This ROCKS!!!!!

Thank you Sean YD! You are right. Why settle for the Caddie when you can go in the motor coach.

Nice flat screen. . .


The cockpit


No. . this picture is not upside down. It was taken by shooting into the mirror on the ceiling. . oh yeah. .


Me, stepping out in style in my new Rock Racing hat. I can only imagine who's head this was on before mine. . . ahhhhh. . .


So Freaking cool!!!!!


Um, oh yeah. . . there was a crit too! I'm tired. More on that tomorrow and more pictures too!

Tour of Utah Stage Two

I managed to get a few pictures today. Austin was up early and ready to go since his GF was coming along. We found the camera and the walkie talkies and he even cleaned out the Jeep. This pic is of the race before they turn to go up the short climb to the top of Little Mountain.

Right after this picture two girls with panniers rolled up from Parleys. They asked which way to Salt Lake. They were finishing their tour from Banf, Canada. They managed to finish their journey in style by riding through an NRC race! They were excited when we told them. They didn't seem to fully understand what we were saying but the word Chipotle got them excited. We passed them down Emigration and they were whooping and hollering with joy. It was cool.

No, I'm not in the car. I thought Austin took a picture of me in front of it but I cannot find it. He is the responsible one in the family and he wouldn't let me sneak into the car. I do have a really cool picture coming of Brandi, Ashley and me with RYAN TREBON! Brandi recognized him-not sure how she can do this when he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt- (stalker?) but I'm glad she did. He was really nice and hopefully some of his cyclocross awesomeness will rub off on me.

Ashley and Michelle got to be Vitamin Water girls for the day. They preceded the race caravan with swag and Vitamin water from the crowd. They did such a good job that they were asked back for Saturday's stage. I'm sure I'll see her fly by hanging out the back of the truck while I'm standing on some hot road making motorists angry.

Oh, by the way. . . there was a bike race today! Here are the current standings so far:
1 Blake Caldwell, Garmin/Chipotle
07:37:40
2 Darren Lill, BMC Pro Cycling
00:00:04
3 Jason Donald, Garmin/Chipotle
00:00:18
4 Jeffry Louder, BMC Pro Cycling
00:00:24
5 Brent Brookwalter, BMC Pro Cycling
6 Glen Chadwick, Team Type 1
7 Phil Zajicek, Team Health Net
8 Cesar Grajales, Rock Racing
9 Tyler Hamilton, Rock Racing
10 Oscar Rivera, Rock Racing
00:00:28

Cool to see local Jeff Louder in there. Tomorrow night is the downtown crit. I'm so excited! Crits are my favorite, both to race and to watch.

At the finish line today (and in the canyon)it was nice to see some teammates. It was especially nice to see Chase back out on his bike. He said he'll get his wires off his jaw on Tuesday and that he's looking forward to a years worth of plastic surgery-ick! He seems to be in good spirits. He is an awesome kid and I have no doubt that he'll come back stronger than ever.

On the drive home tonight I saw something interesting. A Chipotle kit on a bike pulled up next to me at a stoplight. At first I just figured it was a local rider but then I looked closer. The first thing I noticed was that this guy was riding on 3500 S. in West Valley! I don't usually even dare drive my car on that road let alone ride my bike on it. I noticed that he had not just the kit but socks and was riding the Team Felt. This guy didn't look tired enough to have just finished Stage 2 and he was a little stockier than most of the guys in the pro peleton. Finally I just had to roll down my window and ask what the H he was doing. Turns out he is part of the staff for Chipotle and was just out for a ride. I gave him some advice about a better route to take West and he agreed 3500 S. sucked. I hope the rest of his ride was nicer.

Well, time to go watch some Olympics then off to bed and up for an early bike ride. Sanpete road race is coming up quickly!

Tour of Utah Stage One

No pictures today. After teaching at the gym it was rush, rush to get out the door. Of course, I couldn't find my camera, or my walkie talkies. . just one of those kind of mornings. So we didn't get a lot of time before the race to check out the "equipment" but it was still cool to see the big teams like Chipotle and Rock Racing. It was cool to see our Utah All Stars too, although I can't tell who anyone is since they're not in their usual kits.

We had marshall position one so we got to see the early break. It was huge, but I guess they got off course and lost most of it. It is pretty obvious that we need more marshalls. . . and ones that know what they are doing. Better course maps would help too. After our first stop Austin and I headed to the loop up on hill top road. We had enough time to drive around and see what was up. They had Austin assigned to a corner where there was a dirt road. The cyclists weren't likely to get off course there. However, there was no one at the intersection of US89 so I dropped him off and went back to the fork early on.

It was fun for me to see my friends Holly, Robert and BG go by. Richard came by on his motorcycle and I got a high 5. Kind of like a big parade of all the people I really like followed by a huge peleton of amazing cyclists.

Tomorrow we only have one stop in Morgan so I'm hoping to make either the finish line or the top of Big Mountain to just be a spectator. I'm also hoping to get to the race earlier . . . maybe sneak into a Rock Racing Caddy for a picture. . shhhhhh. . don't tell.

Downhill fun!

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures this time. Sunday Austin got us lift passes and he, Kara and I headed for the hills. I'm not sure if it is just the heat or the end of the season but both Kara and I have had a hard time recovering so a little easy DH action is exactly what we needed.

