Sadly,

I had to change the description of my blog. :(

Supercross and PA DH

Seattle Supercross!

My friend Leana live just south of Seattle, so I made plans to hang out with her after my conference was done on Saturday. I knew she'd be game for some fun adventures in the limited time that I had in Seattle.

Me, Leana, and the Fremont Troll

She picked me up and had a game plan to show me the sites!! We had a great afternoon being tourists and eating yummy fish and chips before heading to Supercross that evening!!!

Not gonna lie, we felt sorta important! haha

I'd never been to Supercross before, so I was super psyched to get to watch the action first hand!! Sensory overload!!! On t.v., they pretty much just follow the leaders around the whole time, so you don't get to see much else of what is going on. When you're there in person, it's challenging to figure out what you want to watch, there is so much going on the whole time!! Leana has a friend who got is Industry passes, which meant, free, got to get into the pits, and go to sit in the industry reserved section. We ended up sitting next to Jake Weimer's parents which was awesome. Jake was leading the West Lites series and struggled a little in the race, so his parents were extra animated throughout the race. Then in the main event, my favorite rider, Kevin Windham had an amazing night. He took the win easily and almost lapped Chad Reed...one of my least favorite riders!!

Sunny Seattle Supercross

We headed back to Leana's house with plans to get up super early and head up to the ProGRT DH race up at Port Angeles. It sorta sucked being there and not getting to race, but it was a lot of fun to see friends that I haven't seen for a long time and cheer like crazy! The track looked awesome, it would have been a lot of fun to race!! All of the girls were riding really well, hitting all the big lines, too! I think I was most impressed with Mitch Ropelato, though, our young Junior pinner!! He came through the section where I was watching so much faster than anyone else I saw, it was awesome!! I think he ended up in 12th in a completely stacked with WC talent field! It'll be fun to see how he does at the World Cups!

The lovely ladies of DH! Jo Jo, Melissa, me, Anka, and Leana

We picked up Melissa at the race and brought her back to Leana's with us. It was great, along the way home, we stopped at a winery and did a wine tasting, had coffee and a lovely little shop overlooking the water and Canada, and then had a lovely evening sitting in the hot tub catching up on girl time! A big thanks to Leana for coordinating such a fun weekend! I can't wait for the racing season to begin! I miss all of my racing friends!!

Society for Biomaterials Conference

I walked into the room that I'll be presenting in and counted 1250 seats!! There will by no means be that many people at my talk (probably 100-150), as there are 5 other talks going on at the same time as mine, but the room is overwhelming nonetheless!! There are two huge projection screens on either side of the presentation stage. I'm super nervous but also pretty excited to share my exciting research and get feedback from people who are the experts in this field!

It's been exhausting running from room to room to listen to all the different talks that I want to hear from people, but it's been a really great learning experience. Hopefully I'll get some ideas and feedback that will help me in the next year as I finish up my PhD!

Sick in the Head!

The view from the top of Heil looking down the valley towards Hall...I LOVE CO!!

So, today I headed out to ride Picture Rock trail, just outside of Lyons. I have mixed feelings about this ride, as it's a trail that I've only ever ridden with someone who used to be a really good friend of mine, but I really love the trail. Today, I REALLY loved it! I haven't felt this good on my bike in I don't know how long...maybe since I was in Scotland last summer. I got to the top of the climb and thought, that's it...but I want more! I know, I know, I must have caught a serious bug or something because I NEVER love going uphill, but today I did, and I felt good doing it!! Considering how little I've been able to ride in the past couple of months, there must be something else going on! I guess maybe it was the cheesy grits that I had for breakfast, who knows...I really should try and figure it out, though!

View from the best cheese and bread eating spot on the trail!

Anyway, it was a great day on the bike. The only thing missing was a mid ride snack of bread and cheese and my favorite Picture Rock trail riding partner.

Seattle Bound

On Wednesday I leave for Seattle to attend my first major conference in my field of study. I'll be going to the Society for Biomaterials conference. I'm a little nervous and pretty excited as I'll be giving a talk, not just a poster. I'm struggling a bit to get my presentation put together, so hopefully it turns out okay!

Exciting Things on the Research Front

Before

So, I'm sure nobody else is going to be as excited about these pictures as I am. 1.) it's 2:30 in the morning, so I'm easily entertained at this point, and 2.) I have been trying to figure out a way to demonstrate exactly what these pictures show that my "gels" do for a really long time. I'm really glad I finally figured out a way to show other people what I have known for a long time to be going on! Wahoo!! Time for bed...it's been a 16 hour day!

After a 15% strain is applied

Love Hate

Holly with a big smile even though she's sick as hell!

I have a love hate relationship with the Marshall Mesa trails in South Boulder. Lots of people hate on them, and they are always really crowded, but we sure had a good time riding there today. We set off as 4...me, Holly, Holly, and Collin. By the time that we got the trailhead from our house, Holly (my roomie) was coughing so bad. I think she may have strep throat! :( She decided to head home, and the other Holly, Collin and I put in some good miles on the trails, and with the only mishap being ANOTHER flat tyre for me, we had a great time riding!

i LOVE maps!

I love maps of all kinds! I thought this one was particularly interesting. Turns out I've really only lived in areas that most other people don't live...explains a lot, I suppose! :)

I ♥ Riding New Trails!

New Fun Trails!

What a lovely day in CO!!

I had wanted to go ride Picture Rock trail this morning, but when Collin, Holly, and Andrew got to our house, they said it looked like it was snowing in Lyons...a quick call to Lyons confirmed. New plan stat! We decided to head South and decide where we were going along the way. Centennial Cone won out! I'd never ridden there before, so I was psyched to check it out.

It got a little snowy!

We didn't get to ride all of the trail due to some remaining snow and some Silly Elk that didn't get the memo that people want to ride their MTBs on the trails and that they should go eat somewhere else! haha Anyway, the bit of the trail that we got to ride was a ton of fun, and it was nice to get out on a proper trail, especially since the remainder of my day has been spent at school!

James and Collin...probably waiting on me!

Yay mountain bikes! :)

Erin Rocks!

Ahhh, the Lemur

My friend Erin has some of her AMAZING pieces at a local shop (Topo Ranch), so we headed downtown for the First Friday Artwalk to check out the place and support her. They had some Boulder Beer and a band playing, so we all had a good time socializing and getting the night started. I had planned to go back to school afterward, but after 2 beers, I threw that terrible idea to the wind and decided to make a night of it!

LOVE her work!

The band

Check Her Work Out at Deadwilder Design

Kristin had come up from Denver, so we all went to dinner then headed out to the Downer and the Pub for the night. It was really nice to hang out with friends and get away from school for a little bit!

My lovely friends Erin and Kristin