Time to try something new, a bit of mountain biking.........

In one of the many biking forums I pop into from time to time, I discovered there would be a Women's MTB Skill Clinic at the Fall Color Festival. TrekWomen's Demo team was doing the clinic (and providing some great demo bikes) while the festival itself is hosted by the South Kettles chapter of WORBA (Wisconsin Off-Road Bicycling Association). The Fall Color Festival is a mountain bike event held annually at the John Muir trails in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest of southeastern WI. The festival consists of several races of varying length, a children's ride, and of course, the women's skill clinic. Oh, yeah, and a beer garden........ How could I resist?

I'd emailed the Trek Fit for Women team the day before to ask about a demo bike for the clinic. Lindsay Bradley of Trek emailed me back that she'd hold a Trek Fuel EX 8 WSD ( a sweet, sweet full suspension model) for me. Because I sent my height and weight, she even had the proper size bike selected and had pre-set the hydraulics. All that was left to do was swap out to SPD pedals.

Wasn't really sure what to expect with the clinic. After all, I've only been biking for a bit over a year, and with the exception of a few loops around the Hoyt trails in Wauwatosa, WI (a project by Metro Mountain Bikers, the Milwaukee chapter of WORBA), I'd never been mountain biking. I was worried that my lack of experience would hold back the rest of the group. And that I'd be the oldest by far. Didn't need to worry about either. Of the 9 or 10 women in the group, I'd guess 5 were in their 40's or older. There was a variety of levels of experience in the group with other beginners like me. I, though, was the only beginner wearing click in shoes. And on that note, let's just say while I would never ride without them, I have done myself no favors with my road bike habit of clipping out well in advance of stops. That is not an effective habit for mountain biking, and I desperately need to develop more of a second nature of clicking out quickly (more on that in a bit)!

We began the clinic in the brand new skills section of the John Muir trails. Lindsay was our instructor. Here she made sure everyone understood how to shift, how to brake (gotta work on that single finger thing), explained about momentum over obstacles, standing and riding with pedals level, always looking 30 or so feet ahead and a variety of other tips.

We made several laps around the skills course. Signs entering the area explained this is a work in progress - to date three wooden skill obstacles are built. Lindsay augmented the course with a small log for us to ride over, and a section of 2 4x4's laid parallel about 8-10" apart. It was this narrow obstacle that gave me the most trouble. Lindsey reminded me to look ahead, not down. Mentally I really struggle with keeping the bike on a narrow path. The look ahead hint makes a huge improvement. Did have my first fall in this area - solely due to having to stop quickly as someone balked at an obstacle and not getting unclipped. Scared the other women, bruised my ego a tad bit, but jumped right back on.

Once we were comfortable here, it was time to ride a trail. We were somewhat limited to where we could ride because the races were still running. Had a bit of confusion at the beginning, accidentally ending up on the race course where several riders flew by our group. Found the brown trail. Formerly known as the red trail, this is a great beginner trail. A couple of gentle rock gardens, some fast downhill sections (remember I'm a beginner), a punchy uphill section. Took a bad line in the sharp turn leading to the uphill section, rear wheel caught a big root as I turned and spun out from under me. Once again, didn't get a foot out fast enough to catch myself. Fall two. Did I mention I need to work on un-clipping fast?

After the ride, we went back to the skills area, where Lindsay demonstrated how to change a flat tire, and patiently answered all of our questions. Questions which ranged from bike repair and maintenance, full suspension versus hard tail, 26 vs 29, best group rides, bike clothing and gear.

As to the festival itself....very nicely run. Bikes and bikers everywhere. Riders of all ages and sizes.

Beer and food. Highly recommend going if you are in the area - it's the annual fundraiser for the trails, and a darned good time.

Unfortunately, I was in the clinic during the main races so don't have any pictures from those. However, was fun to see the kids taking over the course in the afternoon.

Even with that fall (ok, 2, but who's counting), really loved the day. Mountain biking brings an entirely different aspect into riding. On the road, there's a rhythm to riding that becomes almost hypnotic, mindless; while mountain biking requires a constant connection with the bike. Getting off your saddle, shifting weight forward and back, holding pedals in a position to not hit rocks or roots, finding lines. All provide a challenge, a change. Still love the road bike, but can tell I will do more of this style of riding. Having the opprotunity of learning this within a group of women was a bonus, a huge bonus.  (Thanks, Trek!!) And they even gave us gifts, and not to mention let us ride some great bikes.

