Weber State Star

This is my little sis...when she's not dunkin she's making shots like this. Look out MJ!

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

-

Does riding your bike in circles for 24 hours sound like a good idea? Yeah I don't know who came up with this idea but he/she is crazy sucker! Even though this race was a little out of my league I had to take the opportunity to ride with Racer's Sabrosa Cycle team. Maybe someday their speed will rub off on me.

-

Last Thursday we started the voyage down to Tucson. I say voyage because it took us about a day and a half to get there. We had a stop in Phoenix where we stayed Thursday night, and then visited every Home Depot on the way out of Phoenix Friday morning. The Home Depot trip was with the intent of purchasing a propane heater due to the freak weather we were about to encounter. When we finally got to the race site it was snowing/raining; it's super fun setting up camp in weather like this:

Needless to say to say I wasn't super pumped about the weather. The race was going to be epic enough without snow and freezing weather. Lucky for us the bike gods were nice enough to show show some kindness and let the sun out right before the start of the race. I felt bad for the guys that had the first lap; everyone was outfitted with gear to ride in subarctic conditions. The rest of the race was clear skys and almost warm weather.

The course was perfectly fitted for a 24 hour race. and with the recent rain it was hard packed and fast. The course was 16 miles of mostly single track through super thick cactus; it sounds ridiculous but I've never seen that much cactus. I witnessed a couple of unfortunate suckers that took corners too fast on the night laps and ended up in a cactus bed; not fun!

I'll tell you what really made the race, our support crew was amazing! Shea and "The Tammer" were top notch. These guys did just about everything for us; big thanks again to the support crew.

We ended up doing pretty well, 13th place out of about 140 teams in the 4 man open class. I've promised to bring faster lap times next year if they'll have me back so I've got to get myself in shape. Below is how the hardcore racer takes his shower, I on the other hand treated myself to the shower trailer.

Right after the finish we packed up and head back. I knew it was going to be a long drive back so I celebrated with a 2 lb bag of peanut M & Ms, raspberry filled powder doughnuts, and a 4 pack of Full Throttle. I don't think the human body is meant to have that much caffeine and sugar in one sitting. I have to apologize if I was a bit out of control on the ride back; it was the Full Throttle talking. Below is the best way to describe the way you feel after riding a 24 hour race and then getting the car for 8 hours:

Thanks again to everyone that helped make the weekend happen; I'm already looking forward to next year!

Catalina Buffalo Run

Last Friday we made the trip down to southern California for the Buffalo 1/2 marathon on Catalin Island. Our running crew included John (Laura's brother), Jesse, Baker, and myself. The support team included Laura, and Paul & Nola Harber. Laura was super disappointed that she couldn't run due to an injury (or was that a story fabricated to cover something else?) but she's on the road to recovery.






It was already going to be a pretty epic race due to the fact that the course was so tough, but for Jesse and Baker it was ultra intense because it was their first 1/2 marathon. As you can see on the course profile it's a consistent climb for the first 5 miles, oh yeah and in those first 5 miles you climb almost 1600 feet. There's really nothing I can say to describe how gnarly it was; all I remember was that every time you thought you were reaching the summit you would round the corner and it just kept going strait up. Needless to say it was a painful one!

Althought it was one of the most difficult races I've done it was compensated by the fact that it was absolutly beautiful. The majority of the race was on fire roads through the interior of the island; we had amazing views of the ocean and the weather was perfect. Everyone did great with strong finishes. The good thing for Jesse and Baker is that with this being their first half marathon everything else will almost seem easy.

Saturday afternoon we headed back to Newport and hung with the Jones and the Morphys. We had some amazing Califoriental food; I don't know if it was exceptionally good or I was just really hungy. Either way it hit the spot. The other highlight to the trip was seeing our friend's kids. Baker and Matt are always one step ahead in the game of life; I'll be there someday guys.

I had to laugh at this picture, it's similar to the one at the top of the page but this is after the race. We're still smiling, but it's pretty obvious that we're beat. One of the things I love the most about these events is the addictiveness. On the boat ride back and the drive home there was a ton of planning for the next race.


Get out there and register for a race, any race...it's the ultimate motivator!