June 5th, 2006

Noah's 1st Birthday. We had a little get together on June 4th with Aunt Shellly, Uncle J., Aunt Sue, Uncle Brent, Cooper, Courtney, Nana, Papa, Grandma Esther, and June Wyrick. It was fun. Noah got to open presents and eat cake too. He had a great time, so much fun that he decided to walk. He was so proud of himself that he decided to clap and do it again. Such a little cutie. We wish you all could have been there. So he is now offically 1yo. Can't even believe it.
Cooper and Courtney helped keep Noah on task with the opening. He kept getting distracted by the ribbons. I think we all had fun. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful presents. I will post more photos later.
Shann

This past weekend was the 24 hours Round the Clock race in Spokane, Wa. Not knowing what I was getting myself into I signed up to do it solo. I raced the course Wednesday night on my Kula Lisa and realized this was not a course for hard tail. I hadn't recieved my Queen Supreme yet so I called up my bike shop and asked what they could do for me. Well to get to the point, Scott from Kona was coming over to race on a two man team and brought me a bike and somehow managed to get mine to Spokane by friday morning. I had 2 full suspensions to race on, Scott and Kona saved my rear!!!!
I started off really well with some great lap times, keeping my heart rate in a good zone, taking plenty of fluids, and trying to eat as much as possible. Eating is the hard thing for me I tend to get really sick and food doesn't like to stay down. So of course I wasn't getting enough. My husband and Dad calculated that I needed 600 calories for each lap. I was maybe gettin 300-400. So around 7 laps or 8pm I was getting nauseas and my stomach was trying to cramp. I came into the tent had some chicken noodle soup, some fruit, and some Enlive. Enlive is kind of like a juice form of Ensure with 300 calories. It was amazing, half way through the next lap I was feeling so much better which was a good thing because I was heading into night. This is were the mental battle started for me. Not only was I tired but it was dark and raining. My lap times stayed pretty good it was the breaks that were killing me. I couldn't eat while I rode because I would gag whenever I tried, so I had to stop at the camp and down whatever I could. The hardest was getting back on the bike in the cold and rain. This is where Rebecca Rusch made her move and put some time on me. Rebecca is this amazing superstar adventure racer and my toughest competition.
My second lap in the dark I headed into the mud pit and came out with something clicking on my bike, I asked the guy behind me if he could shine is light on my wheel. I had a thorne in my tire that had a branch attached to it. Not thinking and being half out of it I pulled the branch out and of course air came with it. I put my finger over the hole to block it and started to freak a little. I really didn't want to change a tire in the middle of the night and in a mud pit. I think I actually started praying and the stragned thing happened, when I took my finger off of the hole the air wasn't leaking anymore. I thought to myself... ok my husband must have put Stanz in. I rode about 1/2 a mile and there was my husband so I asked him, he said no he didn't put Stanz in. I rode 6 miles on this tire, air leaked slowly, but I made it back to camp. I still don't know what happened or how I didn't flat out on the course.
About 1am my knees started to really hurt, my rear end was taking a beating, and I was starting to have nerve pain shoot up my hands. I knew I had to be mentally tough, so I just started telling myself morning was coming. My husband was awsome and would go to sections of the course to see how I was doing and how I looked forward to seeing him. My dad was great he would rub my legs and knees while I ate Chicken noodle soup and coffee. Yes coffee it was keeping my blood pressure up because I was getting a little dizzy at times, oh ya and it was warm!!!!! My support crew was something else. Morning came and I was hurting but excited for the light. I had accomplished goal number 1 riding through the night. The only bad part was that my breaks were longer than my competition and she had put a bit of time on me.
Morning came I was gaging down the Enlive with each lap and trying to put some solids in. I was feeling better. Riding hard though the night was really starting to wear on Rebecca so my husband was pushing me to go for it. I put on the MP3 and got a grove on for awhile and was starting to make up some time. At 9 am Rebecca had gone through the start/finish about 10 minutes in front of me, my husband told me he would think I was awsome if I could go and pass her. So what do you know I went out for a hard lap, 12 minutes faster than any lap I had done in the last 8 hours. I blew by her at the top of a hill. I was so excited, but she still had 2 laps on me which unless she stopped it was impossible for me to make it up. On the other hand I had now accomplished goal number 2 finishing 15 laps. I still had 1 1/2 hours to go so I went out on another lap and boy was I ready to see 12 noon. It was a lap but I finished with 16 laps and in 2nd place. So my first 24 hours was awsome and painful. I could barely walk Sunday night and I couldn't bend my knees at all. I think the hardest part of the weekend was Monday morning at 3am when Noah (my baby) woke up and then again at 7am. Reality hit that eventhough I was tired and sore I had to get up, be a mom and then go to work in the afternoon. So I did it 24 hours solo....240miles. Oh yah, here is a picture of my mechanic working on my shifting...He He He.

