Pooks Canyon

 This morning, at 5am, Jon woke up to go race the FoCo (Fort Collins) Fondo. By about 10am Axel and I wandered down to the festival. It was fun! They had set out tables and cowbells at the finish. Jon’s team, Rodeo Labs Pro Gravel, were seven Trail Donkeys strong (the bikes are named Trail Donkeys and are great for gravel racing as well as gravel touring). Early on teammie Jonathan Cavner attacked solo and another teammie, Greg Daniel, bridged up. When I say early I mean the first 10 miles of a 107 mile race. Whew. Jon and his other teammates Nick Gould and Logan did the strong work of covering moves setting some false tempo, lulling the pack into submission. That is how it’s done and how bike racing is truly a team sport. It is more than just the drafting people. In the end, Cavner and Greg stayed away for the whole race and Rodeo Labs went 1-2 on the podium, minutes ahead of the next guy. Also, must mention Jess Cygan got second place in a tough women’s race. It was Donkey Domina...

  Today was our last day in Breckenridge. I can report that I was no longer almost passing out in yoga and Axel said his last day at lacrosse camp was the best he had felt. Exercise at 10,000 feet is hard. We can only hope all this adaptation is even more true for Jon, since he is the one who has competitions at altitude coming up. The next one is tomorrow - 6am start up here in Fort Collins. We got in this afternoon and had dinner with Jon’s teammates, Logan, Jon Harp, and Jess. Good luck tomorrow to team Rodeo Labs. Go donkeys! After we checked out of the AirBnB, but before driving to Fort Collins, we went up to Peak 8 and did some amusement park stuff. Alpine slide, roller coaster, and 18 holes of mini golf. My putting was strong and I took down the win at -6. Axel was -5 and Jon was -1. A rare victory over these talented boys. On the two seater lift up to the alpine slide. Axel was in the chair ahead. Me sitting on my sled while the boys waited to board the slide. Novelty chair...

On Friday Jon left Breckenridge to fly to San Diego for the Belgian Waffle Ride. It took place today- he says he maybe “finished up 30th.” Results not yet posted. Apparently it was very hot. The winner, Peter Stetina, crossed the finish line and promptly grabbed his hamstring. Jon also reported cramping. When an interviewer asked Peter how he felt, he winced and said, “I need shade.” This morning I did yoga on the lawn at Riverwalk Park. Bhava Yoga put it on. I’d never had my yoga mat on the grass before. There were six of us counting the instructor and about 100 people milling about around us. Was kind of trippy. Since Jon is getting so much exercise I figured I should go for a double-header so doing a yin-vinyasa class tonight. Axel and I were supposed to get sandwiches at Ridge Kitchen but then he pointed out the Mac n Cheese and oopsie, I got that instead. Topped with fried chicken. Good thing I am doing two workouts. The highlight of the day was Escape Room Breckenridge where Axel...

Today I drove down to parks and recreation and asked to talk to Vince about the overbooked lacrosse camp next week. With some mention of Axel being older (the camp is ages 7-14) and having brought his own equipment Vince relented and let Axel in. So cool that there just happens to be an all week long lacrosse camp here next week. Not sure who is more excited, me or Axel. In other news I found a yoga studio about 600 feet away from where we are staying and oh my, was it a challenge. Lots of insane arm balancing postures. Check out Bhava Yoga if you are ever around here.  Jon went on a bike ride over Hoosier pass. The goal here is altitude training for NedGravel, road nationals in Albuquerque and other races. The apartment we are staying in is at 9,600 feet above sea level so even just sleeping is training. This morning I noticed the cat was covered in soot. Overnight she had climbed into the cold fireplace and had regrets. Her white paws are still looking quite dingy. Jon thinks she...

We have arrived in Colorado, home for the next 4 weeks. The first two weeks will be in Breckenridge. The air is thin and mercifully cool here.  On the way we stopped and picnicked at Ghost Rock rest area in Utah. Very pretty. Odessa found the shade of a sandstone overhang nice. We left her there in her backpack carrier and Axel reported it moved about ten feet. She sort of rolls it along like a hamster ball.  Axel gamely smiled for the camera in this one. Cute smile from Jon. Axel took this very funny looking picture of Odessa during the drive.

