Four Thanksgivings

Dave says: This past week we had four turkey dinners. It all started when Alisha saw 18 lbs. turkeys for only $8 at Smiths. We didn't even know how to cook a turkey but we got a turkey bag, put it in the oven for a couple hours, and had a pretty delicious meal with lots of leftovers.

On Thanksgiving we woke up ready to go on a long bike ride only to discover that it was raining outside. Instead, we watched the Macy's Day Parade and rode the indoor trainer for three hours. Then, it was time to head over to Richard and Britney's for Thanksgiving dinner number two where we enjoyed a variety of tasty dishes and desserts.

Then, we went to the movie theater to see Twilight. Alisha has been reading the series over the past couple months and I've been pretty skeptical of "vampire romance." However, I gotta admit that I enjoyed the show, perhaps even enough to read the book sometime in the future.

Alisha had to work the day after Thanksgiving and I got to spend a day catching up on homework and working on my big human rights paper for international law. We headed down in the evening and stayed at the newly remodeled Bezanson family house (nice countertops!) with the entire family.

On Saturday it was time for Thanksgiving number three with Debbie's delicious cooking. Then it was time for some sweet mountain biking with Brian on the rocky trails at Three Peaks while Alisha, Debbie, Amber, Mandy, and Shane made some good looking ginger bread houses.

We went to church with my family on Sunday morning. Then it was time for Thanksgiving dinner number four with my family and grandparents. Finally, it was time to head home on a jam-packed road. It was a quick trip but a great holiday weekend where we got to spend some quality time with both our families and remember all the things that we are grateful for.

Go Jazz!!

Alisha says: Wednesday I got to go with my sister to the Utah Jazz vs. Milwaukee Bucks basketball game. My sister's boss gave her their company's 2nd row VIP tickets. Lucky for me her husband was sick so she took me. It was so much fun, before the game we got to eat dinner in the dining room and at half time we got to go back to the dining room and have treats. The best part though was the seats, we were 2nd row right behind the Buck's bench. It was really cool to be that close. The Jazz won 105-94! Thanks Amber!!

Halloween

Alisha says: On Halloween my work had a costume/pumpkin contest and although I did not dress up I did decorate a pumpkin with lots of different kinds of candy. There were lots of neat pumpkins (I forgot to take my camera to work so the only pic I have is of mine) but I won first place!!

Saturday I put on my Kuhl kit for the last time in a race (next year I will be riding for PCIM!!) and participated in the City Creek Bike Sprint that was suppose to be a couple of weeks ago but because of bad weather was rescheduled. It was actually really nice weather for it being November 1st. The race went really well for me, I had a good start was able to hang onto the fast train for a little bit. I finished 7th overall and was the first female. I won some cash for breaking the women's record with my time of 24:24. We also made a quick trip down to Cedar City to see Parker and Christine bless their second little one (Rachel). Today it snowed all day long and it made me feel sad.

Dave says: Two and a half hours on the trainer indoors watching the snow fall made me sad too, but not as sad as my semi-lame race performance on Saturday in the four-inch deep gravel at RMR. Here's some 'cross pics that make me look faster than I actually was:

Check out SlyFox in his womanly Halloween garb handing out dollar bills (by this time in the race I think he was down to quarters though).

Another Exciting Week

Dave says: This sweet 'cross pic is courtesy of Kurt "Team Fast" Wolfgang who threw it down with the "W" in the B category and finished his first race this year without flatting [side note: he flatted at tonight's Wednesday night race]. Saturday at Ogden's Fort Buenaventura was my turn for a mechanical as one of my pedals lost its' end cap, siezed, and wound itsself off my crank with two laps to go. Not a big deal since I was off the podium and in seventh against some pretty talented A riders (like Bart Gillespie who lapped many of the other racers).

In other exciting news, my article on virtual visitation is getting published by the Journal of Law and Family Studies. Thanks to laws in Utah and a handful of other states, non-custodial parents seperated by thousands of miles are now connecting with their children using video conferencing and other internet technologies. Pretty cool stuff.

Alisha says: It feels like summer right now and that has been nice. I have been returning to my roots and doing some running for some cross training lately. Saturday I did a long ride with some girls from my cycling team which was cool. Sunday was the primary program and getting a bunch of 3 year olds to sit still for a whole hour is quite the challenge. It was a nice program and the tots were cute.