As we started down the first run Kara took off. When I caught up to her she was squeezing the skin on her knee together and it was crusted with blood. She had crashed hard slamming her head into a tree. (I know this is starting to sound familiar). She said she thought she might need stitches but since the bleeding had stopped we carried on for a few more hours. Austin was doing great on his new 29er and it wasn't long before him and Kara were headed down the black diamonds. Kara's feeling was that she was already bleeding so what the hell. I stayed on the blue trails but was feeling good. I was riding well and not being a chicken and I was clipped in so I am pretty happy with myself.

Anyway, we had a lovely day flying down great trails with the cool mountain air and not a car to be seen. At 1:00 we met Lacey and Sharon and had a nice lunch on the patio. When Kara got home she cleaned up her knee and since she could pretty much see to the bone she headed to the Instacare where she got 12 stitches and was told to stay off her bike for 2 weeks. I'm sure I'll see her in spin class on Thursday. After all Sanpete is coming up.

I'm an addict. . .

I'm a big dork. I love the Olympics! I have reminders on my email, I browse through the photos and I watch every sport I can. My desktop is configured to show me when my favorite sports are on and on what channels. I think my favorite things are the little stories about the trials and tribulations that some of the athletes go through to get to the Olympics. Last night the cute little kid that saved his classmates in the China earthquake got me boobing. I'm sure tonight they'll have some story about a guy that didn't have a pool to train in so he swam in the sewer and I'll be crying again.

Update: I just talked to my teammate Kara. She is still wearing the clothes she went to bed in last night and has been watching the Olympics all day. She decided this morning to quit cycling and become and Olympic rower. By this afternoon she's given up hopes of rowing and is now chasing dreams of Olympic beach volleyball. Nice to know I'm not the only Olympic Geek.

Little brothers

I don't know how or when but I'll pay you back for this one! I just hope this doesn't adversly effect my gas mileage!

What a weekend. . .

This weekend was Tour of Park City. Since I was officiating I got to stay up there the night before. Ashley came with me and we headed up early for some girl time in PC. We hit the arts festival and then paid too much for Mexican food but got to sit out on the deck. She came with me on the promise that we'd get up early and hit Walmart before the race so she could read "Breaking Dawn". Unfortuntatley, we found out that Walmart in PC doesn't open until 7 am and we'd be on the course by then. She was pretty bummed.

But Holly saved the day. Ashley and I were just returning from a swim in the hotel pool when Richard called and said that Holly would pick us up a copy of the book at midnight and have it there for us pre race in the morning. THANK YOU HOLLY! Yesterday would have been a very long day of whining about when we could get the book if Holly hadn't saved the day. Holly was a bit tired when she showed up to be the Chief Ref on only 2 hours of sleep but she made both of our 13 year olds very happy.

My job yesterday was to follow the pack of 85 Cat4/5 men. They got off to a rocky start when the announcer told everyone they were the masters group. A few turned around but we got it straightened out. My daughter thought it was hilarious when she figured out why the guys were pulling off the road and she giggled even more when a few relieved themselves off thier bikes. Thanks guys for entertaining my 13 year old.

The pack stayed together for a long time. I had to warn a few guys because they were just hanging out in the left lane. I understand that we all get bumped out there but you cannot just ride out there- it is not only against the rules it is dangerous. Thankfully it wasn't anyone I knew! The field finally split with a one man break away up Chalk creek. I followed him until he was caught by about 10 others and then I followed them all into Evanston. At Evanston I got some food and headed back to the start line so that I wouldn't miss the 123 finish.

It was exciting to see teammates Jeremy Smith and Spence DeBry cross the finish line in 1st and 3rd. Clint, ET, Todd and Jan all looked strong but somehow missed a turn and hurt their finish time and placement. At the finish line we were dealing with number issues because the race bible told everyone to put their number on the Right but then the Sportsbase trailer was set up on the left. The worst part was that the finish line was in a rec center parking lot where they were holding soccer tournaments. That meant we had vans full of kids and soccer moms driving and walking where guys were trying to sprint. I thought I'd have a heart attack!

Then I saw Jamie pull up and went over to talk to her. That is when I heard about Shane getting run down by a driver. Fortunately he is okay but his bike is in peices. Patrick got in a few punches and the guy was charged with assault. I think the guy got off easy. I think he should be charged with attempted murder! Breanne also took a spill and ended up with some facial cuts. Scary stuff!

Tour of PC looks to be another Epic race/ride like Lotoja. At 12 hours we finally shut down the finish line but I'm sure there were plenty of riders still out on the course!

Here are a few pics. . . I didn't get very many. . . too busy!

I won't let her kiss boys yet but Moose in drag are okay.



Ashley riding a bike rack. Nice position although she complained that the seat was a little uncomfortable.



Today Kara and I decided to avoid cars and hit the trail. We headed north to meet Diane but she changed her mind. So we went on up to Snowbasin anyway. We picked an easier trail but it was still more climbing than I wanted to do. At the time I was wishing we'd paid the chair lift fee but I'm glad I got in a good workout. It was nice single track with a few rocky patches but nothing technical. We were done by lunch and had a nice lunch and beer on the deck at The Oaks.