 “I felt good at 10,000 feet, I’m not gonna lie,” Jonathan Baker said today after his top 10 finish in the pro men category at The Crusher in the Tushar. Peter Stetina won at course record time of 4:15. I ran up to the finish, but this race was very exclusive. Even helpers wanting to give their racer water were not allowed. We reunited with Jon two miles down the hill where he tried to spend his beer ticket but could not without ID. I do wonder how many racers raced with their ID in their pocket. It was not really the grassroots, low-key vibe I was expecting from a gravel race. Fun was had by all back down the hill in Beaver. In the hotel pool area we tossed the frisbee and has a mini-olympics including a water handstand race and a freestyle sprint. Afterwards we watched a Tour de France stage. Later we plan for early dinner out at race sponsor The Creamery (a cheese shop with a full service restaurant - sounds like a dream combo to me). We have to be back to the TV by 6pm mountain...

 Today we drove from Eureka, Nevada to Beaver, Utah. Tomorrow, early, Jon sets out to race the Crusher in the Tushar. He will climb 8,000 feet before finishing up at Eagle Point, where Axel and I will be waiting to cheer him on. Jon gave me his beer ticket :) We picnicked mid-drive at the ~1250 AD site of a Fremont Native village. It was really hot but luckily we were able to climb back into the delicious, newly repaired, air conditioning in the 4Runner. Odessa parked it in front of the backseat AC vent for about an hour after the picnic. The overheated picnickers. Odessa falls asleep watching the Ventoux stage of the Tour de France.

Highway 50 may have the moniker of loneliest highway, but with a teenager, a husband, a cat, two bikes, and a summer's worth of gear, things were feeling quite populated. We are on our way to Colorado for the next 30 days. Jon and I will be working remotely as usual. And Jon is going to lots of bike races, as usual. Axel is going to try to barge the gate at the Summit Stix lacrosse camp in Breckenridge. It was full but we brought his gear anyway. Me? The usual walking about and taking yoga classes.  Odessa was very vocal when we first got into the car. We made meows-per-minute (mpm) into a metric. Thankfully she eventually chose to hang out in her backpack and the mpm rate started to fall.  Odessa selfie Don't worry, the window was closed. Can you spot the sleeping cat? We stopped at Fuji Park in Carson City to picnic. Leftover fried chicken makes good picnic food. We also had apples and nectarines. We stopped on the roadside for a "nature break" (as they call them in...

 Wednesday I finally did the “bike ride plus wet suit swim” adventure. Epic. I did have a concerned kayaker question me (and/or my sanity) which was kind of amusing. It was so much fun even though my wetsuit was too big and the sleeves took on water when I did freestyle strokes. I took a picture before I got in the lake, unfortunately that photo will never be seen. Public service announcement: do not submerge your dry bag inside your wetsuit during a one hour swim, your iPhone will be dead by the time you return to shore. This weekend, while Jon and I got to go down to Monterey and see Leah, Axel stayed back with Mimi who took him to his lacrosse game in Granite Bay. Stampede won 12-8, yay! Thanks Mimi for all the meals, pancakes, bonfires, and sporting transportation. On Friday I walked from the hotel over to Leah’s place and hung out with Leah, Michael, Sansa (pictured) and Sonny (next picture). Sansa had just gotten flea medicine and was sporting a 1950’s house dress to keep it ...

Last Tuesday I flew back to Sacramento from Honolulu. Robert gave me a lift to the airport and Jon picked me up. Such sweet Baker men, thanks fellas.  On Wednesday I realized how much I miss surfing and swimming and the water so I ordered a wetsuit from Amazon and resolved to swim in the lake even though the water is still cold. I hatched a wild plan to ride a bike to Lower Scott’s Flat Lake via the DS Canal trail and get into the 50 degree water right at the lower dam. The idea was to don the wetsuit from a backpack, lock up the bike, and swim a whole bunch, then, when finished, reverse the process. Today was the day I attempted that. It was a failure. I did not listen to Jon and rode my road bike instead of the mountain bike. About 6 miles in, and only 500 meters away from the lake, flat tire. Then I discovered I had no pump. Luckily Axel was home and answered the phone and rode a pump out to my location on his eBike. What a guy. With all the uncertainty surrounding the flat tire...