Got out on the mountain bikes last night with Bob, Kev and Ryan. We took it from Mill D in Big Cottonwood, up to the Crest trail and looped back to the cars. A great ride with excellent company. The trail needs a bit of moisture to pack things in a bit, but it was still an excellent ride and always will be. By far one of the best things to do after work. My redesign project is coming along quite well. Here's a bit of insite as to what it's all about. Sleep, cycling, yard work, design projects and time with the family (listed in no particular order).
The Sleep aspect has been great. I'm in bed by 11pm every night and up at 5am. or 5:30 if I want to sleep in a bit. I take Kashi out to do his business, then we have breakfast on the back patio. After breakfast we set some sprinklers in the yard and take to the streets and go for a small walk. If on that particular day, I peadle to work, it's back home to suite up and head out. If not, then I get to hang around the house a bit more with Shan. After work I can focus a bit more on other misc. projects or just hangin out some more with Shan, Kashi and Zipper. And nothing beats that.
Riding the Crest tomorrow (wed)6:00 pm. Park at Mill D and ride up the pavement then hit the Crest trail back down. Anyone can come... love to see you all there.
Since my day began I've been collecting a few thoughts concerning the manner in which my life is being designed. I've been meaning to make a few changes that will not only enhance my current state of mind, but will make me (at least I think it will) a more structured, healthier, and happier person. This comes at a time when I thought I couldn't be happier. My relationship with Shan couldn't be better. Our new pup is making every minute around the house full of surprises and laughter. I'm getting more out of cycling now than I have in the past two seasons and as busy as work is, I'm still really enjoying my job.
I won't go into full detail about what I plan on doing but it does include more time spent with family, on the bike, in the yard and creative time with more design projects. All of this while still managing to get sleep at night.
I'm using design concepts to figure it all out. Structure, Form vs Function plus a little Decorating because I can and want to. I design for clients all day so why not design for myself. Lay it out on a grid and line some things up. Sometimes I'll kern things up nice and tight and other times I'll let it out a bit. I create some "design standards" that will enable a better understanding by those that view the process. And most importantly, I'll continue to seek critique from the "designers" around me.
Throughout the process I'll keep you informed as to how the REDESIGN comes along.
The only details I'll get into about the race is that I'm truly thankful for friends and family. After my father raced his road bike on Sat morning, he and some family members rushed back to Deer Valley to watch my race. You can bet that Shan was there trucking a cooler full of ice cold bottles, a pack full of dog supplies and the dog. Ryan and Bryan trucking around the course in the hot sun the day before their race, shouting encouraging words. Firth in the feed zone with a cold bottle and an extra pair of shades every lap. And numerous other locals out to cheer us on. It's times like these that turn not so good races into the best races ever. THANK YOU to everyone out there that gave me a shout.
And now some good times to remember... Kashi meets Regg (the Saint) at the Tolberts in Heber
After a fantastic dinner we enjoyed a Heber sunset Race day came and JHK took it deep (photo stolen from Blake) While cleaning up I had a few good cramps Then I threw up (thanks shan for being there for me... behind the lense) Then we BBQ in the canyon. check out the prevous post for the video. Sleep for 11 hours and all is well. Happy Fathers Day.
Primetime just showed up at R&R. Sly as a fox, he got in through the back door that needs a code to enter. Or a knock will do. He's headed out to hammer up dry creek and wanted me to join him. I think I'm going to take it easy today and ride a bit slower, so I opted not to go. I was up there yesterday having some 1track for lunch and found some sweet trails above City Creek. Some dorky wood ramps and a few dirt jumps. Don't get me wrong, the wood ramps can be pretty big and I'll admit I didn't jump all of them, but dirt jumps are so much cooler. it's all about rhythm and you never really get that on wood.
I like BBQ'n with the boys. Zipper and Kashi (the cat and the dog). Shan's out of town so the guys are holding down the fort. We BBQed some chicken, ate some pasta and then went for a walk around the block. I'm all about that.
Solitude, Tuesday nights. BE THERE! I agree with Primetime, the 1track at Solitude is fantastic! it's by far the best race in the series. I love the long climb because I can settle in to a nice pace. I wouldn't mind if it were longer too. The DH could be the best in the state. Buttery smooth, super fast and it has a river corssing. I think more races and or trais need river crossings. quit building bridges you sissys and ride the water.
Coming this weekend: National Mountain Bike racing at Deer Valley. You should come up even if you don't ride bikes. lots to do and see. Friday: Semi-pro cross country, High Noon. Saturday: Pro women cross country 11 am Pro men cross country 2 pm. Watch me suffer in the heat of the day. Sunday: Short Track racing action, 2:30-4:00 pm check here for more events.