Cx

Dave says: This is my first year trying cyclocross and I'm excited to report that it is quite a fun sport. Cx is now huge in Utah as both the roadies and the mountain bikers are into it. Since it was my first real race, I raced (sandbagged?) the B category. I'm glad I got to the start line early since there were over 50 B racers competing. The race started fast with a crash that almost took me out (some guy's leg flew up and hit me in the arm as I swerved to avoid running over him). It quickly narrowed down to a group of five which then became three. For the last couple laps it was just me and one other racer. He was running the barriers faster than I was so I had to go for it to get a gap before the finish. It worked and I came away with the W. I traveled to the race with Kurt and Zoe who were selling some delicious pancakes there and also ran into a bunch of the Kuhl Team. Next week, I'm looking forward to getting schooled by the A's.

Alisha says: This past week the weather was awesome. It felt like we were able to hang on to summer for a little longer. Saturday night we went and watched some World Cup Short Track speed skating action at the Olympic Oval with Kelsey and her husband Mike. We were able to watch Apolo Ohno race a couple of times, unfortunately he was taken out in the finals of the 1000m. The relays were really fun to watch, if you have never seen a speed skating relay check it out sometime and you will see what I mean. Dave and I also recently checked out the new Legacy Parkway path. It was pretty sweet, it is 14 miles one way with no cars or stop lights, just the occasional family with their kids and dogs all over the path, but still fun!!

Collegiate Racing

Dave says: Kurt and I spent the weekend at Conference Championships in Grand Junction, CO. Originally, we had a bigger group but due to illness and concerns about the weather, it turned out to just be the two of us. Saturday morning's short track was windy with some black clouds and a few sprinkles, but the weather held out long enough for Kurt to grab 3rd of 30 in B's while I got 8th of 35 in A's. The course had some steep sections and was pretty tough in the wind. After chasing the lead group for the first two minutes, I was already in the red. Afterwards, we headed over to pre-ride the XC course with some guys from Air Force and managed to get lost since it wasn't marked well yet.

The temperature dropped on Saturday night and was in the 30s when we arrived at the race site on Sunday morning. However, once the sun came out it was a great day for racing. The XC course is one of the most technical out there with several hike-a-bike sections and slickrock obstacles. Kurt destroyed the B's after taking off on the first lap and never seeing them again. After starting in the back, I slowly moved up through the A's until I ripped the sidewall of my front tire on the second lap. Thanks to some sealant, it went down to about 5 psi but not completely flat and I filled up between laps. Unfortunately, on the final lap it lost all it's pressure when I rolled it on a steep downhill switchback with about 1/2 mile to go and I rode it in flat for sixth place. (Note to self: bikes don't steer well on steep switchbacks with flat front tires). It was a fun trip that was made more entertaining by the fact that we stayed with none other than the legendary Alan Sprung.

Last night I tried out a cyclocross "race" for the first time. It was a free event with about 20 guys up in Park City on a course with some dirt, grass, pavement, and barriers (of course). For those who are not familiar with cyclocross (CX), it's basically racing road bikes with knobby tires on all types of terrain (frequently in the snow or mud) and there is a whole race series here in Utah that has become quite large in recent years. It was a fun time as I started out in the middle of the group but gradually built up my confidence and caught everyone but the front two guys by the end. I'm excited to have found a new way to spend part of my off season this year.

Fall is Here

Dave says: The leaves are turning, its getting dark before I'm home from biking, and the temperature doesn't feel like summertime anymore. The road up City Creek Canyon is covered with leaves. Last weekend I pulled the plug on a collegiate mountain bike race in Durango and stayed home to finish some schoolwork as well as to avoid fourteen hours of driving for two hours of racing in the rain. Alisha and I rode indoors for the first time in months and were bored after less than an hour. We enjoyed watching General Conference and took a break between sessions on Sunday for a ride since the rain had stopped.

On Sunday afternoon, my family came up to visit and Alisha made some outstanding lasagna for everyone. After my Monday morning class, I went with them to the Bodyworlds exhibit at the downtown library. This exhibit features real people who have donated their bodies to science and have been "plastified". I don't really even know how to explain it so I decided to include a picture. It's like looking at drawings in a medical book, only they are real. For my mom, it was like an exciting trip back to medical school, while for me it was confirmation that I definitely don't have what it takes to be a doctor.