Amanda Miller

Night Riding

Lastnight after work, a few of the guys from the shop and I headed to Coyote Ridge for some mountain biking. I haven’t ridden my mountain bike since collegiate nationals in October (anything significant, anyway). I forgot how much fun it was to ride mountain bikes. And had darkness on top of that…it was a blast! We climbed over the first “ridge” of the foothills. At the top, you could see for miles. It was an awesome view of the lights from Loveland and Fort Collins. As far as the weather goes…the trails were dusty and the temperatures were hovering around 45degrees. Today it’s pushing 60degrees. Tomorrow 65 and Saturday 70. What the heck is going on here in Colorado? I don’t have a clue. Sunday isn’t looking so hot though…45degrees with a chance of snow. Craziness! Opted out of going to race in New Mexico. I have a few big tests on Tuesday that I really need to study for. So race season will start next weekend for me in Denver. That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of the week!
-A

Night Riding

Lastnight after work, a few of the guys from the shop and I headed to Coyote Ridge for some mountain biking. I haven’t ridden my mountain bike since collegiate nationals in October (anything significant, anyway). I forgot how much fun it was to ride mountain bikes. And had darkness on top of that…it was a blast! We climbed over the first “ridge” of the foothills. At the top, you could see for miles. It was an awesome view of the lights from Loveland and Fort Collins. As far as the weather goes…the trails were dusty and the temperatures were hovering around 45degrees. Today it’s pushing 60degrees. Tomorrow 65 and Saturday 70. What the heck is going on here in Colorado? I don’t have a clue. Sunday isn’t looking so hot though…45degrees with a chance of snow. Craziness! Opted out of going to race in New Mexico. I have a few big tests on Tuesday that I really need to study for. So race season will start next weekend for me in Denver. That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of the week!
-A

Oval and Estes Park Rides

With temperatures hovering around 55degrees this weekend, I made sure to get some saddle time in. Ended up with 9ish hours and 160miles total. Saturday I hit up the Oval ride. This ride draws all the local pro’s and fasties out to throw down for 4+hours every Saturday. I’ve done this ride a few times now and have never made it over the “Windsor wall”. This hill is pretty steep, but short. This weekend I made it over the wall and then some. I think I lasted right around 2hrs with the group before the lactic acid in my legs built up. I did get dropped before that, but fortunately there was a red light at the top of the hill. A few of us stragglers latched on and stuck with the group for a little while longer. I made it to just outside Berthoud before I popped. People were attacking and the pace kept increasing. Jeff Kerkove caught up to me in Berthoud and we rode back to Fort Collins. Right around 4hours of saddle time with about 75miles worth of riding.

Sunday was supposed to be a “group” ride with a few different people. Ended up just being three of us Iowan’s showing up though. Andrew Carney, Jeff Kerkove, and I headed to Estes Park. Unfortunately, Andrew’s rear wheel blew up about 3miles into the ride so he had to head back to town. Jeff and I saw him heading up to Estes Park later on as we were coming back down. The ride was pretty tough at times. Jeff was supposed to average a certain wattage, and I was supposed to ride in certain zones. To do this, I had to sit in his draft most of the time because his workout was harder than mine. We had a pretty good tempo going up the first part of the climb to Estes Park. Then the headwind came. The ride got tougher as we gained altitude, especially outside of Glen Haven. There’s some super steep switch backs up there. So steep that you almost wonder how vehicles get up and down them. Arrived in Estes Park to snow. It was weird though because we saw blue skies and the sun behind us and nothing but gray snow clouds in front of us. Either way, once we headed back down, the temperatures increased and the snow stopped. Ended up with 5hours (3 of which were climbing) and right at 85miles. Here’s some pictures from today’s ride:

A few weeks back, we saw this gravel road that looked pretty sweet. Jeff did some research on it, and found out where it took us. So we rode it today as a “short-cut” to Highway-34 (which goes to Estes Park). Pretty sweet road, even though it’s short. There’s no guard rails and probably a 100foot drop on the side.

Jeff setting tempo at the beginning of the climb.

“Hi, my name is Amanda, and my legs are getting tired.”

That’s a really steep hill. You’re already climbing, and the grade kicks up quite a bit. The switch-backs start at the top when you turn to the left. Ouch.

Pictures really don’t do justice.

