The Whiskey

What a race. I have not done many endurance races, but I am going out on a limb to say this has to be one of the coolest. Super fun singletrack with some scary loose rocky downhill sections and you have to love the 11 mile dirt road down to Skull Valley... Especially knowing that you have to climb up and beyond the point where you started to head down. Lots of climbing and then the course ends with some more great singletrack....all downhill after one last short killer of a climb. That's the climb where everyone starts (or continues) to cramp big time.

Zach, Tim and I got downtown with plenty of time to spare. It's such an awesome race...from start to finish. It's so laid back at the start, you can head up with just a few minutes to go and weasel your way up closer to the front. I started with Zach, and Jen, Spring and Heidi were just a little ahead of me.

I had a completely uneventful race, which is the way I like it. No crashes and no mechanicals. I handled the water bars better than last year, made that last torturous climb, and improved on my time from last year. The climb back up from Skull Valley totally killed me. I must have swore 50 times that I would never do the fifty again!! Can't decide if it's more physically or mentally difficult. Couldn't have been on a better bike. The Vassago did me good. It's amazing how awesome I felt on Sunday after that race.

I ended up in 8th place... Not what I wanted but totally appropriate given my experience in longer races and my current level of training. School has ruled my days. There were some serious hard core ladies there like Lynda, Sonya, and Sarah. Wow, they are fast. Spring and Heidi kicked my butt up the road (ya damn roadies :)!! ) and had great finishes at 5th and 6th.

And the fun doesn't end with the riding. As you head in towards the finish line, you have an entire crowd of people cheering you on! It's so great. This year they finished the weekend up with a band on the square. How cool. I love this joint.

Zach had a great finish at 19th out of 139 in his age group, bettering his time by 16 minutes.   First time Whiskey Riders Jeff and Vienna both did the 15. This was Vienna's first race!! They both did awesome. Tim's first time too.  He did the 50 and was doing great until he stopped to help the dude who peeled the skin off his knee. Elizabeth was a trooper and hung at the house with the Doodle and Oliver during the race. Tom had a pretty good crash that took some time from him but Kim got a FIRST PLACE!! ha ha!

Unfortunately, I left my camera at home and didn't get any pictures after the race, but I did take some pictures of the course the weekend before during a preride. 

Here's my bike, the Optimus

Zach, just before the waterbars.

Tim heading down 260.

A view up 260, which was in GREAT  shape, thanks to the MAN - John Shumaker.

View of 89A from 260.

And a few pictures of the gang on the square.

The only disappointing thing about the weekend was that our friends from Illinois did not make it out here this year!!  NEXT YEAR WE BETTER SEE YOU!!!  YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

Prescott Punisher 2

It was upper 30s when my race started at 8:45!!! I ended up taking off the vest and just wearing arm warmers because I knew it would warm up.

We took off and this was the first race that I was out in front at the start. From there is was pretty much 2 hours and 16 minutes of pain and suffering. I seem to remember from last year that elevation change is over 1000 ft per lap. The course has grown on me though. I hated it the first time I rode it last year because the decomposed granite is like riding on glass and you can get going super fast on the downhills. But because it's normally an atv track, the turns are nice and burmed so you can take them pretty fast. Other than a dab on "The Wall" I had a clean race. I ended up in first with Jen in 2nd and Christina in 3rd.


We've got 3 races left in the series. Next up is Mogollon Masher and then we have 2 up in Flagstaff. It will be our first time riding the Mogollon course and the first Flagstaff course. Looks like the Flagstaff Finale is at the same park it was last year.

And just for fun, here's Tim showing off Zach's glasses with Elizabeth in the background.

Fat Camp Day 1

We picked up Nick on the way back from Fort Huachuca Saturday night. He is spending his spring break out here with us while we are on ours.

We started out Sunday with breakfast at the lake followed by a quick walk for the doodle. It was the first time we've seen these birds. Zach thought they were loons. There was one in the water and he'd dive down and stay under for what seemed like minutes. We had to walk right under this tree.

After that we packed up and headed over to Granite Mountain.

