Hillside Road Race and School

Alisha says: I talked Dave into going to probably my last road race of the season last weekend. He was a little reluctant to go because he was starting school on Monday and already had a huge stack of papers to read but after a little pleading and telling him I would drive so that he could study he finally agreed to make the journey with me. The race was in a tiny town about four hours away from Tucson. We left on Saturday and stopped in Chandler to see Christine and Parker's new house which is really nice. We then continued to the cool town of Prescott and found some questionable (although free) camping for the night.

In the morning there was a slight drizzle. I was hoping it would hold off for the race which it did and we had a nice cloud cover which blocked the sun but resulted in humid conditions. It was a really fun and challenging out and back course with lots of rollers and climbing. The group mostly stuck together and there were some good attacks thrown in but nothing that stuck. About nine miles from the finish I attacked the group and soloed in for the win. Just for fun I decided to try for the first time ever a two handed victory. I was so focused that I forgot to zip up my jersey, oh well, someday I'll get it all together :)

Dave says: My first week as a Ph.D. student was both busy and exciting. I already had a bunch of homework for the first day of class and my classes all have between 4 and 8 people in them so you've got to know what's going on. However, they are all going to be really great classes and I am learning a lot. The faculty and the other students are outstanding and the program is excellent. In addition to my classes, I'll be spending my time working on research projects with faculty members.

I've been waking up at 5:30 every morning since we moved here and I am not a morning person. It has been great for riding but it makes me pretty tired in the evenings. The trip up to Prescott was a fun one. The night before the race I was reading articles in the tent using a wind up flashlight that I would turn between pages. I finished in 8th which is ok but I feel like my form is coming back after a summer without much racing.

We have been enjoying some great group rides. The Tuesday Gates Pass ride and the Shootout are super fast. Yesterday we went up Mt. Lemmon with the Toussaints and the local Cactus Cycling Club. There is a kid named Tulio who is 14 and who flies up the mountain dropping almost everyone. He is already placing well against racers twice his age and he is going to be a future star.

Last but not least, we made it out to the Desert Museum for the last night of the summer program with my grandparents. We attended a presentation on beetles and saw a good number of crunchy little friends on display.

Tucson

Dave says: It's been a busy couple of weeks for us. Before I even started boxing up things for the move, I had to tackle the Utah bar exam which is quite the long and painful test. It involved two full days of testing (a day of essays and a day of multiple choice) that was easily the hardest and most punishing exam that I have ever taken. Many of my classmates were completely freaked out by taking a test that could crush their future job prospects for the immediate future (and which a significant percentage of applicants fail).

Once the bar was over, I could finally turn my attention to the move. I was really trying for the illusory stress-free move that feels like a vacation except with all of your stuff coming along. We would go riding every morning, pack boxes for a few hours, and then do something fun for the rest of the day. We used up some gift certificates to various Salt Lake restaurants, went to the movie Inception, and went through the Salt Lake temple one last time. We also did some of our favorite rides including the very fun loop from Park City around Chalk Creek and East Canyon. Alisha was flying up the back side of East Canyon at an unconcionable pace but my form is coming along and I was able to barely hang on.

My strategy for the move was to fill the back room of our house with boxes as we loaded them so we could pull the trailer to the end of the driveway and walk the boxes right out. The excitement for the move was actually trying to fit everything into my parents' big grey van and a UHaul trailer. In the end, I had all the vehicles loaded so full that you could only open the driver's side door. Our Christmas tree and dining room table and chairs were casualties of the move as there was simply no room to fit them in the end.

The van has no working a/c and the trailer was loaded down so much in the back end that it started to wobble above 55 mph. It took 5 hours to get to Cedar City and I spent much of the drive dumping water from the ice chest on myself to keep cool. My parents had my little red car in Cedar and we reloaded a lot of stuff from the back of the trailer into it. My dad was a huge help and left the next morning with the van at 5 am to make it down to Arizona before it got really hot. Alisha and I made good time driving our cars and arrived at my grandparents' home in Tucson around dinner time on the 4th.

