Author: cartwheelsandcake

Cyclist, climber, hiker, trail runner, back country skier, dabbling mountaineer Lover of cake, chocolate, brownies, and sweets. Excellent napper.

Tomorrow, we ride!

My very first gravel race (or, well, bike race of any kind) is tomorrow. It’s Ned Gravel – a new race up in Nederland, CO. I am a wee bit nervous! It has been years since I’ve done any kind of race or competition (running races, bouldering), and quite a while since I’ve even done a bike event (since…. 2016?). So I definitely have some pre-race nerves happening, even though I just keep telling myself ‘it’s just a bike ride’.

We’ve been assuming it would be very hot. It’s been in the 90s most days the past several weeks, so … Continue reading

Everesting 2.0

Well! It’s been a couple weeks since my double Everesting attempt. In the biking world: I’ve sufficiently recovered, discovered group rides (?), done a rad women’s gravel clinic, and supported Paul on his own Everest attempt (which went very sideways). Which is to say, I think I’m finally ready to write some thoughts about my own attempt. To that end, a recap:

Evening prep with everything I might possibly need laid out (minus some kit that was in the wash)

The day started out at a very reasonable hour, which was a nice change from last time. I started pedaling … Continue reading

Tomorrow we Giddy Up!

So… I had planned to do this wild Everesting x2 attempt over Memorial Day weekend. And, well, that’s still the plan. But earlier this week the weather seemed to hint that Saturday/Sunday would be the best combo of days. That was great, because I had Friday off work which meant I could take my time getting everything prepped and ready, but still have Monday to recovery before heading back to work on Tuesday.

However, yesterday I woke up to see that Sunday’s “chance of rain” had basically ballooned into “1 inch of rain happening all day long”. It’s a super … Continue reading

Everesting 2.0?

Last year I decided to attempt to Everest on my bike. I wrote approximately one million words on every detail about it HERE, so I won’t rehash that all again.

Suffice it to say that after the attempt I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it again, but I also wasn’t sure that I didn’t.

Fast forward a few months: The folks who put on my BaseCamp training program this winter are also the same folks who partially got me started on this Everesting journey through the #GiddyUpForGood challenge. Rebecca Rusch put the event on last Memorial Day weekend, … Continue reading

Some thoughts on COVID

As of today I’m officially two weeks post-second dose vaccine (ie: fully vaccinated)! #TeamPfizer

So that’s exciting. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so excited and/or nervous to get a vaccine. I got both my shots at a small event center in Broomfield. They had things pretty dialed and efficient. Walk in, check in, get your shot, wait 15min, and then you were released to go.

I know it’s not a silver bullet, but it definitely means I’m feeling a little more comfortable out and about in the world. The second dose knocked me out for about 36 … Continue reading

The end of BaseCamp and the start of a new cycling year

One year ago last month a lot of things changed. I’d just come home from a trip to Portland, OR where we were planning for the World Domination Summit in June 2020. Lots of group interactions, eating at restaurants, and occasionally mentioning that “new coronavirus” and wondering if we might want to add hand sanitizer as a swag item. Fast forward a month and we were all staying inside, trying to find toilet paper (forget finding hand sani or wipes) and anxiously wondering what the next year would bring.

April in particular brought a lot of new things — a … Continue reading