Sampling the Sierras with Adventure Cycling

As I wrote in my post Sometimes Good Things Fall Apart, I anticipated that my "failure" earlier this summer would lead to better places. At the time I wrote the post, I wasn't sure what those "better places" would be. But the passage of time has started to reveal some of the better places. And those better places have been opening doors to even better'n'better places. Excitement abounds, friends!

One of the "better places" was the opportunity to staff another trip with Adventure Cycling Association this summer. And so it was that I participated in last month's Sierra Sampler, an eight-day, fully-supported ride that started in Lake Tahoe and ended 350 miles to the south. There were 54 awesome riders and 8 awesome staff on the trip, which meant many opportunities for creating infinitely awesome networks and friendships. Plus, as the majority of the ride overlapped the same route that I biked during last year's 2,300 mile tour through the Sierra-Cascade mountains, I had great fun reliving memories from the prior summer. Suffice it to say that I had an absolute blast!

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Me, not too terribly excited to be at Luther Pass. (JK)
(Photo: Brian)

The Blonde Builds a Wheel

I had a "blonde moment." Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe. But it happened.

Let me back-up a bit, so as to provide context... A few years ago, I wore through my first bike part. It was a chain. I had no idea you could wear through bike parts. After all, bike parts are made of metal! They are strong! They will last forever! My bad; I was wrong. Metal eventually breaks down. Especially after miles of Sarah-abuse.

Over the last few years, as I've added more-and-more miles to my bike, I've worn through more-and-more bike parts. Case in point: the rim on my back wheel is starting to dish, fairly significantly. Rather than suffer a blow-out, I wanted to replace the rim. Entirely focused on replacing the rim, I recently placed an order for a new rim. This was, unbeknownst-to-me-at-the-time, a blonde moment.

This is what a rim looks like...

I didn't realize my blonde-ism until earlier today, when I went to pick up the rim. My plan was to pick up the rim, quickly swap over the cassette from the old wheel to the new, and then throw the new wheel on my bicycle. Ta da! I'd be able to cross "replace rim" off my to-do list.