The Fun Continues. . .

K recently went to San Diego to see her stylist. . .

and former Tacoma Friend's D and M who are expecting #2 in a few weeks.

We spent some time on the beach with their son - C is his favorite:


We got to see Allan's band (The Crust). Sorry you can't see the whole band but Allan's the star anyway!


AND, you can't tell from these pictures but C and I ran over the Coronado Bridge. It's 4 miles total - up and then down. Beautiful views from the top. Over 8,000 people did the run. We made it in our goal time - just under 40 minutes.

Before:

Just before the finish:

And after:


We know the first one's little dark, but it's cute!



The roomies: thanks for letting me stay for the weekend!


While K was gone, A raced in Wenatchee.

In Wenatchee, it isn't a race unless it is brutally hard. The Time Trial on Saturday morning was 9 miles, 4.5 miles of which had a strong tailwind. I was reading speeds in the mid-30s. Then we turned around 180 degrees, and the tailwind became--you guessed it! A nasty headwind. Somehow, I managed to get 4th place in the Cat 3 time trial. This was unexpected, and put lots of pressure on me to perform in the Criterium race on Saturday night.

Warming up before the TT.

My teammates relaxing before the evenings crits.


Under the pressure, I collapsed like a deck of cards, foolishly launching an attack with two laps to go and basically leading everyone up to the finish line, where they all passed me with ease. Oh well. I tried. The mid-90 degree heat didn't help things, either. However, I am getting smarter. You won't see me make mistakes like this in the future. Or at least I hope you won't.

Saturday morning and night were nothing compared to the incredibly difficult race on Sunday. On paper it looked easier than my previous races. 60 miles was almost 20 miles less than the race I had done two weeks before. But neither of those races went straight up mountains. Twice. The race started off very calmly. It was as if everyone was afraid to go fast, because of the hill. Almost 70 riders started on Sunday. At the top of the hill the first time I looked around and there were little groups of two or three riders all over the place. On the way down (at 49.6 mph!) we got back together, and as we began to ascend the hill for the second time there were 18 of us. Whoa, I'm in the top 20 if I just stay with these guys. And if I can beat some of them...

PSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH. That's what I get for thinking about the finish before the hill was over. My rear tire went flat, and although the wheel car helped with a really quick change, I couldn't get back into the race. I ended up finishing 18th. Despite the flat tire, the heat, and the brutal steepness of the hill, it was a really great race. I'll be back next year!


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For Memorial Day weekend, we headed to Eastern Washington (Prosser to be more specific) for the Dash Race. Make the Dash Count is a foundation that empowers students to give back to their communities and was started by a woman K worked with at the Tacoma Symphony.

It was a great event with a great group of people. We used it as an excuse to camp for the weekend, too.

A, C and M did the 50 mile bike race (A-first, M-second and C-third in a sprint finish).
D and K did the 5k run (first and second place in their age groups!)

The whole group:

We spent the rest of the weekend exploring wine country:

Good fun was had by all. We'll see you next time!