Teething

Noah is now 11 1/2 months old. I can't believe he is almost 1 year old. He is so much fun. This week has been a little rough he has been teething. He now has 4 teeth. It is kind of funny because Grandpa Holden had told us most kids have 6 teeth by 1 year. I think Noah decided he wanted to make Grandpa happy and is working really hard to have 6 by 1 year. He He He. That means in a matter of 3 weeks....4 teeth. He really has been teething like crazy and has been just a little edgy. Besides that he is great. He found out how to climb onto a chair and then onto the table, I shouldn't be proud of this because now I really have to keep an eye on my little monkey.
I may be making a nickname change also for him. For the longest time we call him Noodle, partially because he is tall and skinny, I am starting to think monkey is better.

Kris and I have a crazy few days coming up. I am competing in the 24 Hours Round the Clock. It is a 24 hours mountain bike race, then on Monday we move. Yippie. Our house is done and it is beautiful. We are both very excited for the move, 5 blocks away. He He He. Till next time.....

Kris at XTERRA Tamecula

So this past weekend Kris flew down to California to participate in the XTERRA West Championships. This was his first XTERRA in the US, he did one last year in Canada. For some strange reason he had a wild hair to sign up as pro. I guess if you are pro Mountain bike you can race pro at the XTERRA's. I thought he was crazy, but there is only cash for the pro field. I will let him tell you about his race........


Well the race::: I got the LA and drove to the site. When I got there it was 90+ degrees and hot and dry. I got all my pre race stuff and rode the course. It was a whole lot of single track that the next day during the race I would pass 154 age group racers after I gulped and sputtered through the windy swim with some minor breaking waves. So the first day there was hot and I slept amazing considering the LA freeway was 40 feet from my window at the hotel that was on the beach. Well the otherside of the hotel was on the beach at least.
Race Day: I got there early and talked with the race crew and suddenly was signed up for PRO. Mind you I have done one Xterra, two offroad sprint Tris and one road tri. I was slightly over ambitious. The evil of money paid twelve deep was my motivator. In four hours I would find out that 20th really does not payout any cash for the pro field.
The race started with me swimming. This is odd for me since I had not been in real water before this year. And no, the 40 degree, 30 foot swim trying out the new Xterra wet suit in Sacheen Lake does not count. I hit the water hard and then started climbing and clawing onto the pro women at the back of the field. I got out to the right side and had not more thrashing feet at my head. When I sighted for the bouy I noticed it was no longer in front of me and was replaced by reeds. The bouy was due left 30 degrees and the pack was 100 feet to my side. Yes I realized I can't swim and think at the same time. I decided I should stop holding my breath now and actually learn how to breath in open water, at least when my head is above water. Needless to say I did beat one pro male swimmer and he later was cheering me on from the sidelines wondering what crazy fool would still try to finish when 180 other age group swimmers including the whole mens and womens pro field were ahead.
The bike. Lets sum it up with this. I get on bike after two minutes of trying to put on wet socks and finding out my helmet goes on with the straps under my chin not behind my ears. Yes it was backwards. (Note to self: learn how to swim). Once on the bike, while climbing the first hill I noticed it was all age groupers around me. I decided to give them a break and run up the first hill passing most of them the honorable way. Well after numerous people shuddering at the pounding I relentlessly drove into the mountain bike hills I came out to finish the bike and start the run in 26th place. Not bad 154 people in 20 miles of single track. That equates to 7.5 people per mile.
The run: Well for most of it I just stood there and let the scenery and most the people pass by me. I cheered them on and got them gatorade and GU. I then noticed I was still running and not on the side of the course. The heat stroke had hit home. I ran and sputtered up two 1000foot hills and once on top decided it was faster to roll in a ball down than run. When I ran to the finish they gracefully told me I was not quite done and needed to continue running for 1.8 more miles. after 56 minutes of running I had lost 40 places overall and finished in around 66th.
It was all fun. Especially the horses on the single track leg of the run. Yes I will be back in the Tri saddle in a month in Oregon. My next offroad Tri.

Noah at 11months playing in the back yard.

