Cookies

Tim and Elizabeth came up from Tucson this weekend to hang out and see the Christmas lights in Prescott. They got in around 7pm on Friday night. We were all kinda beat, so after catching up a little we went and had some In n Out burger and pretty much called it a night.

Saturday morning we drove up to the Lynx Lake cafe to find the gates closed for a month. They completely shut down from Dec 1st until mid January. Good for them, bad for me. No yummy french toast.

So we hit the Dinner Bell downtown Prescott instead. That worked out fine because then we were right there to go hike a loop at Thumb Butte.

When we got back home, Zach and Tim suited up and we all jumped back in the car. Elizabeth and I dropped them off at White Spar campground. They started their ride on 396.

From there we drove around and looked at the houses off of Copper Basin Road. A really neat little community with steep, narrow roads up in the pines with granite boulders that make up many of the yards. And then we did the drive that I've been wanting to do since I rode the area last weekend with Becker.

We headed up Senator Hwy and came back down Walker Rd (which parallels the 305). The drive takes you up by Spruce Mt and then down past Mt Union, which is the highest point in Yavapai County. And right where the two roads meet is Hassayampa Lake. It's a small dammed lake that is now privately owned high up in the mountains. It is completely unexpected. Of course I didn't have the camera with. It was an awesome drive with beautiful views along the way. Both roads start out paved but turn to gravel and it's a single lane road most of the way. It was a little scary that day because there was snow/rain in the forecast and the sky looked like it was going to storm. I was relieved to hit the pavement again!! That will be an awesome ride to do some day.

We went home and waited for Zach and Tim to make it back from their ride. We had a hard time getting Tim to take off the vest he borrowed. He wanted to wear it out that night, but we talked him out of it.

We (or I should say TIM) cooked dinner and then headed out to our new favorite night spot, the Raven. Get this - Saturday night happy hour from 9 till midnight! It was a really fun night out. Elizabeth and I had an interesting night of trying new things.

Sunday morning brought Zach's famous biscuits and gravy and a lot of laying around. Thank goodness for Elizabeth who got us motivated to go for a hike. We decided on Granite Basin. It was an awesome hike.

By the time we got home it was around 4, so Tim and Elizabeth packed up and started the trip back to Tucson.

570 is the number...

This weekend finished up my 2008 race season with Dawn till Dusk down in Phoenix. This race was surprising, awesome, and left me in a lot of pain. The competition in the race was tough with a bigger turn out than expected. There were a total of 52 competitors in the geared open class. Some big dogs from SoCal jumped out to an early lead and set a crazy pace. It was about halfway through the race that I finally figured out that I was sitting in 4th place. I held that position up until a frustrating last two minutes of the race. In the very last section of single-track I got passed by two guys in my class and my legs had no response. I ended the race in 6th place. Of course Tom ended up winning the Solo Single Speed category.

I kind of thought that a 10 hr race on the Pemberton Trail would be the easiest race of the ones I’ve done in the last couple months. The problem is that Pemberton is not very technical and is very fast. This allowed everyone to push hard the whole time. The nine laps I got in put me somewhere between 140 and 150 miles for the day. Sunday morning when I woke up I felt like I had been hit by a truck.















Not sure if it was just this race that put me in pain or all of the racing over the last couple of months combined. I think at this point my body is ready for a break. In reflecting on the last couple months I figured out that since Payson in the middle of September, my off-road race miles alone are somewhere around 570 miles. That is the busiest fall I think I have ever had in regards to racing. Despite the aches and pains I had a blast and am looking forward 2009.

75 Day Recap
1st - Solo Geared Open – 12 Hours Payson Stampede
9th - Geared Open - Tour of the White Mountains 67 Mile
1st - Marathon Open - Giant Dust Devil Estrella
3rd - Solo Expert - 12 Hours of Temecula
6th – Solo Geared Open - 12 Hours of Fury
6th – Solo Geared Open - Dawn Till Dusk