Getting back on track......

Derailment....wicktionary describes it as:

derailment (plural derailments)

1. (rail transport) The action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs

Usually the train is running along on course, all systems go, following the path of the track.  Then out of nowhere the train hits something, abruptly stopping the engine, and one by one the cars leave the track. The resulting wreckage compounds the initial collision leaving more damage and destruction in its wake.

It seems this is exactly what has occurred in my quest for fat loss and improved fitness. March brought  a period of career uncertainty followed by starting a new role in April - a role I love but with weekly overnight travel. Suddenly all the habits I'd developed, the lifestyle changes I'd adopted over the previous 18 months began to derail. No consistent schedule made following a defined training program more difficult. Being away from home meant being away from my scale, so weighing, monitoring my progress, turned into weekly, turned into not at all. Travel brought more restaurant food. Much more. And with it  an "I'm on vacation" attitude - why not an order of fries, I'm traveling. How about an extra few beers, no biggie.

When I was home I found myself feeling guilty about the time spent away. Which made me increasingly reluctant to use home "family" time to work out. I stopped going to yoga. Not being able to follow a consistent schedule, regimented program for strength training meant with my all or nothing attitude, I stopped lifting entirely. The long solitary walks/runs and bike rides that I used to clear my head and shake off stress meant time away from family - and they stopped. Initially I did take advantage  travel nights away to enjoy long walks in the towns I visit, but I've found those becoming fewer and fewer. Meanwhile, the travel style junk food eating and drinking began to creep into my everyday home life also.

One by one my goals from January were not met. Instead of losing weight I gained it. Triathlon season came and went. While I did manage to drag myself through the Rock n Roll Chicago half marathon in August, I did it in my worst time. In March I was on the brink of moving down to a size 10, now my size 12s are too tight, I'm finding myself pulling out the 14s. I've even passed the weight I swore I would never, ever see again on the scale.

And I've blamed this all on traveling.

But I know if I'm honest with myself that's not all of it. By mid-February I'd hit my lowest weight in many years. With the exception of 3 or so years in my 20's, within a few pounds of lowest weight/size I'd been as an adult. At the time I told myself, I needed a diet/training break. Needed to just "maintain" for a while. What I needed to do was come to grips with how I'd changed. How both the weight I'd lost and more importantly my new healthier lifestyle had changed me, my relationships, the way friends and family, co-workers and strangers relate to me. How the changes in me can be at the same time threatening and inspiring to those who know and love me.

And with that I still struggle. We struggle.

I know that I'm not the skinny fat girl of my mid-20's. At one point, nearly 75 lbs less than my current weight. In a size 4. Weight lost after a particularly traumatic time/incident of my life. Maintained through an unhealthy lifestyle. Somewhat lost and off track. Funny, how few pictures I have from those years....when I had the body I'd always dreamed of. How intertwined this body image is with the poor decisions and bad behavior of this time of my life. And how much that scares me away from moving forward on this weight loss journey.

 

But even more frightening is going backward. I am no longer the obese and sedentary woman I'd become in my 30's and into my 40's. Numb. Sedate. Not happy with myself. Always aware I was one of the heaviest in the room. Always wondering if my weight was holding me back professionally, personally.

So where am I? Who am I? I know that I've changed, am still changing. Tired of being stuck in a place afraid to move forward, terrified of going backwards. Most importantly, know that going backwards is not an option - but if I don't take some concrete steps, exactly where I am headed. Know that *my* being fit, healthy and active is best not only for my physical health, but also my mental state.  I must to go back to fitting in time for me, back to making my health a priority in my life. I must let go of feeling guilty for spending time working out, guilty for making the food choices necessary to lose the rest of this weight. Find a way to hold myself accountable for my actions and decisions.

Must stop sitting on the couch all night - disgusted with myself; beginning to resent those around me, as if they were forcing me to eat too much, drink too much, be a slug. They aren't. They are nothing but supportive. Still, I must continue to assure my family that these changes are not a threat. That being a bit selfish is necessary for me, but also for them. I cannot become numb again.

This self-portrait from last March hints at this new Kim. Strong. Athletic. Wanting to tackle the world. Wanting to be a warrior. I just need to let her out. I owe that to her. To me.

Beer and Food, who knew.............