Yay! Snow…

This coming weekend is the first race of the collegiate season. Still not sure if I’m going though. I have lots of stuff to do (school) this week. The race is in Albuquerque, NM, which is about a 7hour drive from here. Not sure if I want to spend 14hours in a van/car to race in a crit, ITT, and TTT. We will see though. It all depends how much studying/homework I get done by Friday. That’s all for now. Have a good week!
-A

Oval and Estes Park Rides

With temperatures hovering around 55degrees this weekend, I made sure to get some saddle time in. Ended up with 9ish hours and 160miles total. Saturday I hit up the Oval ride. This ride draws all the local pro’s and fasties out to throw down for 4+hours every Saturday. I’ve done this ride a few times now and have never made it over the “Windsor wall”. This hill is pretty steep, but short. This weekend I made it over the wall and then some. I think I lasted right around 2hrs with the group before the lactic acid in my legs built up. I did get dropped before that, but fortunately there was a red light at the top of the hill. A few of us stragglers latched on and stuck with the group for a little while longer. I made it to just outside Berthoud before I popped. People were attacking and the pace kept increasing. Jeff Kerkove caught up to me in Berthoud and we rode back to Fort Collins. Right around 4hours of saddle time with about 75miles worth of riding.

Sunday was supposed to be a “group” ride with a few different people. Ended up just being three of us Iowan’s showing up though. Andrew Carney, Jeff Kerkove, and I headed to Estes Park. Unfortunately, Andrew’s rear wheel blew up about 3miles into the ride so he had to head back to town. Jeff and I saw him heading up to Estes Park later on as we were coming back down. The ride was pretty tough at times. Jeff was supposed to average a certain wattage, and I was supposed to ride in certain zones. To do this, I had to sit in his draft most of the time because his workout was harder than mine. We had a pretty good tempo going up the first part of the climb to Estes Park. Then the headwind came. The ride got tougher as we gained altitude, especially outside of Glen Haven. There’s some super steep switch backs up there. So steep that you almost wonder how vehicles get up and down them. Arrived in Estes Park to snow. It was weird though because we saw blue skies and the sun behind us and nothing but gray snow clouds in front of us. Either way, once we headed back down, the temperatures increased and the snow stopped. Ended up with 5hours (3 of which were climbing) and right at 85miles. Here’s some pictures from today’s ride:

A few weeks back, we saw this gravel road that looked pretty sweet. Jeff did some research on it, and found out where it took us. So we rode it today as a “short-cut” to Highway-34 (which goes to Estes Park). Pretty sweet road, even though it’s short. There’s no guard rails and probably a 100foot drop on the side.

Jeff setting tempo at the beginning of the climb.

“Hi, my name is Amanda, and my legs are getting tired.”

That’s a really steep hill. You’re already climbing, and the grade kicks up quite a bit. The switch-backs start at the top when you turn to the left. Ouch.

Pictures really don’t do justice.

Yay! Snow…

This coming weekend is the first race of the collegiate season. Still not sure if I’m going though. I have lots of stuff to do (school) this week. The race is in Albuquerque, NM, which is about a 7hour drive from here. Not sure if I want to spend 14hours in a van/car to race in a crit, ITT, and TTT. We will see though. It all depends how much studying/homework I get done by Friday. That’s all for now. Have a good week!
-A

Riding/Snowshoeing/School/Weather…you name it.

First off – I’m watching the Tour of California on VS. right now. All I have to say is what the crap is Rock & Republic wearing? Check out those kits!

Today it was in the upper 50’s here in Fort Collins. I got out of class at 2:00 and hit the road shortly after. I rode up Rist Canyon, down the backside, and over through Masonville. This is now my favorite ride. It’s challenging and very scenic.

Not sure why this horse had a blanket on it. This was on the way up Rist Canyon.

Ah the views going up the canyon are priceless.

This is the view from the backside of Rist.

Horsetooth Reservoir.

This weekend I did a big road ride on Saturday and went snowshoeing on Sunday in Estes Park. Here’s some pictures:

That’s pretty much all for now. Time to go rest the legs and study some more. This weekend is more big riding (and my last free weekend for a few months). Race season starts the following weekend in New Mexico. Have a good night!
-A

Riding/Snowshoeing/School/Weather…you name it.

First off – I’m watching the Tour of California on VS. right now. All I have to say is what the crap is Rock & Republic wearing? Check out those kits!

Today it was in the upper 50’s here in Fort Collins. I got out of class at 2:00 and hit the road shortly after. I rode up Rist Canyon, down the backside, and over through Masonville. This is now my favorite ride. It’s challenging and very scenic.

Not sure why this horse had a blanket on it. This was on the way up Rist Canyon.

Ah the views going up the canyon are priceless.

This is the view from the backside of Rist.

Horsetooth Reservoir.

This weekend I did a big road ride on Saturday and went snowshoeing on Sunday in Estes Park. Here’s some pictures:

That’s pretty much all for now. Time to go rest the legs and study some more. This weekend is more big riding (and my last free weekend for a few months). Race season starts the following weekend in New Mexico. Have a good night!
-A

The Weekend

Sorry for not updating sooner. I’m still pretty busy (unfortunately).

