2009 racing goals

• Compete in mountain bike races.


• See my race team on the podium. More specifically place in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.


• Improve results from last year's East Canyon Road Race, Bear Lake Classic, and Garden Creek Gap.

Embrace the red

Nah, not SRAM RED, although that would probably be awesome. Got a red saddle a little over a month ago, followed up by some red handlebar tape. And you know I got rid of a few more ounces here It's like a new bike for a fraction of the cost!

Before - bone stock. What a gorgeous ride.

After. Gorgeous + red

Mmmmm, grub

Yeah, look at that patty melt baby!

This most excellent September 29th dinner was created using Stan's homemade bread, freshly cut onions grilled to perfect softness using chili pepper oil, and sharp cheddar cheese.

I would like to thank Mickey for enlightening me regarding the fine art of food photography.

Lunch ride in mid-November

Got a lunch ride in today wearing a long sleeve jersey, bike shorts, leg warmers, and shoe covers. I was glad to have the long sleeve parts on the downhills but was actually quite warm during climbs, to the point I wanted to take something off. I believe the temperature reached mid-50s during this ride. Hehehe.

Really, make time for lunch rides, it is SOOO nice!

A quick race on Saturday

The City Creek bike sprint is over. This is a less than 6 mile race up a paved road without motorized travel, totaling 1300 feet of climbing. It was tougher than I expected as I found myself working extremely hard to keep up with the lead group within the first 1/2 mile before getting dropped. I got dropped entirely too quickly, then caught by the second pack, then passed by a few others for the remainder of the race. Not exactly how one expects a race to play out.

This race was the quickest and shortest I completed, finishing in 26:50. This is a decent result, earning me my first race hardware for a third place finish in the 30-39 year old age category. I ended up at 18th overall among a group of 56. The course record is 20:54 and Saturday's overall winner achieved 21:46.

I am glad the race was rescheduled to November 1st as mother nature granted us beautiful scenery and excellent weather for a race at approximately 55 degrees.

I hoped I could have stuck with the lead group and been more competitive for certain. It took me a few hours to realize I was racing against a bunch of different race categories and I really didn't have a chance for an overall victory beacuse those more powerful people are all in the mix. Kind of a change of pace from the whole season as a Category 5 racer always competing against Category 4 and 5s.

This may well become a baseline race similar to the Snowbird hillclimb for me. I like the idea of racing this one in the spring and fall to see the improvements through one year, and to get a gauge of what the winter did for my fitness.

BCC Racing posted an entry for this race as well. Thanx Audrey!

Beautiful day for a ride

I just returned from a quick ride from work to the Antelope Island entrance shack. What perfect weather! I'll say it again: Make time for lunch rides they are awesome!

Still going

I am still getting out to ride, now without the pressure to train for ridiculous events. We made it to Moab last weekend which allowed me to get out on three awesome trails (Klondike Bluffs, Amasa Back, and Flat Pass) with great company and beautiful weather. My ten year old mountain bike still kicks ass. Stan happened to catch this video of me almost crashing and making a girly noise. Just my luck.

I also managed an after work 17 miler in 52ish degree weather which was quite nice. Too bad I had to race against darkness. Got to get out on some lunch rides as long as the temperature agrees. This Sunday is a planned ride with the race team. Weather appears it will cooperate, should be a blast.