dara marks marino

Ok this is getting ridiculous. There is such a huge power struggle between trail users going on in Flagstaff. I think it has been going on probably since people started using the trails for recreation many decades ago, but it seems really out of hand these days. Two perfect examples:

Over here on the east side of town there are gobs of trails breaking off in every direction. Recently (maybe 2 months ago?) someone had the great idea to improve some of the trails that were little more than beaten paths or game trails and provide nice connections between them. This effectively allows us to not use the Pipeline (which frankly sucks as a trail anyway) and stay back in the woods as well as avoids some really difficult sections of single track making the ride that much more enjoyable. As soon as it was completed, someone came along and covered up the entrance to one of the sections. The next day, someone uncovered it. A week or so later, another section gets oblitered, then un-oblitered. And so on. Then one day Troy is out riding and saw a crew of ACE (American Conservation Experience) destroying some random section of the trail. He was told that it was because it was a “social trail”. WTF is wrong with a social trail? Isn’t that what all trails (except perhaps game trails) are? A place where someone decided, Hey, this would be a great place for me and anyone else to be able to travel along, enjoy our beautiful world, get some exercise, and otherwise embrace this life. The creating-destroying continues almost daily on that trail. I like to think I help the creating/maintaining at least a little bit by clearing off logs when I can, but really I know it is all just silly. So silly that I even saw this one spot of a very established trail, where the trail did a slight split to go around a pile of rocks and foliage, and someone decided that was just unnecessary and put a branch down to block off one of the sides. Frankly I think it was higher impact to move that branch from wherever s/he took it from to place it on to the trail.

The other perfect example is the New Deal Trail. Two of Flagstaff’s loyal mountain bikers took their own time and a large amount of energy to go out there and do a tremendous amount of work to clear off the dozens of downed trees that have accumulated along that trail. Usually that would only be done by an organized “trail maintenance” crew, but these guys did it of their own initiative. Not 1 week later, someone else went out there and MOVED ALL THE TREES BACK! Seriously! They went and deliberately messed up the trail! This accomplishes nothing more than creating additional impact to the forest because now everyone has to find a way around the downed trees, which requires them to go off the trail.

Why do the destroyers care so much? What is it they think they are “conserving” or what damage is it they think has been done by way of a trail in the forest? Should I also stop peeing in the woods, lest someone argue that is high impact too? The crazy thing is this is a power struggle between people who all want the same thing: to be able to enjoy this world we live in. For some reason though it has deteriorated in to making our forest experiences LESS enjoyable. Of all the things that need our time and energy, destroying trails is possibly the worst use of that time and energy. In parenting, this is called a “need for redirection”.

What an awesome couple weeks we had with that rain! The trails were perfect, everything smelled delicious, and I got to get out and relish in it all. Troy may have bragged about riding Prom Night, but he only rode it because I rode it first and told him how to get there! It was super sweet, but I wouldn’t want to do it when the trails are dry…those steep sections would be a whole other story. I was super stoked to ride the steep left hand line on the finish and swoop it under the downed tree.

I wonder what will happen when the “real” monsoons hit though, since those last storms evidently weren’t monsoons, yet acted exactly like monsoons…will it hit us double? Be totally dry? We’ll see.

On a last minute whim, I raced the NACA 10k Prayer Run. It was a really great race for me. My friend Sara finished 1st and I finished 2nd. But it was a hard fought battle for 2nd; Michelle Wesson was on my heels and pushing me the entire race. If it wasn’t for the downhill finish I’m not sure I would have beaten her. Looking at the results I just saw Scott Bajer finished a few minutes ahead of me…is that the Scott Bajer I went to high school with?

Teething sucks for everyone. Poor McKenna, poor mama. Yay for baby ibuprofen! Here she is a couple weeks ago on her 9 month birthday:

She really is such a sweet little girl. High energy, yes. High needs, yes. But sweet and fun too!

Only 11 more shopping days until my birthday.

If you live in Flagstaff and have a little one, hopefully you have already heard of and tried out Stroller Strides. If you haven’t, now is a great time to start because I am going to be teaching two classes a week! Stroller Strides is a group exercise class that you can actually bring your baby to. It is a total body workout, using exercise bands and the environment. Beginning June 2, we will meet at Bushmaster Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:15 in the morning. Bring with you: your baby(!), a stroller, sneakers, a yoga mat or towel, a water bottle, and lots of energy!

If that time doesn’t work for you, there are 5 other Stroller Strides classes every week so check out the website (linked above) for the complete schedule. You can also read the blog for more info. Or just show up to class!

Well we did it! Troy, McKenna, and I successfully camped out for 2 nights and raced for 12 hrs (well, more like 11 hrs, since we stopped at 6pm) without anyone having any major meltdowns. McKenna did unfortunately taste just about every rock at the campsite, which wouldn’t be a big deal except that it was in a fairgrounds and was visibly covered in horse/cow dookie.

Troy did 4 laps and I did 3. We had time to do one more but neither of us wanted to so we called it good. My triceps of all things were the most fatigued part of my body on each lap. My first lap was pretty darn fast (surprisingly!) but I faded hard and fast after that (not surprisingly!). I actually think I may have had the fastest woman’s lap time but the records don’t show that because they start timing the lap when the other rider finishes and our handoffs took several minutes because we had to handoff McKenna (well, that and we were just casual about it, not trying to rush it). But no excuses or anything! I could be totally wrong about it anyway.

Our camper shell worked out great. It was so nice to have a tiny little home to sneak in to between laps. And we did have nice help from Sara and Melissa out there too. Thanks to both of you!

This was my very first Mother’s Day and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than racing bikes and camping out. After all, that is the kind of mama I want to be to my daughter: the kind that takes her camping and mountain biking and adventuring in general. I’m not really the champagne-brunch-and-roses type, y’know?

I was in the kitchen putting away dishes, so I pulled out a bowl and spoon for McKenna to play with. I looked over at her as she was trying to crawl or stand up or something. She toppled back and landed with her butt square in the bowl! It was so funny, I started cracking up, which made her smile and laugh too. As I was reaching for my cameraphone, she kept laughing which made her wobble. The wobbling turned to tipping backwards and kerblewy, she went over. But she didn’t hit her head or anything so I snapped the picture anyway:

I’m going straight to hell.

Last weekend we had a great time hanging out at my folks’ cabin down in the Biscuit. We both got in some sweet riding, one of those rides was even together! *insert collective gasp here* I always forget just how burly the riding is down there.

Help Repower America with clean electricity within 10 years. It’s a good start!