Unfortunatly many of us had to yell that (or other more motivational "get out of my way" comments) out quite a bit today. That's one of the major problems of our local race system. Packing 100's of racers of all levels on the same course. Such is life I guess. Next weekend at DV Nationals will be a different story though. It will me me and 100+ of the best cyclist in the nation and from around the globe, batteling it out. I may be the one receiving the "rider back" "on your left" etc etc..
Not much to say for my self about the race today. Pretty uneventful. I was stressing last night (friday) because of the terrible week I had. lack of riding, massive head cold on Wed/Thurs. and just dissopointed in my efforts so far. Some kind words by Shan and a good nights rest helped a bit but I don't think I was fully there today. Hopefully I can get it together this week and this Sat/Sun. will be a better story.
Those on the gas today were really on the gas. Alan, Alex, Sager (after a warm up lap) and as always Bart. Numerous others also put in a huge effort but it just takes too long to mention names.
Kashi had his first race experence today and is on his way to becoming the official KDAY RACING sleeping mascot. Thanks to Sager for giving him a little taste of the podium. Hopefully I can give him that same experence some day, but if not, he's always welcome.
Note to Primetime. I didn't use my big ring nearly as much as you today and you should have seen me on our last ride up little stick. I stuck it and passed a few succas. Give it some thought.
This week has been pretty nice. I took Monday, Tuesday and today (friday) off to spend with Kashi. It's been a long time since I've had a day off with no obligations, except... hang out with the dog. Back when Liddle was around I'd shchedule those as much as possible. I have a hard time on days where I don't have any thing to do. I'm the type of person that needs things on my plate otherwise I just end up sitting around and I don't like that. But I tried to sit around as much as possible, just to see if I could. I get the urge to start something and about half way through I just quit so that I can continue sitting around. I doubt I'll be doing this again any time soon.
We're remodeling at work so I scored a pretty cool desk that I'm still trying to set up. Soon Shan and I will be able to work together in the same space. She can quilt away and I'll work on design projects. For now, the space is a total mess, but I finally got the computer to its new location. I've been away for a few days and I'm already way behind. Everyone has been updating like crazy.
Enjoyed the RSL game last night. It's about time we got a win. RSL vs China.
Kashi and I picked some cherrys and are now enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Kashi likes looking in the mirror. I think he knows exactly how handsome he is.
Had an enjoyable evening of trail riding last night with Tolbert and Blaney. We met at DV and took a lap on the course. As we heard from others it was in fact pretty dusty and in need of some moisture. Thank goodness we're getting some. It's times like these (riding with the best of friends) that you always remember. Mostly because it turns into an epic of some sort and usually ends with a bang. After we busted out a lap we headed up some 1track through DV, towards Gardsman. Near the top we found the trail that we hoped would take us back down to PC because we were short on light and had a long decent a head of us. Blazing down the mountain in the dark, we decided to test our skills on the "freeride" trails. We did our best to ride the wood but XC bikes don't have the margin for error that we needed, plus there wasn't much light at 9pm. We made our way back to the city and with about 3 hours in the saddle, finished our ride pedaling back to DV on the road. The ride was great the company was even better. Tolbert and Blaney have been putting in some hours together and are defiantly fit. I'm excited to see how the race goes this weekend for both of them and with DV Nationals coming up, yawl better watch out. Photos courtesy of Tolbert and his cell phone camera.
Trevor Greenwood decided to cool off after seeing so many hot ladies in spandex. Or he was just being Trevor and doesn't mind riding in wet shorts. Either way he and his brother Eric are always good to have around. Thanks guys.
Fun in the sun all day yesterday.. The tables turned as Shan participated in the Little Red Riding Hood womens ride and I was there to support. I'm really proud of her not only for sticking to it even when her friends couldn't make it, but she also did finished the 38 mile portion about 40 min. faster than she had planned. Good job Shan! Thanks for the ride Trevor and Eric... I'll post Trevors video soon. Later that night we headed to the Team Shannifer racing compound to celebrate the fantastic win. Shannon and Jen will be racing the Trans Alp, mountain bike stage race this July. The race covers some of the most beautiful mountain trails that the European Alps have to offer and they're totally getting hooked up from Race Face. Thanks to every one who voted. Every vote did make a huge difference and now we're all looking forward to the big race. KASHI is home! we were able to pick him up this morning and Shan and I couldn't be more excited. Since we probably wont be having a baby in the near future, this is a welcome treat and addition to the family. We've both been pretty taxed by the infertility thing and may be taking some time off to let things settle. The med. bills are stacking up and we haven't really had much time to focus on each other. Having Kashi around will be extremely nice to help ease the stress. Check out some more photos here.
Team Shannifer is the official team to represent Race Face at the 2007 UXC . Big party at the Shannifer's tomorrow night. YA! Representing for Utah in Europe. CONGRATULATIONS!
