Ales & Trails @ China Camp State Park

What a day. We attended the International Mountain Bicycling Association's Ales & Trails event yesterday at China Camp State Park. I noticed on the Ales & Trails website that the organized rides were limited to groups of 10, including leaders. I wanted to arrive early so we could be sure to get on one of the rides. We got there at 9am. Look at our bikes parked bright and early in the bike pen, patiently waiting for their fun! It wasn't immediately clear how to sign up for the rides but I soon figured out that the different rides were being done by various vendors and you signed up at their booths. The REI folks were doing a Beginning/Intermediate ride and clinic. That sounds right up my alley so I signed us up.

They were also doing free bike checks at a lot of the booths and we took advantage of that. The guy that worked on my bike said the cranks (those little arms the pedals are attached to) were loose and that I need to keep an eye on that. He tightened things up and oiled the chain and otherwise gave my mountain bike some love and attention. I need to name my mountain bike. I'm pretty sure it's a boy so that needs to be considered. Maybe an androgynous name in case I'm wrong about that. Wouldn't want to hurt his (or her?) feelings. Aaaanyway...

After some wandering around and checking out all the booths, including the bagels and cream cheese booth (I couldn't resist but at least I only ate a 1/2 of one with a light layer of cream cheese) it was time for our clinic and ride. Like I said, this was sponsored by the REI Outdoor School. The clinic portion consisted of some basics about making sure your bike is trail ready, shifting, breaking, weight distribution, etc. Then we rode around in circles practicing turning, keeping our pedals in the right spot, shifting our weight, etc.

After the clinic we got to take off on our ride. We rode the Shoreline Trail, a trail we've been on before. I was a little worried about keeping up because, well, it's what I do, but the pace was fine for me, even a little slow at times. There was a boy scout group hiking the trail and passing them was interesting. So we get to the switchbacks and our leader stops and we learn we're going to be practicing on them. Perfect! The last time I was out there I only made one of the switchbacks without having to put my feet down. We went one at a time with a leader at each switchback. I followed all their tips - take it wide, inside pedal up, brake gently, etc. By far and away the best tip was to look where I wanted to go. They said if we look where we want to go our bodies (and the bikes) will follow. It worked! I made 7 out of 8 attempts. The funny thing is the one I didn't make was while going uphill, which should have been easier than going down. Learning how to deal with switchbacks alone made the whole day worth it! Yay!

We took it a little faster on the way back because we were running late. The ride was supposed to be 45 minutes but we were out there for 1.5 hours. Didn't hear me complaining :) When we got back around 12:30 we learned lunch wouldn't be served until 1pm. We got a swag bag that included free water bottles so we used those to get some beer. Yummmmmmy. I was getting hunnnngry too though. 1pm rolled around and I asked about lunch and was told that it'd be after the kids race. When the kids race was starting I decided I needed to get in line for lunch. There was no line so I started one :) To tell you the truth this would have embarrassed the crap out of me before. "Oh, there's the chubby girl first in line for food." I didn't feel embarrassed at all. I worked hard today and I have a right to be hungry. Amazing all the ways being fat affected me. Funny thing, a line formed behind us almost immediately. I was glad I did this too because the line turned out to be loooooonnnng. Here I am...first in line!


The food was good. Lots of salads, roasted chicken, they roasted a pig!, gumbo (which was not that good so I only ate a little), cookies, biscotti. I think I did okay in my portion sizes. I gave that bread away to the guy sitting next to me. I knew I shouldn't have taken it. Anyone want to take a guess at the number of Points in this meal?


Yeah, me neither. I wore my heart rate monitor on the ride and only burned about 400 calories and I'm sure this meal is more than that. Oh well. After lunch we decided to ride some of the little wood things they had set up. I didn't do too bad. Not too great either though :) Here are some pictures.



Honestly, how cool are those pictures? I actually fell twice! Strange enough, I felt good about falling, like it meant I was pushing myself. Or I drank too much. Nah, I only had one beer so let's go with pushing myself :) I have to post a picture of Miguel too. If we go to Ales & Trails next year I'm going to enter this picture of him in the photo contest. Yep, my photo taking skills are that good :)


So, during lunch I commented to him how our lives have changed so much. He said, "Yeah, before our lives were me going out to play pool and you sitting on the couch." Sad, but true. But not true anymore. We had a great day!

We had to run home and get to a friend's house for dinner. We were pretty tired but hung in like the troopers we've become. I never really got hungry again but that didn't stop me from eating dinner :) I had Maduros (fried, ripe plaintains) for an appetizer and a shrimp salad with lots of spring greens for dinner. I also munched on way too many chips and crackers when we got there. Ah, food. Apparently the great challenge of my life. I feel okay about my evening choices. Not great, but okay. I'm just going to wipe out my daily Points (24) and throw in another 20 WPAs, plus the 4 APs I earned and call it a 48 Point day. I don't know if that's anywhere near accurate but that's usually how I handle these sorts of things. That leaves me with 10 WPAs for the week. I can live with that.

Today I'm going to head to the pool to swim and lounge. I'm thinking about riding my bike there to burn a few extra calories and to try out my Garmin. I hope everyone in the blogosphere is having a great weekend! See you all next week.