Biking . Boating. Baseball.

Memorial Day went as follows.....

Darren left early to bike to Magic with the fast boys, leaving Justin, Brady and me to head to Indian Springs for some "real" biking...:)

Loved biking with my buddies!  

Brady showing off his smattering of cow pie.

He finished off the last 4 miles of this ride single speed style.....we will be visiting Mike and Mike soon!

It's been three weeks since the Ironman.saga and after drudging through life with heavy legs and heavier eyelids I feel (besides the cold I have had since before the race) like I might be getting my "groove" back.

I sent the boys home with the car and  rode my mountain bike the 10 miles back home down 3600, feeling for the first time in a long while that I might actually LIKE riding bikes.   May have even brought a tear or two to my eyes.

I came across TONS of road bikers going out 3600 who most certainly thought I should get the right kind of bike!  I think I might ride my mountain bike exclusively for a while......heaven knows I need to...hello Bend 100!  (Jury is still out on this one for me)

Then.....because we couldn't call it quits yet,  we did yard work

and then.......

kayaked with Sturgills.

Paige with baby ducks in back ground

and then.......

we did what REALLY needed to be done

Love a man with a vacuum!

I forgot to mention baseball practice......

Brady was a a little bit tired afterwards.  Now that he's in the league where they can steal  my laundry has been taken to a new level.

We also threw in a little Cafe Rio.

Maybe I should stop wondering why I have been so tired.

Post Edit:  the next day landed me in the Dr.'s office with a sinus infection, and to get that weird thing out of Paige's ear.  Never boring.

A little bowfishing and camping

Black Magic Canyon - February!

Playing a little blog catch up!

Business and Biking in Bozeman

Darren had a little work in Bozeman, and a few places in between....

• A raft to set up in Blackfoot - met the nicest people.  Empty nesters/fishermen ready to adventure into rafting land.  A permit on the Smith this summer - nearly impossible to get a hold of.
• A dry box to pick up in W. Yellowstone at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery center.  We sent it there to be "bear tested".   Didn't go as well as planned, but was a cool stop nonetheless.  There are really a lot of interesting people, that do interesting things.  Did you know that a raven has the same body to brain ratio as a dolphin?  A funny thing to learn at a bear and wolf center, I know.
• 20 boxes to unload in Bozeman.  Ed was moving from Ketchum.  To fish. 

So, naturally we threw in the mountain bikes.  Asked a few locals about trails, ate in cool places - LaParilla, and the Chickpea Cafe.  We LOVED Bozeman.  What a cool place!  Mountain atmosphere, home to MSU, it really was a happening town.  I think I could move there.  But then Darren reminded me that until a month ago it was probably COVERED in snow.  Like since October.

Saturday morning we headed out to Leverich Canyon.   A 5.5 mile trail.  I have been tired (that is an understatement) since last Saturday's Ironman attempt.  Actually I have been tired for like 3 months.  So we were going to go easy.  I made it .75 miles,  as in 3/4 of a mile, and broke into a cold sweat, shaking, breathing SO hard.  It was steep.  But, .75 miles!  I turned around while Darren banged out the trail.  One of the funnest he's been on.  Thanks.    

We ate lunch, checked out a bike shop and headed to another higher recommended trail.  It took longer to find it than to ride it......it was beautiful, but eventually got too wet and snowy, and since it was an out and back, we knew the wet, gooey mess we were working our way up was the same wet, gooey mess we would come down. So we decided to sit on a log and rest in the sun instead of continuing.  3 miles in and I was struggling.  Still going, but struggling.  Oh my.

What a great weekend!  Besides that I was so tired.  Am still tired.  Everyone around here is tired of me saying I'm tired.  But I'm tired.  

Anyway, FUN mother's day weekend!  I'd go to Bozeman again in a heartbeat!

IronSwim

No this is not the ocean!

This picture was taken on the 1800m stretch of the Ironman swim Sand Hollow Reservoir, Hurricane, UT.

Hurricane lived up to its name on May 5.

This picture is the closest one I have seen posted that depicts what it was like on the back side of the island.

But I swam it.  2.4 miles.......felt more like 9.

That's all for now.....I'll post about the race later....

True Grit

Zen Trail, St. George, UT 

On March 17, Darren and I did the "True Grit" mountain bike race.    I did the 23 mile course, he the 51.  The picture above shows a piece of the Zen Trail.  Which is totally UNzen if you ask me.  The picture doesn't show the technical stuff.....I guess the downhill on Zen is totally Zen, but the race bypassed that part - a blooming poppy something or other that needed protecting...

It was one of the most technical trails I have ever biked, or walked my bike, on. I could see it becoming fun if I had a few times to ride it and know what was coming.  The other part of the race was a GREAT trail.  TONS of climbing.

Darren did amazingly well. 17th out of 70 in his category.  I was thrilled with my time.  I didn't know what to expect for my time.  If I ride Smitty's (20 miles) I consider it a LONG and tough trail, in 3 hr. and some change-  I feel great.  

So when I exited the trail with only 1.7 miles of pavement left in 2:50ish I was thrilled!  It was head wind all the way back and I have to admit I swore out loud at the wind!  I wanted under 3 hrs. so badly!  I tried to ride as aero as I could and cranked a hard gear!  I'm sure the people in the cars passing me thought I was a crazed lunatic surely escaping from a facility - 2:59.  I heard it called out, and saw it on my watch!

My time on the website says 3:01.  bullcrap.

Perfect weather, besides wind, challenging (to say the least) course.  Not sure I will do it again, though:)

First Kayaking of the Season!

http://frontierplay.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-boating-on-camas-creek-hour-from.html