Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving.....And More pics

Compliments of mikelsall... He can take a good picture. Maybe there is something to be said for the stance. These are a few of my favorites.

On our way up Cathedral. Layla and I turned back at this point. She was getting nervous. We hiked down to the creek instead.








Dating bliss.








The Layla dog.










On Zach and Mike's ride. I think this is Submarine Rock.







And on to Prescott. This thing looked like it was giving us the finger.










Hiking up 392 around Thumb Butte.










Heading down 326.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Hey Kelsall.....

Kelsall and Jen were in town last weekend from cold Illinois for a quick visit before heading to Phoenix for Thanksgiving at his family's. They met us in Sedona Friday night. They got in kind of late so after a few refreshments and a little catching up, it was off to bed.

Saturday we had some breakfast at the airport and then headed up Cathedral for a little hike. Mike has a new picture taking stance.

















A little rest half way up





















After the hike Mike and I headed out on a ride. We were out for about 2 1/2 hours and hit a lot of Sedona's good stuff. After Mike and got done riding we packed up and all headed back to Prescott for a night out on Whiskey Row. It was a great time sitting outside at Coyote Joes and for some live music (But no T-Bone) and then later to the Raven for a little more mellow of a scene to end the night. I think the Raven sells the world's smallest pizzas. Sara and I were feeling pretty crazy. We actually stayed out till Midnight!!!

The next morning we headed to breakfast at the lake of course and then a hike at Thumb Butte.















We stopped on the trail for a little snack















After the hike Kelsall and Jen headed to Phoenix. It was great seeing them!!! It was an awesome weekend!!!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

ADIDASS

All day I dream about silver stuff.



Optimus Ti with new Reba
















Some new shoes




Tuesday, November 18, 2008

12 Hours of Temecula

I headed to Phoenix to pick up Tom Friday morning and the two of us headed to California for the 12 Hours of Temecula. We had my Element loaded with our 4 bikes, a demo bike, 2 frames, all the stuff for the vendor area, and all of our gear. It looked like the Element was getting ready to do a wheelie.

Friday night after getting everything set up Tom and I headed to meet Kris and Mike from Vassago for a great dinner. We had some refreshments and some really good and really big food. I love it when quality and quantity are combined. Thanks to Kris for a great meal.

The race started at 9:00 the next morning so not much time to hang out. The race went pretty well. My knee and shoulder didn't give me too much pain. Whenever I started feeling anything from my knee I backed off a little and just tried to maintain a easy spin. I wound up getting 3rd place in the Expert geared and Tom took 1st in the SS category. We had a great time hanging out with everyone after the race too. Laughs provided courtesy of GTSD.

Some other highlights of the weekend were meeting and hanging out with Kris and Mike, the usually Tom entertainment including his custom bee hive made by half empty coke cans in our solo pit area, and watching a bunch of little poodles eating Tom's puke.

Of course both of us forgot to bring cameras this weekend.

back in AZ

My parents were out here back in September.

We hiked around Thumb Butte.







Relaxed on the porch.







Relaxed some more.








And then hit Coyote Joes for some live music.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Temecula

Based on the doctor report I am going to give Temecula a try. The Doc laughed when I explained my plans but didn't say no. If it starts to hurt I guess I will have to have a few refreshments and support Tom. Maybe I will put some TurboLax in his bottles.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

12 Hours of Fury (Quitting While Your Ahead)




All I can say is I was having a great race. The Optimus with my new Reba was just flying over the rocky sections. I had a pretty good lead on 2nd place in the geared category and Tom was the only person overall of solo 12hr racers ahead of me when disaster hit. During my 6th lap I started having slight pains in my knee. This is a pain I have been trying to ride through for a the last month. It is from my crash at Tour of the White Mountains. I did a long ride in Sedona last weekend without any pain so I though I was going to be okay for this.

Anyway, during my 7th lap I couldn't bend my left knee at all. I had to ride in with just one leg about 3 miles. It was brutal. Because I was putting all of my weight on my right side, my right shoulder started hurting also which has been doing some weird stuff since my crash at Tour of Mountains too. When I got in I made the decision to call it quits. It was pretty hard to do especially since Sara told me I had nearly an hour lead at that point. I guess I should look on the bright side and be happy that I still got 6th place and only did about the first half of the race. So I am off to the doctor this week to try to figure this stuff out. I am still planning going to Temecula. I am going to take it easy this week and do a lot of icing. Sara, Uncle Jim, and Layla did a great job in my support and thanks to Darrin P. for the medical attention after the race.

Tom finished 11 laps getting 1st in SS and 1st overall of all 12hr solo racers. Evan took 3rd in the SS 12hr solo category. Pretty good for first 12 hour race. Darrin P., Robert, Dan, and Dan wound up taking 2nd in the 4 person 24hr.

It was a really cool event. It was a great turn out for a first year event. Jeremy the promoter is an awesome guy. He was very thankful for the support from the Adrenaline Team and the Vassago Jabberwocky frame donated for the raffle. There were a lot people checking out our bikes and a lot of people inquiring about how to win the Jabberwocky.