Camping at Strawberry Reservoir

In an effort to try to have some balance in my bike-dominate life, I took the weekend off from bike racing and went camping instead. This is the first weekend I've taken off since early March, so I guess I can say I deserved it.

My in-laws were planning a camping trip this weekend as well, so we decided to camp together. I didn't realize until we pulled into camp that they had also invited everyone they knew. So it was us, my father-in-law, his wife, my two brother-in-laws, and family, some friends and neighbors. Lots of kids and about 20 people, and five dogs, total.

By the time we pulled into camp, it was getting late, and I was getting hungry. The first item of business was making dinner. Chicken and rice in the dutch oven with a garden salad and chocolate fudge cake (yes, baked - in the dutch oven) with ice cream for dessert. Yum!



I promptly burned myself on the fire pit! Duh! That thing is hot when there's fire in it. But, I still managed to enjoy the rest of the evening.



After dinner, I got talked into going 4-wheeling. I say that I had to get talked into it because last time I drove one of those things (probably ten or more years ago), I drove it into a ditch. I was a bit nervous about driving another one, to say the least.





Basically, my fearless sister-in-law, Carrie needed someone to follow her (you know, the buddy system) while she rode her dirt bike. She took off like a bullet up the road. She was sliding the back wheel around on the dirt and gravel, popping wheelies, and basically living like Evil Knievel. I was driving, oh so tentatively, behind her. Every once in a while, I'd give it some gas, and get going fast, only to discover that I would start sliding sideways. "Don't wreck the 4-wheeler, don't wreck the 4-wheeler!" Every few minutes, Carrie would stop and wait for me. I finally told her just to go and enjoy herself and I would keep plugging along behind her. We went so high up the road that there were patches of snow along the side of the road. Just when I thought I'd had enough and was ready to turn around and go back to camp, Carrie decided to go up some side trail. I was terrified. It was rocky, steep, and narrow up there. Finally, she decided that this trail would be best explored tomorrow. It was starting to get dark. So we went back to camp. Whew! I had no idea I was so scared of dirt.



We sat around the campfire and watched the stars and moon come out. The kids started getting really wound up, but I was ready for some sleep.



The next morning, I got up and cooked up some breakfast. The best part of camping, in my opinion, is breakfast over the fire. So, I couldn't understand why I was the only one cooking. All the other campers had brought cold cereal.

After breakfast, everybody else in camp had either gone fishing or were out for a drive. I had told them I would stay behind and clean up camp. I put some water on the fire to boil then I looked over and saw this face:



Lucy had been so good. She needed a walk. With scenery like this



who could resist?

So we headed up the trail.



Normally, I keep Lucy on her leash because she is the type of dog who will run and run and won't come back. This time I decided to trust her to stay near me. I let her off the leash and she took off, but would come back every few seconds to make sure I was still around. She had such fun!





As I was walking along, enjoying the views, I realized something. Look at this scene and see if you can guess what I could have been thinking:



That's right! Today wasn't going to be a rest day from the bike after all! This trail needed riding. I realized I had to go back to camp and get one of the kids' mountain bikes. After the previous night's 4-wheeling adventure, I should know how to handle dirt.

I went back to camp, finished the cleaning up, and tried to have a nap. I decided it would be best to wait for everyone to get back before I stole someone's bike and rode myself off into the unknown forest. Just as I was thinking I really could go to sleep, everyone returned, screaming and yelling. Kids! No nap for me.

I grabbed Austin (the 15-year-old), a helmet, and a bike. Austin and I headed up the trail. Here's Austin.



Normally Austin wears a helmet. But today, I had his helmet. Plus, he's a teenager. Doesn't that make him invincible?

Here's what I discovered on this ride: mountain biking is tough! No wonder the mountain bike chicks usually kick our roadie butts so hard whenever they show up to the road races.



We went up the trail until it got really steep and technical (this is technical for a roadie like me: large rocks and trees fallen over the trail).





Then I decided that I'd had enough.
My reasons for being done:
1) It was hot.
2) Since neither bike had a water bottle cage, we had no water. I was thirsty.
3) I hadn't planned on riding during this camping trip, so I didn't come prepared to ride. No bike shorts = ouch!
4) I wasn't supposed to be on a bike today anyway. Today was supposed to be a rest day for me.

We turned around an headed back to camp. I spent the rest of the day lounging around, enjoying the pretty scenery, watching the kids play,


(Kameron in the above photo)

and wishing I had a mountain bike of my own. That kid's bike I had borrowed was too small for me, and even with the saddle raised all the way, I managed to give myself a good dose of knee pain from riding it.

We had really only planned on staying one night, but ended up staying over Saturday night as well. Most of the other campers had headed home at some point Saturday, so it was just us and one brother-in-law's family the second night. By this time, I was really enjoying the whole camping thing. I really could have stayed another night. I came home feeling really relaxed (despite not sleeping either night), refreshed, and recharged. It was a good thing for me to get away from all my duties, worries, and distractions for a few days.

Now, I've got some catching up to do.