Summer Time!!!

It's Summer!  For most of my childhood, summer was my favorite time of the year...playing outside with friends and family till dark, endless hours in the pool, camping in Sequoia or local camping spot, and sleeping in your undies with the windows wide open and the night breeze barely cooling you down.  Today I celebrated the Summer Solstice on a mountain bike ride during lunch with just a water bottle and a t-shirt (no kit, no strava, no timer) and with the Blue Angels flying overhead.    Sweet ride - made me feel like a kid.

My family camping in the local mountains.  I'm the girl on the far left in the green jacket.  

Now that us kids are older, it seems that we have found new ways to enjoy the summer with extreme rides, runs, and adventures.  Right now, there are two rides crossing the states - The first is the ultimate road ride: Race Across America starting from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD approximately 3,000 miles.  The second, Tour Divide, the ultimate mountain bike race from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.  There is also a foot race that starts this weekend, the Black Hills 100, a ultra trail run in South Dakota.

If these events seem a little too much for your taste buds, there are some other fun summer advetnures you can sink your teeth into.

• Tough Mudder - these races are 10-12 miles in length and specialize in obstacles made from the British Special Forces.  The races are held not just in the US but all over the world.  There is a race in So. Cal in July.
• Rim Nordic Mountain Bike Race Series - is underway and offers cross country, downhill, and Super D races all summer long.  The course is beautiful and terrain challenging.  
• Trail running has a long list of races this summer from 5Ks to ultra runs.  Here's an extensive list of trail runs this summer.  

Between now and September,  I will be in the mountains in Southern California training 20 hikers to do Mt. Whitney in one-day.  I will sprinkle a mountain bike ride on the weekdays or sneak in a weekend ride after a training hike.  A new way to enjoy summer in a non-extreme way is riding to the beach with a packed lunch and a cold beverage - I'm outside and enjoying some tranquility.

Get the cooler ready and have some summer fun!

Chi