A little taste of winter...in October

The Denver and Boulder areas got absolutely pounded with snow on Wednesday and Thursday this week. It snowed Tuesday night through Thursday night nonstop. The above picture is from my deck at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon after only half the storm. Pretty crazy, huh? No worries though, it's supposed to be in the high 50s for the weekend and all through next week. I'm looking forward to a muddy mess EVERYWHERE!!! Wooohoooo.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Monday evening we had a bunch of people over to carve pumpkins, grill, bake and rock out to some good tunes.

Everyone's except Tingle's was a great success. Notice how the one on the far right doesn't have any kind of 'real' design! It's supposed to be a butterfly but we're not too sure what happened. Courtney and Tito spent a good 2-3hrs on theirs using all the store bought tools and outlines so they definitely get the award for the best looking designs. Tito was very proud of his intricate 'wolf pack' carving...absolutely hilarious. Bryce and I decided to see who could finish the fastest (we aren't competitive at all...I swear) so ours look pretty ridiculous.

And yes, I did win.

Along with cookie and pumpkin seed baking, we stuffed little Bella in Brad's pumpkin...no comment.

Tis the season to play on dirt bikes

Saturday was the big Enduro Cross MX Event downtown Denver. After an early morning of checking in and getting numerous practice laps in, B was ready for some racing.

The guys make this stuff way easier than it really is.

In person, these obstacles are way bigger and scarier!

Bryce did so great considering this is not his specialty. It was a tough day and he was pretty worked afterward. We spent the remainder of the evening fixing his moto and getting ready for Sunday's race in Milliken.

We knew the weather wasn't supposed to be nice on Sunday but pouring rain and 37* is definitely NOT nice. We were both a little apprehensive about how muddy the course was going to be but turns out the race course didn't get hit nearly at all. Other than a few flurries and a couple wind gusts, the day was actually quite nice. The format was a little different for this race. Bryce started at 9am and I went at 1pm. His parents were in town so I got to hang out with them and cheer B on before I went. He had a great race and finished 6th overall. That was super impressive after his long day on Saturday. With some killer support, I finished my first race and had an absolute blast. Other than a few good bumps/bruises and a busted hand guard, I made it out pretty good. Bring on the MX racing!!!

KrughPhoto

Allen has always been a Rockstar Photographer but has recently stepped it up and has been taking some unbelievable photos. Check out his site www.krughphoto.com for some kick ass stuff. Also, please contact him if you need any photography work. He's super flexible and won't disappoint!

Fun pics from the Moto Track in Milliken last weekend!

For more photos from the track click here

Password: ktm

A fun day at the moto track!

85* on October 18th!?! For real!?? I'm pretty sure it was 20 and snowing only 5 days prior. Gotta love Colorado for it's varying crazy weather patterns :)

Like everyone else, we took total advantage of the sunshine and played outside all day. I rode my bike 40 miles out to the Leahy Family Farm Moto Track in Milliken to meet up with Bryce, Allen and several others. Bryce was testing out his new suspension with Stillwell and cranking out some pretty quick laps. I don't know how those guys do it. I was super content just getting my bike off the ground and and only crashing twice for the day!

The pic above was taken by Allen of Bryce ripping around the vintage track later in the afternoon. Allen shot over 1000 pictures of Bryce, myself and a several others. Once they're all edited and up for viewing, I'll post a link. Stay tuned.

My Mom is a Rockstar!

Can you believe it has only been a year and a half since I got my Mom her first road bike and she completed her first century?!? Actually, she rode 101.5 miles averaging 13.5 mph! So proud of her! I'm totally convinced she was able to finish because of the power from the tattoo she got last week :) Hehe.

I will soon be running again!!!

After absolutely no progress with my knee over the past 4 months, Neal suggested I go see Andy Pruitt at BCSM just to see if he had any other ideas. He works very closely with my other two docs so he was well aware of everything that has been going on. He had a different theory of what was causing the pain and cut right to the chase. Within 2min of hearing his thoughts, he stuck his finger in a specific spot in the side/back of my knee and whamm...I honestly almost flew right off the table it was such an intense pain. 'That's the spot' he chuckled. Then he told me that I'll be needing another surgery to release that spot (I'll find out what it's called Tuesday) along with my ITB. He then told me that he was going to inject one last cortisone shot into the area so I could go for a short test run then we would reassess the next week. The run went well with no pain but because the shot went all the way to the bone, I was completely out of commission on the next day. My knee hurt so bad I couldn't even drive to my clients and had to be taxied around all afternoon. Although I will most likely be missing Iceman, I'm still really eager to get this final surgery underway so I can get back to running :)

Day 3 and 4 with Mom

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning! Pretty ridiculous for early October, huh? I was supposed to race in Denver but with temps under 20* that was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. Instead, we lounged around morning, did quite a bit of shopping, okay, a lot of shopping, and had a fun lunch at Hapa.

