What The?

Don't worry, I'm still alive.

I know it may seem as if I have passed, but I'm still here running in circles.  Let me bring you up to date.

June was crazy busy with a race every weekend.  I had fun, rode my bike really hard, lost one of my jobs, and tried to not curse at the weather.  The last weekend of June my friend Tina threw me a bridal shower!  It included my closest friends, and I had such a good time!  I seriously have the best friends a girl could ask for.  THANK YOU!

Happy 5 years!

July came around (faster than I could have asked for it) and then all of the sudden Chris and I had been dating for 5 years.  We did the usual trip to Winthrop for the weekend and we had a blast.  Although unlike the past couple of years, it was HOT!  As in 90 degrees plus.  The first day Joe Brown (owner of the Methow Ski and Cycle) sent us on (what I called) a death march up some long fire road climb, to some pretty awesome single track.  Although I felt like I was only climbing the whole time on the single track, it was pretty fun.  You know it's going to be a long weekend of riding when your legs are already tired and it's only Friday. 

The usual ride!

The folllowing day we did a "mellow" ride called "bear mountain figure 8".  Last year we tried to do this ride but they hadn't cleared one of the trails out, so we did bear mountain figure 0.  Then on Sunday we did the usual highway 20 ride up to Washington Pass.  We left ultra early to beat the heat, but it was still hot as hell when we came down.  We both went through 6 water bottles, it was THAT crazy hot! 

The following weekend I was blessed with a weekend at home!  I didn't have to drive anywhere, but it was also the weekend of the Padden Mountain Pedal.  And since that was literally in my back yard, I HAD to race it.  I wasn't looking forward to it, especially since I was the only open women, but I went out and ended up having a ton of fun.  I love to support as many local races as I can.  Besides, there is nothing like riding the padden course for 5 laps.  The following day a couple of my teammies from Voler/Bicycle Centres came up and us Bellinghamsters played tour guide in the Chuckanuts. 

The weekend after Padden was the last race of the Fat Tire Revolution series.  This race was in Roslyn and I had never raced it, but I wasn't looking forward to it.  To say the least, I was pretty burnt out on racing.  The race didn't start well, or end well.  It was hot and I didn't hydrate pre-race...at all.  So when I stopped sweating and started getting goosebumps I decided to call it quits.  I ended up 2nd in the series overall.

The rest of July went really fast. I had been working on crazy fun wedding plans, and figuring out the fun details of wedding planning. Then we took a vacation to the usual Vancouver Island. We had a complete blast and it was seriously awesome to leave town and not think about anything, espeically wedding planning!

At the top of Mt. Washington.  We climbed, climbed, and climbed!

In case you couldn't tell....

On the decent down from the top.  The Valley is behind us.  Seriously...beautiful views up there. 

Too funny not to pass up



We spent some time on the beach, as usual

Had some river days



Mountain biking on the forbidden plateau, looking down onto Comox Lake

A sand bar island.  Watching as the tide engulfs the fam



And lots of rides to other beaches. 

Alright, we had a really good time.  I almost cleared the toughest stuff ever on the Forbidden Plateau(on my mountain bike), but after having enough jitteries from decending real scary steep downhills, I decided I didn't want to push my limit.  Then...I had a minor crash and decided to walk the rest of the scarys teep stuff.  Next year, my goal will be to clear it ALL!  We spent 11 days on the Island, and it was just right, especially with a wedding right around the corner.  The views in the Comox Valley are absolutly breathtaking.  I love being there so much, I feel so lucky to have a beautiful and awesome place to visit every summer. 

I thought my life would calm down in August, but it didn't.  I had another Bridal Shower, this time thrown by Chris's mom, Sue.  It was a great time!  We had a wedding, and my Bachlorette party to attend!!!  My girls and I decided we wanted to go to Leavenworth, and that we did!!!  What a blast.  We hiked, floated the river, played games, drank tequila, and sang Kareokee.  I couldn't have had a better time.  I would do it again in a heart beat!  LOVE YOU (my friends). 

I am going to make you wait for the juicy details of how the early season cyclocross racing has been going.  I need a whole new post to tell you about that.  Besides, it's time for me to go for a ride in this beautiful sunshine.