Sacrifice Otherwise Know As The Give.

Clay Tile by Jenny Mendes

sac·ri·fice

• To forfeit (one thing) for another thing considered to be of greater value.

To give something up for something more important or someone more important. To forfeit what you want for something/one else and to do it willingly. Some sacrifices come easily others are more subtle and take more effort to make. We make conscious and unconscious sacrifices for a variety of reasons every day, it is a part of our human experience. Sometimes it comes without effort, you make the sacrifice without even thinking about it. Other times the sacrifice is much harder to make, you may not even want to make it or feel super about it but it's outside yourself and you do it because it's expected of you. Another thing to dance with, how in one moment you can lean into a sacrifice with full acceptance and at other times you resist and fight with the giving up, the giving away, the giving in, the giving out, the give.

Eagle

Eagle Valley

We have more snow at our house now then we have had all winter, it's turning warm and dry again but in my snow malaise I've continued thinking about what kind of weekend getaways we can make this year and trips that are budget friendly. There's a place in Colorado called Eagle, it's just past Vail on I70 and on the way to a lot of other places such as Fruita and Utah beyond. But it has come to my awareness in the last few years that there are some really sweet trails in Eagle and they keep building more of them. The nice thing about Eagle is the absence of crowded trails, it's relatively close to home, about 3 hours drive time and has a variety of trail riding from high desert dirt in the Pinon and Juniper to altitude riding in the Aspens. I'm planning on checking this area out this spring/summer. There is terrific camping in the area and along Eagle river and of course that means good fly fishing for Craig. It makes for a solid overnighter without a long drive home which is nice and easy on the pocket book.
I've got a good map of the area and some beta from other riders so now we just need to pick a weekend to head out and explore.

TG of MTBR Forum riding some of the Eagle Trails

In The Works..

I've been thinking about some possible road trips for the future. I love road trips, camping, getting away from the routine and experiencing new places, embracing my inner dirt bag. After Arizona my mind has drifted into organizing trips for the future. These road trips are bigger than the normal, usual weekend runs to Fruita or Moab or Crested Butte or Durango, these trips mean leaving our region. Trips that don't include work, aka Art Shows, just a holiday, full of fun with no set agenda, so I will not include next years Arizona trip. So with that in mind here is what I've put into the works, hopefully it will come to fruition.

Bend..

• Road Trip to the NW. This means about 10 days of exploring different riding areas in Oregon, Washington and possibly Idaho. One place that comes to mind is Bend, OR. This place is incredible and has a huge variety of riding, it's kinda like Boulder in weather and attitude but smaller. I also want to hit Mackenzie River Trail, a long and lovely ride a long a mountain river. Craig has brothers that live in Washington, we've ridden up there before and it was fun and so different than what we're used to. Buff trails among BIG trees and Ferns, you half expect dinosaurs to come wandering by. It would be very cool to visit the Olympic Peninsula as well and get some ocean love. I'd like to plan this trip for the end of May 2010, a year away but with the way times flies these days it'll be here before you know it.

Sample of NW Trail.

• SW Utah. It's been a few years since we've been to the St. George area, Gooseberry Mesa, Thunder Mtn, Jem Trail. I want to go back in a bad way, it's lovely there and the riding is top notch and full of so many different flavors. This trip may not happen for a couple of years but it's in the works.

Gooseberry Mesa.

There will be plenty of riding and regional trips inbetween but a serious road trip is worth planning and dreaming about.

Spring Time Desert Riding

Craig and I headed Southwest last week for my art show in Scottsdale, Arizona. We stopped in Cortez, CO and rode at Phil's World on the way two days in a row. This is a really fun network of singletrack just outside Cortez, they've done a great job on these trails and even adding a new trail, Ledges, since we were there last and there are plans for more in the near future. It's a lovely spot and the trails are fast, pumpy and full of roller coaster singles and doubles. I think Ribcage is one of my favorite sections, you just can't stop grinning. We'll be back for more. There's a video below of me clearing a 3 footer, I was so stoked on this, a high lite of the trip.

View of the San Juans from Phil's in the evening.

Me flying on the Ribcage section, yeah!

A lovely, skinny section of trail with Mesa Verde in the distance.