Last Saturday the CSU team had a team time trial practice. The Women’s A group seemed pretty smooth. I’m not much of a time trialist, but I could probably handle the team time trial thing. Should be a good season racing with the girls on the team.

On Sunday, Julia and I headed down to Denver for team photos, sponsorship products, and riding. One of our sponsors (on the DFT team) is Nuun. We received some of the mixes and I’m very impressed with it. I normally don’t use drink mixes, because I’m lazy. But this stuff tastes good and seems to do the trick with electrolyte replacement. I haven’t done any extremely long rides yet with it, but this weekend I will put it to the test. Last weekend I also got a Tooks headband that has a place to put headphones into it. How cool is that! It was like Christmas all over again. We also got more Rumba energy drink. Still loving this stuff. It goes down like juice because it doesn’t have the carbonation and taste great! Here’s some group shots taken by our professional camera man – Rob Helton:

This is the elite squad. The triathletes are on the left and the road squad is on the right. The tri-squad (from left to right) Laura Wachter, Deb Holland, and Alicia Brillon. The road squad goes like this (from left to right): Monique Hein, myself, Julia Manley, and Megan Hottman.

The Colorado team.

After photos, a few of us headed out for a ride. First, we climbed up Bear Creek Canyon. It was a pretty gradual climb, but got steeper towards the top (like every thing out here). Then we headed down I-70 to Lookout Mountain. We descended Lookout and then turned around and went back up it. After that, we went back down and headed through Morrison. It was a good ride with lots of climbing. I’m pretty excited for the 2008 season. Here’s some pictures from the ride:

Headed up Bear Creek.

Julia and Megan taking a break to pose for the camera.

Riding up Lookout Mountain. Yes, there’s snow…but it was 50+ degrees that day.

That’s pretty much what my weekend consisted of. Tuesday I did an LT test at Orchard’s Athletic Club in Loveland. It was directed by my coach. Yesterday it was 65degrees out. I woke up this morning to two inches or so of snow. What the crap? Tomorrow it’s supposed to be mid 40’s and this weekend it’s supposed to be near 50 again. Weird weather! No complaints on the warmness though. I’m headed out for some riding this weekend, and possibly some snow shoeing at the high altitudes. As for now, time to hit the books, again. Have a good night!
-A

The Weekend

Sorry for not updating sooner. I’m still pretty busy (unfortunately).

Last Saturday the CSU team had a team time trial practice. The Women’s A group seemed pretty smooth. I’m not much of a time trialist, but I could probably handle the team time trial thing. Should be a good season racing with the girls on the team.

On Sunday, Julia and I headed down to Denver for team photos, sponsorship products, and riding. One of our sponsors (on the DFT team) is Nuun. We received some of the mixes and I’m very impressed with it. I normally don’t use drink mixes, because I’m lazy. But this stuff tastes good and seems to do the trick with electrolyte replacement. I haven’t done any extremely long rides yet with it, but this weekend I will put it to the test. Last weekend I also got a Tooks headband that has a place to put headphones into it. How cool is that! It was like Christmas all over again. We also got more Rumba energy drink. Still loving this stuff. It goes down like juice because it doesn’t have the carbonation and taste great! Here’s some group shots taken by our professional camera man – Rob Helton:

This is the elite squad. The triathletes are on the left and the road squad is on the right. The tri-squad (from left to right) Laura Wachter, Deb Holland, and Alicia Brillon. The road squad goes like this (from left to right): Monique Hein, myself, Julia Manley, and Megan Hottman.

The Colorado team.

After photos, a few of us headed out for a ride. First, we climbed up Bear Creek Canyon. It was a pretty gradual climb, but got steeper towards the top (like every thing out here). Then we headed down I-70 to Lookout Mountain. We descended Lookout and then turned around and went back up it. After that, we went back down and headed through Morrison. It was a good ride with lots of climbing. I’m pretty excited for the 2008 season. Here’s some pictures from the ride:

Headed up Bear Creek.

Julia and Megan taking a break to pose for the camera.

Riding up Lookout Mountain. Yes, there’s snow…but it was 50+ degrees that day.

