Dinnylan Pics

I finally remembered I needed to put some pics up of the Disneyland trip. Enjoy!

The shuttle van after the flight that included an hour on the plane at the end of the runway in SLC. Damn that maritime fog in LA!


Halloween @ Disneyland.


Dumbo was Hannah's favorite ride.


Hannah's moment of glory! Meeting Sleeping Beauty.


Long days took their toll...

... so the whole trip really wore her (us) out. Here's the plane ride back to SLC.


And right back to reality and yard work before trick or treating.

NO-vember

So I'm sick again.

Worse, Wifey and Smarty Pants are both sick also.

This is getting ridiculous. I was sick the week before the 24 Hours of Moab also. I think this is a continuation. If it happens again then it's off to the doc.

I mentioned in the last post that November 1 would be a new beginning for me. Not so much now. I'll get over whatever I got first.

On the plus side, our trip to Dinnylan was fun. No children were harmed during the trip. The weather was great. The parks were pretty empty.

On the negative, the hotel sucked (except for the pool). There wasn't a market or even a gas station anywhere close which made buying snacks for the park and beer difficult. I needed a bike, wheels really improve transportation speed.

I'll get some pics posted just to prove we had fun.

Obviously being gone and sick there hasn't been much in the way of training. No cyclocross racing either. I wanted to ride Saturday but was faced with a shload of yardwork and a rainy forecast. So I took the high road and worked my ass off outside. It snowed again today, which makes me wonder if the 24 Hours of Moab wasn't my last mountain bike ride this year.

I hope not, we are heading to St. George for Thanksgiving and I really wanted to bring the bike with me. Escape might be important when confronted with my in-laws for four days...

So... Very... Busy...

The second half of my October consists of birthdays. Within three weeks I have no less than 8 that I have to contend with.

Actually 12-13 if you include that I have to celebrate Wifey's and Smarty Pants' 3 times each. Thanks divorce!

Factor in that my mantra is "darkness is for sleeping" and there has been no cyclocross racing, training, riding, running or swimming since the 24 Hours of Moab.

I'm jonesing to do things, but I'm also kind of a lazy ass that likes to sleep when it is cold and dark.

I did solve a neat puzzle though. And made a load of ice cream. I need to bake a cake tonight.

Yeesh. November 1 is the first day of 2009 for me.

24 and DONE!

Another 24 Hours of Moab is in the books. Another. I should say my last. Of course one should never say never, but I am pretty sure that this was the last quack for the Duckboy.

I had fun, but this can be a miserable bitch of a race. The starting and stopping between laps is difficult. For me the sense of adventure is gone, as this was my 4th time. I guess it was maybe doing the race with friends that made me want to do it again. But seeing each other between rests and meals isn't exactly quality time. I'd rather go out and just ride and enjoy their company. SO! I think this was it. I'll go down and support a team, and maybe even pirate a night lap. But no more mandatory 3am, 35° temperature laps.

In spite of my whining, I admit the race went well. Our official position was 6th out of 34 teams with a time of 16 laps at 1:42:45 PM. Naturally, the 1st place team was in a league of their own. Ahem... Sandbaggers.

Still we did well. The weather held. It dropped into the 30s and the wind was pretty stiff but no rain. No one was injured. Nothing broke (except me). Everyone handled the challenge well and rode their figurative guts out (actually I rode my literal guts out). Especially our 4th rider, Payton. He's an animal. ANIMAL!

I managed two pretty solid laps before getting sick. After my night lap I started eating to refuel and got pretty nauseous. I slept for a while and woke up feeling fine about two hours before my lap. Unfortunately, I wasn't any better after all and even water was making me want to puke. After a 5 minute dry-heave session, I threw in the towel and Payton suited up.

My biggest fear was not having enough food and water left in my system and suffering dehydration and the hunger bonk the entire lap. I don't know what happened. But I looked pretty good in this picture at least.

My day lap was very windy but went pretty well. My night lap was awesome, I was really pleased with my performance. I bobbled a few times, but I hit some gnarly lines and rolled up and down some obstacles I wouldn't have tried in the daylight. Just a really great experience.

The Light & Motion lights worked well.

The Titus was dialed once again.

I didn't feel awesome physically, just a little sluggish, but probably needed a little more intensity in the training, and could have dropped 5 pounds. Guess I'll have to stop lifting weights. Whatever, stop drinking beer might help.

I wish I had a few more pictures to post but the LCD went out on the camera. Now I need a new camera for the next adventure, DISNEYLAND. Time to give back to Wifey and Smarty Pants for some of the training time I've been using.

Cyclocross is this Saturday, also. Better find a babysitter. I swear I am going to train for this one year...

Getting Closer

In a week I'll be residing on the dusty expanse of desert near Moab for 24 hours of exhaustion.

I. Can't. Wait.

The weather looks like it is going to work out at least pretty well, at least according to the 10-day forecast. 80s for the highs and 45 for the lows. Zero chance of precip. I hope it holds because those conditions are perfect for me.

I am hoping to sneak in one more night ride next week to test out my new lights. But I had to take in the Titus because it felt like I was grinding coffee when I pedaled. No, it isn't my hulking quads flexing anything. Probably something worn out that is expensive.

On the fitness front, I wish I knew how I am going to feel. I feel pretty good, but some fatigue has been creeping in. I've been pushing it a little for a while now, and maybe I need to make sure I take it easy this week. This training and racing crap used to be so much easier when I could just stick to a schedule.

I do know that I am starting to feel a little mentally cooked, or I just have ADD. I am having some trouble motivating myself to get on the bike, or run, or swim. Just a lack of focus, no goals. Just Moab and cyclocross, which is why I have maintained the bike fitness and let the rest slip. I'm ready to get out and do some bird hunting, or kayaking as I call it.

Smarty Pants is thoroughly enjoying her dance classes. Which means that her journey to the pink side is almost complete. I am afraid there isn't much I can do to keep her from becoming a princess. I had hope though, I brought home a new shotgun the other day and she thought it was cool. I was so proud when she said she wanted "her own little shotgun, a pink one."

A little pink shotgun. Makes a Dad proud right there. Realize this: I know people that can make it happen.

I think she needs another year before going with Dad on the marsh though. And there will be a little pink shotgun when we go. (No it won't be real. If you thought I'd give a four-year old a real shotgun may your brain melt into an ooze and flow out of your ears.)