PCIM Team Pics

PCIM 2009: Nisie, Chantel, Tayler, Kelsey, Kirsten, Jillian, Alisha, Jenna (front)

Alisha says: Now that the season is over we finally got all the team together for this little photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. Talk about a bunch of fit women. We had a fun season full of lots of racing. Thanks to everyone on the team who helped me out. I learned a lot from everyone and loved having KK as our team leader in races to help with the tactics. Harvest Moon Crit was last weekend in Ogden and was the last race for points in the UCA series (There were only three of us). It was a great season as I won the women's overall and PCIM won the team competition. Go PCIM!!

At the beginning of this season, I never would have imagined all the incredible opportunities that I have had this year. I am so appreciative to the many people who helped me out: my great teammates, parents and other family members, Kelly, Michael, numerous neat and talented athletes I have been introduced to, and last but not least my super husband.

I have been blessed to have been able to work with the US Women's Cycling Development Program this year. They are a great resource for women just getting into the sport of cycling. I wrote an entry for their blog on Cycling News that was just published that talks about my transition to cycling. It sounds like I am betraying my running roots but don't worry, running will always hold a special place in my heart. http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/us-womens-development-program/shoelaces-to-wheels.

Vegas

Alisha says: This past weekend was great! I headed south to see family and race. I made the trip solo because Dave was doing a collegiate mtb race and had to do some major studying time. I rolled down I-15 with my favorite tunes blasting on Friday and spent part of the night at my parents. We were up before the crack of dawn and rolling down I-15 to be in the Vegas area by 7:00 am.

I raced the Mt. Charleston hillclimb, 17.5 miles 5,357 ft. elevation. A hillclimb in Vegas? Well, it's a ways outside but in the general area. I had a fantatsic race. I felt really good and finished in 1:29.08, seven minutes faster than last year. There weren't too many women, but I had fun racing the men. I was 13th overall (7th in Pro men, 2nd in Cat 3's) out of about 250.

Awards were absolutley ridiculous. I'm a fairly patient person but it took over 3 hours for them to put together results. By this time it looked like it was going to rain and so rather than post them and have the 15 min. protest time they just started anouncing them. Of course they did the women very last and then they announce first place and it wasn't me. Several people knew that I had won so we told them they were wrong and we had to get the officials involved who at first insisted that the results were correct. I knew what my time was so then we had to look at the footage and there I was with my number clearly visible. Somebody made the comment that they must have left me off because they didn't expect any women that early or they though I was a guy. By this time it is raining and everything is being packed up. I had to find another guy who pulled this humongous trophy out of a box and that was that.

My parents were quite the troupers to come with me and I was greatful for their company. My dad got home from work at 2:30 am and was back in the car to go with me at 4:45 am. I love hanging out with family. My mom sent me home with a back seat full of delicious garden produce.

Dave says: I did a bit of collegiate mtb racing this weekend at Utah State. Mitchell and I made the trip together and the U represented well. There's still not too many collegiate riders in Utah but it's nice to see the IMCCC conference coming together.

Nine Hours

Dave says: So I chose not to do Lotoja this year because ten hours on a bike seems about twice as long as I'd like. Nevertheless, Labor Day rolled around and we decided to do the Alpine Loop with Tyler, Norm, and Steph. It was a nine hour trip from SLC to Park City to Sundance over the top to American Fork and then up again over Suncrest and back (7:30 of actual ride time).

It turned out to be a fun time and I was quite impressed that we held a high tempo the entire ride. In fact, for awhile I was the weakest link after eating a footlong sub right before climbing Suncrest.

During the week we've enjoyed a bit of post-ride Vuelta coverage while eating dinner. Alisha has been watching the mountain stages closely and has been pulling out some fierce attacks on me during our weekly rides. I also managed to capture a rare photo of her on the mtb. We've been doing an occasional off road trek together for a bit of variety in addition to our regular diet of pavement.

Today we decided to brave a bit of questionable weather and made it all the way up emigration canyon before it started pouring. It was one of the worst rain storms I've been in on the bike but still probably a bit better than spending the afternoon on the trainer.

In other news, we have a new young men's president which is a big relief for the rest of us. Last week I ran all over the place during capture the flag (right after a good bike workout) and was shot for the next two days.

The Curse Continues. . . But Still A Fun Day

Alisha says: So for the third year in a row I have taken second at the Climber's Trophy race. The best part is that each year a different person has beat me (today it was Nicole). I was bummed that my time this year was slower than last year (even on the same course it is sometimes hard to compare times because the conditions can vary so much from year to year.)

This year it was a little cooler and there was a slight drizzle of rain. The race was time trial style and I was the first to go. It is good that I like to get to races plenty early because today I was almost there and realized that I had forgotten a key piece of equipment, my helmet, and had to drive back home to get it. I'm glad that the race didn't start too far out of town but it still stressed me out.

