End of summer round up- adventures on and off the bike

Fall's here and my morning commute has been crisp and cool.  Cyclocross is underway and I've been enjoying the pain and suffering each Sunday morning brings, even from my typical place in the middle of the Cat 4 women's pack. Before summer's too far in the rear view mirror, here's a roundup of summer highlights on the bike and off, many of which I didn't have a chance to write about.

Mountain biking with my nephew, Mason

To celebrate my mom's birthday, we spent a weekend on the Yakima river in a nice cabin.  My four year old  nephew, Mason, brought his bike and we had our first mountain bike ride together.  He absolutely MOBS!  I just loved watching him tackle the trails with no fear, and I'm amazed at his skills given his age! Apologies for the shaky video quality, I was holding the camera in one hand and trying to steer with the other:  

Hanging with Chad's family at Lake Pend Orielle

We spent a cool June weekend in Idaho to celebrate Chad's mom's birthday.  Everyone fished, hung out and ate, we had a fantastic time.  I even managed to squeeze in a ride on a trail I found in the woods above the place.

4th of July at Liberty Lake with friends and family: 

Our friends Brian, Alicia, Josie, Meg and Christian headed to Spokane to soak up some sunshine with us.  

We hung out on the beach, 

went hiking in a new natural area my dad has been involved in creating, the Saltese Uplands,

and rode bikes to the farmer's market.  Bliss. 

Lose Your Lace in the Last Best Place: 

My long time friends Essie and Kelcie invited me to a women's skinny dipping weekend in Yaak, MT in July.  It was fantastic.  A weekend in MT with a fabulous group of ladies, soaking in the cool Yaak River, was the best possible mini-escape for mental refreshment.  In Essie's words, "magical. brilliant. renewing."  

Photo by Essie.

Photo by Essie.  

Photo by Sarah.  

The epic rides of the summertime

We put in a lot of big mountain bike rides this summer, with many firsts for me:  first endurance race, first 24 hour race, first Suntop expedition, first 50 mile race. I've always wanted to have a summer filled with epic rides, and I feel proud to say we really did it up this summer.  

Bachelorette bike ride for Tessa: 

My dear friends Sean and Tessa got hitched recently.  Tessa works as a bicycle planner, so to celebrate her last days as a single lady, a fab group of ladies did a brewery bike ride.  The weather was fantastic, just perfect for a nice spin up to the American Brewing Company in Edmunds. After we were done sipping our beers, and picnicking, we headed to Kate's house for some pizza making and more beer/ wine drinking.  

Amazing women + amazing bike rides + amazing friends + family = amazing summer.