Sunday was very similar. We woke up to 22* and the thought of racing was just nauseating. Drinking coffee and relaxing sounded way better. We eventually got our butts moving and met up with the Bingham's who drove out from Vail with their beautiful Saint Bernese Bosco and took him for a walk along the creek path. After a fun lunch, we drove up Flagstaff then headed home for a quick spin on the trainers and another relaxing evening watching moto movies :)

As always, it was a blast having my Mom in town. Unfortunately she chose the one weekend of shit weather but it's okay, we still had a great time. Thanks for the visit. LOVE YOU!

Day 1 and 2 with Mom!

After picking my Mom up from the airport Thursday afternoon, we swung by Bryce's place of work to see what he claims to be doing on a daily basis :) It's actually a really cool place. I'm pretty sure he was more excited about the chocolate covered espresso bean trail mix from Trader Joe's that we left with him than our actual visit itself...haha...JK!

Later that evening we met up with Will Kelsay, his wonderful new girlfriend Shelby and a few others for a great dinner at the Med and some gelato at Amante for dessert! Mmmmm...

Friday was the 'big' day! The tattoo day! We had an enjoyable afternoon with lots of sunshine then headed to the parlor at 5pm!

My mom was a big wienie so I had to go first. Although I was told putting the word towards me was technically 'upside down', I did it anyway. The artist just laughed at me. The word on my right wrist is 'Neart' meaning strength in Gaelic.

I was originally going to get a nautical star on the back of my leg right below my calf but got talked out of it by both my mom and Bryce. Instead, I found this design and had it inked on my left forearm. Pretty crazy, huh?!?

The best part is that my Mom got the exact same design as well. Although hers was much smaller and on the inside of her ankle, it's still pretty cool to have the same tattoo as your Mom :) She did great and got through it without a peep.

We were a bit late for our own BBQ, but Tingle held down the fort and got the grill going and the beer flowing! We had a great turnout and lots of fun. As always, Jen's White Chocolate/Craisin/Oatmeal Cookies were a hit but our Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 'Buckets' were just as popular!

My new best friend :)

As you've been hearing, my new lowered suspension is the greatest thing EVER! I had the opportunity to take it to Alan Stillwell who is one of the world's best suspension tuners. Click on the pic above to check out his work.

Stillwell has also recently become one of Bryce's new sponsors. Alan will be traveling with him to the Endurocross here in Denver on October 24th and fully supporting him throughout his 2010 season. Check out the video below of what Endurocross is all about :)

Frisco CX

Day 1 of the Frisco Cyclocross races was absolutely gorgeous! The course was amazing and we had a great turnout!

I had a decent race considering my little spill about half way through. I took a corner a little too hot and toppled right over! Got the hip pretty good but other than that was good to go. Had an enjoyable time watching Corey and Joe chuck water bottles at each other during the Open Men's race and had a blast cheering for Bryce as he steps it up every race in the SM 4s!

Day 2 was super fun as well but a much tougher course with a big 'run up'. Not exactly what the knee likes, but I hobbled through it.

I'm definitely getting better with every race under my belt but still trying to get myself back into that pain cave :) I've been enjoying the relaxed training and racing but I think it's time to get my head in the game and actually start suffering a little more. I think I'll be a lot happier with my results and I would imagine it might help me for Iceman on November 8th.

Although it was a much cooler day, it was still another great day. Everyone came out to cheer. My moto girls - Mandy and Nicole - came out from Vail to watch and give Bryce a rough time, the Torrance boys and their parents drove out from Boulder to race and the Bingham's swung by to drop off Bella (the animal we were 'dog sitting') and see B get his cyclocross racing on :)

Birthday FUN!

After a crazy, busy week, Bryce's Birthday BBQ finally came! We had a bunch of people over to my place on Thursday night to celebrate and have a great time. We asked for people to bring stuff to grill and we would provide the sweets but apparently they didn't have confidence in our baking abilities and more desserts were brought then we could possibly handle! The mini peanut butter cookies with a Reese's in the center that I made were definitely a hit, but the German Chocolate Cake that Bryce and I worked so hard on was by far the favorite! Ohhh, it was sooooo good!

For Bryce's actual birthday, we drove up to Vail on Friday morning and had a great lunch with his parents. We then met up with our friend Kevin who lives in Breckenridge and jumped on the dirt bikes to go play on all the trails that Bryce grew up on!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and after a little snow from the night before, the terrain was perfect!
We topped off the day with a delicious chili and cornbread dinner at the Bingham household and for the finale, we were served homemade Angel Food Cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I'm pretty sure Bryce might have been a little spoiled for his 25th birthday!!!

Another Amazing Weekend

After a little swim and cross ride early Friday morning, I finally got to test out my new lowered suspension on the dirt bike with Dan and Allen. We headed up to Switzerland where we enjoyed some great trail and beautiful scenery. The trees were glowing like crazy and it was absolutely amazing. Not only was I in total awe about how pretty it was, I cannot believe what a difference lowering my bike 2 inches made! I LOVE IT!

