Halloween Cx Video

This video was just posted online from the cross race in Astoria last weekend. All the footage is from the costume race on Sunday -- there is a shot of Abby, Michelle & I at about 3:08.

Cross Racing in Astoria - The 'Halloween' Races

This past weekend Michelle, Abby & I went to Astoria, OR for 2-days of cyclocross racing and Halloween fun. Saturday was the 'serious' race and then Sunday was the Halloween cross race where everyone dressed up in costumes - it was a blast! The three of us dressed up as Sarah Palin in red suits with sashes that had 'Palinisms' on them. The credit for this idea goes entirely to Michelle -- Abby and I were super skeptical about the costume idea up until the last minute, but the costume idea turned out to be a real crowd pleaser!

Below I'm attaching a bunch of links to various sites with photos from the weekend. Enjoy!

Remember to check out PDX Cross for their awesome black & white shots of the Cx races.

Here's the link to a picture of myself clearing the six-pack of barriers on the first day. Thor says he thinks it might be the first time he has seen both of my feet off the ground at the same time. (I don't like to jump!)

The three 'Palins' - winking at our constituents!

A picture of the 'Palins' from the back.

If you would like to see all the pictures from the weekend in Astoria you can visit Oregon Velo's photo site to see pics from all the races on both days.

Finally - here's a video from the race on Sunday. It's a men's race, but we raced exactly the same course so you'll be able to see what we rode. We had absolutely gorgeous weather!

Pumpkin Carving

On Monday of this past week a large group of us got together to carve pumpkins and watch the Broncos vs. Patriots football game. The Broncos were embarrassingly terrible (they lost 41-7. Ouch!), but I think we all had a good time anyways. The boys were pretty much glued to the TV, but some of the ladies brought pumpkins and we got a few carved.

Stephanie, Merrill, Katy, Stacy (holding Nick - our junior Broncos fan - who is actually wearing a Broncos onesie), Becky, Me, Jen & Lindsay.

The results of our evening! My pumpkin is the one on the far left.

Tingey Family Reunion - Lake Tahoe

We spent last weekend in Lake Tahoe with Thor's family at the Tingey family reunion. This is Ralph's side of the family and they are a ton of fun. Here's a series of shots from our weekend.

This was the view from our room where we stayed in Tahoe. Thor's aunt and uncle (Judy and Grant) are care takers of a condo complex on the lake and since the fall is the slow season the entire family can stay there with them in the empty condos - it is a lot of fun!

Ralph, Thor, myself, and Thor's cousin, Liz. We hiked up the Flume Trail to Marlette Lake on Friday and then ate lunch on these great rock outcrops. (A neat side note is that Liz just started her own non-profit group called Iris, VSI. Visit her website, www.irisvsi.org, for more information on how she partners with foreign NGO's.

Saturday was Thor's aunt, Mardie's, 50th birthday. To help celebrate we all went out to breakfast at a little restaurant on the lake called The Log Cabin. We had to sit at a couple different tables -- here is Thor's cousin, Amelia, her husband, Justin, and their son, Henry. Their daughter, Bea, is in her carrier on the floor next to Amelia.

From the far left and moving clock-wise: Ralph, Ralph's cousin Linda, Linda's husband Garry, myself, Thor, Thor's cousin Katie, and Mardie (Katie's mom).

We went to watch the sunset one night and went out to sit on these great rocks for the show!

Thor & I at the sunset rocks.

Garry, Linda & Ralph.

The sunset itself - we had a beautiful, clear (mostly) evening.

Here's a shot of everyone who was at the reunion. This year was a record turnout for them!

Local NW Sources for Native Plants

Weekend in Sunriver

I forgot to post these pictures! Thor and I were in Sunriver two weekends ago for his office's semi-annual retreat. The weather was TERRIBLE!!! It was pouring rain and blowing sideways, but we still managed to get outside in the afternoon when the weather settled down a bit. Thor went fishing and I took a mini-hike along the river. It was beautiful!





AND - as a an extra special kitschy treat here is a picture of Thor & I in front of a lovely autumn harvest background. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have our formal picture taken indoors while sitting on hay bales with such lovely autumn foliage surrounding us. Ahhhhh.... Thanks Ball Janik! (Parents & Grandparents - guess what you're getting for Christmas this year?)

Heiser Farms Cross Race

Well - this race was a frustrating lesson in taking responsibility for checking over my bike to make sure everything is attached correctly! Saturday morning I decided to swap out my front chain ring so that I had an easier gear on my San Jose. I went from a 42 in the front down to a 36 so I could spin faster (easier for hills & mud). Thor helped me swap out the parts - and then I dilly-dallied around, drank some coffee, gave Thor a ride to work, came home, realized I was running late (as usual), got my bike down from the bike stand and spun the pedals. SH$*%!! It made a terrible noise - my chain was rubbing on my chain guard. It was too late to try and take it off myself (I am SO SLOW at working on my bike) so I ran to a local bike shop to have them take a look at it on my way to the race. The guy was awesome and said he could put some spacers on right then while I waited - I told him I was on my way to the Heiser Farm Cross Race and we chatted about what the course might be like. Ten minutes and $9 later I had my bike back and was off to the races without a second thought to my bike!

The course at Heiser Farms was awesome - lots of up & down and varied terrain which made for an exciting race. I wasn't very good about lining up...I don't like to shove around so when the B's got called up to the line I all of a sudden found myself in the second row (I'll have to work on that!) I had an okay start and began plugging away -- I wasn't able to pre-ride the course before the race so I started out conservatively since I wasn't sure what was coming or what lines to take. At the end of the first lap I was in about 6th and decided to slowly start working my way up the field. I was having a great race and had just moved into 1st at the end of the 4th lap when it happened - ping! - my chain shot off. I cursed, hopped off my bike, put my chain back on and set off to chase the two girls who had been on my tail and - ping! - my chain came off again! Back off the bike - chain back on - back on the bike - stood up on my pedals and - ping! - instantaneously my chain came off again. Now I was suspicious so I took a better look at my bike when I got off and sure enough -- my wheel had moved foreward in my drop out....sigh...the best I can come up with is that the guy at the shop didn't bolt my rear wheel on tightly enough because I definitely didn't have the sag in my chain when I started, but at this point in the race it was just drooping down between my cog & my chain ring. sniff. So I put my chain back on and started soft pedaling my way around the course. It was really disheartening to get passed by the entire women's field, but I just tried to remember that it was a good lesson to check over my own bike before racing it. I ended up dead last in my field - my first DFL ever....sigh...but at least it was due to a mechanical and not just having a terrible race - up until the whole chain problem I actually thought I was racing really well and was happy with my bike handling in the muddy sections.

I don't actually have any pictures of my race to link to - but check out these amazing B&W shots by PDX Cross from the Heiser Farms race - these guys take beautiful pictures.

Also - here's a video of the men's A race. You won't know anyone in the video, but you can see the course we were racing on!


Heiser Farms Cross A class race from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.