After a 23 year hiatus, I am officially a mountain biker again. Not a very good one, but a mountain biker nonetheless. With Silas and Ivan on the school mountain biking team, and Paul now the head coach (how did that happen?!), there was no way I was going to be left out of the family fun a moment longer. I’m all in people! Well, “all-in” as in letting mountain biking be a nice filler sport for bouldering. Except for when one is riding REAL mountain biking trails on a REAL mountain and having to squeeze the brakes a lot!!! Oh my poor forearms! 😬
Wasting no time, we hit the trails of Durango Mesa immediately upon arrival.
And what was intended to be just a quick “stretch our legs” ride ended up business as usual, a 3ish hour lung-busting endeavor. Hard to stop when you’re having fun and it’s still light until 9pm!!! 😁
Mountain biking is a tad bit dirtier of a sport than bouldering, especially when you’re me, the slow one in the back of the pack riding in the dust cloud of the shredders in front of you. So yes, I splurged and bought a shower for this trip. In Paul’s exact words after partaking in this camp-luxury: “game changer.”
Warming up at the Warm Up Boulder, Sailing Hawks
Spike ball at the boulders. The locals were very impressed that the boys hauled it all the way up here. (If only they knew all the crazy things these two have hauled to boulders over the years, haha).
Sunday Stroll, v6. Still as hard as ever! I will never send this climb.
Boy in a tree
Last Tango in Durango, v6/7, a repeat for Paul
A repeat attempt of Legacy of the Kid, v9
Cruisin’ on the trails up the mountain behind camp, after a day of bouldering. Did I mention these gloriously long days of light?! 😁
Silas gettin’ some air
Ivan attempting to break a log in half for the fire with his bare hands.
A quick recap here on some notable moments from this spring’s fun…
Paul ticking off Scream, v11. Impressive, as he did Scream Stand, v10 more than a decade ago, and was never able to even come close with this lower start.
Me staring down the lip that I want soooo bad on my send of Devil’s Butthole, v6. Finally! (Thank you, 5am 4×4’s before work, for literally three straight months so that I could have the endurance I needed for when the planets unexpectedly align themselves with the kids’ busy schedules, and I find myself sitting below this perfectly perfect mother-of-all-Hueco-jug-hauls with the opportunity to SEND. ☺️)
Ivan (ahem, I mean Paul, because he’s 18 and older), getting his Level 1 Rocket Certification. Which basically means no more baby model rockets anymore. We’re talkin’ legit high power rocketry now, people! Yeah!
Go big or go home
Silas having a wicked strong gymnastics season. Now a Level 9 gymnast, he qualified for Regionals and now Nationals too!
If you’re gonna yank the kid out of school for a gymnastics competition, you might as well tack on a climbing trip to Joshua Tree, right?!
Me warming up on False Hueco Traverse, v2. Dang, I forgot how beautiful this place is.
Paul running up the ultimate J-Tree classic White Rastafarian, v3
Frisbee on the rocks
Ivan smiling his way up Flintlock Dino, v0. This kid is always smiling when he’s sending.
Silas wanting his glory too….but barefoot! Rules don’t apply for this boy.
with SNOW!!! Upstate New York is buried in the white stuff for the holidays, just like it always would be when I was a kid. And just like when I was a kid, we’ve been outside playing in it nonstop since we got here! 😁 Happy New Year!!
It’s not a New Year’s celebration without blowing off my dad’s cannon
Ready for pot banging and the cannon blast! Countdown time
Best luge trail E V E R! Ivan and I iced it with a watering can last night to increase the speed, and Uncle Richard added a jump!
This is the mantra that’s been in my head this last week. Temps have been soaring here in the desert but we’ve been embracing it, getting outside to play as much as possible. It was over 80 degrees on Monday! But then I woke up this morning, looking forward to hitting up some local boulders with the family before embarking upon the cooking and baking and chaos of preparing our traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. I woke up to….RAIN!
Oh cozy Christmas Eve day. What a perfect early Christmas present! ❤️
Some good mountain bike rides this last week
14 miles ride on our 80+ degree day!
Hueco bouldering, in t-shirts!
Spunky’s Playhouse, v2
Finally have some good endurance and closer than ever on Devil’s Butthole, v6
Good progress on Scream, v11. Stuck the opening move!
And a scorching hot trail run yesterday for good measure. Embracing it!
