once again...

once again... my wife has blown me away, impressed me, motivated me, made me proud, and reminded me how lucky i am to have married such an incredible person. she's awesome.

we left wendesday afternoon for st. george, utah and it was a pretty uneventful, quick trip with the exception of the gnarly 50+ mph winds that hit us in vegas and were still howling when we got to the hotel.

thursday we were up and hit the roads for a quick 30 min run and checked out the area and then we jumped on our bikes to ride the run course.  the wind was already picking up and i was working hard and wasn't having too much fun.  i hate wind.  the run course was gnarly... hard.  after riding the course beth headed back to the hotel and i tacked on some more miles in the wind.  after the ride we hit the expo so beth could get all checked in and ready to go.

later on in the afternoon i headed out to the bear claw poppy trail.  so much fun.  i want to go back to st. george just to ride this trail.

friday i was up on the road early and headed for gooseberry mesa.  the trail was killer but it was a bit gnarly.  i was in the middle of nowhere, all by myself, and not really sure where i was going... and there was some pretty technical (and mega fun) stuff but i kept it pretty conservative.  if i would have run into any problems i have no idea what i would have done.  after the ride i headed home and pretty stoked to have gotten out there. 

then it was of to Denny's.... yep... Denny's.... beth's request.  they actually have some healthy food... especially if you want breakfast for dinner.

RACE DAY!

we were up at 330am... well beth was.  she was getting around and i had my head under the covers.  lucky for me katya was coming to pick her up so i got some extra sleep. at 630 i jumped on my bike and headed down to the reservoir.  the weather was perfect.. sunny, getting warm, and practically no wind.  it got down to the final turn to head down to the reservoir and the cops stopped me.  they wouldn't let me down there so i turned around and rode the bike course back into town.  the course was tough for sure and i rode up to the bike "hot corner" and waited for everyone to pass.

i started seeing all the pros go by and then a bunch amateurs... and then my phone rang.  it was beth calling from some random spectators cell phone.  she shredded her rear tire and was waiting for the support vehicle on the side of the road at mile 12.  she races on clinchers and the tire was beyond repair.  she tried "butting" the tire and putting in a tube only go glat again and then spin on the rim for another 8 miles. at mile 20 she stopped again and waited for support... and they showed up, got her a new tire, and she was back rolling... i thought she may have been super bummed (i know i was) but as she rolled by me she was in good spirits and asked me if she was winning.

after she went by i rolled back to the hotel and then headed down to the run course/finish.  i saw all the pros come in and then all the faster amateurs including my homey slater.  he was killing it.  beth rolled in quite a bit later and was still positive and saying hi.  i even got a kiss as she headed out for her first lap on the run. 

she killed the first lap and went back for more.  while she was on lap two people started rolling through the finish.  it was rad.  i have never been at a race with that much excitement at the finish line.

then beth came hauling ass to the finish line... running a 3:23 on a hard, hilly course.  i was blown away.  she nailed it even though she knew she was out of the "race".  so proud of her for not giving up and just giving it everything she had.  without the flat/tire catostrophe i am sure she would have been near the top ten women in the race.

me and the champ

 overall it was a rad trip and i had a lot of fun watching the race.  a bunch of friends had really great races too.  slater, monique, luke, denner, and keevin just to name a few.  super stoked for slater too.. he finished 3rd in his AG and snagged a Kona slot!

that's it for now.  it's been a super busy 3 weeks and I have The Traverse coming up on saturday.  should be another fun one!