Masters National Championships

Mark and I went on a whirlwind trip to Bend, Oregon so he could compete in his first ever National Championship road race. He debated for days whether or not we should even go. He caught a virus and was not feeling very good. He would have good and bad days but was not quite up to par. The weather forecast also predicted rain the morning of the race - and with the race beginning at 8:00 am at the Mt. Bachelor Ski resort with a 15 mile descent... it sounded miserable. 

To complicate things the semester at BYU started this week. Mark had to teach an orientation Tuesday morning and then teach his first day of class Friday morning - 8:00am. Bend, Oregon is about 650 miles away. Monday he felt good and it looked like the weather might cooperate so we left Tuesday around 2:00 after orientation and a last minute lunch with Christian and Robbie (who was in town). We drove half way Tuesday and arrived in Bend on Wednesday. Mark was not feeling good on Wednesday but it looked like the weather would be good for his race, with the storm arriving Thursday afternoon. 

Thursday morning was clear and cool.

After almost freezing on the downhill at the beginning, Mark was able to get into a four man break.

(look for "Volo" on Mark's shoulder and the red on his shorts)

 They were able to hold off the pack (about 70 riders) for the rest of the race. 

 At one point Brendan Sullivan (who eventually won) broke away from the lead group and Mark went with him. As soon as there was some distance between them and the group, Brendan started attacking Mark, slowing way down and then surging ahead. Mark stayed with him for a few minutes of this and then just dropped back to the rest of the lead group exhausted. Two riders from the main pack bridged up to the lead group while Mark was ahead. 

 Mark was pleased to finish 5th overall.

It was fun to see Mark's brother, Dave, win the 55-59 National Championship!

Thirty minutes after the race was over we packed up and headed back to the hotel, 

showered and drove 11 hours home.

Next year the race is in Ogden.

YES!

all pictures taken from usa cycling

Capitol Reef Classic

 On July 14th Jenn, Mark and I headed south for the fourth annual Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race.

This is one of Mark's favorite races for a number of reasons.

 It's one of the few stage races he is able to finish because 

all the stages are on Friday and Saturday. 

It includes a great time trial course, a circuit race - NO CRIT

And an 80 mile road race with a tough climb up to Fish Lake

and then back to town.

This year Mark's teammate Cris Williams came. Mark rode in the Masters 35+ category and Cris rode in the Masters 45+ category... they like to spread the love (or pain as the case may be).                                                                            Two days before the race Mark got a stomach bug and wasn't sure if he would be able to race but after a call to Dr. Wood and some excellent advice Mark was feeling better and decided to race.

Every time we go we stay at the Sandstone Inn in a little town called Torrey. It's kind of an artsy town with one tiny grocery store, art shops, a cool book store, lots of little restaurants including the Diablo Cafe which is one of my all time favorite restaurants. The food there is fresh, different, so tasty and beautiful (and a bit pricey) but worth it (probably a good thing we don't live closer).

 Mark rode a little cautiously in the time trial because he was uncertain as to how he would feel and he had the circuit race in the afternoon. He ended up 4th overall, about 40 seconds behind the leader and 10 and 12 seconds behind second and third place (I think... ).

Every year we have done this race it has been very hot but this year it was about 15 degrees cooler which was a welcome change.

The circuit race begins in Teasdale, goes through Torrey and around some beautiful countryside and back to Teasdale for a second lap. It has some good hills to climb as well as some fun downhill. The group usually drops the weakest riders on the hills and the strongest riders finish together. Jenn and I drove wheel support for this race and Jenn took some great pictures.

Mark came in second a few seconds ahead of the rest of the group so there was not much change in the GC from  this race as was expected.








After the race Mark was encouraged at how good he felt. We went back to the hotel, ate at the hotel restaurant, watched a movie (John Adams - really good) read (Shannon Hale, Forest Born - second time - loved it again) and got ready for the next day.