Based on his appearance, Zach and I were not expecting much of Nick. I was thinking we'd ride 347 (which is gradual, but rolling, climbing the entire way) from the Williamson Valley Trailhead then turn around and head back down. We ended up doing 347 to 348 and over to Mint Wash via 352. Rode thru Cayuse and up 349. Back to Cayuse up 346 and finally headed back down 347 to the car. I'm thinking we did around 15.5 miles. Not too bad for a kid from Illinois who's been riding once a week. And he's totally got the technical skills. Downhill, uphill. He was clearing everything. He'd just slow down a little (sometimes alot) on the climbs. To be honest, he was descending down stuff it took me a year to muster up the courage to do and he was climbing technical stuff that I still sometimes don't make. Brat.

At the top of 347, getting ready for our ride down.


We finished the day at the Brew Pub and Coyote Joes, but not before Nick cleared out with the neti pot.

White Out

Well, I started writing this post last night, but did not finish because we lost power!!

We have a winter wonderland outside. Zach's school is closed for today and I am on a 2 hour delay, which based on my schedule means I don't have class until 3pm now.

The bacon dog loves the snow.

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.

The Ahoyts Invade Arizona

Wow, we had a great holiday weekend. Jam and Karen were out in Az so that Dr. Jam could attend a dentistry seminar in Scottsdale. After the seminar ended these peeps headed north to Prescott to visit us. Upon Justin and Karen's arrival to our house they were very amused at the severe rutted conditions of our road. Their rented fancy Toyota Avalon (low to ground) didn't handle the road too well. Friday night we hung out at the house and I made some chicken tortas and we consumed some liquid refreshments. I didn't tell Justin until the next day that I used mass quantities of butter in the beans. I knew he wouldn't eat them if he knew.

Saturday we headed to Lynx Lake for breakfast and then for a scenic drive. It was actually Justin that spotted the bobcat in our previous post. That was the first one we have seen since we have been here. Pretty cool! We then headed to Thumb Butte for a long hike. It was longer than expected cause Sara was pretending she knew where we were going.

Gathering around the stache on the Prescott hike











Sweaty Betty











After hike picnic














Then to Coyote Joes (TBone in the background with his head down)





















On Sunday we headed to Sedona for a hike on Cathedral











After our hike we did a little sight seeing and then headed back to the Quail for a relaxing afternoon and evening in the pool and hot tub (AND LOTS OF READING). Sunday morning the Ahoyts headed to Phoenix to catch their plane and Sara and I went for a ride on our normal loop.

It was a great weekend and visit. I would like to announce that Jam is moving his practice to Prescott, Az.

Excitement

Justin spotted this beauty while we were driving through Yavapai Hills. We think it's a bobcat.

Jam session

Justin and Karen landed in Phoenix safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon. Their flight was uneventful...they even landed early! Sounds like Karen is having a blast. Justin is ditching his conference at 3, so they should be up here by 4:30 or 5!!! We can't wait. I hope he brought his dentist tools. I like to get my teeth cleaned.

The Butte

We had a pretty good weekend of riding. Saturday we started at Thumb Butte with Robert and Steve. Thumb Butte is an area we have not yet spent enough time. Mike and Adam rode it when they were here. The last few sections of the Whiskey were through that area. In fact, on Saturday we rode that last torturous, big-time-cramp, gradual-but-super-rocky climb. It wasn't so bad this time around. Sunday morning Zach rode up Mingus on 89A, down to Jerome and Clarkdale then turned around and rode back. AND HE GOT DROPPED!!! It's not funny but it is. I've been hurting on every ride since we've been back and he just LOVES trying to make me laugh on the last climb when I have no energy left to do so. Instead I want to cry. At one point I really wanted to push him off of his bike. But back to him getting dropped. He rode Mingus with a 19 year old super fast kid, a 58 year old, and a ...we'll say... 55 year old (not quite sure of his age). Is that great or what. Zach got dropped by 2 old dudes. Granted, one guy owns one of the bike shops in town and the other is a freak of nature. But it's still fun. I went and did the Skull Valley Loop. Over the summer months there's a ride that leaves the safeway at 6:30am on both Saturday and Sunday. I ended up knowing a few people on the ride. Keith is a retired Air Force helicopter pilot and has to be the nicest guy I've ever met. Brian is the husband of one of the ladies at the preschool. Everyone else I had met for the first time. I was the only female. Me and two other dudes got dropped for the first 2 thirds. We met up with everyone at Wilhoit and I kept up with the fast group from there. I was able to hang with the final sprint into town too. So I felt pretty good about myself after the ride, which made hearing about Zach's drop even better!!!!