The next big challenge was that the guest house where we are now living was used by my grandparents for storage for the last 25 years. Before we could move anything in, we had to move everything out. We spent the next week installing some appliances, painting the place, shampooing the carpets, putting back up the ceeling, and trying to decide how to fit all the stuff we had in a three bedroom house into our new one bedroom flat.

We knew we were super spoiled to have such a nice place to live in SLC but now we really know! However, we are spoiled here in some different ways that we are enjoying. It is fun to hang out with my grandparents and I have been having blueberries on my cereal every morning and drinking lots of orange juice out of their fridge. We have been swimming in their giant pool almost every day and we have gone with them to programs at the Desert Museum for the past two weeks. Last week's program involved a live rattlesnake and gila monster. This week we had hawks, ravens, and owls that flew around the room and zipped right over your head. We also looked for scoprions with a black light which Alisha had never done before. They glow bright green in the dark.

Tucson also has some fantastic cycling. We have ridden a dozen different routes and still haven't done all the good rides in this area. Last weekend we rode up Mt. Lemmon with the Toussaints. The sheer length of the climb (25 miles) is impressive and you go from cactus to pine trees pretty quickly. On Monday we had dinner with the Toussaints and had a great time. Roberta is quite the talented cook. Yesterday we did the Shootout which is the local ride that rolls like a race. Today we rode up through the foothills to Rancho Vistoso. The ride goes into the ritzy part of town with glossy pavement and nice houses.

I have one more week off before school starts to get settled. I'm sure things will be quite busy once it does but I am excited for my program.

Alisha says: Since arriving in Arizona we have turned into early birds, waking up early and leaving on our rides before 6 am in order to try and beat the heat (today it is 105 degrees). I generally consider myself a morning person but not so for my sweet husband, but he has been doing really well with our new schedule. He also didn't want his picture taken in the pool and was even more unhappy when I put it in this post. We have been on some great rides my favorite being Mt. Lemmon. It is a awesome 25 mile climb!

There is one thing that I really don't like about Tucson and that is cockroaches!! I think they are absolutly disgusting and make Dave kill the few that we have seen.

Cascade Classic

Cascade Lakes Road Race

The Small Team: Nicole, Mara, Alisha, Olivia, Nicola (Team Manager)

Alisha says: The six day Cascade Classic Stage Race in Bend, Oregon was such a fun race this year. The team was running a little slim with only four riders (Mara, Olivia, Nicole, Alisha) but we worked really hard to get and then defend the yellow jersey for Mara who dedicated her general classification victory to her Grandpa who passed away during the week.

Stage 1: Prologue, 2 mile time trial. I think this is the first cycling race that I wasn't that nervous for. I mean, two flat miles, with a couple of turns, not exactly my specialty but I couldn't lose that much time. With the course being so short and the speed/effort so high it actually ended up being a technical course for me with a couple of the turns but it was over before I even knew it. I placed 30th out of the 107 starters.

Stage 2: McKenzie Pass Road Race, 74 miles with lots of climbing. I was super excited for this race. We started on a long descent where a big group of 13 riders broke away from the peloton. We really didn't want it to be that big or for them to get that big of a gap so Olivia and I set tempo on the front to keep the gap in check and set Mara up to be able to close it once we started climbing. It was fun to be on the front keeping the pace going. Once Mara jumped off the front I settled in with a chase group for the rest of the climb and the descent down the other side. At the summit of the climb we passed though this lava rock section that was really cool. Heading to the finish we had another long climb to tackle, the group I was climbing with slowly got smaller and smaller until there were just five of us together and a couple or riders who were still off the front. I finished 10th on the stage and was happy with the finish and effort that went into the stage. Cath Cheatly won followed by Mara in second.