Afterwards we headed to Scottsdale, AZ near Phoenix for my show, my favorite drive of all time. As usual we hit up South Mountain for some riding on The National Trail. A gnarly and technical ride for sure whether your climbing it or going down. Lotsa fun, but it's a desert mountain island surrounded by city so you don't get that out there in the middle of nowhere feeling, a lot of people about but you lose most of them when you head up the trail. We did see two coyotes out loping about. I have a video below of myself riding the Waterfall section, we didn't stop and take a lot of pics on this ride. Craig and I were both feeling a little off this day, I think we were both ready to get out of the city and be on our way.

Me having fun on National.

After the show we headed to Sedona for some more great riding and beautiful scenery, luckily we didn't fall into any vortexes. This place is gorgeous however it's completely surrounded by wildnerness so no mechanized vehicles and that means bikes. So all of the riding surrounds the town/city up to the wilderness boundary. This means kick ass riding for all abilities but it also means a lot people using the same trails a lot of the time, hard to get away from it all but totally worth it. We had better mojo this day and felt more relaxed in our surroundings.

Thunder Mountain in West Sedona. This is where we did a very fun and challenging out and back. It was definitely more challenging going in then coming out. What a beautiful place, it's really amazing.

Wall Ride, this was a pretty steep/vert wall we played on, so fun.

Craig riding the Wall.

Riding the edge.

Craig and I feeling happy to be out and away on an adventure. The show went well, caught up with some friends and met some new ones. I made some money which in this day and age is not easy to do with art and I won an award which is reassuring and I'm grateful. Can't wait to go back next year.

Too see all of the pictures from the trip check out my Flickr site.

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Art and Riding in Arizona

We're heading to Arizona next week for an art show I have in Scottsdale and I'm really ready for something different, a break from the daily grind so to speak. I love going to Arizona in March. It's so different than what I'm used to, you feel like you're in a different world. The plants, the animals, the landscape, all different in the low lands of the Sonoran Desert. I really love the giant Saguaro Cactus, I can remember the first time I saw them silhouetted against the night sky, I was extremely excited, they're epic. I'm a desert girl at heart, I love the high deserts of the 4 corners area the best and feel most at home there within the shadow of the tall peaks surrounding me. We will drive down through Durango and stop in Cortez to ride Phil's World and the next day head south through some of the most beautiful country inhabited by some of the most forgotten people.
While we're in Arizona we'll head over to Phoenix and ride the National Trail at South Mountain. A huge mountain park surrounded by the city, it's like an island of wildness surrounded by a sea of buildings and people and it has some extremely fun and technical riding as well as rock art, coyotes, bob cats among others.

South Mountain

After the show is over we stop in different places to ride on the way home, Black Canyon which is between Phoenix and Sedona, a very good place to ride as well and you feel like you're out there in the middle of nowhere. Sedona as well is a excellent place to ride but I never feel like I'm far from people or town when I ride there, but it's so gorgoues. This year we want to stop in Gallup, NM to ride the High Desert Trail System there. Can't wait!

National Trail at South Mountain

A little bit of this a little bit of that..

Life is busy, between working, getting ready for my show in Scottsdale and riding I don't have much extra time. I've recovered from my HATE ON mostly, life is good no matter what. Here is a list of things that have been happening lately.

• Worked for Honey Stingers at Costco a couple weekends ago doing a demo, got to wear a hair net, not my best look! Never been in a Costco before, it's a machine of a place. The Costco was in Arvada which was a soul sucking drive, I so appreciate where I live.
  
  
  Emma and I working the hair nets!
  

• Strangely enough a few days later my Step Dad let me know that he got a Costco membership for Craig and I, hmmm.
  

• Riding as usual but getting out on the weekends with Dan and Kim as well as their friend Chuck. Riding trails I normally don't get to hit this time of year so that's been a lot fun!
  
  

• I wrenched my left shoulder riding the other day, wiped out on some ice, geez! I'm pretty certain it's rotater cuff injury, but not too terribly serious, I can raise my arm above my head, however it's a little painful to do so.
  

• Working a lot in the studio making new art for my show in Scottsdale, AZ. Please let it be a GOOD show! I'm pretty happy with the new work, new ideas.
  

