Is It Time to Ride My Bike Yet?

As I await the drying of our trails...and the melting of the snow that will need to happen first - I thought I would share some of my favorite gear for mountain bike season. Here's three pieces I tried last year that I am now quite sure I cannot live without. And my favorite trail foods!

Ibex Indie Jersey
I freaking love this thing! I have never felt more pretty while riding my bike. I went with the purple from last season, which is gorgeous, and the light wool is heavenly against the skin. And, if you think summer and wool don't mix, as I did, I can tell you that they do. They mix wonderfully, in fact. My only complaint about this jersey is the road-style pocket (elastics) which are unreliable for holding stuff on rugged, bouncy trails, and pretty uncomfortable under a camelbak. I've actually had sore vertebrae after longer rides. Ibex does also make a mountain jersey, with a more comfortable and more reliable zippered pocket, but I like the cut and styling of the indie jersey better.

Osprey Raptor 10 Pack
I was immediately drawn to this pack for the bright yellow color (I love bright colors, and yellow in particular), but stayed for a longer look because of the many features. Nothing is inherently girly about this pack, and I know many men that ride with one, but it suits women well because it has lots of pockets, rings, and divided storage spaces to keep us organized. And, my most important feature: it's large enough to hold a sandwich. Or a light layer. And all of your tools. Which is certainly not girly.

The two best features of this pack: the Lidlock system snugly holds your helmet on your pack when you're packing your car, or throwing your gear in your friends car (read: no misplaced helmets!). And the hydration system is the best one I've ever used, including an easy on-off lid and a magnet to hold your mouthpiece at the ready on your shoulder.

Night Rider MiNewt 250 Cordless Light
This light is the most awesome thing I own, and riding at night is probably the most awesome thing I have ever done! Its maiden voyage was on the infamous Joe's Trail in Waterbury, Vt, and I only fell once! I wore it this time lashed to the top of my helmet (it comes with attachments), and actually found my neck was sore from focusing so much on directing my light beam. The next time I rode with it went much more smoothly, and I tried it on my handlebar this time. That was okay, but I found I like to be able to re-direct the beam in the direction I was looking. So, the light now lives on my helmet. And lived there for the entire fall riding season. We had some great night rides! My personal recommendation would be to strap this light onto your helmet, and then double up with a smaller version on the handlebar. With this two-light system, you can focus a steady stream out ahead on the trail, and be free to also re-direct your lighting to where you are looking. This purchase will extend your riding season well into the fall, and the darkness! It might be the most important piece of gear I own.

Food In My Pack
I am a proponent of real food, and will rarely be seen sucking down a gu (though I do like clif blocks for electrolytes). My top favorite foods, guaranteed to be in my pack are:

• Halleljuah Yes! bar by Red Door Bakery in Marshfield, Vermont. It's a cookie crumb base, layered with chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut. Fat contains something like 9x more energy than carbohydrates, and these bars are loaded with fat I'm sure, plus the sugar in these bars hits your system fast, while the nuts offer sustained energy. It's the perfect one-two combo: A fast pick me up combined with longer-term energy stores. Don't live in Vermont? You can make your own: Google recipes for the Magic Cookie Bar or Seven Layer Cookie Bar, and feel free to substitute with healthier ingredients. I'm sure they freeze well, too, so you can make a batch and then store bars individually.
  
• EmergenC - you can put this in your water bottle or Camelbak during or after the ride. Look for the varieties with electrolytes included. Also, the wrapper can patch a blown sidewall just long enough to get you out of the woods.
  

Illum-inate your self.

So Teva finally did it!  That's right a sandal that will light your way to where ever you happen to be getting to in the dark.  I was surprised at the fact that no one had done this yet and so here it is!  The new Illum by Teva offers an amazingly efficient amount of light packed into this sandal-light hybrid.  With the slip of a foot and a push of a button one can light their path to the beach, trail, downtown for a drink, or to the privy.

It comes in two models: one a modest $40 nylon version and the other a $60  smooth, comfortable suede.  I found myself slipping on this sandal more than often, leaving my other sandals in the closet because these ones are so darn comfortable!  Not only will you be able to see your way downtown or to the beach at the crack of dawn, but so will everyone else with you.  So as you find your way around don't be surprised to hear  " What the heck does that person have on their feet?"  Hey, that's pretty cool!

Walk good!

A True Backyard Adventure

Those of you who know T and I know that we are in home-buying limbo, and have been for months...or at least you know that we moved! (We are now living in the house we hope to buy, if the Marshfield Planning Commission will let us...the topic of a different conversation, perhaps.) And in the spirit of backyard adventuring, we have been skiing in our yard - which brings a huge smile to my face - and building a little pumptrack we call the dinorsaur's back on the piles left behind by the snow plow. But last night we branched from our literal backyard to one a bit more figurative: we hiked Spruce Mountain in Plainfield, which T had never been up. And we hiked it at night, in true Sarah and Tristan Fashion.

Spruce Mountain is a splendid little hike, which I can't wait to see in the lush green Vermont summer, and it includes some of the gnarliest fields of solid ice I've ever encountered on a trail in Vermont. Likely the most important pieces of gear we had on us were our Kahtoola Microspikes. If you like to hike in winter, and you don't yet have a pair of these, they are highly worth it. They weigh next to nothing and don't take up much space, so it is no big deal to pack them on any outing, and they effortlessly grip right into the ice, if you need them to. With these little puppies on your tootsies, you can walk straight up the ice in solid confidence. Before your next winter outing, scoot down to Onion River Sports in downtown Montpelier (or to your neighborhood gear shop - remember to keep those guys in business!).

And with these - in confidence - enjoy your next outing into the beautiful, wonderful, challenging but rewarding Vermont winter woods. Happy Trails!

Enter the Rossi BC 125

So if you haven't heard about this ski yet, the moment Rossi dropped hints about a fat wax-less BC ski there was allot of buzz. So here it is- If you like to get out an earn your turns , seek out powder, and make big lines in the back country as well as being super tourable? Then this ski has heard your call and hopefully answered it. At 90 under foot and 125 in the shovel this ski makes a Karhu guide look, well skinny and crusty~! Word has it that it will be available in a 165 and 175 to accommodate multiple skiers. I cannot wait to get our hands on this one and look forward to testing it out, which some of our guys did in Utah. Their only complaint you ask? These skis are so fat you might just gain weight, or lose it as you tour the backcoutry and make your best powder turns.
Till this season.

And if you need to get 'em bad?  Well here's the place... (click the picture)

What can Clif blok do for you?

When your tire just wont hold that tube because its tired side wall blows out on you like a gunshot in the air. This is what that useless clif bloc wrapper will do to get you out of the woods. Heres to Clif may they keep producing wonderful trail food that might just get you back to the parking lot for a cold beer!

Cheers!