Sweet nothings

(Selle Italia needs a redesign)









Sara: Geeez...Look what I did to my saddle!!??

Zach: Yeah.

Sara: Man. How do you suppose I did that?

Zach: Your giant ass.

Rewind - Mogollon Masher

BEFORE

What may turn out to be one of my favorite races in the MBAA series and I'm almost a month late in posting about it. We drove up to the Mogollon Rim fairly early Friday in the new VAN. We were meeting Jeff and Vienna to camp for the whole weekend.

The set up in the van. Layla is laying on a nice comfy futon mattress.

The views from our campsite, on top of the rim.

Our campsite.

Vienna getting the dogs settled. My favorite picture from the trip.

Once we arrived, Jeff, Zach and I suited up and went out for a preride. I loved the course. It reminded me a lot of Nine Mile. Alot of people did not like it because there was not enough climbing (huh?), but after the Prescott MBAA race and the Whiskey 50, I was ready for a "flat" course. And despite the protests of flatness, there was climbing. It was nice and gradual, no crazy steep climbs. It was good. Lots of pedaling. That's probably what people didn't like. It was beautiful with pines, aspen groves, and open pastures. The snow had just melted so there were a few mushy water crossings and 2 creek crossings. Fun stuff.

After the ride we got settled in (Thanks Vienna for setting up camp!) and celebrated Jeff's birthday.


The race venue turned out to be about a 20 minute drive from our campsite...yet I still somehow ended up running late. I barely had time for a warmup and we were off at 8:45. The race went well. I loved the trail even more the second day. The course was set up lollipop style; each loop was about 9 miles. The double track up to the feed zone turned out to be a killer and the 2 way traffic section back to the finish felt like 5 miles since it was all uphill.

First place! (dang I look old!)

Zach had a good race with photo finish at the end with his friend Tim (who lives in Chino Valley).

And then he puked.

The altitude must have gotten to Tom. He finished second.

Jeff dnf'd. If I remember he flatted...maybe twice.
After the race we chilled around the campfire. Tim, Robin and their 2 dogs joined us that night. We had 6 people and 6 dogs! We should have gotten up and rode Sunday morning, but we were all feeling a little groggy. We had breakfast and cruised. Stopped in Payson for some killer Mexican food and Zach slept in the back the whole way home.

AFTER

Vassago Love and Flagstaff

We were just about packed and ready to go to Flagstaff for the race this weekend when that lovely brown UPS truck pulled down our dirt road and brought me a big box of love from Vassago. It contained our kits and everything else we could ever want including a little dolly named Tom.

A big thanks to Misty, Kris, and Vassago!















I you look close you will see that little Tom wanted to drive to the race...





















We got to Flagstaff and I did my volunteer work and waited for Tim and Elizabeth to arrive for a nice relaxing evening. We had dinner by the campfire and it was off to bed.

The morning was different than usual because I had to do some more volunteering so I couldn't hand Sara bottles in her race. Tom (Not the dolly) and Kim got there in time for Kim and Sara's race so Tom handed the ladies bottles in their race.

My race was another battle. The top five finishers in our Cat 1 class have been so close the last few races and it was no different this time. Tom Faeh and Tim Allen got away a bit for 1st and 2nd but 3rd - 5th were back and forth the whole time. I wound up in 4th with Marcus Hayward who is leading the series 15 seconds ahead of me and Rob Shaver just a little behind me. It is going to be interest to see how the series shakes out after low races are dropped and the final being weighted heavier.



Rockin the new kit!!!!















Queen Sara sporting her 1st place medal and me with my 4th
















After the race we headed to Sedona for some R & R at the Quail Ridge which is now partially owned by the Bike n Bean crew. So it is officially the coolest place for mountain bikers to stay with a great pool and hot tub and is only around the corner from the Bean. Tim Allen met up with Tim, Elizabeth, Sara, and I for some refreshments by the pool Saturday night. Tom (not the dolly) and Kim ditched us for some unknown reason and didn't join us in Sedona.



We did do some hiking at West Fork on Sunday before heading home.




















And then there is this guy

For now...

We had a great weekend camping and racing!! More later, test in the morning.