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!

Did she say truck or trail?

I created a list of 26 things I wanted to do while I was 26. One of those things is hike Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC). I have lived in Utah since I was 4 and I have never hiked the most classic, most hiked trail in Utah. So on Tuesday evening Talena and I grabbed slurpees and headed up BCC. When we arrived at the trail head there was a group of YW eating donuts. Aren't their YW leaders cleaver?! Donuts - donut falls - get it. Actually I didn't realize the connection until we were 5 minutes up the trail. I am slow sometimes (actually most the time).

Talena my hiking buddy

As we were hiking we passed a father and his kids. One of the daughters said "there are 2 moose on the truck." We questioned if she had said truck or trail, but determined we had both heard truck so kept walking.

50 feet up the trail we encountered the 2 moose of which the young child had spoke of, but there was no truck. Trail. Yes the 2 moose were 5 feet off the trail munching on some greens. This is my 3rd time running into moose up BCC while hiking. I might be cursed. Actually this is the 3rd time that I was with Talena when I have had said moose encounters, maybe it is her not me. Needless to say we almost turned back, but I was determined to finish the hike so I could cross it off my list and she said we were very close so we continued on. We followed some other stupid hikers pass the moose and up to the falls.

Said Moose

The falls were cool. We hiked above the falls to witness the "donut" of donut falls. And now I can say I have hiked Donut Falls. Next time donuts while hiking (inspired by my YW friends).

Sometimes I like to think I am a photographer...

...Evidence that I am not (pic of donut falls)

Oh and yes we did pass the moose on the hike down. Passing them the second time was a little more scary because there were no other hikers around. But we survived to blog about it.

Ra Ra Riot, Andrew Bird & Death Cab for Cutie Oh My!

Death Cab for Cutie

Monday pretty much rocked. A group of 7 friends and I went to the bestest concert ever! In March Death Cab for Cutie announced they would be performing at Red Butte Gardens. I'm a huge Death Cab fan. They were touring with Andrew Bird and Ra Ra Riot in which I am also fans. To order tickets early you could either get a Red Butt Membership or join the Death Cab Fan Club. I joined the DCFC for the free t-shirt (I'm a sucker for a free t-shirt). I ordered 8 tickets and as expected the show sold out fast. It was easy to find people for the tickets. Even when we had 3 extra tickets we were able to find replacements no problem.

Red Butte is a beautiful grassy amphitheater set up on the mountains by the U of U. It . The Rocky mountains in the background makes it an unforgettable concert venue. Red Butte is a "nice" venue so show usually get a nicer clientele. There are a lot of people that are Reb Butte members who don't even know the bands, but they go for the show anyway. They allow pretty much anything at the shows: chairs (low back), blankets, and full picnics including alcohol. You would be amazed at all the wine bottles in the recycling bins after the show. We had planned out a "finer things" menu that included Martinellis, chicken salad, cheese and crackers and chocolate. Ashley made the most delicious chicken salad.

Talena and Jeff S went early to get in line. They got in line about 4pm (almost 3 hours before the start of the show) and there was already a line. When I got there I was walking up the line to where Talena was sitting and I saw our landlord. I was nervous to say hi because this last week I had to write him an email to tell him the yard was a jungle. When he came over to clean up I wasn't sure if he is was annoyed or upset or what. Basically I was afraid he didn't like us. But I said hi because I thought it would be rude if I didn't. It took him a second to recognize me, but once he did he asked if we wanted to jump in line with him. He was only 10 feet from the gate. He told us that he and his friends had been doing rotations saving their spot in line starting at 9am. Thanks to my landlord and his overeager friends we got one of the best spots in the amphitheater.

Aren't we cute

The concert was amazing. All three bands were great. We ate dinner and listened to the Ra Ra Riot set and then went up in front by the stage for Andrew Bird and Death Cab. We were right behind the fence in front of the stage so we had a perfect view of all the jammin' out.

Here are some pics from the evening. I took 231 photos. I know I'm a little crazy, but you just never know which one is going to turn out. Don't worry I didn't post them all.

Ra Ra Riot

Andrew Bird

We likey

This guy was awesome...love the Purple tank

This game is called can you find Jannifer

Red head sandwich

Death Cab rocking out

Lead singer Ben

Week O' Fun

This last week was a lot of fun. But of course every time I took my camera somewhere I would forget to take pictures and when I thought about taking pictures I didn't have my camera. Oh well, you are just going to have to enjoy what you get.

Wednesday night the Capitol has been showing movies on the lawn. This week was Shrek the 3rd. Talena, Matt and I walked over early to listen to the band and slackline. I apologize to Matt because we sort of use him for his brute strength. Slacklining is a super fun game. You tie a long piece of webbing (not the Spiderman kind) between 2 trees and you try to walk on it. It is like tight rope walking except that the line as slack. To make a really good line you need to pull the line really tight which is where Matt's huge muscles come into play. Without him the line would be very loose and extremely tough to walk. Talena was great. It was her first time and she caught on very quickly. I was able to make it the entire length across and got the turn but fell before I could return to the start. Next time all the way!

Picture from Wikipedia of Slacklining (get the idea?!)

Unfortunately, everyone else came late so they didn't get to enjoy the awesomeness that is slackline, but maybe next time. The movie was funny. The company was great and we all joked through the entire movie. Usually I am not a movie talker, but I am slowly adjusting to it. This time it was acceptable because we were watching it outside and it was a movie we had seen before. But be careful, do it is a theater on a movie premier and I will probably give you the stink eye.