This week wasn't so good. I spent most of the day Monday cleaning and studying - no ride. Tuesday I was exhausted from working at the preschool again. Wednesday I packed my bike and planned on riding after work to the butte, but a scary looking storm rolled in and I skipped it. Tonight I did the same but I ignored the lightening and sprinkles. It had already downpoured earlier that day for crying out loud. I rode the streets to Thumb Butte on the 1x1...not exactly fun cause it's geared pretty easy I think. Rode the start of the ride we did Saturday and then turned around and back tracked. I didn't realize it until tonight when I rode the opposite way, but the trail we started with on Saturday was one of the first Zach and I did when we first moved here.

Post Race Festivities

After all the troops were accounted after the race, Adam and I headed to the bike shop to return the rental that he had gotten very close to over the previous two days. We dropped the bike off and were quickly back down town. We met up with Sara, Mike, Christina, and Adrenaline Crew who were already at the brew pub.

After a wonderful post race meal (THANKS DARRIN) and some liquid refreshments we met up with Jeff and spent a few minutes relaxing on the lawn of the court house.

After our quick rest it was off to Coyote Joe's for some more refreshments and the awards ceremony. It was a beautiful night and great place to have the awards. Although I wish T-Bone would have left earlier.
Oh yeah, Adam ditched us for a while to go hang out with his new friend.

After the awards we did stay at Coyote Joe's for a while before checking out a few other places on the Whiskey Row. We tried to hang for a while but quickly realized after racing 50 off-road miles with 7600 ft of climbing (click here for Garmin data) and the fact that we are old quickly sent us home to bed. It was a great day of racing and hanging out but it was time for bed.

After a good nights rest it was time to set our sights on breakfast. We all woke up hungry and ready to eat. It was off to Lynx Lake Cafe. A place where you can be surrounded the beauty of Prescott while stuffing your guts.

After breakfast Christina headed to Sedona to see her mom and Pete. The rest of us had some down time in front of the TV. Mike and Adam headed to the airport around noon after a little resting-up.

It was a great weekend! I am glad that everybody was here.

The Whiskey 50

I am a big time slacker. I do have somewhat of an excuse. I'll get to that later. Hopefully sooner than later.

So we made it to bed by 10:30 or 11 on Friday night. We had a full house. Christina, Mike, Adam, Zach and I. My mind was racing, I could tell before we shut the lights out that I wasn't going to sleep well. Christina fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the pillow, but then woke up to a coughing fit at some point during the night. I was awake without an alarm by like 4 or 4:30. Christina was up early too. Breakfast at home, a little coffee, a few last minute bike checks and we were ready to go. We were downtown before 8. Found some good parking and started getting packs and bottles and food ready. It was a beautiful day.


I saw Jennifer Sica at some point in the morning. She wasn't signed up for the race. She was riding as a friend of hers who couldn't make it at the last minute.

Christina and I headed out for a little warm up. We just cruised around the downtown area. It was great. It was 8:45am (the race was starting at 9) and no one was lined up yet. I think it was about 5 till when people finally started moving into the shoot. Very laid back atmosphere.

9 o'clock rolled around and it was time. Cruise up Goodwin, to Park, to Country Club. Left onto Highland, last downhill we'd see for quite a while. Right on Copper Basin. From there it was, up, up, up for 20 minutes. I was happy with that, estimated time to climb on the website was 30 minutes. Status of everyone else...Zach was up front somewhere, Mike was ahead, in my sights, Adam and Christina, just a little behind. Right into Camp Pearlstein. After the camp I think we hit some singletrack. I was not feeling it. All over the trail. Any little root or rock seemed to knock me out of my rhythm. Strange. Back down to Copper Basin and quickly back into the singletrack. Lots more climbing to go. And water bars to come. I did much better down the water bars this time. Made it down all of them. And made it up more of them than when we prerode.