Ok so it has been some time since I wrote so here we go again. I will start with Noah, he is 11months now. I can't even believe it, he is the joy of Kris and I's life. We both love spending time with him and watching him grow. He is crawling all over the place and like Mom and Dad climbing everything. He is such a happy baby. Life is good.

As far as racing goes I was down in California at the NORBA #1 in Fontana this past weekend.
Never in my life did I think I would race a bike for 5 1/2 hours. I didn't exactly start the morning out how I would have liked to, preparing for a marathon is a little different than a cross country race, more nutrition and water... in the fluster of it all I forgot a jersey and had the joy of riding in my new Hincape Windtex vest. You could say it works very well, I felt like I was was wrappped in seran wrap. Needless to say prepare the night before. Not knowing what pace to set or how much water and nutrition to take I was hesitant to test my abilities in the first half. I think the hardest thing about marathoning is keeping your head in it. There aren't many competitors so you are out by yourself for awhile. The 2nd and 3rd lap I hooked on with a couple of guys, it was nice to have some company but I noticed their pace was slowing so I needed to get a move on. I never saw them again. Somewhere after 3 hours your body starts to really get tired and your mind starts to drift. I remember at one point imagining my husband in front of me, hollering at me to ride his wheel we were going to have fun and get going. No I wasn't hallucinting just trying to buy some time. On my 6th lap my legs were really starting to cry, they were tired.... I just kept thinking to hold my pace up the hills and I would make it. So I just did that and moved into my last lap. Lets just say the finish line couldn't have come fast enough. I was wasted. Mind you this was my first ever race over 3 1/2 hours and onlymy 2nd ride over 5 hours. I remember looking down at my Cat eye Computer and thinking it was broken, I never did see my heart rate drop below 168 bpm, a scary thought. So I learned a lot about marathoning and am looking to do much better next time in my JERSEY......
That night I was exhausted. I had called my husband to tell him about my 6th place finish and he asked if I was doing the XC the next day. I really didn't think I would be getting out of bed on Saturday so of course I told him probably not. I fought with myself about this doing the XC all night and into the next morning. Having only done a few pro races it is a little scary to enter a pro XC race having raced 5 1/2 hours the day before. Saturday morning came way before it should have and I headed out to the site early thinking I maybe I would do the Super D. With a little push from Jed, a shove from Alex, and coaching from my husband I was suiting up, in my jersey this time, for the Pro XC. I had great race. Mentally I was having a great race, riding wheels when I needed to, passing when I could, and downhilling with whatever strength I had left. I was getting frustrated climbing behind some women on the second hill, so I tore into the shrubery and pass about line of 8 women. It was reassuring to me that I still had legs left enough to pass these women. This race was much more entertaining than the day before, there were many women to work with, chase after, and try to drop. I rode about a lap with Kim and it was awsome to have someone to work with. The second lap came, I found myself passing a few more women on the hill climb, unfortunately for me I think they passed me back after I crashed a couple of times. With only one lap to go I was so excited, this seemed short after the marathon. Once again I attacked all that I could on the hills and tried to ride a clean downhill. I finished and wasn't last ...I was happy.

Kris was a good Dad and stayed home with Noah.

Well Kris is leaving next weekend for Temecula for the XTERRA West Championship race and the weekend after I am racing 24 hour solo. Till then.

Mexico/Sea Otter Trip

This past week has just been a crazy one. We started by going to Mexico for 4 days. We enjoyed 80 degree weather and lots of swimming. We spent the vacation with my family which added to the fun. On Wednesday we headed to Monterey for the Sea Otter Classic, which is a big MTB race in Cali. It was my first real Pro MTB race so I was not only very excited but very nervous. Kris also was racing in the Pro stage race. It was a little bit crazy having Noah down there and both of us racing but we managed. Kris's Aunt Karen from Menlo Park came down to help out and the girls at the Velobella tent were awsome. So the Super XC came first, what a crazy race. I did alright, the mud down there was something else. Kris didn't get a warm up because he was doing his Daddy duties, but all in all a good day. Next was the TT Kris had an awsome race only 4 minutes but he was middle of the pack, I wrecked and was towards the 2nd half in the results. Saturday brought us another mud bath in the short track. I had great start top 30, then was taken out in a crash at a corner and lost my groove and got pulled. Kris did awsome in his race he was 8th in his heat. Sunday was the long cross country I had a great race again, my shifters busted about 1/4 of the way through the 2nd lap. So I was a supper spinner and lost some time but came in 35th. Kris had a rough start and just barley got to the start line he finished. After the XC was over we were homeward bound.