Actually, a lot of people know that beer is a great accompaniment to food. And not just the standard burgers, wings and ribs. The carbonation (cleanses your palate), lower alcohol level (no hot finish) and acidity of beer often makes it a better beverage with most foods than other alcohol choices (yes, wine, I'm looking at you). As 10th and Blake Trade Brewer, Ryan Johnson stated, "Beer is better with food than wine could ever hope to be.... Pairing food with wine is like hunting with a rifle and scope – you better be dead-on accurate or you go hungry. Pairing food with beer is like hunting with a shotgun – even if you miss perfection, it will still delight if you follow the basic rules."

Over the years, I've been to countless wine & food dinners - even "hosted" or moderated a few. And, yes, I've had the occasional perfect pairing, but believe me, I've also had my share of misses. However, the wine industry has done a much better job of marketing and romancing the paring of food and wine. Beer lovers and brewers are beginning to understand and promote the same. In the last month, I've been fortunate to enjoy two such beer and food dinners. Both upscale with chefs fully engaged in both cooking with the beers and creating excellent matches of beer to food - across all courses of the meal.

The first was a four course meal. Appetizer, salad, entree and dessert. Created by the Executive Chef at the Grand Traverse Resort in Grand Traverse Michigan. Excuse the photo quality - at both dinners I only had my phone, which let's just say lacks in photo quality.

Appetizer course: Meyer Lemon Encrusted Sea Sea Scallops with a pepper caper pipperade finished with a Peroni drizzle, accompanied by Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Peroni Nastro Azzurro is an Italian import Pilsner with a refreshing and dry taste, a crisp lager.

Salad Course (this was wow, I love Blue Moon, and didn't realize how great it is with salads.) Heart of Romaine salad with toasted walnut crisp, orange supreme and Walnut Belgian white vinaigrette. Blue Moon Belgian White is a medium bodied, unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale spiced with fresh coriander and orange peel.

3rd course - 5 Onion Strip Steak with classic Amber cipolini, grilled scallion mash, amber beer battered vidalia, shallot demi and asparagus braised with leeks. Leinenkugel's Classic Amber was the paired beer. Leine's Amber is a Vienna style lager brewed with a blend of three malts to provide a bright copper hue and intense malty aroma - four types of hops give it a floral and spicy aroma.

Finishing off the meal was Berry Weiss Bread Pudding with a raspberry white chocolate anglaise accompanied by Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss. This fruit wheat beer is flavored with Wisconsin loganberries, elderberries, and blackberries this tasty fruit beer was a Bronze Medal Winner at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival, and a Gold Medal at the 2007 GABF.

A couple of weeks later, I was back in Michigan. This time Grand Rapids, where I attended the dinner for the Meijers Charity Classic (affiliated with the LPGA). This beer and food dinner was hosted by 5th generation brewing legend Jake Leinenkugel. Dinner was created by the Executive Chef for the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids (one of my very favorite hotels, BTW). Three courses this time, all featuring Leine's beers.

First course: Crispy Kurobota Pork Belly, salted caramel, candied kumquat, arugula accompanied by Leinenkugel Honey Weiss. Honey Weiss is an American Wheat Lager with a delicately sweet, malty flavor with a nice balanced hint of bitterness and a teasing taste of pure Wisconsin honey.

Main course was a filet of beef. with olive oil whipped potatoes, spiced pears, peppered spinach and a sage glace. The beer was Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest, their fall seasonal beer (in your stores now, but hurry!). Oktoberfest is a traditional German beer brewed with Pale, Caramel and Munich malts, and a blend of cluster, Tettnang, Hallertau and Perle hops. This medium bodied beer has caramel malt flavors balanced with spicy hop overtones. Great with steak - and the sweetness of the pears and the pepper of the spinach. Yum.

Leine Berry Weiss once again was paired with the dessert. Double chocolate panna cotta, genoise, raspberry anglaise with hazelnut. And wow, the Berry with this chocolate, oh my. The stuff of dreams.

Bottom line - if you see a beer and food dinner in your town, run not walk and attend. Expand your culinary horizons just a bit. You won't be disappointed.

