One truck, eight bikes, and four crazies.

After a few weeks galavanting around "Southern" New England, I am finally back in The Valley. Real training is full-on and my plans have been set for the majority of my summer.

Before you read about my bike trip in Virginia, here are some photos from my last few weeks away from The County including my first week and a half at home in NH: (click on any photo to view it larger in a slide show format)

This is how Mother Nature felt about me driving 8.5 hours home to NH a few weeks ago. 

Nope. Try again another day. 

Dinner on the new porch that my dad helped his yacht club members build. Beautiful. 

Baby chickens! Soooo darn cute!

I let my creative side shine for a bit while I was at home. I made an arbor and a fairy house for the gardens at Beans & Greens. 

 

My fairy house...Swiss Family Robinson style. 

My mom and I found some spring while visiting a greenhouse in southern NH.

Perfectly flat Lake Winnipesaukee. 

Last week Seth and I returned from our latest adventure on the road. A partial repeat of last year's spring trip, this year we drove south to Virginia for more biking. While last year took us all over the place (too much driving), this time around we opted for a "home base" at Massanutten Resort, a little alpine mountain nestled up on the eastern side of the Shenandoah Valley. We were joined by Seth's hometown friends, Andy and Sarah.

We spent one of the rainy days visiting Massanutten's indoor water park....lots of fun for big kids too!

My vantage point hiking my bike up a mountain...it was totally worth it though; 

the way down was immaculate single track. 

Pretty day riding south from Massanutten on quiet roads through huge (and GREEN) farms. 

Another nice ride in the Shenandoah Valley...lots of smiles!

The big red truck and all eight of our bikes!

We rode around Lancaster County Pennsylvania for an afternoon on our way back north. I'd say there's a good possibility that we ride there next year. The Amish keep beautiful farms and the roads were amazing for road biking. 

That's all for now.....check back soon for updates from my next adventure: 

BEND, Oregon! 

Yup, that's right....we're going skiing on real SNOW in MAY! 

Unwinding.

I closed out a fun week helping and cheering my teammates in Craftsbury with the final Fast & Female event of the winter season. Craftsbury did a great job organizing and had a huge group of girls show up. I actually didn't do much skiing this time but instead stood in as the token athlete for the parent forum. It went really well and definitely opened my eyes to how seemingly challenging it might seem to have kids going through our sport.

This week I'm back in the County until the end of season celebration on Saturday afternoon at Four Seasons Trails in Madawaska. If you're around, be sure to come join the fun!

Sunday it's back on the road for me as I migrate home for a couple of weeks before Seth and I take a biking (road and mountain) vacation to Virginia for a week. I'm looking forward to fresh lettuce out of my parent's greenhouse (yup...it's ready to eat!), gardening at home, visiting with my family, and hiking adventures with Kaiya, our jack russell and household princess (in my absence of course)!

Last on-snow ski adventures of the year in Fort Kent....65+ degrees and wonderful!

The middle school racers had 75 degrees for their skate championships at Four Seasons in Madawaska. The shorts and sunglasses came out in full force! 

Anya happy with her lucky braids and t-shirt on!

Men's 15k classic mass start at Super Tour Finals in Craftsbury....

Women's 10k classic mass start. 

Craftsbury is a pretty place....a lot like The County....rolling hills, lots of farming, and lots of dirt roads. 

What's on the docket now that there's no snow (well almost...Mother Nature can't seem to decide when she should stop dropping flakes on us)? Planning, goal setting, and recharging. And fighting off my standing end-of-season head cold. No worries though....cup of tea in hand, I'm feeling better already!