spudman 2008

We traveled up to Burley, ID with Blaine, Diane and Jan for the Spudman triathlon this past weekend. Paige was lucky enough to land a spot in the race, and Blaine, Chris and Jan were set to do the relay. However, there was some sad news: one of the racers drowned early on in his wave, which was the second to last wave of swimmers to leave. Blaine was set to leave in the last wave, but they wound up scratching that wave. So in the end Chris and Jan did a duathlon relay. We were bummed that Blaine could not swim, as he had been working hard this summer to get ready for it and he was sure to perform better than last year, but the cancellation was understandable. Paige did great, placing 5th out of 70 nor so in her very competitive age category, bettering her time in each discipline from the year before. The relayers did well also, placing 6th of 13 teams.



Here's the crew at the finish.



Paige powering her way through the bike.



Chris trying not to be the second casualty of the race.

Death Ride 2008

The Death Ride is a five mountain pass, 130 mile, 16,000 feet of climbing bike ride that takes place in the Sierra Nevada Mountains close to Lake Tahoe California. It was my second time riding and Chris' first. Kim and Jesse Washburn, a bunch of their family members, and friend of ours, Mike Scheuller were there doing the ride with us. We started just after five in the morning and headed out for the first climb, Monitor Pass. Kim and I spent the majority of the time on Monitor catching up on things we hadn't talked much about since Kim and Jesse are in Missouri going to medical school. A couple of people asked us how we could climb the mountain passes and talk the whole way. It was pretty chilly in the morning, especially cruising downhill at 35 - 40 mph. The day heated up pretty quickly reaching 106, which made us wish for the earlier cold temperatures. And who would have thought, but the day ended with us hiding under the overhand of a fire truck waiting for the hail to subside before we would ride 45 minutes downhill in the freezing rain. Chris finished the ascent up Carson Pass just behind Jesse and Mike Scheuller, Kim and I showed up somewhere around an hour later.


This is Chris and I freezing just after finishing our descent down Carson Pass. We were so cold we couldn't hold our handle bars straight because we were shaking so badly. One guy offered my a hundred dollars for my arm warmers, which were actually Chris', if I would give them to him for the ride down. Not a chance.

This ride could very well be my favorite rides ever. I love the scenery of the Sierra Nevadas, and the ride is very well supported with lots of good food and plenty to drink. I think having family and friends is really what makes it seem so great. Chris and I are just glad we enjoy doing the same things and can share in these experiences together. (Together meaning he is an hour ahead of me, but you get the idea).

One of the dumbest moments of my life

I never thought I would be dumb enough to drive into my garage with my bike on top of my car. A week and a half ago I proved myself wrong. I was pulling into the driveway and chatting with Stacey on the phone when I heard a crunch. I was going too fast to stop before I had completely demolished my bike. I saw my wheel hanging off the side of the car and knew I had reached a high point of stupidity. Chris had just pulled in before me so he saw immediately what had happened. I was so embarassed I wanted to hurry and close the garage before any of my neighbors saw what I had done. However, I had dented the garage and knocked it off the tracks so those neighbors I didn't want to see what had happened came over and helped fix the garage. I hid in the house crying over the wreckage. You would have thought my favorite dog had died. After a lot of phone calls and struggling I was able to get an even better bike just in time to go away to California for the weekend. Somehow things always seem to work out.

Baby Ruby

Molly and Ryan Patrick, Chris' sister and her husband, are the proud parents of Ruby Eloise Patrick. Ruby was born on June 26th, weighed 7lb 11oz and was 20 1/2 inches. It looks like she might get Ryan's red hair. We are so excited to have Ruby as a member of the family and think Ryan and Molly will be terrific parents.