Stage 3: Skyliners Time Trial, 16 miles. I guess my lucky spot for the time trials at this race is 30th (39:31). I had a small mechanical on the way out and was not able to shift into my big chain ring which caused me a bit of panic, luckily after the turn around I finally got it to shift which was good because that is when I really needed it. Mara threw down an awesome time trial to take second and more importantly gained enough time to get the yellow jersey!

Stage 4: Cascade Lakes Road Race, 71 miles. This race went crazy from the start and after only a couple of miles a five person break had established itself. Once again we needed to keep the gap from getting to big and with such a small team it would have made for a really long day on the front. Olivia was able to recruit some of the smaller teams with high overall general classification riders to help rotate on the front in order to protect their GC position. It was fun as the group on the front was always changing. This race also ended after a long climb. I unfortunately got popped off the main group after I had put in an effort on the front and finished with the second chase group a little bit off the main pack (29th). Mara soloed in for the victory and was able to put some more time between her and second place.

Stage 5: Downtown Criterium, 4 corners, 50 min. I had a bad experience in this crit last year that partially resulted from starting in the very back and was determined not to let it happen again this year. I lined up in good position and held my spot on the starting line. It was a much better crit as I stayed in the whole time and finished with the same time as the the winner.

Stage 6: Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, 3 laps, 52 miles. This was a circuit that we did three times. It was an interesting race as I went through a range of feeling really good, to really bad, to good again. It was a very active race and we had to keep an eye on a lot of things in order to protect Mara in the yellow jersey. There was one point where I got dropped off the back a little on the second lap and I thought I was done but I shortly made it back to the group. I came into the finish with a huge group and finished 15th on the stage and 13th overall. Mara finished third on the stage and first overall. It was a great accomplishment for the small team that we had. It was super fun racing with Mara, Olivia, and Nicole who all rode well and I learned a lot at this race from my super team. Nicola was a one woman show who helped us out so much and one again our hosts were exceptional.

Illinois

The Nauvoo Temple

The Nauvoo Pageant

We stayed at the White House Inn




Kaylee and Katie at the nearby school playground

Daniel makes a bubble at the Children's Museum

Dave says: It was Alisha's turn to stay home as I went off with my family for a week to Illinois. The trip began by visiting the area where my grandpa grew up near Chicago and finished in the Church history filled town of Nauvoo. It was a big group of 13 with basically the entire family (minus Alisha who stayed in SLC and put in a big 20 hour week on the bike prepping for Cascade).

My job for most of the first part of the trip was to keep everyone ages 14 and under entertained while everyone ages 50+ conversed with elderly (and somewhat distant) relatives that most of us had never seen before. The kids are fun. I played a lot of Frisbee with Daniel, folded origami with Katie, told lots of made up stories to Kaylee (including that I was an ogre like Shrek), and tried to connect with Rachel who doesn't say much yet and is still trying to decide whether she likes me or not.

Part two of the trip took us clear to the other side of Illinois to the tiny town of Nauvoo. Highlights from this part of the trip include the Nauvoo Temple, the Nauvoo Pageant, and a brief tour of some Church history sites with the Gudmonson family (who is there for the summer in a pioneer bagpipe band). The Church has turned the whole town into a little pioneer village that is great for kids.

I'm not sure I saw too many others between the ages of 20 and 30 at any of the places we visited, yet despite falling well outside of the targeted demographics I was able to appreciate the story of the saints who came to Illinois with nothing, built up a flourishing city that was at the time the second largest in the state, and then left everything behind again in the face of religious persecution and headed west to Utah.

The Paiute Trail

Dave says: Alisha arrived home on Monday and by Tuesday we were already heading down south to hang out for the Fourth of July. I planned an ATV adventure with Daniel and Parker on the Paiute trail based on a trip that I did with Alisha a few years back. On Wednesday morning, we strapped everything to our ATVs and headed out from Freemont Indian State Park up a rocky trail into the mountains. Soon, we were driving through pine and aspen forests and fields of mountain wildflowers. We took a brief stop under some trees to avoid a light afternoon rain before descending down to the town of Fillmore (through some patches of snow) for dinner. The trip up a canyon outside of Fillmore to our campground is my favorite part of the trail with lots of stream crossings on a tight little trail.

