Ouray ICE!!! Day 2 Christmas Eve

 Sean at the top of the climb!  Nice work!

 Sean untying after climbing and lowering.

 Sean heading up!

 Amber working on her ax placement.

 Sean way at the top again!

 Beautiful blue skies.

 On belay beside a crew of people, but not too crowded.

 Amber finally getting back into the groove of climbing on ice!

 Amber having fun.

 Amber smiling down to Sean on belay.

 Amber on the way up!

Today, we headed out earlier in the morning, and ironically enjoyed a bit warmer temperatures.  I was pleased to discover that the toe warmers were definitely effective as my feet were toasty warm all day.  Sean and I played on a toprope in the Schoolroom area.  Sean did a great job dancing right up the route.  I took several attempts, and had some fun successes on the lower parts of the route.  After awhile, the climbers next to us suggested a trade.  So, we climbed on their rope for awhile and they climbed on our rope for awhile.  I had a lot more success with their route as there were more good stance options, and it was fun talking to the other climbers.  One woman was from Hungary, currently residing in Boulder, and quite proficient at ice climbing.  It was fun watching her dance right on up the ice.  After we finished our route, we then hiked out and let another party climb on our rope while we walked up the steep icy path toward the anchors.  The routes were all beautiful ice with lots of blue ice around the place, and it was great to get to climb more than one section of ice without having to set up anymore ropes.

The weather was great all day, with just a few wind gusts and mostly blue skies and sun.  Apparently, snow showers are supposed to be coming, but everyone seems to say that all the time in winter in Colorado...

After climbing for about 4 hours, we decided it was time to have more to eat than the sardines and hot tea we brought with us, so we headed into Ouray and secured some provisions from Duckette's, the local grocery store.  We also stopped into Mouse's and got some coffee and chocolate.

OURAY ICE Day 1

Ice climbing is quite possibly the BEST cross training for mountain biking there is.  First of all, it's super fun!  Secondly, it's a full body workout in amazing terrain.

It's 7,792 ft. in Ouray.  It was 19 degrees when we walked down into the canyon.  Perfect weather for our first day of ice climbing this season.  Sean set up a toprope in the South Park area, and we played on that for the afternoon.  It was a late start after sleeping in and letting the dogs run around, but good fun nevertheless.  I was excited to be swinging axes and kicking crampons.  By the end of the session, I almost felt like a bonafide climber again.  I started to trust the rope and use my feet more, and things went much better.  The first time back on ice after being off it for a whole season is always going to be a bit rough, so I was stoked to start feeling good on Day 1.  We played on WI 2/3 for the day.  Sean knocked some ice in his face and knicked it drawing a bit of blood just for good measure.  Sean had some great attempts, looking good on the ice, except that he pumped out early in the forearms.

Now we are back in Room 12 at the Timber Ridge Lodge, relaxing and warming back up.  It took a bit of time to get the feeling back in the toes, so I will likely use some toe warmers tomorrow...even though it's not really that cold in the world of ice climbing.  We used our microwave to heat up some soup and pasta, and Sean scarfed down some peaches while I downed some mango apricot juice to refuel.  Now time to enjoy some hot tea and rest.

 Bishop having a parking lot romp with another climber's dog.

 Bishop on the run!

 Bishop trying the turn around move.

 Amber on the approach to South Park.

 Amber heading to the climbs.

 View from the top of the climbs.

Off Season

So, it's technically the off season and I have been recovering from injury anyway, so Sean and I have gotten up to some fun times at elevation. It's taken me awhile to post, since I have just recently been able to type at the computer keyboard efficiently.  So, these four wheel drive roads are likely now full of snow and closed.  Luckily, we were able to enjoy driving over Taylor Pass and Pearl Pass before the season ended.  Below are some fine Fall photos of mountain passes near Crested Butte, CO and Aspen, CO.

Keystone, Colorado

Sean and I headed out late today, so we ended up doing some fun riding in rain and hail.  All the wet just made it that much more fun and exciting!  It was a fabulous day of riding until your brain turns off...and then riding some more.  Also, it was fun taking the pink mustache socks out for a ride today.  Much thanks to Sean for taking these fine photos today on his iphone :-)

 Busted out all the fun today - yellow bike, pink mustache socks, plaid shirt, jean Royal shorts.

 Sanitorium

 Sanitorium

 Fun playing on some drops...remembering...it doesn't matter if it's wet:-)

And...cornering in some mud...woohoo!!!

Angel Fire, NM Early July

Sean, Bishop, Moab, and I headed out to Angel Fire, NM to put our season passes to good use and enjoy some of the excellent dirt and new trail work at Angel Fire Mountain Bike Park.  We camped at first, and then spent a luxury night in the hotel on our last night.  We spent most of the time riding Diesel because we were just having so much fun with that trail, but we also enjoyed some of the other fine trails.  There was a bit of lightning, but the lifts always opened back up for those of us willing to wait for the thunderstorms to pass.   As usual, we enjoyed the coffee at the coffee shop in the hotel, and the dogs enjoyed playing in the pond below the chairlifts.  Sean also had fun testing out his new blue pedals.

Sean's new pedals he got to test out this weekend!

The result of a fun time playing in the mud!

Day 1 working on a corner.

 Day 2 working on the same corner.

 This is more fun now that it has been reworked a bit.

 Entrance to the new part of Diesel.

 Bishop and Moab at the pond below the chairlifts.

 We hung out below the lifts between riding and thunder strikes.

 Bishop enjoying camping.

 Sean setting up the tent as we arrived late at night.

 Moab relaxing in her dog bed in the vestibule of the tent.

Moab relaxing in her dog bed outside the tent.

A Fine Day at Keystone, Colorado

Sean and I had a fun time playing on our downhill bikes at Keystone Bike Park today.  Afterwards we enjoyed some fine food at the Wolf Rock Steakhouse.  Awesome day outside with all my favorites - Sean, Moab, Bishop, and BIKES!!!

Sean took this photo of Amber enjoying one of several rock gardens at Keystone.

Sean also captured this shot of Amber playing on some drops.

 Check out the sky.  Yes, there was a lightning hold on the lift today, but no worries...lots of riding well into evening once the lift reopened.

 The doggies enjoyed some water on the pass getting to and from Keystone.  Here is Moab standing in the water while Bishop is running all over the place outside of camera range.

 Another photo of rock gardens because Amber loves rock gardens.

USA Cycling PROGRT Current Overall Standings

ProGRT 2013 Women's Individual Standings

1	Anne Galyean	120 pt
2	Amber Price	82 pts
3	Robyn Embrey	80 pts
4	Jacqueline Harmony	72 pts
5	Eva Wilson	62 pts

PROGRT #6 Angel Fire, NM

I had a fun weekend riding bikes in Angel Fire, NM.  In my race run I was off my bike twice crashed onto the ground the first time, and crashed into a tree the second time.  The second crash managed to knock my lever out of place.  I tried to adjust it while continuing on course, but couldn't get it back in place.  So, I had to race the second half of the course with no ability to shift gears, which was a bummer as I was stuck in a super wrong gear.  I guess the best way to put it, is that I was happy to get a 2nd place result and disappointed with my overall performance.  I sure hope to stay off the ground and keep the bike rolling in my next race.  The good news is, I'm a bit bruised from my two crashes, but that's the worst of it.  Other than that, I am feeling good, and ready to go train.  Riding bikes is awesome fun!

Amber Price, 2nd Place Podium Pro Women