip: I am on a biking trip across the country and if I went into every city we came across and do city things we would probably have to end our trip sooner than later.Because of my personality I still struggle with doing nothing sometimes and feel like I should always be doing something and sometimes I feel lost in the quitness and peacefullness of it all. Doesn't that sound obsurd? But I really think the American culture has produced this go-go mentality and to slow down and enjoy our life is not something we do very often and for long periods of time. I could really get use to this lifestyle and I think it will change my perspective when I get back to reality. Right now I am sitting in a beautiful camp site in the middle of no where in Oregon, surrounded by huge old growth trees, the river and not a soul around. Tonight I made our camp a little more homey and made a table out of our trash can and lit our citronel candel, made some licorice-rasberry tea and became inspired or motivated to write. We also finally bought some good bug spray so now I can stand sitting out side with the bugs. That whole deet-free thing is not working and we bought us some jungle juice (100% deet), the bugs just hover they don't even come close to biting!

So while in Bend we rode some great trails and I hiked on our rest day. It was the first day in 78 days that we were apart for more than 30 minutes - for real! It was a nice refresher and it's just not natural to be with one person every moment. I have to say that we are doing a pretty good job at it; it seems lately that we have been getting into a few more tiffs but it seems to always coincide with that time of the month. The tiffs that we get in always end up good and we reflect on why it happened and what can we do differently; we are really learning how to become good partners and work on that communicating thing that I am not very good at.

River Trail in Bend, Oregon

We went to the Deschutes Brewery for a brewery tour but they were full so we just had free samples, bought some souvenirs and left. Every night since we have been in Oregon it has rained and there are so many trees everywhere you feel like you never see the sun. It's really pretty here but I don't think I could live here. The ride we went on yesterday was called the McKenzie Riiver National Scenic trail and it was absolutely epic! Beautiful views: lava flows, waterfalls, old growth forests, great single track, clear blue ponds and river. After the ride we were exhausted; it feels to be exhausted like that sometimes. We found another free camp spot and today we got up and went to the Belknap Hot Springs where we camped the night before and enjoyed an hour of the hot springs. It was $7 per person for 1 hour for day use at the springs, we also got in our nice long shower and did laundry for $2 (what a great bargain!) I got a text from a friend in SLC who told me about the massacre in Colorado; I couldn't believe it; what a horrible thing to happen. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved. I haven't kept up with the news and sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Tourist day: visited the largest waterfall in Oregon over 600 ft. We were totally annoyed with all the people, it would have been way cooler to have been riding near the waterfall but it was still neat to see.

7/26: Today is city day again, or rest day. We camped in a campground that happened to be right by the train tracks so we didn't get the most sound sleep ever. We showered, cut Ples' hair and took our time getting ready. We went into town and got groceries and did the usual town thing. We went to a great bike shop called Dirty Fingers (awesome name). The people in the shop were very nice and friendly. The bike shop was also a bar and had 3 IPA's on tap, my kind of place, and next door they had a coffee shop. If I lived in Hood River I would never have to leave that area! Anyway, we chilled, talked bikes got some beta for rides and headed out to find camp. We rode two days up in the National Forest and had some great views of Mt. Hood.

7/29: Rest day in preparation to climb Mt. Adams. We hung around camp and I went on a small hike on Surveyor Ridge. I did yoga, streteched, read bike magazines and ate. We are becoming good rest dayers (or we can say that I am getting better at it!) Our propane tank finally ran out, we have a small 10 lb propane tank and it lasted 3 months. 7/30: Errand day: we went into town and got the propane tank filled, did laundry, I got an eyebrow wax that was well needed and I tried to catch up on some of the blog. My reverb seat dropper came in from fed ex so we went and picked it up, I am so happy to have that thing back again. You don't realize how nice it is to have good gear until you have it and then when you don't you feel like "how did I ever survive without it?" It's good and bad, but all I know is that I have it back and Ples is my personal bike mechanic so he will have it up and running in no time!
See the climbing page for details about Mt. Adams.

8/2: Today we drove to Mt. St Helens and camped in the national forest. 8/3: Today we are still recovering from Mt. Adams but starting to feel better. We did a touron day and drove up to the Ape Cave on Mt. St. Helen's and hiked the cave. It is this huge lava tube that is about a mile and a half long. It was fun to do something different and learn something new. We then drove to the NE side of Mt. St. Helens to the windy ridge and did some more sightseeing. We are now camped in a beautiful, quiet spot surrounded by mountains and pine trees. I made a great mexican dish for dinner and a peach cobbler for dessert. Sometimes I surprise myself on what I can come up with with the resources that I have.

Windy Ridge Over look at Mt. St. Helens

Ape Caves

8/4 and 8/5: Camped outside of Rainier in a spot that Ples has camped in several times in preparation to climb Mt. Rainier. A beautiful spot near the river, an old growth forest and Rainier in the distance. We decided not to climb Rainier due to the amount of time it takes to climb; we both are in biking mode and want to get to Canada to do some downhill. Rainier will always be there and it will be more enjoyable when we are in climbing shape.

8/7/12: City day: We got a storage unit in Issaquah Washington prior to our adventure to Canada. We dropped off a few items to make our load lighter. We got a good discount, $1 for the first month (and we need it for less than a month!)

8/8/12: Today is our 100th day together! We have spent 100 non-stop days together and it has been...Incredible! Each day our friendship gets stronger and our love grows deeper. We spent the day at Duthie Hill Bike Park in Issaquah, Washington. What a great day!

8/9: Drive to Canada went smoothly; we drove straight to Silver Star Resort. We ended up getting a hotel for 2 nights for a pretty good deal. It was nice to have a place to kinda sort out the next few days and to have a shower after downhilling. We are going to be broke soon; Canada is expensive! We biked for 2 days and the last night we camped in the parking lot for $10. This happened to be one of the most exciting nights. A group of Canadians parked next to us and it ended up being a beer drinking, bull shitting night around the camp fire until 1 am. This is the latest we have been up for a long time and the cool thing was that we didn't even know it was that late, we just talked and talked and talked. What a cool bunch of people and it was a good introduction to Canada!