Brazil - Nov 2013

Brazil!

Finally … I know, it has taken forever … but yes, Brazil was amazing!

Our trip started in Rio … a very vibrant city – the people, the culture, the food (the fruit is sooooo fresh/good/flavorful)…. All amazing!  We stayed on a hotel on the Copacabana Beach, and in a good area to walk around. We did lots of walking J  In Rio we did the usual tourist tours, with a twist – we went to see Cocovado – We knew the statue was huge, but wow, it was even bigger than we thought – check it out …

And of course we had to check out Sugarloaf – we hiked part way up and then took the gondola – amazing views …

We also did a hike of Tijuca rainforest – we hiked the heist peak (3,350 ft) in Rio – this was one of my favorites in Rio – it was a really cool rainforest with waterfalls and cool flowers … and one of the local residents did some nice posing for us. Unfortunately the weather was not super co-operative and we didn’t have much of a view (ok, no view) at the top J

Our guide also took us out to sample the night life … in Rio Scenarium – this was a super cool night club, 3 floors in total! The club was more like a museum in terms of décor – very cool/fun vibe.  We got to dance some samba (or pretend to) and the food was pretty good too. Jonathan really enjoyed the Caparinia’s … J

 

After a few days in Rio we went to Paraty. Rio was fun, but Paraty was just … amazing. If we go back to that area of Brazil, we will go straight to Paraty. It is a quaint little colonial town, which has kept it’s original architecture and streets. The streets are designed such that when the tide comes up, the water floods the streets (made of rock) and then the tide washes the streets on the way out. Pretty neat. Every hotel has rubber boots J 

 

The first day there we did a cool bike ride to some local swimming holes and around the town. It was fun to watch the local jump off the jungle ropes into the water – and our guide did some crazy high-up jumps too J We opted for the lower key jungle rope … very fun! The food in Paraty was amazing and we had trouble choosing which restaurant to go to J Also, the Ice Cream shop there was, well, spectacular!

 

There were loads of cool shops in the city and we did some good Christmas shopping while there – so many cool/local things! Our favorite day by far, was our ‘beach day’. This was no normal beach day. We did a 45min hike into a remote beach – you had to hike in, or boat in … it was so cool! There were a few little fishing huts and cantinas with amazing food – we had fresh fish, rice, and beans – delicious! And there was even a crab who decided to join us for lunch ;-)  We opted to hike another 30 min over a ‘hill’ (see below) to an even more remote beach – where we had the whole place to ourselves. It was perfect. We could have spent an entire day just hanging out there.

We also spent a day doing a beach tour by boat – also beautiful … but not as cool as the hikes J

 

We spent extra time relaxing, walking, walking and more walking J we toured Paraty and Rio both by foot – always a great way to see more of the city

 

 

 

Nov 25 - 30th ... Two Birthdays and Thanksgiving, oh My!

Well, the week of Nov 25th to 30th is always busy in this house!!! We have Emily's Birthday, Jonathan's birthday, and then Thanksgiving! The house is full of laughter, smells of cakes, pumpkin pies, and turkeys cooking, and best of all ... family and friends. A great time of year. 

 

Here are the cupcakes we made for Emily's birthday party - Emily did the decorations :) The pumpkin pies snuck into the picture too ...

Emily's Birthday cake - she wanted a farm :) Yes, I decorated it!

Jonathan's birthday cake. Emily wanted him to have a blue bear ... this one took a while :)

More birthday treats ... we went down to BurgerVille for dinner when we were at Great Wolf Lodge :)

Fun at Great Wolf Lodge

I'm a runner again ... did i just say that?

So I've been running a bit more this year - had to get in shape for the 1/2 ironman ... and then decided to do a 1/2 marathon this fall. It's fun, I love running ... and really like the balance of running and biking ... with the odd swim thrown in. I feel less tired, and my muscles have time to regroup after a hard run/ride.

And yes, I think it is time I acknowledge it ... I am a decent runner. Not super fast. But decent.

