A whole month flew by...

...while I wasn't looking. It's the end of January already and I have neglected my blog. My days are now filled with work, riding my bike, climbing in the rock gym, cooking fabulous meals and then back to work at night on various websites I have volunteered to set up.

I haven't had time to stop and think. The only time I get to really think is when I'm on the bike. Bike rides are getting longer now and we are preparing to start adding weight to our bikes while training in order to simulate the White Mountain race conditions.

By the way, the BLM permit for the White Mountain Race went through, so it's official. On March 21st Brian and I will be starting our 100 mile journey north of Fairbanks into the White Mountains. Woohoo! Or OMG, WTS? depending on what day you talk to me. But if there wasn't an element of panic in me it wouldn't be fun, right?

Our Saturdays have been spent riding all the daylight hours away. Last weekend we rode out to the Knik Glacier, wow! What a beautiful ride.

We started out at noon at Hunter Creek...



Niko was full of energy on the first half of the ride...



We arrived at the glacier about two hours later...



There are so many cool places to explore in this area. You can weave your bike in and out of ice formations. I was kicking myself for not bringing the ice climbing gear, but then again it felt like the temperature had dropped to about -10 on the glacier and the sun was about to set, so we didn't stay long.



We headed back to the car after eating a couple of burritos. I'd definitely like to go back and wander around here for a few hours (or days). In addition to the glacier I could see multiple waterfall climbs down further in the gorge.



We arrived back at Hunter Creek at sunset with Niko dragging behind, his paws bleeding from running on hard crusty snow all day.



I'm feeling pretty good about the upcoming race. February is going to be a big mile month on the bike for me. This weekend Brian and I are heading down the Susitna to ride and stay at Luce's Lodge for a night. More photos to come!