Beer, Bikes, and Snow

About nine years ago, a good friend of mine accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Prior to accepting this position, she lived in Boulder, Colorado for seven years. So when she told me she didn’t like AR, I thought she was just spoiled from living in one of the most desirable places in the United States. And then I went to visit her...and well, I didn’t disagree with her. Fast forward to now. I was going to Bentonville, Arkansas for the NICA National Conference . And I couldn’t wait.  I will reflect on my NICA National Conference later...but for now... Over the past few years, Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas (NWA) has become a mountain bike mecca . Apparently the Walton family has found a love of mountain biking and dumped millions of dollars into building insanely fun trails. I have heard first hand how awesome the trails are - all free to the public and accessible from town. Our National meeting was Wednesday June 13th thr...

I realized I hadn’t updated my blog in a very long time. Lots going on - mostly bike related, specifically NICA. We are in our second season of NICA , and Princeton Progressions grew in size. At the start of the season, we hit the athlete limit for a composite team, and were asked to split into two teams. Mike took the role of Head Coach for the new Central NJ Trail Terminators Composite . With Ben traveling for National NICA and BICP , Fred and I stepped up as Head Coaches for Princeton Progressions. We all know here in New Jersey (and much of the east coast), winter was rough. Our weekend rides were either cancelled due to snow, rain, or both. We did get creative with some of the practices, going to the climbing gym and getting our workouts in at spin class. But Mother Nature didn’t let up come spring. Our first race in early April was postponed due to weather and trail conditions. The rescheduled date almost didn’t happen due to rain and frigid temperatures. R...

As I sit enjoying the last hours of my summer vacation, I can't help but think where did it go? It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my classroom at Roxbury, ready to make a bee-line out the front doors.  So what did I do all summer you may ask? I kicked off my summer vacation with a trip to Kingdom Trails .  I saw earlier in the year that NEMBAfest would be at the end of my school year and I registered Lance and I for our first trip there.  I have to admit, I was a bit anxious about the amount of people that would be attending (approximately 2000) and how crowded the trails might be and the rowdiness of the people.  But...it was absolutely awesome.  An overall incredible experience - everyone was so relaxed and chill, the trails were never crowded, and I would do it again for sure. Tent City at NEMBAfest Smiles for miles at Kingdom Trails I spent six weeks working as a mountain bike instructor for the Morristown Beard Day Camp .  This...

My first experience with downhill (DH) was in Fernie, BC during our honeymoon four years ago. Granted I was on my all-mountain XC bike, I was terrified to ride down anything and everything.  I never had the urge to ride a bike park or downhill again.  Until I tried it last summer - on a proper DH bike and with the guidance of Ben.  I loved it - and wanted more.  Unfortunately my CX season was starting and I would be training for the upcoming season.  I spent the winter and spring working on skills that would carry over to DH and purchased a season pass to Mountain Creek. The idea of trying a DH race peaked my curiosity when I saw that Mountain Creek would be hosting a race Memorial Day weekend.  The weekend before the race I found out that some of the trails I had been practicing would not be in the Cat 2/3 race - including Asylum.   I wouldn't be able to pre-ride the course until the Friday of race weekend.  Ben spent the day going over sectio...