the woolydaisy-a window into my world: mountain lions, berms and slugs....oh my!

my son Liam, got accepted to UC Santa Cruz. during spring break we hit the road to tour the university.

Liam really likes it there! I'm sure the miles of sweet and gnarly single track right there on the campus has absolutely nothing to do with it!

While we were there Liam got to ride some primo bike trails with friends. He certainly had a blast. We used to fit 3 bikes inside our subaru while traveling and now that our bikes are bigger due to larger wheel size it doesn't work anymore. I left mine at home as i didn't want hubby to tie mine on the roof with his! that man can tie ice to a space heater! He's a master at secure knots! but i declined his offer anyway.

We rode Sandhills in Scotts Valley with a friend of a friend, Eve. She took us on an awesome tour and lent me a killer carbon Ibis bike! It was so fun, the trails were tight and twisty! thanks Eve!

After our campus tour on Wednesday the boys hit the trails! I was bike-less and sad so i decided to hike instead. i had a lovely 5.2 mile hike on the Emma McCrary flow trail! Flowers, redwoods and sweet berms filled the trail! i was missing my bike but got over it and just slowed down to enjoy the beauty.

Missing my bike on these berms for sure! smooth and fast!

sorry for the overload of photos. can't help myself.

we are creatures of habit, our family. we tend to repeat things we like. so, as usual we sustained ourselves on vegetarian burritos and tostadas at Taqueria los Pericos on Water St.

this trip to Santa Cruz we were fortunate to stay with hubby's friend and coworker Bill. What a treat that was! out in the country away from the busyness, bustle and traffic of SC. i regret not taking more photos. orchards, succulents, flowers and cacti galore! i woke to this view every morning! peace! bliss!

on our last day i was fortunate to have rented a demo bike from the Santa Cruz Bicycle Factory! what a deal! a top of the line bike for only $20/4 hours.

i got to ride a carbon 1x11 5010. yes, feeling a bit guilty. i cheated on Lavinnia. no more bike monogamy for this chik! and i must say i'm in love. called her stella blue. she climbed like a dream, the sound of her hub was music to my ears, 650b rocks and light as a feather! sweet ride for sure. i forgot about the dropper seat post as i don't have one on Lavinnia. so i didnt even use it. hahahah!

liam was off riding trails with his buddies. roy and i took off from the factory and headed to wilder ranch. a short ride on a bike path from the factory. (since we don't have a bike rack)

see that creature at the top of the map? yes, we saw one and yes, its a mountain lion. in broad daylight! holy crap, it was awesome!
we rode up to "twin gates" which was quite the climb and i was so happy to be sporting a carbon bike and not my solid but super heavy aluminum 29er.(no offense Lavinnia!)

Stella Blue

flannel everyday!

yes, that's the ocean!

my new love, Stella Blue!

sadly, i had to return stella. gotta figure out how to get my hands on $8600. that's a hell of a lot hats to knit! sigh! next time i demo gonna figure out how to get my bike to the better trails. nothing against wilder, but just not my style.

liam had a second ride planned later in the day so roy and i decided to check out the little town of felton. found a thrift store!