I-L-L

I-N-I

Zach, Layla and I were back in good ole Pville the last week of May. It went by way too fast. I flew back to Prescott after just a week so I could make it to my first day of microbiology. Fun stuff.

It was a nice trip though, action packed but not to much. Spent some time with our families and some good friends. I forgot my camera half the time but managed to get a few (like 5) pictures.

Traffic to welcome us back.












Post Thursday night ride at Adam and Stacy's











































Relaxing after a Sunday morning ride

Zach and his parents walking the doodle

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

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.

Fat boy slim

In the house

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.

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.