It was somewhere in this section that the first unofficial aid station was located. A shot of Early Times was the only liquid beverage being offered. I wasn't quite up for it, so I pedaled on.

We were starting the decent down to 260, which is the scariest part of the course in my opinion. Loose rocks, boulders, gravel everywhere, drop offs down the mountain the whole way. I hopped off my bike to walk to the really loose, eroded, rocky switchback section and Adam cruised by. (that was a bad choice, there were so many people it was hard to squeeze back in). Finally got back on and I was feeling out of control again. Quick stop to see if I had a flat. Nope, both tires felt good. Back on the bike and still all over the place. Not a good feeling to have as I approached 260. I stopped again. It occurred to me that I never checked my handlebars after my big crash on the preride. Zach straightened em out and tightened em up for me out on the trail. But I never, after that ride, checked them out to make sure they were nice and tight. So I pulled out my tool and messed with it. It sucked to have to stop and watch tons of people pass me, but what was worse was the mental freakshow I became. Riding 260 with lose handlebars would have been very bad. Why had I never spent a few minutes to tighten the stupid things???? Christina stopped to make sure I was okay. I finally had to shoo her on, she stopped for way too long! She needed to catch some of those other women I knew were ahead of us!

So needless to say, 260 was long and slow. I rode it super cautiously. I was soooo happy to take that last tight switchback that lead down to 53. I was past the worst part safe and sound. Up 53 to the #1 & 3 aid station. I took a pass and started the long, gravel road decent down to Skull Valley. I was in the rolling section when I saw the lead guy heading back up the climb. It was fun to cheer people on that I recognized as they rode by. Tom Ament was pretty far up there, Zach and Steve were riding together, Jennifer was doing great, I saw both Darrins, Robert, Mike, and Adam and Christina were together.

I pushed it hard down to the aid station and half filled my camel back. Grabbed a few hammer gels and filled up my bottle too. Turned around and started the ride up. I felt good for a while. Passed Adam at one point. We exchanged "encouraging words". I still felt great when I reached him and continued on. It was a long grind....in the same seated position. I tried to stand every now and then, but that hurt too. Finally...the #1 and 3 aid station. I was going to stop real quick, but Brady and Jeanette were there..."Sara, Christina isn't too far ahead, you can get her....and by the way, SHE DIDN'T STOP!" They were totally teasing me. Ugghh, I guess I won't stop. It's all downhill from here, right? Yeah, right. The climb from the aid station to the lookout GOES ON FOREVER. I was hurting there bigtime.

Finally at the top, I ducked into the singletrack. A little more climbing. It was all kind of a blur. I do remember the last long rocky climb that I had to get off and walk. The cramps kicked in really bad there. I was able to get back on and ride the last part of that section. Alot of people were walking there. I'm sure they all heard my pain induced groans. Finally I reached the steep, downhill, tight switchback section. I remembered Joanie telling me, "you get to the switchbacks and you think it's all downhill, but there's still one more climb!" So I was prepare but I don't remember that last climb being that long. And after that we hit some great singletrack. Bombing fast and some easy technical stuff. It was a blast. I was flying (at least I felt like I was flying).

It felt great to hit Thumb Butte Rd. Big ring, essentially all downhill. Just a few more minutes. And...Huge cheers as all the riders crossed the finish line. It was great. I finished just under 5 hours.

Everyone's results are here.

Friday

Let's start out with the "after" picture.
Does Zach look like he's about 50 in this picture or what???

Friday morning I drove into work. The boys had breakfast out, then went to pick up the bike Adam was renting for the race. From there they went to ride the 305.



We all met back at the house for a little pasta dinner. We had to leave soon for packet pickup, but before we left we had time for some sinus maintenance. A first time neti pot experience for Adam.
We finally made it downtown for packet pickup and the 8:30pm rider meeting. Saw some familiar faces and found Christina too. Cruised home right after the race for a restless night's sleep.

Thursday ride

After building Mike's bike, the 3 of them went out for a ride from the Little Granite trailhead. Not a course I would choose 2 days before a 50 mile mountain bike race, but I was working that day.

Here's the Garmin data.



There was only one option for dinner. We went out for Mexican to a place Zach and I have not been yet. It was good.

(This is the before shot)