MADD GEAR USA

I've been secretly holding out on letting everyone know about my newest client but today is the day you get all the cool news! Madd Gear USA is now in full force and shipping to all 50 states and Canada. Click on the logo above to check out the rockin' scooters that cannot stay on shelves in every other country throughout the world.


After forcing myself to stay awake all night, Bryce finally took me to the airport at 11:30pm Sunday night for a 1am red-eye flight to JFK. It was a 4hr flight and arrived at 6:30am EST where I got approximately 42 seconds of sleep the entire flight! After meeting with the owners and working like crazy all day, we went out for a great dinner where I honestly couldn't keep my eyes open and nearly fell into my ravioli several times! We finally got to the hotel around 10pm and I was out in less than 5 minutes. We finalized a few things this morning and I'm now traveling back to home to Denver. It was so fun meeting the boys and hearing the potential Madd has here in the US. Although we ship most of our product from the warehouse, we had a local customer come directly to us to pick up the first scooters to be available in the country! She was so incredibly jazzed and even got a picture with the owner (above). Thanks to everyone for making me feel so part of the team, it's such a pleasure!

It's time for the Holidays!!!

As always, we received a gorgeous handmade Thanksgiving card from my Grandma to jump start the holiday season. We spent the day in the mountains with Bryce's family and had an incredible homemade meal by Barbara...nut loaf and all :)

To stay in the festive spirit, we decided to go out and purchase our first Christmas tree. It was an artificial pre-lit one, of course, but throw on a skirt and a few ornaments and voila...PERFECT!

Since we only had a few ornaments to decorate the tree, we decided that we would buy one (or two in this year's case) more every year in hopes of eventually filling up the entire tree!

There's no Christmas decor without stockings on the fireplace and menorahs to celebrate Hanukkah. Although Joe is Jewish, we still had to get him his own stocking. No one in the household gets left out :)

Finally, we had to add some holiday touch on the outside of the house. I begged Bryce to let me buy the 7 foot golden retriever blow up figure to put in the yard just to piss off the HOA, but he wouldn't let me. I still may secretly do it, but in the meantime we'll settle for a simple wreathe. The only thing that's missing is the crappy Christmas music, but no one else in the house likes it so we're very fortunate! Happy holiday decorating to all!

Unser Racing Indoor Karting

Last week Tom included us in a group email letting everybody know about a new Go-Kart track in Denver. After a long series of smack-talking, I'm faster than you, you're too scared type emails, a group of us decided we'd settle it on the track. On Tuesday nights, Unser offers 2-for-1 deals, and luckily that day worked out for everybody.

The race track was built in an big car dealership's old building after they had gone out of business. Everything was done very professionally , and you felt like you were walking into a serious race facility. We all got signed up, paid and then sat down for our 'race briefing'.

The guy doing our lecture spoke way too quickly, but we figured he couldn't have said anything too important. He let us know that we were racing 270cc 4-stroke kart's that had been tuned for performance and outfitted with high performance Hoosier tires. We briefly saw a track map with the 'race' line pointed out, and then directed upstairs to the track.


We did two 10 minute races, and before each we did a one lap warm-up. The race winner was decided by who had the fastest lap during that session, so the start wasn't critical. Most of us had never been to this track. There was definitely a steep learning curve. When it was all said and done, everybody walked away with big smiles and big bumps and bruises. All of the times were super close, and I even beat some of the guys :)




We still have some issues to settle on the track, so check back for details on our next Kart outting!

Back on bikes with motors

Even though it was a bit chilly on Sunday, I still had the itch to go play on my dirt bike since I had to sit around and watch everyone race last weekend. Both Joe and Tony wanted to come as well which made for a really fun afternoon.

Since Joe doesn't have a bike, Tom was very gracious and let Bryce borrow his while Joe rode Bryce's. We went back out to Miliken (where the race was held) and the conditions were absolutely perfect! We all had a blast and for the first time in a LONG time, I didn't get dizzy or delirious at all out there! I was oober tired afterward but really excited to have finally done something active for the first time in 4.5 months and felt semi decent. Am I on the up-slope? I sure hope so :)

Fondue and Game Night

Friday night was planned as a triple date night at our place for Nikki and Courtney to meet as their respective boyfriends (Tito and Sean) are racing on the same cycling team next year and we happen to be friends with all of them. Unfortunately, Nikki was incredibly sick all day so they had to reschedule. Instead of canceling the entire night, we decided to stick with the fondue theme that was previously planned and invade the Sheldon/Saario household and invite a few more.

Along with Joe and Hamity, we had a stupid fun time playing this "Apples to Apples" game that made for a lot of laughs. We played two games and I came home with one win and Joe the other. If you are looking for a new game to add to the collection, this is a great suggestion!

And you think you've got bike skills?!?!

