MERRY CHRISTMAS- From Channing Hall

Joey's first graders at Channing Hall sing "Silent Night" for you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS

TRIPLE CAKE BIRTHDAY(S)

Joey turned 7 this weekend. Yes it took all weekend and three cakes. Friday, he had the kids party and wanted a "wedding type" cake. So Dot obliged. Saturday he wanted a stack of pancakes with a candle on it "like on TV"- Has anyone seen this on TV?Sunday, he shared his birthday with Cassidy and Whitney. Thanks for sharing you guys! Then on Sunday night he cried to Dot in bed, "I cried all three days!" ...... He did . But it's all good-he's 7........

I THOUGHT I'D BE BRAVE TODAY

and go ride outside. Nothing was going to stop me, even when the clouds started rolling in. Due to family scheduling I didn't get out until 2:30ish. I headed up CC thinking that it's been dry for a while and the trails would be clear. They were until I started climbing Ghost then it was ice. Then it was suddenly a blizzard. Then I realized it is damn cold going downhill in a blizzard. Then I got home and jumped into the hottub with the boys (no picture for a reason). Oh well, I tried.

THEY LIFT MY HEART THEN THEY CRUSH IT

WHO? The kids of course! Joey, this time. He came home with the above drawing a few weeks ago when he was told to write a story in class. Translation: "I learned how to ride my bike with my dad holding me up" . How cool is that. I'm famous in first grade. He remembered and appreciated what I had done! BUT THEN.... We presented this to him today for his birthday. You could just see it on his face...."It's just a bike" I even heard him say that later to his brother who was drooling all over it! Dad's perspective is: That spooled brat! Son's perspective is: Oh man I wanted a DS. That means I am going to have to race it. It's too hard to race. I'd rather play video games and eat candy. The trials of rearing a child and being one.......

12 HOURS OF TEMECULA 2009- SERIES CHAMPS

Yes we are the 12 Hours of Temecula duo open series champions. What does that mean? Well we rode our butts off to and in all three of the SoCal 12 hour endurance races. That means on bikes and in the truck (I just got back so its fresh on my behind). We rode 42 laps total (most of any teams for the series)- finishing 2nd, 1st and 2nd respectively in the three races.

Carson and I made it down for the third time this year because its just a great escape and the weather is much better than here at this time of year. Which we realized when we got back to snow on the ground! It also is a fun series with great turnout and fun fast courses.

We headed out Thursday morning with idea of stopping in Vegas for a quick ride, but decided to stop in St George instead and rode Bear Claw Poppy. It was a bit dusty but really fast! If you haven't ridden it recently it seems to have expanded into a zillion options and turnoffs that meander in a red maze of rock and dirt but always takes you back to the main route. I'd recommended it to all levels of riders.

The picture is of the trailhead where we turn around to head back to the start near the race loop.

After the exhilarating ride we cleaned up and drove on to Primm just south of Vegas to lose a few bucks at blackjack and to spend the night. We rolled into Temecula the next morning, set up camp and went for a pre-ride.

I expected the course to be the same as last fall but was surprised that the course was changed. It did include combinations of the two prior courses we had done, so most of it wasn't too new. We still had the Dam Climb (And it is a Damn long hard climb!) The above picture is Carson climbing the least steep part of the climb. It is deceiving because there are about 5 false summits before you make it the 1.5 miles to the top. Below is from the top looking back at the dam and lake. Once you made it to the top the rest of the course was nearly all downhill with several quick steep "walls" that if you hit at full speed you could top with moderate effort. The "tunnel of love" is the funnest section that includes a long fast winding descent that goes on for a long time. There were a few changes that made the course seem shorter than last time but ultimately because of the time it took to do the Dam climb the laps ended up longer than previously.

THE RACE

Above is the paced start of the race. Carson is on the far Right. Our rule for the race starts is that if it entails a bike sprint then he goes but if it requires a run then I start. He got off well and I quickly got ready and anxiously waited for him to get back. To my dismay he returned third in our duo open category, but not by much. We were hoping for first or second, but it was early. I headed off and shortly saw the second place guy ahead. His name was Mark (sorry I forgot his last name) and he was racing for Racers here in Utah. We lost to a Racers team in the spring so I was concerned for a repeat of that. But by the time we got to the top of the Dam climb I had passed him and saw him no more on that lap.

As the times were posted several laps later we saw that the top three were within 20 minutes of each other which is pretty close for a 12 hour race. The worrisome thing was that Racers team was only 2 minutes back. Then as I waited for my third lap I saw, John (again- don't remember his last name), the other Racers racer come in ahead of Carson. I found out later that he was feeling sick and cramping pretty bad and got passed. Luckily I again was able to catch Mark on the climb and pass him. Carson's strength came back the rest of the race (thank goodness for me since he had to do the extra lap-13- and I wasn't keen on doing back to back laps) and that's what kept us ahead of third. Ultimately, we were able to widen the gap to about 11 minutes on them but were only able to close the gap to 1st place to 10 minutes by the 9 pm cutoff time. It was a very close clean race that could have easily changed with a minor mistake, injury or mechanical. But all 6 of us managed to avoid a mishap and it ended based upon our ability for the day- as it ideally should. I had a great time and felt great throughout the race. Each lap was extremely fun and even the Dam climb seemed easier than the last time I raced it.

I'll post times when they are available.

Karate kids

It's a proud moment in a dad's life when his 9 year old boy's Kata form is better than his dad's. Or is it a sad day for dad? The boys kicked butt in their tournament today. Jonny nailed his form section with his master watching. I made the comment that his was better than mine. And our master didn't say anything. I'm going to practice right after I'm done with this blog.

Who put the marbles in the trail?! The trails in CC have been packed this week and great fun to ride. Then I hit this turn towards the bottom of Ghost! How smart is it to put gravel on a tight turn like that? I've been really impressed with how much the city has been doing to increase and improve the trails and can't complain too much. But this sure was a dumb move. I can only hope it is temporary and they are planning to use it as base material for a concrete banked turn.

One more race left for this year. Carson and I are heading down towards Temecula this thurs. We'll stop for some riding in Vegas then head over to the 12 hour race in CA.

That's it. Off to work on my forms.

Arantix II miles: 1811

Fall Riding the Mistress etc.

Just like everyone else seems to be blogging about fall riding, so must I. It's just too beautiful not to take a few pics. Yesterday, I hit Jamie's mistress, Silly Little Urban Trail (SLUT) etc........ If you have not been on Jamie's email list you have missed a great barrage of name suggestions. All deal with the fact that Jamie has been out of the house for some reason (he says it was trail work) but Whitney has caught on and dubbed the trail "the Mistress" and from there it went downhill. Here is a video Jamie made of the trail. I rode her yesterday and it was fun. It'll be better after of winter pack.

Today I went up Clark's and across up to the South Suncrest trail. I've only been on it once before. It's fun, although overgrown in several spots. It dumps you out near the downhill course at the top of SunCrest. Now that's a blast! Luckily there are some bypass "blue" lines that avoid some crazy jumps.

So does the sign mean free ride bikes only or that you can only ride one way?

Nice ramp? Where does it go? The other side....