Sharry Miller

Kennecott and McCarthy

I've been in a rut lately, feeling like I'm not doing anything interesting, and certainly not anything worth writing about here. Nonsense, of course, but it's a hard rut to climb out of. Anyway, I'd meant to share a bit with you after I headed north for a KCHU public radio board meeting. We decided to have our June meeting and biannual strategic planning session in McCarthy, a tiny town nestled in the Wrangell-St. Elias... Read more →

Time to Ride

A big cheesy grin is required on the first ride of spring. My first ride of spring. After over four years of posting to this blog, I could just about plagiarize myself and copy a previous year's first ride of spring post because I know they all say the same thing: I have a ridiculous grin on my face as I pedal by the snowbanks and get passed by trucks pulling snowmobiles. This year, I... Read more →

Endorphin Joy

"You need to go for a bike ride." "Get outside. Go for a run." "Go. Now." This is how my family speaks to me on a regular basis. Just a couple of days ago, I commented to Thane that while I'd heard of endorphins, I never thought I'd exercised hard enough while running or cycling to actually get the "high" athletes speak of. "Oh, yes you have," he stated without hesitation. "I've witnessed it." Wikipedia.com:... Read more →

Longest Cycling Season

Wow! 2014 has been my most amazing cycling season ever. That's quite a statement given that any season which includes cycling is amazing. This one has been even more so, however, and I thought it would be fun to recap it. I realize this is primarily for my own amusement, but I appreciate your willingness to come along for the ride (pun intended). First, in 2014 I went on my earliest-in-the-year ride ever: March 1.... Read more →

Mountain Biking Montana - Apgar to Polebridge

The day started out so innocently. Oatmeal for breakfast. Blue skies. An easy roll out of the Apgar campground. You know how sometimes "fun" is best assessed after an activity is over? The second real day of our Montana dirt tour was definitely one of those times. (If you missed them, I wrote about the previous days here and here.) I'd planned to continue riding with Mandy as we made our way to Polebridge. We... Read more →

Mountain Biking Montana - Whitefish to Apgar

Last time, I let you know I was excited to meet BOB - I'd always wanted to try him out. On the second day of our trip, I was totally smitten. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. It wasn't all about BOB. Finally, it was the real first day of our tour. The plan was to ride about 40 miles from Whitefish Bike Retreat to Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. My... Read more →

Mountain Biking Montana

I can't believe it's been two weeks already since I got back from my trip to Montana. I am a failure as a blogger. Ah, well, better late than never. I can guarantee that Montana is not flat. Now, I didn't really head there thinking it was, but now I have definite proof: bigger, stronger quads. Thane and I drove through Montana once nearly 20 years ago, but my memory is short. I really had... Read more →

Fireweed 400 - Headwinds, Sidewinds, but No Tailwinds

It's been a week since the 2014 Fireweed 400, a series of 50-400 mile races and one non-race 2Day300K ride. Earlier this spring I'd decided to challenge myself by riding the last of those, what I keep calling the "tourist class" of the Fireweed: ~200 miles in two days. The first day is 110 miles from Sheep Mountain Lodge on the Glenn Highway to Tonsina Lodge on the Richardson Highway. The second day is about... Read more →

Fireweed 400 - What the Heck am I Thinking?

The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Flow I'm having a crisis of faith...in myself. Yesterday I drove 160 miles round trip to ride Madeleine somewhere other than on the same stretch of highway out of Valdez. I parked at Squirrel... Read more →

Hatcher Pass Love

It was a dark and stormy night. No, wait, that's a different story. I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day. It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day. ~Jimmy Cliff, "I Can See Clearly Now" Yeah, that's better. That's definitely more like it was... Read more →