Skin Check

When I'm not sick and following my normal schedule, I usually spend the better part of my day training in the sun. I have a family history of having lots of moles (yes, gross, I know) so I visit my wonderful dermatologist a few times a year. Normally I don't have to schedule yearly check ups as I've always got some sort of rash, saddle sore, etc going on during the year so I just get my full body scan during those 2-3 visits per year. Since I hadn't seen Cathy at Kallgren Dermatology in a few months, I went in for normal skin check yesterday. While doing her usual full body check, she noticed that almost none of my moles looked the same as they did in June. She also noticed a few that had come back after she had removed them. A long story short, I had 2 previously removed moles injected with steroid, 1 new mole shaved off and 1 previously removed mole re-removed leaving a few stitches in my behind :( Hopefully everything comes back normal...she thinks that my body is reacting differently due to my compromised immune system. Stay tuned as I'll have the test results next week when I get the stitches out of my bum.

A great way to end the season!

Although it was absolutely freezing with snow on the ground, I went out to watch and pit for Bryce at his last moto race of the year. It was a bummer I couldn't be out there with him as it was the first race I actually finished last year, but oh well. I'm learning that being a cheerleader (minus the heinous outfit) can be kinda fun.

He had a great race and finished 9th overall which also placed him 9th in the overall series. For the 5th year in a row, he will be racing as a AA/Pro in the 2011 Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit. Whooohooo! After a relaxing afternoon, we put together a great plan for us to start cooking more often and for Bryce to start his new training plan. It's kind of like the start of a new year already :)

New Clients

This past week I have added the above 2 clients to the list of small businesses I help out with accounting and tax needs in the Boulder area. Click on their logos to check out their sites!

Winter has come

And what better way to celebrate than a homemade chili and cornbread family dinner?!

As always, Joe showed off his cooking skills by making an amazing chili with beer and cocoa powder as well as homemade tortilla chips. Bryce and I got Mama Bingham's delicious cornbread recipe then Tito and Courtney wrapped up the night with a killer berry cobbler.

The Iceman Cometh

Saturday came a lot quicker than we thought it was finally time for the Iceman Mountain Bike Race!

Since the race is a point to point from Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan, we had a few logistical issues to deal with! Luckily we had my dad's gigantic Suburban to help haul bikes and people around!

After picking up my dad and uncle from another hotel, we all drove out to Kalkaska for the start of the race. Although it was sunny, it was only 23* outside! Puffy jackets were the way to go. Bryce even did his warm up in his!


This was the first time that both Bryce and my Uncle Matt were about to participate in the infamous Iceman race. My uncle and my cousin Warren just got into mountain biking this past year and have been improving like crazy every race. They've been racing the local Michigan mountain bike races and riding to and from work every day! I'm so excited to see other family members enjoy a sport that makes me so happy :)

Over 4000 people race at Iceman and waves go off every 3 minutes for 2.5hrs starting at 9am! Bryce went at 10:22 with the unseeded 19-24 and 25-27 men.

Although Bryce didn't come in with the exact time he would have liked, he was caught up in quite a bit of lap traffic and well, has only ridden his bike about 4 times since July 5th. He finished and that was super exciting to see. Tom and Tony rocked it as well on their single speeds and my cousin and uncle both placed in the top 10 of their respective age groups. It was also great to see Amanda Carey step it up and win the Women's Pro race! Yes, I would have loved to have been out there but it's nice to see things on the flip side as a spectator. Congrats to all!

Back to the Mitten!

On Thursday morning, we headed to Michigan for the 21st Annual Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike race. We flew into Detroit, then spent the afternoon/evening with some family, then headed up to Traverse City early Friday morning.

We knew there was a possibility of snow, but it didn't really seem realistic until we actually got there and it was snowing! Around noon, Bryce, Tony and Matt went out to ride the second half of the course.

Meanwhile, my parents and the Torrances (Don and Rose), got some warm lunch and had fun in the Casino!

After meeting up with my mom's entire side of the family for a fun and relaxing pre-race dinner, we finally got Bryce's bike all ready for the big day. All the traveling has made me completely exhausted so I headed to bed VERY early! Stay tuned for the big race report in a few days :)

2010 International Six Days Enduro

Yesterday was the first day of this year's ISDE in Mexico. Although Bryce would have loved to be racing, we are hoping to be there next year when it's held in Finland. He qualified and went to the race in 2007 when it was in Chile and has had the itch to get back ever since. This year we have 3 really close friends from Colorado racing so it will be super exciting watching and tracking their progress. Best of luck to Nicole Bradford, Ian Blythe and Cody Shaffer - race well, be safe and have fun!

Click on the picture above to access the site and read up on on the news and results and read below to find out what the ISDE is all about!

The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) is the oldest 'off road' motorcycle event on the FIM calendar. The ISDE was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England and has occurred annually, apart from interruptions due to World War I and World War II, at various locations throughout the world. The early events were a true test of machine, rider skill, and reliability. Held on the 'roads' of that era, today most of the routes are truly 'off road'. Originally titled the International Six Day Trial, since 1980 it has been called the 'ISD Enduro'.

The event has attracted national teams from as many as 32 different countries in recent years. Over its long history the rules and conditions have changed to keep in step with the developments in the sport, but it remains a supreme test of rider and machine. Over the six days and upwards of 1250 kilometers, a rider must contend with strict rules about time allowances and restrictions on mechanical replacements, carrying out his or her own track-side repairs.