August 24, 2007

Wicked

Yesterday we went out with Moniques family to catch a play in LA... Wicked. It was a crazy and beautifully orchestrated dance that was a run off from the Wizard of Oz. It was nice to hang out with the family and sit back and relax. Entertainment like before there was TV, Nintendo or the internet??

(Will, Monique, Yolanda, Dez and Susanne)

Monique is starting to heal up nicely and sporting her normal bike bruises... I still like her legs even if they are camouflaged with what she is wearing.

August 11, 2007

Monique bites the dust...

Decided to stay home for the weekend again and ride some local trails , swim the long course at the aquatic center and get back to some yard work. Nice weather and so much time to hang around and cook. Agghhh.... I love Moniques cooking ; -O

I got to take out the Alma for my first ride although only one gear for now. Just couldn't wait any longer. It proved to be a dirt bike feel and was not too big like I thought that it would be. I will have to ride the Epic and it on the same day/trail to see what is really going on.


And Monique?? She is getting along with her new bike so well... Not that her crash had anything to do with feeling out her new bike but she did break it in nice. Flying down some woops in the big ring and I see her little body pitch out horizontal . . . Ahhhh that does not look right! That is going to hurt!

We were going so fast and when I saw here little hundred pound body bounce I thought for sure that she had knocked the wind out of herself. She is a tough little girl though. Ripped shirt, cracked helmet, BIG scrapes and busies but she was still smiling... Crazy girl!


(Monique tests out her new ride with a horizontal bonko)

She said it felt like a snowboarding crash but your skin does not look like that from snow... I will have to get some pic's up when she is nice and purple. I think that rock under her tire is what broke the fall for her head. This is the first time I have seen a helmet crack like this. We had ice cream to sooth things over.


(helmets are for real!)

(2nd bounce to slide ended the shine to those new glasses)


The good news is that her bike is OK!! A little scratch but no broken levers or missing pink paint. The front tire blew off of the rim when she landed but we needed a walk back to the car as a cool down anyways.

August 06, 2007

Snow Valley Xterra


This turned out to be another unexpected race but the expected fun was delivered on the weekend as normal.

Two years ago when I did this race it was the inaugural Xterra Snow Valley and my first triathlon ever... My first real race ever and I really didn't know what I was getting into or how "life changing" it would be for me. Monique and I always manage to jump into the hardest of events fist and this race is a good example of that. Two years and a few dozen races later and this race kicked my butt . . . again.

I was planning on a strong finish and a good placing... Not only did I have a little something to prove to myself for my return to Snow Valley but this was an Xterra and I wanted to pickup some points in the series too. I also had not raced here since that first triathlon so I thought that I could drop buckets of time but maybe I had too many expectations? I also had a few things working against me like that our nine hour/three park ride the weekend before and my taper and any rest was blown for sure.

However, and its a big however. . . Snow Valley, as I was reminded was a special place for me and the weekend was a reminder about why I started racing triathlons, adventure races and getting out on the trail in the first place. Snow Valley is where I would spend most of my days when I worked at Stussy. The time I spend snowboarding here helped me through some tough times trying to figure out the mysteries of the world and look to Jesus for some strength... It is also where I dislocated my shoulder the first of many times AND where I met Monique, my beautiful wife for the first time. Pain from injury, joy from snowboarding endless hours with friends, discovery of racing and love deeper than any I have ever known. All on a little mountain.

(Monique and Me ready to camp it out)

So, with all that in check I was delighted to have Marius and Mandy join up with us for some camping and good times while racing. This is what it was about! I may be tired but I was going to give it my all and have FUN in the dirt ; - )

(M&M -Marius and Mandy ready to ride)

Mandy and Marius joined up to race the triathlon as a team after almost racing the cross country mountain bike race across the street. We had dinner with some of Mandy's friends last night who dominated the cross country race as I am sure that she would have but it was great to have them join in on the Xterra style and camp out with them for the weekend.

(the warm-up trek to the swim)

I felt pretty good race morning and after seeing the lake (or lack there of) I was confident that my lack of swimming would not hold me back. There was SOOO little water that most of the swim would turn into a water run... Seriously! The last time I did this I went so anaerobic on the swim that I was dead on the bike... the altitude is just killer up there. This year you would think I would have learned but I ran my buns off and swam WAY to hard again.... Here I am exiting the water right behind the Willie Stewart the 1st place overall winner(pro) and before Jon Clark the first place overall male winner... You could say I went out a bit fast.

The rest of the race was pretty bonkie... I had to slow WAY down on the bike and had that familiar feeling in my legs of no power...started to come back only to have no juice on the run. I was totally out of it and trying to keep a positive time on the last few miles but it was hard to keep up a run. I knew when I got out of the water that I was spent...I was just beat deep down and could not get it going. This was a good learning lesson again that I need to dedicate time not only pacing within the race but in the weeks before the race.

Marius and Mandy ended up getting a podium finish and it was a nice day to round out watching the Rim Nodic races across the street.


Snow Valley will continue to provide some lessons for me I am sure...and as alway produce good times.

Posted some pictures from the weekend over here
http://slater.smugmug.com/gallery/3268030#P-1-15