Thursday we went to an awesome concert at the Gallivan center. What made it so awesome you ask. Two things; 1 it was outside and 2 it was free. I had never heard of the two bands, Jenny Lewis and Bon Iver, but friends told me they were good. The music was good. I really enjoyed Bon Iver. What made the evening not so great was this crazy lady standing behind us. She insisted on yelling profanities to everyone that stood in front of her or even walked by. At this type of concert (in my opinion more than others) people are coming and going a lot, so we had to listen to her yell all night. Talena and I even got it for a little bit. I have been to several concerts and there are always a few people that just don't get it. This crazy lady would be one of them. Overall, it was a more entertaining then anything and it probably made her evening worse then ours.

Lastly, Saturday I took a bike maintenance class from REI. My friend Mike and I signed up for it a month ago. I have waited a year to take this class. REI only teaches the class once a month during the summer months and each class only has 6 students. Last year the classes filled up so fast. This year we were able to get into the July class. It was awesome. I learned how to do a lot including truing a wheel, adjusting a derailleur and brakes. It also made me feel more comfortable about making adjustments and changes to my bike which can sometimes be scary.

Check out our aprons. Probably the coolest part about the class.

One of our instructors, Brad, watching to make sure we don't ruin our bikes

Saturday night a bunch of us headed to dinner and a dollar movie. We went to Bajio. I usually wouldn't mention restaurant selections, but there was something memorable about this trip to Bajio. We had a first-timer with us. Mr Danny Wood had never been to Bajio. More specifically he had never heard of Bajio. I know, it is shocking. Don't panic we have broken him in and now he is a big fan.

A party at Bajio

After the momentous dinner we saw Wolverine at the dollar theater in Sugarhouse. I have seen it once before so I sat by Talena. As I mentioned earlier I am not much of a movie talker, but I am getting better. Talena on the other hand is a movie talk fanatic. I think overall I handled it pretty well, but I still had a few tough moments. I couldn't get over how normal the talking was. I mean I was thinking we would talk, but just in a whisper not in at a normal decibel level. I guess I have some more work before I will be able to match Talena's movie talking abilities. For now I think I should sit one seat away...just to be safe.

Overall, I would say that is was a pretty successful week. Up next, Death Cab for Cutie, Andrew Bird & Ra Ra Riot! Boo Yeah!

Bikes & Butt Bruises

I have the biggest bruise ever. I bruise easily so I kind of get used to them, but nothing compares to the massive blue, purple mess that is on my rear end.

Last Saturday, I rode in the Harmon's MS bike tour. The MS ride is a fundraiser for Multiple sclerosis. It is a 2 day ride with different lengths for your riding comfort. Saturday you can choose from 40, 75 or 100 miles. Sunday only the 40 and 75 mile rides are offered. This was my 4th year riding and as you may have read in my post "Little Red Riding Hood & The Big Bad" there has been tears in previous years. Last year I rode in my first century ride (100 miles) at the ULCER. So this year my goal was to ride at least 2 centuries; the MS and ULCER.

The week before the ride, I did a 60 mile ride with my friend Jeff. I was testing out a new saddle and I'm not sure if it was the nasty wind and rain or the new saddle (without a bike fit), but my knee was killing me. I basically limped back to our cars. I was hoping to ride 100 at the MS, but I just didn't know.

I drove up to Logan Friday night to camp at the fairground (race start) with the Orbit team. Everyone was asking how far I was going. I would just say I would decide on the ride depending on how my knee was feeling.

FYI the volunteers at the MS ride are great. Orbit sponsors a rest stop which won best rest stop in 2008. Also there are the MS volunteers of which my cute friend Ashley is one. She has been volunteering as long as I have been riding in the MS. Funny I didn't know her until this year.

Ashley (#1 volunteer) and me night before the race.

Anyway, the ride was great. It wasn't until I was 30 miles into the ride that I made the mental decision to go for 100. I rode the entire ride, 100 miles, with my old boss Ben. He is a funny guy and it was fun to have a buddy to ride with.

So back to the butt bruise. About 60 miles into the ride my legs were super tired. My butt was going numb and I still had 12 miles before lunch. We stopped at a rest stop so I could grab some jell. I unclipped my left pedal as usual, but instead of putting my foot down, I leaned to the right and put all my weight on my right (still clipped in) foot. As you can guess I had an "oh no" moment and fell over. I took the entire weight of the fall on my butt. Luckily (or unluckily) this is my 3rd time falling with clipless pedals so I am getting used to looking like an idiot. I got gravel in my hand and a few bruises on my knees. At this point I didn't realize that I had fallen that hard on my butt. Ben went to get a band aid and the EMT came over with my band aid. He wrapped my hand and my knee and then we were off.

Ben and I at the finish after 100 miles

I did it! 100 miles! Minus the pedal problem the ride was great. There were no tears. (I'm now 50% for tears on the MS ride.) I keep hydrated and ate enough food to keep me going. It wasn't until I got home Saturday night and was about to hop in the shower when I noticed a big black spot on my butt. My butt had been tender, but I just thought it was from the saddle. I didn't think that I had a bruise the size of my fist on my rear end. There will be no picture of the bruise, but don't think I haven't thought about taking one (for posterity).