Ladies getting dirty in Golden

Summers are bad times for blogs; updates are few and far between. Since the July long weekend I have been doing the usual stuff - hiking biking, reading and sleeping (oh yeah, and working too). For the August long, a friend from Vancouver was visiting and most of our big adventure plans got sidetracked as she had developed a bad infection. It's funny though how catching up on each others lives can make a long weekend fly by! Jeff was away for the Transrockies race so it was just us girls.
Jeff did not race Transrockies this year and I did not take the week off either. From chatting last night once we were both home, I think he was quite happy to not have to wake up in the rain and start racing.
This past weekend, myself and four Spin Sisters (a local MTB club) went to Golden to ride. It was originally going to be many more of us, but the difference between 'interested' and 'committed' to going turned out to be quite big. In the end it was great to have a smaller group. A friend in Golden agreed to lead us on her favorite trails and ended up organizing many more women to join in the ride. Here is what I posted as a summary on the Spin Sister's site:
"On Saturday, my friend and guide organized an excellent group for a long ride up the canyon creek trail. We were a little nervous as a few of her friends were joining us, visiting from Nelson, and were sporting downhilling rigs and full face helmets. What were we getting ourselves into?! Luckily, that's just Nelson style, and once we got to the top of the canyon it was a satisfying 'blue run' all the way down and out with a few small stunts near the end (easily avoidable). We had a few seat height adjustments and a busted chain to contend with (totally do-able!) and only one injury. Unfortunately it was our guide! She popped her shoulder out, got it back in and rode out, but our Sunday plans were certainly changed."
"The next day, we all learned a valuable lesson - do not got to a beautiful gourmet brunch before riding! Hoping to get our bikes on the lifts we headed to the ski hill for the brunch special at the top of the hill. Unfortunately the bikes were a no-go, so after brunch we did some old-school cross-country following the ski trails at the bottom next to the hill. There were no set trails and lots of bear poo, so we wooped and hollered and had a grand old time dodging fallen trees. No incidences and no injuries, but some serious overeating regrets."
Good times were had by all.
This weekend is my first race - the 24 hrs in Canmore. Yikes! What a way to start racing eh? I promise I will post a run down of that adventure as soon as I can next week. One crazy thing is that Jeff is racing too. He's racing with a capital 'R', really wanting to place well. Personally, I'm going to be super proud of myself if I; a) don't back out last minute, b) ride my three assigned laps without over sleeping for the night ride, and c) don't get a concussion! I'm an easy girl to please...