Squaw Peak

 I'm six months out from my ACL reconstruction surgery!  However, I'm STILL not fully recovered...crazy how long these darn ligaments take to fully heal.  I still lack full motion of my knee: deep bends such as squatting down or sitting cross legged I still can't do.  And I can still see the muscular difference from my good thigh and my gimpy one...it's amazing how much muscle loss happens with this type of injury!  Anyway, riding my bike has been great for my physical therapy.  I try to ride a couple of times a week (I know, not much).  Most of my rides consist of cruising on the bike path up the canyon...basically, pretty easy stuff.  But last Saturday I bumped it up a notch and decided to tackle Squaw Peak, pretty much the hardest climb in the area.  Why I didn't start with something less daunting, one will never know. 

I figured if it was proving to be to hard on my knee I would just turn around.

But really, who was I kidding?  Once I started, I was going to see it though!

My knee handled it just fine!  The rest of me...well, not so much...I'm a little out of shape in the cardio department to say the least!

But I made it!!

 For the record, Ryan set a goal for his 40th birthday to climb Squaw 40 times this summer.

He met his goal early that morning...and then, just for kicks did it one more time with me later that day making it 41.  Pretty cool!

I discovered I was only about a minute slower than my time from last year when I did Squaw.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Either my recovery is top notch and I'm on fire or I really sucked last year, because honestly I felt as slow as molasses going up that darn climb this time!

But in any case, it feels really good to be making progress with my recovery.  And honestly, I find that when I challenge myself I'm surprised how much I can actually do!  The healing process is pretty neat that way!

Lake Arrowhead: Days 3 and 4

 There is an attic space above the garage at the cabin and the girls became quite obssessed with it while we were there.  I remember when I was younger I played a couple of times up there too...I set up a little table and pretended it was my office. But then it gets mighty toasty up there during the summer, so I called it quits pretty quick.  But the girls played up there in the mornings before it heated up too bad.  Most of the time they played pretty well...some of the time they fought like crazy driving me bonkers!  I kid you not, girls fight over EVERYTHING!!

 It's a pull down ladder to get up there, I can't help but think about the movie Goonies every I pull it down.

They also set up a table, hung drawings for decoration and always brought up snacks and water.

A few days before we arrived to Lake Arrowhead they had quite a bit of rain so our favorite beaches were closed due to run off...I guess they had high bacteria levels or something.  So anyway, we had to find new beaches to go to for the week!  And luckily we did!

I was able to do a bit of riding too, thanks to grandma for watching the kids!

Ryan and I rode a total of 3 times together...in one week!!!  That is unheard of, we haven't been able to ride that much together since before kids!  It was super fun...except for the climb we had to do in order to get back to the cabin...that hurt like the dickens.

Even rode with the pops too!

You would think with all the riding in hills that I would have dropped a pound or two...not so much though.

Bummer.

Last Friday

For the first day of summer break I started the day going on a ride up South Fork.  I started the ride alone but then met up with my dad on the way home.   As we were riding home we found a deer caught in between to fence posts.  It was a miracle we even saw it as it was hidden behind the brush off the path.  It was very much alive but as you can see, it was really stuck!  Can you see it behind me?

 We called the police who then alerted the DWR to come to the scene.  We heard that they were in fact able to get it out and it ran off...lucky deer.

Then later that afternoon the little ones, Ryan and I headed up to Salt Lake for a crit. Ryan raced in.  Haley and Morgan stayed with their grandparents for a sleep over.

 However, the sleep over got cut short...while we were driving home from the race we got a call from my mom that Morgan got hurt.  While Morgan and Haley were playing in the yard Morgan got her feet pulled out from under her and she smacked her head face first onto the cement.  Apparently it was quite a scene with enormous amounts of blood...my mom had to handle all the dirty work at getting her nose to stop bleeding which is good because I probably would have fainted if I had been there.

Ryan and I got home, he stayed home with the little ones while I took Morgan to the urgent care to get her nose checked out.  However, they suggested that I either take her to the ER or wait until the swelling goes down and take her back in.  She said the ER would probably suggest that anyway.  So that's what we did.  I'll take her in Monday to get it checked out again.  This time I'll take her to her pediatrician and maybe they'll refer me to a nose, ear, throat specialist...and we'll go from there.

What a way to start the summer!

Back on the bike.

Since the end of ski season I've been trying to stay more consistent with exercising...whether it's walking/running, biking or yoga...doing one of those things at least five days a week.  And so far I've been pretty committed, which kinda surprises me a little.  

My goals are: Not to suck so much for the weekly mountain bike races (starting very soon), and to lose 5 pounds (which by the way, I've been at this pretty hard for several weeks now and I'll have you know that I have NOT lost a single pound yet).  But whatever...I know that I'm probably stronger now than I have been in a very long time!  And since I've started road riding a bit more I'm kinda falling in love with it again.  I've started going on rides by myself which is kinda difficult for me, but once I'm out it can be very therapeutic.  And it's so pretty here!!

South Fork Canyon.

Riding this morning with my little brother, Jeffy.

He has quickly become my new riding partner!

Eventually Ryan and I will be able to ride more together too, but for now we have to kinda tag team the little ones. 

 The horses up South Fork.

Oh and if anyone was wondering our dogs survived their first grooming experience and I have to say they look like slightly overweight show dogs now!  It was pretty awesome...except for the part that one of them (pretty sure it was Etta) had diarrhea  in the back of Ryan's car on the way home...not so awesome.  Luckily it was on a grimy blanket and they didn't tromp around in it...but seriously...not cool!

But look how pretty they are....Awwwwww!

Happy Monday ya'll!

Bike riding again!

 For the past few Sunday afternoons we've been enjoying some family bike rides.  Yes, as in with everyone!  Morgan is on the tandem with Ryan who also pulls the trailer with the little ones.  Haley and I are on our own bikes.  It's a bit crazy as you can imagine, but we stick to the river trail which has been nice.  Haley is still trying to figure it all out...she rides her bike nearly everyday, but it's to her friend's house or to go see the horses....that kind of riding.  The idea of consistent pedaling for longer distances is something that's kinda hard for her.  So we keep our rides pretty short...it's best if we can end a ride when everyone is still smiling!

On this day, Haley was on the tandem.  Morgan stayed home nursing a sore knee she had from falling of her bunk.  

Anyway, this week Ryan is in CO working so I opted to take the little ones out for a ride myself while the older two were at school.  I stayed close to home as I was a bit nervous to ride down the big hill to the valley floor...the whole trying to ride back up pretty much scared me.  So I found a little loop with some hills of its own and that was plenty for me!  

Riding with the trailer took me back to when I pulled Haley and Morgan when they were wee ones.  Some old posts on that here and here.  Oh the memories!  But I will say that Piper and Rory get along waaaay better in the trailer than Haley and Morgan did...so there's that, which is nice.

Happy Monday ya'll!!