I signed up to race the XTerra Harvest 1/2 Marathon ... here are the details by the numbers :)
- Miles ran: 13.2  - all single track
- Vertical feet climbed: 2600ish
- Time running: 1:48
- Days till my legs felt 'normal' again: 3

What a race! I love running on the trails, but with all the 'busy-ness' of a new job, regular life, and getting married, I didn't get in much trail time, and definitely did not get in enough hill descending. Yes, I said descending. I can climb just fine ... but descending ... I have to work up to it. My quad take a beating and I usually work up to the long descents. But for this race, I didn't. I simply did not have the time ... but hey, I was doing this race for fun, and to keep myself motivated to run.

It was a mass start and all 100+ runners started down the trail at the same time. There was a lot of passing for me to do in the first 10 min .. I felt good. My legs felt light, springy even. I was drinking well, and even better, I was enjoying the single track. Let me explain that a bit more ... enjoying the single-track means that I feel like a little kid. I generally have a goofy grin on my face and do airplanes down the hills for the switchbacks. I hop and jump over anything on the trail, as if it is a game. So yes, I was enjoying the single-track :)

There were two laps; and in each lap there were two big climbs, and two big descents.  The climbs served me well. I don't consider myself a fast runner ... but on the hills I was passing like crazy ...  and even on the descents ... and the flats.  And I know part of it is that I started towards the back (texting with Jonathan until the start gun - whoops!) .. but still. It felt good to pass. And on every single climb, I passed.  About 1/2 way thru the 2nd lap, I caught another girl. We both got a bit lost at one point but figured it out together. I ended up ahead of her at that point and put on the gas thru the woods (I knew I was better at dancing thru the technical single track) and then thru the field till the end. I beat her by a whooping 60 seconds :) I worked hard for that!

And come to find out, I was 2nd. 2nd overall! What the heck! I was pleasantly surprised ... what a fun race :) Yes, I will do it again!

Enduro racing ... it's all about the downhill

This summer I found out about a new race at one of my favorite riding venues - Tiger Mountain. The race format was intrigueing .. lots of riding (4+ hours in the saddle); but they only time the descents. hmmmmm ... I figured I had to gie it a try since there was one at Tiger. Here are the details ...

By the numbers:
- Hours ridden: 4.5
- Miles ridden: 38.5
- Vertical feet climbed: 3500
- Total of all timed sections: ~32 min
- Finishing place: 3rd

It went pretty well considering it was my first rodeo :) The first section felt like cheating - I ride that course so much as part of my training (well, not a lot this year - but normally) that I can almost ride it in my sleep. It's technical, twisty, rooty, rocky, and oh so FUN! I give it a 8 for technical difficulty. and a 10 when you are trying to go fast. for my Ottawa readers, this is harder than Fortune. Much Much harder! also so much fun to ride down!  The second section was new trail and really tough. deep mud for the first 1/2 mile had me off my bike and running ...and it was over really fast! The third section as also familiar territory and I managed to rock that one out too. good times!

OK OK, enough about the timed sections - lets talk about the race format and why I enjoyed this type of race.  They had designated start times so I got in a 2 hour warm up before we even started. fun. i love riding at tiger.  Each person started 1 min behind te person in front of them to ensure minimal passing.  Goodness! The race organizers and volunteers were awesome - friendly and fun.  Oh, and it was raining. I am not talking about a gentle Seattle drizzle ... I am talking full on rain. As in buckets of rain. As in so hard I can barely see where I am going rain. This is where the 'able to ride the trail in my sleep' skill really helped :)

After each timed section it was pretty chill. There were three of us girls that kind naturally landed together and we rode to each section together. yes, these are the 2 that beat me :)  It was fun to chat and be chill in between sections where we tried to beat eachother. Adds more social dynamic to the race.  Add to that the fact that I wasn't feeling 100% and didn't have any kick ... well, I was glad they were only timing downhill sections :)

All in all, a great race, organized by good people! Thanks to Element Cycles for their support - not just to me - but also to the race - they were a key sponsor.