Well... so maybe I lied... just a little...

When I said that nothing's been going on lately. Well, at least nothing new and exciting. I have been riding my bike on the weekends... a lot. Which in and of itself, really isn't anything new.

TMBRA racing starts next month with the first XC race being part of the Mas-O-Menos marathon held in Terlingua. Besides getting ready for the TMBRA series, this year Alan and I are doing the Ouachita Challenge (OC) on April 5th. The OC is a 60 mile mountain bike race. This event is longer than any mountain bike event I've ever done, so my "training" is focusing on that more than the shorter XC races.

To add an extra twist to the OC is that I'm doing it as a Team In Training (TnT) event. Last November I did the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson as a Team In Training guest. This time I decided to jump in with both feet and do it right, which means that I am raising funds for Team In Training, which raises money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to visit my Team In Training page and if you feel inclined to make a donation... well, that would just be a wonderful thing.

Being an official part of the TnT event also means making the group training rides on Saturdays. Since the Team's Coach is also my husband, I can't skip out on a training ride without a really good reason (like doing a 6 hour race solo instead). So when last Saturday's high of 41deg was at 12:01am and ride time temperature was 32deg it didn't matter. I was there (with 6 other hardy team members), layers and all, ready to ride. 3-1/2 hours and 30 miles later it had warmed up to a balmy 34deg... woo hoo! At least we were at a mountain bike trail that had very little open areas, so the gusty wind wasn't a factor.

Sunday was a road trip to St Jo, TX and the mountain bike trails at the -H Ranch. We had also gone up to -H the Sunday before, but that was just for trail work. 6+ hours of helping to get the trails ready for the race in March. Since most of the work had been done the weekend before we knew that we could get in a ride this trip.

When going to -H, I always think of our first trip there. We had heard about the trails on the ranch and that there was a good bit of climbing. As we're driving we are greeted with this





Climbing? Where?

Turning onto the road to the ranch entrance, the scenery changes






as you ride the trails you see




can you see the "-H"


how about now?


Last, but not least, some pics of one of the locals








Well, I'm tired... so goodnight!