Dave says: I was the support crew again today. My form was way off in August but I am healthy again and trying to get back in shape for cyclocross. After the hill climb, we decided it was time to redeem some of Alisha's previous winnings. We went to Porcupine Grill (courtesy of the Porcupine hill climb) and then to Octoberfest at Snowbird where we rode the chairlift up to the top of the mountain (thanks to the Snowbird hill climb). We went on a fun little hike in the mountains and only got a little wet.

Then, tonight we went to our ward's centennial celebration where they removed a time capsule from the cornerstone of the church that had been there for exactly 100 years.

Sanpete Road Race

Alisha says: Today was the last road race of the season, kind of sad, kind of glad. The race was pretty lame during several sections as we leisurely cruised along in group ride mode. The course was mostly flat, although most of the time it felt like a gradual downhill so it made attacking and getting a break to stick kind of difficult. It came down to a field sprint with Nicole taking the win and I felt pretty lucky to have come out of it with second and teammate Tayler was third. The best part of the race was that basically the whole PCIM gang was there (Kirsten, Nisie, Chantel, Kelsey, Tayler and me). They are a great group of girls and super fun to race with.

In family news, Friday after work Dave and I drove to Price to visit Amber, Devin and Quinn. Quinn is my new nephew who is 12'ish weeks old and this is the first time that we have seen him. He is a cutie with lots of rolls. Devin cooked the biggest hamburgers ever for dinner, they were intense. After eating mine I was a little worried about how it might affect my race the next day but I felt fine, I still am fairly certain that I won't be making it part of my pre race routine though :)

Snowbird

Alisha says: I got to do two races this weekend. The first was Snowbird Hillclimb up Little Cottonwood. 10 miles 3300 ft. elevation. Local Pro Nicole (valueact) was lined up on the starting line. We went out hard and kept a close eye on each other, each following moves the other would make. With just under two miles to go I looked back and noticed that I had a little gap. I was able to hold it until the finish and take the win by 29 seconds.

The second race was a criterium that was in conjunction with the Tour of Utah. We got to race the same course just a couple of hours before the pros did. The forecast called for a chance of rain so I did not pre register. The ground was wet when I woke up, but the skies didn't look too threatening so I suited up and registered. There was a good field that included the local pros. Just as we rolled up to the starting line it started sprinkling which made me a little nervous and the race a little interesting with the wet roads and all. It seemed to me that we were either dawdling or flying. I would get impatient and bored when the race would get slow and attack. They had a ton of prime laps that Tiff P. made quite the haul on. She is so strong. Heather Albert punched it with just over a lap to go and got a good gap on the field. Tiff put in a nice pull to bring her part of the way back and then it seemed like the field was just going to let Heather take the win. I was the sucker who thought "heck no" and took the bait to reel her in coming into the final turn giving the real sprinters a nice lead out. I was toast and managed a fifth place.

We hung around with all the cool people from the cycling community to watch the pro race. Now those guys are fast.

Dave says: I woke up sick at the start of a three day camping trip to Affleck Park that I was in charge of with the young men. The trip had a rough start as some hiking followed by a dispute over a bag of chips almost led to a brawl. However, with the help of some others and a bit of fortitude we made it through the entire trip and enjoyed hot dogs, canned beef stew, marshmallows, and all the other delicious scouting foods. Friday's activities included a downhill hike (pictured above) which went much better, swimming in East Canyon Reservoir, capture the flag, and even some good spiritual stuff as well.

Family Fun

My Uncle Robert, Aunt Lorrie and their family

Brittany, Brody, Mandy and Mom

This is how we found Brody in the morning

Alisha Says: Yay, this weekend I got to spend time with lots of family. I haven't seen them for a while and it was fun to have them stay at our casa. My Mom, Dad, Mandy, and Brody came up on Friday. Richard came over and joined us for a gourmet dinner that my parents helped cook consisting of grilled corn, halibut, shrimp, salmon, and baked potatoes. Yummers! After dinner Richard (using his trusty iphone told us that there were several geocaches in our neighborhood. So our after dinner activity was a nice walk to find them.

Saturday we got up early and attended the wedding of my cousin, Shaylee and her groom, David, in the Salt Lake Temple. It was raining when they were trying to take pictures so they probably won't get the wedding photos they always dreamed of. Weddings are always fun and always remind me how lucky I am to have married my Dave. That afternoon we did some shopping and went to the wedding luncheon. I love shopping with my mom, she can always find the cutest clothes.

About 20 minutes after my family had departed Dave's family arrived at our house. They were traveling home from Yellowstone and stopped by for a visit. We ate at Chili's. It was fun playing with Kaylee and Rachel and getting beat by Daniel in Mario Kart. Family's are the best!!!