Wine Country Trip: Part 4 Biking

Alright, this 4 part series on my trip to wine country is finally coming to a close. You can catch the other pieces, by clicking below:

 Part 1. Sonoma

 Part 2 .Napa

Part 3.Gardens

One of the things I was most excited about on this trip was the opportunity to bike my way around Napa and Sonoma. Because of our schedules, I did two separate rentals. One in Sonoma and one in Napa. This gave me an opportunity to try out a couple of different kinds of bikes. I searched on-line, read reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor and decided to rent through Wine Country Bikes in the Sonoma town of Healdsburg, and Napa Valley Bikes Tours in Yountville. Both shops provided maps and excellent guidance and suggestions. Highly recommend either. Napa Valley Bikes tours has a sister shop in the city of Sonoma (called, guess.......yep, Sonoma Valley Bike Tours). However, because we were staying at Korbel, Healdsburg was both closer, and in the area I wanted to ride.

Day One: Sonoma, Wine Country Bikes

Wine Country Bikes is located a couple of blocks outside downtown Healdsburg. They rent Trek bikes with a variety of options from Hybrid/fitness style Trek 7200 to high end Trek Madone road bikes for those wanting to feel like Lance Armstrong for the day. I knew our day riding in Sonoma would be the longer and hillier of our routes, and decided to go with their Trek 2.1 Road bikes. These bikes were nicely equipped with a computer to track mileage, time and speed, a back rack and expanding trunk bag big enough to hold a bottle of wine, or pair of shoes, a jacket or lunch - or a combination of the above. They'd also swapped out the standard pedals for a set of Shimano SPD Sport clips. A couple of spare tubes and a multi tool completed the package.

Well, not quite....the rental also includes free roadside service within the area shown on their guide maps. Which proved to be a good thing.

Wine Country Bikes location in Healdsburg gives you the option of heading south towards Windsor/Graton/Sebastopol for a much more challenging hilly route, west out River Road towards the coast, or north through Dry Creek Valley. We choose to head north, creating a 26 mile route through somewhat rolling terrain (a bit over 1000ft elevation gain/loss). The shop suggested that with winery stops, lunch etc this would make a good days ride.

We rode a quick tour of Healdsburg then west to pick up the southern end of West Dry Creek Road (which parallels Dry Creek Road). The shop had warned us the only place to pick up lunch would be the Dry Creek General Store, requiring a quick mile across Lambert Bridge Road (and the actual Dry Creek) then back after grabbing our lunch to go. The plan was to continue onward with the lunches, picnicking at either Preston or Bella. The plan got slightly altered when in a bit of deja vu to our Ride for the Arts experience, my husband got a rear flat.

We aired up the tire, and it immediately went flat again. Neither of us are adept bike mechanics, so decided that rather than waste time and add frustration, we'd take advantage of that roadside service. They were out quickly with a new bike - actually just pulled the rear tire off that one and swapped it out and off we went. Cute metal sculptures at the corner of West Dry Creek and Lambert Bridge.

At the north end of Dry Creek Valley we stopped at Ferrari Carano, having been told I shouldn't miss the gardens. Thought we'd picnic here, but signs said no picnicking. Did take advantage of the chance to try their wines, then headed next door to Dutcher Crossing winery. So glad we did. This small independent (not nationally distributed) winery is owned by a woman from La Cross, WI. Has an old time bicycle as its logo. Provides a lovely, scenic picnic space. And has great wines - we even joined their wine club.

Still not sure where the whole day went. Never did make it to Preston, or back over to Quivra to tour their gardens. Next time.

Day Two: Napa, Napa Valley Bike Tours

As the name implies, this company leads a lot of tours. The carry Specialized bikes, a brand I am fond of - now owning both a road bike (Dolce) and hybrid/all trail bike (Ariel). The napa terrain along Rt 29 and Silverado trail is much flatter than Sonoma. For this day, we went with Sirruis, Specialized hybrid/fitness model. The shop also rents  road bikes (Roubaix and Dolce models), full suspension MTB, tandems, and electric bikes.  The women on the yellow bike on the right of the picture above is on one of the electric bikes - her husband rented a regular bike. And they were already arguing as they pulled out. That might have been a pair to follow. NOT.

Our main Napa ride was an easy 16 mile loop from Rutherford across to Silverado Trail down to Yountville to look around, have lunch, then back up Rt. 29. Just enjoying the scenery and leisurely riding. Did make a fortuitous stop at Bottega to see if we could get reservations.Open Table said they were booked - sometimes doing things in person pays benefits. Dinner here was my favorite of the trip.

