Author: cartwheelsandcake

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

Representation Matters. Or why I so excited to meet Caroline Gleich.

x-posted to Instagram

In 1998 I watched the Imax movie Everest, which detailed the ’96 climbing disaster. Despite the tragedy, twelve year old me was in awe. I told my Mom that someday I wanted to climb mountains.

Things stalled for a while. I didn’t grow up camping, climbing, or skiing, but as soon as I hit college I seized the privilege to get outside. Over the years I learned to climb (outdoors first), backpack, ski, paddle, cycle, and more. When I moved to Oregon in 2009, the first thing I did was look up how to climb Mount … Continue reading

11,394 feet

Today’s ride bumped me to 11,394 ft of elevation gained on my bike for this week (this week being Monday-Sunday). That’s my second biggest week of elevation gain solely from my bike, the first being Cycle Oregon in 2016 when I did over 28,000ft…

Considering it’s the third full week in January, I’m feeling pretty good about that. Also sore ?I’m definitely feeling sore.

Today we completed the ride that sent us home turned into miserable popsicles just two weeks ago. Many things were the same: it was still windy, (albeit a little less so down low, but more … Continue reading

Mountain bikes!

Paul on his Giant Fathom 2

This year both Paul and I bit the bullet and bought new mountain bikes. That’s its own post, and I’ll write up that experience soon (because it has been an adventure).

But for now I’ll say that yesterday we took those bikes out to Valmont Bike Park, which is 1mi from our house. It’s a 42 acre bike park with skills trails and terrain parks. It’s pretty awesome.

It was a great place to test the bikes and start to get used to them. It’s also the first time either of us have ever … Continue reading

The 500,000ft challenge

Well. I suppose it’s time to share this year’s challenge. Not that every year needs a challenge. But I like the idea of having something to get me out of the house when it’s either cold, hot, windy, raining, snowing, or really any situation where the couch and my pjs just seem WAY more inviting.

Paul and I talked about our goals for the year, which included some biking (more on that in a moment), hiking (we’d like to do some 13ers and 14ers), skiing, and rock climbing (indoors and out). But how to make a challenge that involves all … Continue reading

Cycling, snow, and tummy aches

I seem to tagging a high number of this new year’s posts as “mishap”, a fact that has not been lost on me out in woods or on the roads. I AM learning from them. But each one is a bit painful.

This last round happened on Saturday.

We had the idea to bike up to Ward (at about 9K ft) via a new route (route 7, to be exact). The steepness was a little gentler than our other two routes, and we could do it as a loop ride. We’d start with 12 gently rolling miles out to Lyons, … Continue reading

Cycling, sunshine, and tummy aches

Apparently it’s Wednesday. I’ve been confused about the day of the week for the past three days. But no matter. It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm (58 degrees!) Wednesday.

Unfortunately, my tummy has been quite unsettled for the past three days. I sort of wonder if all the cold air from the past couple activities has contributed to it’s out-of-sortness. But it was SO nice out, that despite feeling a bit blah, I really wanted to get out.

The deal I made with myself was that I’d go very slow, in order not to suck in so much cold … Continue reading