Tales From the Stache

It was nice to get a couple of weeks of the school year under my belt again and get back to my Fridays off schedule. Sara was off too so we did a short ride and then worked on bikes all day. We finished Sara's Salsa and I got as far as I could on my Vassago. I was pretty excited with our bike progress on the day and the bikes look hot! I am digging the white parts on my Vassago.

Saturday was dedicated to riding. Sara and I headed out on the 305, up 297, met Becker at the top (finding out he had been bit by a dog on the way up) and headed down 299 / 9854, to 62. We headed into town with Becker on part of 126 that we have never ridden. It was really technical and way fun. Here is Becker and I having a stache pose down.




I decided that I was going to put some more hours in the saddle in trying to get ready for Payson so I head towards Thumb Butte. I parted from Becker and Sara and rode through town did and hour at Thumb Butte and then rode home. I was smoked when I got home. Still on the fence whether I can handle climbing Mingus with the guys tomorrow.

Good Morning!

You ugly javelinas that woke me up yesterday. I didn't get them all in the picture, but there must have been 6 or 8 that cruised through our yard just under our bedroom window. The gravel makes it impossible for them to move quietly. As soon as I took the picture they ran......fast.

It ate my tires

Check out the monster that flew into our garage one night. We were trying to work on bikes and it kept flapping around us, looking for a comfortable spot. I finally had to grab it by both wings and throw it outside. I was afraid: #1 that it would eat all my bikes if we left it in there overnight, but also #2 that by touching it's wings it would be incapable of flying (is that a myth?). I was glad to see the next morning that it was not in the spot that I dropped it the night before.

Resemblance

David must have read my blog.

New Clothes

I should have gotten the Noirs but when I ordered I wasn't planning on putting the new stuff on the Sycip.
















Still need to add the juicy's but I'm waiting for a bleed kit for the front.

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.

Nice

It's seventy-one degrees in the house right now. I haven't run the AC in over a week.

Miscellaneous

I can not believe it is almost time to head back to Prescott. These 2 months have totally blown by. Just a few random photos taken over the last couple of weeks.


Out on Brian's Trail




I know these are not exiting pictures, but these roads are where we spent alot of time riding when we lived here. I enjoyed getting back out on them. Zach...not so much.




Rachael and I had a really fun ride out at Palos. I can't believe that was in JUNE!!! We haven't made a Wednesday night since then. WTF! Do I always look like such a rookie?

A nice turnout for the Thursday night group ride.




We took my dad out for a little spin.



This was in Galena. The first picture explains why we were laughing in the second.

Wausau

I know...I'm like 3 weeks late posting about the race. Oh well, the first two weeks of my classes were insane, I was chained to the computer for learning purposes, not for fun.

It was a great weekend. Went up with John, Rachael, Casey and Zoe in their bad-ass Suburban. Made it to 9 Mile with plenty of time to preride. Caught up with all the old WORS friends and met a few new ones. Jeremy's wife Destiny watched the girls so we all went out together. Rode the course...they included some awesome singletrack, but Rachael's right, there was WAY too much doubletrack. They did not include any of the trails on the other side of Red Bud Rd, so we made our way over there after riding the course. Wow, was that fun. Possibly the hightlight of the weekend.

That night the whole MARS team met up for dinner at a sweet Mexican restaurant. Man, it was a huge group. Jerry, Barb, Jay, Jeff, the Baron, Jeremy, Destiny, Rachael, John, Brent from Twin Six...hmm I know there were a few more people...plus all of their kids! All really good kids. It was a good time.

Sunday morning I was nervous. Didn't think I'd be. My race season was over. Racing Wausau was just for fun. But it was my first race as pro rider. I had just received approval for my upgrade request earlier that week.

We made it to 9 mile with plenty of time to spare. Jeremy and Jerry already had a spot set up. The morning was fun, but it seemed really long. I could not wait to get this race done and under my belt. I hate feeling like that. What the heck was the big deal?

John fixed my bike for me and we went to watch Rachael's start. They have a big group of women. I haven't actually counted but there could very well be more women in the WORS sport class than all of the women's classes combined in the MBAA series.

Finally warm up time rolled around. I hung with Jerry for a while. The warm up kinda hurt. Not a good sign. Jerry's riding a sweet Strong ss.

We went off shortly after the expert men. I lead the group out - the sacrificial lamb. No biggie, it's not my series, but dumb move. It was just a few minutes in and Kim and Abby passed me. I hung on to the train for a while, but I was dying. Then the other specialized chick passed, Diana Hill, Claire. I started to lose track. Man, that sucked. I could accelerate, but I could not hold it. There was just SO MUCH PEDALING. I forgot how much pedaling you have to do here.

Finally made it into the first set of singletrack...probably in about 7th or 8th place. I think it was after that first section that I saw both Abby and Diana along with about 20 men on the side changing flats. Bummer. I was rooting for Abby to win it.

My position never really changed too much. I'd pass Claire or Lisa here and there but could not hold it. I never worked through the crappy feeling I had. My legs did not have anything. I saw a few of the ladies crash pretty good in the singletrack. That was one plus for me.....I felt that my riding through the singletrack was way stronger compared to previous years.

I ended up 1st place pro, but 5th overall. Blah. Not sure how I feel about that. But I'm also not sure what I really expected. I did learn that I need to figure out how to train in the mountains. How do you get a nice long ride with a consistent heart rate?

Even though I felt like crap, it was a fun race. It was awesome to back up in Wisconsin. I love 9 Mile. All that new stuff we rode Saturday night was fantastic. It was fun talking to Don about his 9th place Chequamegon finish way back when. I chatted with Danielle Musto for a few minutes right before our race started. Catching up with friends. I'm so glad I went. Now I need to figure out how to get Zach to a race before our drive back to Arizona.

John's work is never done.









Rachael chattin it up before her race.









I don't usually like podium shots, but my shirt is super cool.

Not what I thought

Well, we've been back in Illinois for 3 weeks now, and I'm a little disappointed that it's not what I expected. I am taking 2 online courses and have so far spent entirely too much time working on one of them. I'm enjoying it, but I definitely pictured myself being able to spend alot more time with family and friends. And I have not been getting enough riding in at all. Okay, enough of that...just needed to get it off my chest.

I feel like we've done so much since we've been back, but we still have so much to do!!! A few highlights:
Hanging with our parents who are so graciously letting us stay with them.
Seeing my sistos and their families.
Riding with the old crew and getting our butts kicked by them.
Hitting Wausau with Rachael, John and girls and seeing all our old Wisconsin buddies.
Going downtown with Karen and Justin. I made it until 2am.
Spent an evening with my mom's brother and his family. My cousin just delivered a baby boy today!!!
Going to Larry's Diner almost every morning.
And of course visiting with all of my grandparents.