We kept the bikes over night - which allowed us to do some early morning riding around the vineyards at property at BV. Such fun. Riding over the dirt, discovering the grape vine covered pergola in the picture at the top of the post. Seeing the workers put up netting to keep the geese out of the vineyards. One of the highlights of the trip.

Fortunately, for this rental we did not need to use Napa Valley's roadside assistance! They do offer it free within a fairly large area around their shop. Even telling us we didn't need tubes or tools, because all we had to do was call them. As mentioned before, both shops provided excellent maps and advice, helped fit the bikes, supplied the pedals to match our bike shoes, and of course, helmets and locks. Great companies, great bikes, really nice people.

Can't wait for my next trip out there. Will be much more bike riding next go round! 

Wine Country Trip: Part 3 Gardens

Recently returned from a 5 day trip to the California wine country of Napa and Sonoma counties. This was a personal/pleasure trip with professional overtones (and perks), as my husband is "in the trade". Splitting the trip review into 4 sections:

Part 1. Sonoma

Part 2. Napa

Part 3. Gardens
Part 4. Biking

Wine country grows more than just grapes. The climate with it's sunny, hot days, cool nights, fog filled mornings and mild winters is ideal for ornamental gardening - well, ideal with a bit of irrigation, because there is that no rain from May through September issue to deal with. Most gardens here use responsible drip irrigation systems, and minimize large swaths of lawn and other water hogs. In fact, the gardens may be one of my favorite reasons for visiting out here.

The gardens at Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville have been at the top of my list of must visit and re-visit gardens for some time. When Adolf Heck bought Korbel from the Korbel family; he and his daughter restored not only the Korbel family house, but also the gardens. Close to the house are some formal bed areas.

Old garden rose aficionados know that OGRs are a mainstay of the gardens, particularly around the old homestead (my old CompuServe friend and rosarian, Rosemary Simms, raved about the varieties in this garden). Unfortunately, mid-August is not prime rose season. There were a few blooms sprinkled throughout the property, including an all time fav of mine, the Hybrid Musk, Buff Beauty.

Because we were fortunate enough to be guests of Korbel and staying on property, I had leisurely access to the property - both around the Korbel homestead and throughout the winery grounds. The area around the vineyard house, where we were staying,  provided a small glimpse of what was to come.

Most of the grounds are not a formal garden, rather they contain mixed borders - an incredible mix of perennials, annuals, flowering shrubs, evergreens and trees. Throughout paths and walkways invite you to explore.

Just down the path from the vineyard house was what appeared to be the gardener's office and nursery area. On my early morning stroll through the grounds, saw ample evidence of the crews needed to maintain Korbel in such beautiful and impeccable condition.

Can you imagine being able to do your morning walk/run through this grand scenery?

The pool area is fun to visit, shaped like a wine bottle, surrounded by gardens and areas for entertaining.

In addition to the roses, other plants are repeated throughout the property. Dark leaved dahlias, agapanthus, hydrangeas, and surprise lilies ( lycoris?)

The Korbels originally purchased the property for it's lumber to fuel their cigar box business. Remnants of this time and the lumber town provide a charming feel as you wander the gardens. The brandy tower built by Fredrick Korbel as an exact replica of the brandy tower he saw outside his cell during his days in jail under Hapsburg rule in Czechoslovakia.

While I may have had insider's access to wander the grounds, the public has a not to be missed opportunity for garden tours, offered in season Tues-Sun at 1 and 3 pm. I'd call ahead to ensure a spot! Korbel Cellars: well worth the 13 mile scenic drive out River Road, for both the champagnes and the gardens.

The other winery garden we spent some time in was at Ferrari Carano at the north end of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma. A bit more formal, large swaths of annuals, but still beautiful. The wines are pretty grand, also.

We had a laugh here, when I told my husband if he ever decides to erect a statue in my honor, he had better *not* place it behind a bed of marigolds. Yuck.

Moving from the purely ornamental to the functional, but still highly beautiful, while riding the bikes into Yountville for lunch, we stumbled upon the kitchen garden of the French Laundry. Impeccable. Proving that vegetable gardening can also be art. And making me want to eat at this restaurant the next time we visit - no matter what it takes!

One winery garden we didn't make it to, but I want to on a next visit is Quivira. Located on West Dry Creek Road, this organic winery has a large bio-dynamic ornamental and vegetable garden. We passed it on the bikes, and hoped to get back. Alas, we didn't have time.

Speaking of bikes....that's up next.