Finally recovered from Old Pueblo!

Tammy & Jason, this is for you! Thanks for being such great supporters and fun friends....
We have been home for two weeks now from the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo mountain bike race. It was a fabulous and eventful weekend.

Guy and I were both on IMBA sponsored teams. IMBA held a drawing for all of the team members who registered by December 31, 2008. I have to give Cimarron a HUGE THANK YOU for making this possible for Guy. We were actually riding at Black Canyon City that day and she registered us. GT donated a FREE GT Marathon Carbon Pro Mountain Bike and Guy WON!!!! WooHoo......He received his bike just before we left for the race. However, he didn't take it with him because he didn't want to race on a bike he had never ridden. He is now enjoying it since we have been home. He even likes it more than he thought he would, but who wouldn't love a free bike?

We left St. George Thursday afternoon towards Tucson. This is the weather just outside of Hurricane, UT. We had only been in the car 45 minutes. I was stressed! We were pullling our big trailer and we don't travel in wet or snowy weather at all in Southern Utah!
I don't know what made us think it would be okay to go over the mountain at Jacob's Lake! But here it is. It just got whiter and thicker....
Can you see the vehicle in front of us that we followed all the way over the mountain? It was nice to be able to follow the slight tracks in front of us. Guy was very calm and in control while my thighs were cramping from being so tense.
As soon as we crossed the Colorado River at Marble Canyon the sky opened up and it was beautiful the rest of the way. You have no idea how grateful I was for good weather. We stopped for the night outside of Phoenix then arrived at "Epic Town" early Friday morning to help Cimarron set up camp. We met Doug (Dueter rep) and Eric (Slippery Pig Cycles) while setting up. What a riot! They were so entertaining to sit with at the dedication dinner. Thanks for the hot nachos, Eric.
Cimarron setting up the official IMBA tent. It was so cozy and fun with all five teams hanging out in between laps. Cimarron you were so organized and I appreciate all that you did for our team.
Guy and I went on a pre-ride on Friday afternoon. This cactus was given a name, the Brain. There is another one on the trail called Killer. They were both missing several needles at the end of the weekend.
There are certainly several species of cactus along this trail. (That is me below) I only ran into one of them and had no flats during my rides. I did have a slow leak and Guy let me use his wheel one lap.

Guy and I went to visit Lynda Wallenfells and Dave Harris Friday while they were getting settled before the race. She raced this event solo single-speed. You rock!Couldn't resist this shot of the sunset shining through the cactus at camp.
Paul, Amanda, Cimarron and DJ hanging out in the tent Friday night.
This event is always dedicated to an athlete who has made a big impact on the sport. This year it was dedicated to Dave Wiens. He signed a poster of himself and Lance Armstrong as they raced together at Leadville 2008. Dave won. He is a very down to earth, humble guy. What a great motivator. All of Team IMBA was invited to attend the dedication dinner. It was a first for Guy and I. We had a great time.

Dave signing my poster - what a nice guy.
Gary, Roy and Guy visiting in the IMBA tent after dinner.
This is a photo of all five of the Teams that IMBA sponsored. This is just before the race began so not all of us were in our race gear.
Two of my teammates, Cathleen and DJ. DJ was getting ready to do the run and our first lap.
I took this photo of "Epic Town" from the top of our trailer. This place is so crowded and so fun!
Can you see DJ running right in front of our truck?
I love this metal cactus they bring every year. It is the race "Mojo" It is made from bicycle rims and other leftover parts.
Guy is getting ready in the exchange tent to go out on his first lap.
I am just coming through the exchange tent from my second lap around 11p.m. I got cactus stuck in my hand and leg this lap:( I always carry a comb for this purpose. It seems to come in handy every year!
Team IMBA camp with a GT demo tent to hook us up! GT is a sponsor of IMBA and I took one of the Marathon Team bikes out for my last lap. It is very similar to the one Guy won, but better components. Anyway, my front brake went out on my singlespeed so I took the geared, suspension bike for a whirl. I really like it and I think I will probably get one, soon.
Here is Lewis, our GT mechanic, trying to bleed my Magura Marta brake. No luck, so I enjoyed one of his bikes.
I had to get a shot of this crazy home-made bike rack. I love how this guy recycled his bike parts and the colors are fun and wild. We might even have enough left over frames, forks, stems, etc. to build us one at home, is there a patent on this?
So, here we are at the awards ceremony! First of all, Lynda, you are amazing. She won the women's solo singlespeed category. I almost want to say that I want to be like you someday, but I have no desire to ride my bike for 24 hours straight!
This is Cathleen, Lynda, Cimarron, and me just before we, Team IMBA - Gooseberry Girl's, got to go up to the podium to recieved our award for 4th Place! Yes, we actually went to the BOX! (as Dave J would say). There were 15 teams too, usually we get like 4th out of 4. DJ had to leave early so it was just the three of us up there. Lynda was so gracious to give us so much attention! We were all very happy with our performance, but mostly for achieving our personal goals! (There are no photos of us on the podium because Guy aimed the camera into the sky trying to snap photos over the crowd. If anyone has any photos of us on the podium, let me know)

Oh, I need to clarify a few facts for some of my family and friends. The course is 17 miles. I rode four laps in the 24 hours and one lap the day before. This adds up to 85 miles in the weekend, but only 68 miles during the race. The total time of 7 hours 45 minutes is the time it took me to ride all 85 miles. But, there were breaks in between. Don't give me too much credit:) I'm just not that good, that would be in Lynda's league!

Will we go back next year? Of course, why not, who's coming with us? We need to get a team together NOW! Let the party and the training (or the suffering) begin early.

work hard, play hard, rider harder.