The next morning we hit a challenging section of black-rated trail before climbing up out of the Fillmore area and over to Salina. We ate lunch at a little hamburger stand in Salina before heading on some of the fast, low elevation sections of trail running back to the south. We climbed up into the mountains outside of Koosharem and found a primitive camping site for the night. In the night we heard owls, coyotes, and elk.

Our final day started with a quick trip down to Koosharem to refuel. We then went up over the top of the mountains and to the west to reach Marysvale. We ate lunch at the Prospector Cafe which had the best food of the whole trip. Finally, we drove up into the mountains west of Marysvale and headed north to return to Freemont Indian State Park. It was a warm day and Daniel was enjoying hitting the water crossings with a bit of speed.

Overall, it was about the most fun you could possibly have without getting your heart rate up. The trails were amazing and we hardly saw anyone until Friday. The variety between the high mountains, lowlands, small towns, fast and smooth roads, and tight trails makes every part of the 350 miles that we did seem unique and fun.

I made it back to town on Friday afternoon where Alisha had been diligently waking up early every morning for long bike rides by herself (trying to avoid the infamous Cedar City wind). The highlight of her cycling week was riding through the little town of Summit with her US national kit on and being mistaken for part of the Fourth of July parade. She also got to play slip and slide with Brody, we played lots of board games with Shane and Mandy, and we went on a little hike and drive up the mountain with my family.

Cycling Nationals

Middle: Shelley - Alisha, Kat, Lauren, Coryn, Mara, Sinead

Alisha says: The team had some amazing results at nationals in Bend, Oregon. Shelley won the crit and then Mara and Shelley pulled off the 1-2 in the road race. Coryn added another couple of national jerseys to her resume and everyone worked really hard. It is such an opportunity to be on a team with these girls!!

My personal experience at nationals left me with much to be desired as I felt as though my form was a little off or something, I'm not quite sure what it was but it wasn't the greatest week of racing for me. I competed in the time trial and the road race. My time trial was okay, I finished 18th. It was a long 35 kilometers.

I was excited for the road race as the team had a plan that we were confident in and I was ready to help out. The race was just under 70 miles on a circuit that we did four times. At the beginning of the second lap something happened a couple of riders in front of me and there was a chain reaction of brake jamming and people changing their lines. Unfortunately I ended up getting tangled up with a Colavita rider and we both went down. My right thigh took the entire impact. I jumped up and checked my bike and myself out, remounted and proceeded to chase back with the aide of the nice shot of adrenaline I had just got. I made it back in time for the Peanut Butter girls to line it up at the front and start driving the pace. I slotted in behind Mara and the team started rotating through. At the end of the second lap I knew I was in trouble. I hung on for the third lap until we hit the climb again and then I ended up in a chase group that finished a couple of minutes off the winner. I wasn't very happy about it and was so disappointed. Alas, Bend is such a fun place and we were hosted by a super cute family whose house had the most beautiful view from their deck.

The Great Outdoors

Dave says: Now that summer has finally arrived, some of Utah's best epic mtb trails are starting to open up. Yesterday I rocked Pipeline up to Crest with Chris Workman on what was definitely about the first rideable day of the year on Crest. As we approached the top portion of the trail, we had to briefly dismount several times to cross some lingering snowbanks. However, on the whole the trail was in amazing condition and it was a great 5 hours. The weekend before I did shoreline to Mueller to North Fork and had a blast. Even bobsled, which was a mess last year, is in prime condition right now.

We took the young men out for a one night camping trip to Affleck Park on Wednesday. With no serious injuries or incidents I'd say it was a success. I spoke in church last Sunday and spent most of the week studying for the bar. Alisha returns home tomorrow after two weeks of racing. Then, it's off to southern Utah for an ATV trip and the Fourth of July.