That’s pretty much what my weekend consisted of. Tuesday I did an LT test at Orchard’s Athletic Club in Loveland. It was directed by my coach. Yesterday it was 65degrees out. I woke up this morning to two inches or so of snow. What the crap? Tomorrow it’s supposed to be mid 40’s and this weekend it’s supposed to be near 50 again. Weird weather! No complaints on the warmness though. I’m headed out for some riding this weekend, and possibly some snow shoeing at the high altitudes. As for now, time to hit the books, again. Have a good night!
-A

Slacker

Yes, I know, I’ve been quite the slacker on keeping this thing updated. Truth be told, I’ve been SWAMPED! You’d think 12credit hours in college would be easy…wrong. Classes this semester are going to kick my butt for sure. Especially my economics class. Not too interested in that kind of stuff, but it’s required for my major. Another hard class is my forest ecogeography class. We have to memorize scientific names, common names, and characteristics of several trees…yikes! So on top of going to class 12hours a week, I’ve been working 25hours at a bike shop down in Loveland – Peloton Cycles. It’s a pretty cool shop and I enjoy working there so far. I work three days a week. When I get done working those days, I ride the rollers for a little while, then hit the books. I have class every day at 8:00am, so I have to be in bed by 12:00 to even feel like getting up in the morning. Doesn’t leave much room for anything else. It’s a bit stressful, but I’m managing so far. I do have weekends free, however. So what have I been doing on the weekends? Riding, of course.

Last weekend I hit up the oval ride again. It was brutal and I got dropped twice. Meredith Miller and Georgia Gould showed up for the ride so that was fun. It was nice getting to talk to them and what not. On Sunday I went on the Rio ride. Meredith was along again. Both rides had quite a few people on them. The Rio ride was pretty relaxed so it was nice to get to talk and meet with new people.

A few of us decided to roll out early for the Rio ride.
The Rio ride. I attempted to get a shot of how many people were on the ride, but I’m not tall enough. On the left, some Rio guy (not sure of his name) and on the right is Meredith. You can sort of see Jeff Kerkove on the left side of the paceline too.

So that’s what I did last weekend. Today I attempted to ride up Rist Canyon. It was pretty windy and there were some clouds rolling in. The climb was sketchy in some spots with snow/sand. I made it to about 6.5miles out of the 9miles or so and decided to turn around. The snow was starting to come down faster and I didn’t want to get caught in those conditions. Made it down safe and sound.

This weekend I have a team ride on Saturday with the CSU club. Then on Sunday I’m heading down to Denver for team photos/riding. Should be a good weekend (minus all the homework I have to do!!). The temperatures are supposed to be above 50degrees, so I’m excited about that. As for now, the wind is blowing pretty strong. Makes some eerie noises, for sure. That’s all for now. Time to get back to studying!! Take care!
-A

Slacker

Yes, I know, I’ve been quite the slacker on keeping this thing updated. Truth be told, I’ve been SWAMPED! You’d think 12credit hours in college would be easy…wrong. Classes this semester are going to kick my butt for sure. Especially my economics class. Not too interested in that kind of stuff, but it’s required for my major. Another hard class is my forest ecogeography class. We have to memorize scientific names, common names, and characteristics of several trees…yikes! So on top of going to class 12hours a week, I’ve been working 25hours at a bike shop down in Loveland – Peloton Cycles. It’s a pretty cool shop and I enjoy working there so far. I work three days a week. When I get done working those days, I ride the rollers for a little while, then hit the books. I have class every day at 8:00am, so I have to be in bed by 12:00 to even feel like getting up in the morning. Doesn’t leave much room for anything else. It’s a bit stressful, but I’m managing so far. I do have weekends free, however. So what have I been doing on the weekends? Riding, of course.

Last weekend I hit up the oval ride again. It was brutal and I got dropped twice. Meredith Miller and Georgia Gould showed up for the ride so that was fun. It was nice getting to talk to them and what not. On Sunday I went on the Rio ride. Meredith was along again. Both rides had quite a few people on them. The Rio ride was pretty relaxed so it was nice to get to talk and meet with new people.

A few of us decided to roll out early for the Rio ride.
The Rio ride. I attempted to get a shot of how many people were on the ride, but I’m not tall enough. On the left, some Rio guy (not sure of his name) and on the right is Meredith. You can sort of see Jeff Kerkove on the left side of the paceline too.

So that’s what I did last weekend. Today I attempted to ride up Rist Canyon. It was pretty windy and there were some clouds rolling in. The climb was sketchy in some spots with snow/sand. I made it to about 6.5miles out of the 9miles or so and decided to turn around. The snow was starting to come down faster and I didn’t want to get caught in those conditions. Made it down safe and sound.

This weekend I have a team ride on Saturday with the CSU club. Then on Sunday I’m heading down to Denver for team photos/riding. Should be a good weekend (minus all the homework I have to do!!). The temperatures are supposed to be above 50degrees, so I’m excited about that. As for now, the wind is blowing pretty strong. Makes some eerie noises, for sure. That’s all for now. Time to get back to studying!! Take care!
-A