Saturday was a full packed day as well. I rode out to the Louisville Rec early with Tingle and did the first race in the Boulder Cyclocross Series. Yes, I raced with the big girls so it was definitely a lot harder than the previous races. The course was really fun but super bumpy and after about 4 laps, my lower back was not so happy so I decided not to smash myself and just finish. I crossed the line in 10th then spent the rest of the day handing out bottles and cheering on everyone else racing with Brad and Bryce's parents who came down from Vail to spectate.

After a great dinner at the Rio with the Bingham's, it was time to celebrate Brad and Jen's birthday in style.

Let's just say it started off pretty tame but got quite rowdy by the end of the night. There might have even been a stop at the local strip club and an ambulance ride or two for the morons who can't ride their bikes under the influence...everyone is okay now!

Sunday was by far the best day of all. After a killer pancake, banana, strawberry, walnut, powdered sugar, cinnamon and syrup breakfast, Bryce and I drove up to Nederland to go play on the mountain bikes for a few hours. Not only was the weather more perfect than ever, the trail was in immaculate shape as well. We even ran into a few friends out there which was really fun. As planned, we met up with Bryce's friend Trevor after our ride so he could show us some great moto trail around Gold Lake. Although it was pretty technical, it was by far the most fun ride to date. I was actually riding fairly well minus one good digger after clipping my handlebar on a tree that sent my bike one way and me the other. I'm pretty sure I almost gave Bryce a heart attack as he was right behind me and saw the whole thing! Yeah for body armor...I was totally fine.
Although we were both totally exhausted, we quickly drove back down to Boulder and met up with everyone for Brad and Jen's official birthday dinner at the Rio. We missed the dinner portion but enjoyed some of the delicious triple layer cake that took all weekend for them to make...mmmmm!

Spanish Peaks Motocross Media

I know you're all so anxious to see how ridiculous I look riding my dirt bike so here ya go! Tons more pics can be found here and here.


Bryce obviously looks way better...hehe...

Probably the best weekend EVER!

Friday started off well with a super fun ride up Left Hand with Banjo on the dirt bikes. Everything was going fine until we took the wrong trail and ended up on some crazy rocky terrain that was totally not ride-able. I then proceeded to dump my bike and snap my clutch lever right off. Let's just say it was NOT an easy ride back down. I definitely had to bail numerous times and even ripped the horn right off. Luckily Bryce came to the rescue and got all the spare parts I needed and fixed it right up.

Later that evening we headed downtown Denver to see the Cirque du Soleil show. It was absolutely phenomenal. I would highly suggest going to see it if it's in your area :)

Saturday morning was filled with packing, bike maintenance and lots of running around. After loading the big van, we finally set off to Golden for a little cyclocross racing.

Since I didn't know I was automatically upgraded, I again raced with the CAT 4 women. It was a really bumpy and slightly technical course but lots of fun. I jetted to the front at the start and took the lead from the first turn and held it throughout the remainder of the race.

It was a lot of fun and although I should have been racing with the big girls, it was nice to chill out and not suffer like a dog...especially with a big day ahead of me on Sunday! I did, however, get stung by a bee on the inside of my lip on the first lap which absolutely killed but eventually went numb and just got super swollen. After icing it for the half hour after the race, I was good to go!

Bryce used to be a rockstar mountain biker but hasn't raced in a few years. He totally kicked butt and finished his first CX race in style. He even asked for a Red Bull when I was handing him his water so he couldn't have been feeling too crappy!

And for the rest of the weekend...After the cross races, we jumped in the van and headed to Trinidad, CO. We met up with a couple of Bryce's moto friends for dinner at this hilarious Italian restaurant where they sing throughout the whole night. It was hilarious. After a good night's sleep, we woke up at the ass crack of dawn, grabbed breakfast then headed to the race site for my first motocross race. I got the rundown on what do just a few hours prior to the start and even though I was completely clueless, I was super excited. Bryce was more nervous about me racing than I was...how cute. The race was by far the hardest, most fun thing I have ever done. I had no idea what to expect and it was by far not even in any range of what I was thinking. I probably dumped my bike, got stuck, fell over, etc 45 times...and I only got through one lap! Bryce absolutely killed it finishing 6th overall. I guess that's what you do when you're a seasoned pro, huh? I'm already planning my revenge to kick butt on October 25th at another race! I'll post more pics when they're available and if you're lucky, we'll even have a little video of Bryce taking a sweet face plant in the log crossing during the extreme test. We hear there's some good footage out there :) After a long drive home, we decided to have a cookie making extravaganza at my place. We made delicious peanut butter cookies with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups melted in the center....mmmmm, so good. I'm pretty sure they're already gone!!!