• Looking forward in a BIG way to our mini vaca that we're building into our show trip to AZ. We're taking the bikes as usual and hitting up some trails in AZ and NM, South Mountain here I come. Kick Ass! The drive is one of my favorites as we take the back way down through the Navajo Res. I just wish we could do some camping.
  

• My sister and her husband had their second child, Amelia Josephine last week. I'm an Auntie again, yea!
  
  
  Amelia Josephine!
  

• My truck broke down last week but Randy fixed it for me, yeah! It was a little bit of an ordeal needless to say I will never patronize Checker Auto again.
  

• I will be replacing my cranks on my bike before we leave for AZ...(:

• I realized that I'm unconsciously waiting for the other shoe to drop most of the time. The saying "It's Always Something" runs through my mind all the time these days as well as "It Is What It Is"..is that a balance?
  

• I'm stoked that we've sprung forward with our time, more daylight in the evening means more time to do stuff after work, it's gonna be warmer and summer time soon and I can wear my flip flops again!

Hate On!

I think it's time for a full Hate On! Get it out of my system, relieve the pressure so it'll pass but also embrace the Hate On, everyone hates at one time or another, it's natural, right? My Hate On's come periodically, I think it's left over from my punk rock days as a teenager, the angst that I've always carried with me in life, even if it's a quiet murmur at times. The angst that made me a lousy hippie, that always kept me out of a dress and in the dirt, the angst that makes me try hard shit on my mountain bike, that makes me get up when I'm down and try again. So it's not a bad thing, I just have to be aware of what it is and not take it too seriously and remember to laugh! Back to the Hate On though, my fuse has been short lately with things that aren't necessarily in my control. I don't have a Hate On for my friends, family, etc..it's mostly for people I don't know, people that don't realize that they're pissing me off, people that make me wish I knew Gung Fu. So here is a incomplete list of things I have a Hate On for currently.

1. School Buses that drive below the speed limit on a two lane road with no passing area and stop every 1/4 mile to let a rug rat off who ultimately forgets something and has to come back on the bus meanwhile creating a huge delay for the rat tail of cars behind the bus.
   
   
2. School Zones when the lights are flashing. Notice how they're never any kids around when these lights are flashing you to drive 20 MPH. They also flash at strange times of day when kids should be in school. It's like a kid is gonna jump out like a scared dear, yeah right.
   
   
3. Speed Trap Vans! We know what you are, we know what you're doing and you always park in the same place. These guys deserve a one finger salute every time you drive by, I still think that's legal.
   
   
4. The guy who sits in the Speed Trap Vans. I see him or maybe her in there, but they're hiding all gutless behind those tinted windows. At least Meter Maids or Meter Men are out there in full daylight, that takes guts.
   
   
5. People who drive below the speed limit for no apparent reason!
   
   
6. People with a lot of money who tell you how you should be living your life. That means you Oprah!
   
   
7. The fact that I don't have enough money to live my life the way I think I should. Not all the time, I choose simplicity over extravagance and a lot of toys but it would be nice to buy a new crank set for my one bike.
   
   
8. People. Yes, once and awhile I get a Hate On for people in general. I love my friends and family, I know in my mind and sometimes in my heart that we're all connected, a part of the same family, suffering, loving, living. We all want the same good things in life, I get it. But damn, they're sure are a lot of us out there and some of us are really annoying. This is the part of me that would be happy living on some land in the mountains or desert far away from cities.
   
   
   
9. People, women specifically, who urinate all over public toilet seats and don't think they need to clean up after themselves. Really, you think someone else should do that for you? I don't think so.
   
   
10. Lastly, cause I'll stop my intolerant rant as it's starting to annoy even me and I don't want to have to put myself on my own list, is people who think it's their place to tell other people what to do, how to do it, when to do it. A righteous attitude in my opinion. I don't mind kind advice but people who go out of their way to let you know that you should be doing things their way piss me off. To each his own, unless you're hurting someone else mind your own damn business.

That's all, it felt really good to get that out. Now I can move on, practice some tolerance and patience, patience has never been my strong suit. I will make a list of things I love at some point, because duality exists in everything and you can't have the Hate On without the Love On.