Saturday morning was cool and beautiful. Every one was feeling good - except me, I got Mark's bug - ugh! Luckily I knew how to handle it. Jenn and I followed the race taking pictures and giving time splits. On the first climb Mark, old teammate Zan (currently 5th place) and Mark Schaffer (currently first) dropped everyone else on the climb up to Fish Lake. Jenn and I pretty much missed the first feed because we were giving splits but as we were trying to get there Mark said he didn't need the bottle - it wasn't as hot as usual... whew! We gave them a few more splits and then went up the the feed zone at Fish Lake. They were steadily increasing their lead.

When they came through they were over a minute ahead of one of Mark Schaffer's teammates (second place guy) who was trying to bridge. Mark Z and Zan worked while Mark S sat in.

 In the end the three finished 10 mintues ahead of the others who had regrouped and were now riding together. Mark Shaffer was first, Mark Z was second and Zan was third. Our Mark also won King of the Hill... a $25 gift certificate to Cafe Diablo!!!!!  I think we will go again next year!

(the race and Cafe Diablo)

Coming and Going

It seems this summer has been driven by the calendar but after this week my calendar will be open for a little bit.

Last week Mark, Jennifer and I went to Capitol Reef to support Mark as he rode in the Capitol Reef Classic. The weather was unusually cool... well, cooler than usual and it was a breath of fresh air. Mark rode well, we ate out, watched movies, read books in between races, and got a good amount of sleep. Mark did well, getting second overall and winning King of the Mountain.

Today I am getting ready for Girls camp. Moab. We are hoping for cool weather there too but doubt we will get lucky two weeks in a row. No movies or eating out... more like hiking, cooking, setting up tents, river rafting and then cleaning it all up... but I do look forward to a spiritual week as girls camp always ends up being. I love girls camp. Lots of work... great rewards!

Here is Christian's address in the MTC if you want to write to him.
The best way to do that is on http://www.dearelder.com. You have to set up an account but it's easy and free. They will print out the letter and give it to him that day. In the MTC he only gets 30 minutes on the computer which is just enough to write to the family so it's helpful to be able to read our letters beforehand... he also likes to be able to receive them spread out a little and be able to reread them also.

Here is the information you need:

Elder Christian Zimbelman
MTC Box 375
Arg-Neu Departure date Sept 5

He is also accepting care packages, pictures... etc. ;)

I'll post pictures of the bike race soon.

If only we drank beer...

This race season has been a little different than years past.

In one of the earlier races in the season Mark woke up the morning of a race with a sore throat.
But, true to form he decided to race anyway. This race was an out and back race (where you turn around half way and finish where you started). Mark was racing pretty well until the turn around. He was towards the front and hit a patch of gravel and went down. He was scraped up and bruised his hip but got up and continued on. When he went down some of the other riders took that opportunity to attack. Mark played catch up during much of the rest of the race and by the time it was over he felt terrible. Not only was he sore from his fall but his throat was burning and he felt achy and sick to his stomach. This was the beginning of what turned out to be a three week long sickness. I got it too - It was not fun.

Since then Mark has done some races and worked really hard to regain the fitness he lost when he was sick. He wondered if his whole season (and all the training he put in over the winter) was lost. Two weeks ago he rode in the pro 1/2 category in a race near Logan. It was long and hot and BRUTAL. He produced more watts for a longer period of time on the uphill portions than he had ever done before and even though he was totally beat he still finished the final lap - the only master rider to finish in the pro 1/2's. Feeling exhausted and sick to his stomach he still wondered if his season was shot.

Fast forward to July 10th and the Porcupine Hill Climb.
A race straight up Big Cottonwood Canyon.
14.7 miles, 3800 feet of vertical climbing.
And for the third straight year he won the Master's 45+ category
finishing more than a minute ahead of his nearest opponent.
The winner gets the jug as a trophy.
Now he has three (actually four - one for a second place win)
You can take these to the Porcupine bar and grill and fill them with beer for only $2.00!
At our house they sit on the cupboard or hold flowers.
Mark has his newest one at work full of marbles.
While the jug is a fun trophy
it's tangible proof to him that he's still got it.

