Tour of Utah

Yeah for doping control

I like to bike. Ok I'm a little obsessed. This last week was the Tour of Utah. Although the race is small and doesn't even compare to the Tour de France, it is still fun to see professionals riding around the same streets I ride every day. The race was 6 days long. It started up by the capitol and had days in Ogden, Provo, Mt Nebo area and even finished one day at Snowbird.

Friday night there was a time trial out at the Miller Sportspark. Some friends and I went out to watch. It was so fun. We could walk around down by the cyclists. I was just a few feet away from Floyd Landis (I giggle every time I say his name) from Team Ouch and Dave Zabriskie from Garmin Slipstream. It was so cool. We got to sit right next to the track watching the riders coming out of the starting house and just a few feet away we could watch riders crossing the finish line.

Ok so here is a biking lesson. A time trial is a race against the clock. There are team time trials were you ride with your team to the finish, but this was an individual ride. Riders started about 30 seconds apart. This length depends on how long the race is. This time trail was only 9 miles so it was pretty fast. There is no drafting in time trials, everyone has to ride their own pace. I think it really tells you who is the fastest rider. The regular stage races tell you more about a riders strategy.

On Sunday I went down town to watch the last stage. This was fun because they rode around only 2 blocks so they passed every minute. They took the corners so fast and every time they passed I nice gust of wind. It was a lot of fun to watch. I'm getting excited just writing about it. So if you ever want to chat about biking you know I will totally geek out on it.

Time Trail

Floyd Landis warming up.

Talk about some serious tan lines

Starting House

Coming into the finish line

Stage 5 - Last Day

Tight corner

Rock Racing leading the peloton

Yellow Jersey of Mancebo

My List

My sister-in-law suggested that I post my list of 26 things. I toyed with the idea for awhile because some of the things on my list are probably not going to happen and others are very personal. But seeing as very few people actually read this I thought what the heck.
I have probably always been a goal setter. I am sort of obsessive about it. Although this is probably the first time I have ever publicized my goals, I used to post a few goals each semester on my bathroom mirror. Usually I'm not too bad accomplishing them either.
So how it happened... A friend of mine decided to make a list of 30 things she wanted to do before she was 30. I thought it would be fun to make a list of goals to do this year (26 for 26). So without further delay here is my list.


26 for 26
1. Visit New Zealand and Australia (I leave in less than 2 weeks...YEAH!)
2. Learn to play the guitar (I already had my first performance of sorts at my roommates jam night. I played a few chords as Danny jammed some serious guitar magic. I'm still working on this.)
3. Learn to skateboard (Really I want to long board anyone want to help?)
4. Get a new job (I started working for LACO in May. This was the first thing checked off my list.)
5. Read all the conference talks - April & October 2009
6. Visit all the National Parks in Utah (Sadly this probably won't happen, not enough weekends.)
7. Bike 2 Century Rides (Finished! MS & ULCER)
8. Climb Mt Olympus, Mt Nebo & Lone Peak (Mt Olympus check...still hopes for others)
9. Hike Donut Falls (Check...add to list moose encounter... double check)
10. Learn Adobe In Design & Illustrator
11. Type Grandma Berger’s life story (I have started and can I say my Grandma is amazing!)
12. Read the Book of Mormon (This is what I call a maintenance goal.)
13. Hold a current temple recommend (Check)
14. Have a meaningful relationship
15. Conquer sleep (Seriously difficult, I can't get out of bed in the mornings. Life long goal!)
16. Read Jesus the Christ
17. Be able to do 5 pull ups without jumping (Don't laugh)
18. Be able to do 10 man push ups (Man push ups are defined as on toes, not knees)
19. Compete in 2 triathlons (This started out as 1, but it was so much fun I changed it to 2)
20. Learn 10 new Hymns
21. Visit Gilgal Gardens - http://www.gilgalgarden.org/
22. Go on 3 backpacking trips (Also sadly may not happen)
23. Mountain bike slick rock
24. Cross slackline, turn and return without falling (I'm half way there)
25. Give out 3 Book of Mormons
26. Read Preach My Gospel

So there is my list. As you can tell there are probably too many things to accomplish, but at least I have started check things off.

I don't hate myself...promise

I know it sounds a little weird to state, "I don't hate myself," but over a course of several hard bike races I think people are starting to think I do. Really I like me!
Last Saturday I rode in the 25th Anniversary ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride). The race is 111 miles long and runs from Thanksgiving Point through Provo, down to Goshen (I didn't know about this town either) and around the west side of Utah Lake all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. I rode last year and was happy to say it was my first ever Century ride (century = 100, just if you were wondering). This year my goal was to complete 2 century rides. First was the MS bike tour and second the ULCER.
So Saturday I joined 1500 other riders at the ULCER. It was a great day of biking. I rode the first 40 miles or so with a group of friends and we set a nice pace. The weather was both good and bad. It was a nice 70 degrees most of the day and cloud cover kept us cool. But soon after lunch we started getting into some heavy wind and by the 70 mile mark we had head wind all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. Head wind is probably a bikers worse enemy. Next cars (particularly over sized trucks driven by stupid men who are out to kill bikers) and then gravel (skinny tires and rocks bad combo). Head wind can really impact your speed as it did for us on Saturday. My pace dropped drastically and I tired quickly fighting against the wind. BUT...I did it. Thanks to my friend JD who rode that last 40 miles with me, even though he was a much stronger rider and could have dropped me at anytime, we crossed the finish line.
Sorry there are no pictures this time. I didn't drag my mom out of bed at 5:30AM to follow me around the entire day (which I may or may not have done last year). But my mom and brother Matt were awesome enough to drop in on me around the 80 mile mark to give me a cheer. And my sweet dad was there at the finish line. I also woke up to a note from my roommates giving me words of encouragement. It was great to have the support of my family and friends.
So as you can see from my track record, 60 miles (lrrh), 100 miles (ms) and now 111 miles (ulcer) and add in there 2 tris, it is easy to get the wrong impression. But I promise, I like me!