(I never questioned that)

Tax Day

Challenge that is...

The only good thing about tax day (from my point of view) is its proximity to the annual Tax Day Challenge road race in Inkom Idaho. This is one of my favorite races (Mark likes it too). Inkom is a beautiful place and the course is kind of a circuit race where the racers ride through "town" to a circle that takes them up to a summit and then back down (not through town though) to do it all over five more times. Jenn and I drove wheel support
(in the Taurus - more power steering challenges in the Volvo).
Mark and two others broke away on the first time around and soon gained over two minutes on the field. No one flatted and Jenn and I had fun measuring and reporting the time between the lead group and the chase group. It was a beautiful day and a fun event. With half a lap - and the climb left to go - Mark suddenly shot past the other two riders.
They looked at each other as if waiting for the other one to chase him down... after realizing that neither was going to take off they worked together for a few minutes and then decided to bag it.
Mark won by about 40 seconds
If Mark and I need a place to retire maybe we could take over this business in Inkom...


When the race was over we drove home in record speed because there were some very special visitors waiting for us...

Just so you know

The remodel project is 95% done
but I didn't want to post pictures until it is all done.
Here is a sneak peak at the living rooom
Before:

After:

This corner is done.
But before I can finish putting everything back together I need to get the rest of the house reorganized from the remodel fall out.

Also, although I have not taken pictures or blogged about it Mark has had an incredible racing season so far including winning the Porcupine Hill Climb last week.
(That's a race up to Brighton from the bottom of one of the cottonwood canyons)
That's 3,500 vertical feet in 10 miles.
He and a teammate were over 4 minutes ahead of the next guy
and Mark beat his PR by a minute which is huge!

We are also looking forward to enjoying views like this:

this:

and this:

at the Capitol Reef Classic.
(and I am looking forward to having some awesome photographers in the car with me!)

Question...

If a tree falls on your car during a bike race and no one is around to see the tree fall

does it still smash the car?

Apparently so...

Flashback Friday: The last two weeks

Ok, I'm not flashing back very far but trying to get caught up.

Last week we were preparing to leave for Lotoja. If you remember, Mark had the fastest time last year setting a new course record. If you want to see it for yourself click here . It was pretty amazing. 206 miles in 9 hours 6 minutes. With as many people riding in a race that long it was like lightening striking - everything just came together. This year there was no way they were going to let Mark get off the front. The masters 45 category finished in a group and it was a sprint to the finish. Mark got kind of boxed in but still got third - awesome finish! This time it took about 9 hours and 45 minutes. Proof that 2 people willing to work together are more effiecient than 16 people who are not willing to work together. Click here for some awesome pictures. Aaron and Celisa joined us and Amy, Jordan and Ruby were planning to come but Ruby got sick at the last minute.

School started for me and I hit the ground running. I would have pitures of me on my first day of school but... well you know - I've been going so long that no one really cares :) and besides that - I really hate looking at pictures of myself - which leads me to another new thing - I joined Weight Watchers. I finally took the plunge. I'm down five pounds and really excited - something is finally working. I debated about making this public knowledge but now that you know it means I'm really committed.

Yesterday we held that annual Jr. Core social which means we hosted 30 people in our back yard for dinner. No I didn't cook but I did get the backyard 97% finished! (this year's phase anyway)... well except for the drip system, and I can't figure out how to finish off the last corner - ANYWAY I won't rain on my parade! I have to say that while it was way more work than I imagined, it also turned out better than I imagined. Come and check it out! Here are some pictures for those of you who live further away:

I'll post more pictures later, I'm having a hard time getting them to download and I need to do some homework.

King of the Hill

Just a quick note - OK a little bragging. Mark wasn't sure if he was going to race in the Snowbird hill climb last Saturday but Christian wanted to go and practice with his new camera so Mark decided to do it - - and he won his category. He would have been fifth in the pro 1,2's. Not bad for an old man (or for a young one). Christian has one picture - it's not the best but hopefully he will be posting more soon... congrats! Looking forward to Lo to Ja on Sept. 6th

Capitol Reef Classic

OK, it's 3:28 and no letter yet from our fearless gaucho elder in Brazil. So instead of worrying that he was gored by a runaway bull I will tell you about our weekend.

Christian left Wednesday evening for a river rafting trip with the scouts and Thursday morning Jen, Mark and I made our way to the city of Torrey Utah for the first ever Capitol Reef Classic bike race. We met up with team members, did the appropriate carbo loading and were ready for the races to begin Friday morning. When we got up there was the most beautiful sunrise right off our balcony. First event was a time trial. Racers leave at 30 second intervals and ride against the clock for 8 miles. Mark won his division. Wooo hooo! That afternoon in the heat of the day, after eating and resting a little, there was a circuit race. They rode a 17.5 mile loop two times. It was a beautiful course and as Jenn and I drove support, she took some great pictures. Mark and teammates did very well in this one too. Back to the room, shower, eat, rest, amazing sunset... on to the next day.

Saturday was the road race. Eighty five miles up to Fish Lake and back to Torrey. There were some hard steep climbs - 8 - 9% to be exact! Just what Mark loves. It was a hot grueling day and the competition just couldn't hang on. Mark came away with a first in the road race and overall. Congrats! Pretty good for the first stage race that he was able to finish! (Most stage races include a Sunday race).

Christian had a blast but came back with over a hundred mosquito bites on his hands alone! No pictures of that.... but here are some images from the race:

Arimo, Idaho

Home to the Garden Creek Gap bicycle race. Don't tell me you've never heard of Arimo, Idaho - it's about eight miles south of Inkom (see previous blog). I can tell some of you need to get out more...

Above is the "gap"in the mountains. It may look level  from this vantage point but don't be fooled, it's anything but level. The cyclists ride from a gas station eight miles away, through the gap and to the top of a hill.  From here they ride a loop around the mountain to the left and back through the gap. The number of times they go around depends on the category they ride in. Mark rode with the Masters 35's so he rode through the gap four times for a total of 83 miles! He loves this race because it has an uphill finish - his speciality. This is a challenging course on a clear day but as the group turned to ride towards the gap the third time there was a fierce head wind and it began to rain. I rode wheel support and they were only able to go about 6 mph. It seemed as if they would come to a stop at times the wind was blowing so hard. Over the hill and down the back side there was some respite from the rain but as they came around the wind was in their faces again and it began to pour. Some of the riders went back to the start line instead of the finish line, they had enough.

This is  Mark just before he crossed the finish line a few feet behind the winner. (That's me and Jenn driving support right behind him.) He was soaked, freezing and exhausted but he finished second. We were very proud of him. If you want to see a few more pictures Christian took (He was soaked and freezing too as he waited at the top in to rain to take pictures) check out his blog.

Inkom Idaho

I didn't know it existed either but it does! Christian Jennifer and I went to Mark's race this past Saturday in  Inkom, Idaho just south of Pocatello. It's called the Tax Day Challenge. Mark's team, "Bountiful Mazda" helped put on this race so I drove wheel support for 45+ (Mark's race) and then we helped marshall one of the corners. The race went from the elementary school for about 7 miles through a residential area to a loop that they rode 4.5 times. I think it was around 35 miles all together. The first half of the loop was up hill with the very last part quite steep and then downhill for half a loop. We got to drive behind the riders in the van with extra wheels in case someone got a flat. It was really fun. Mark ended up getting fourth, his team is still trying to work out some kinks so they are working together better. It was the first race of the year for some of the guys. Mark's team is in the orange and blue, I don't think you can see his number but he has silver shoes and his back is often more parallel to the ground. There is still quite a bit of snow but it was between 45 and 55 degrees.