Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 5

Today was a momentous day! We crossed the state line into California! It was wonderful. Chris and Tony bid good riddance to Oregon and on to Trinidad we went!

After a brief celebration, we were off! There were A LOT of hills today. It was difficult! We were able to stop and take a picture with Paul Bunyan and Babe in the Redwoods.

I pooped out at about 55 miles and had Brookie and Andy come and pick us up. Chris, Tony, Kara, and Jesse didn't think that the ride was difficult enough today, so they stayed on the highway and did a lot more hills than everyone else! Those overachievers. We got to our camp in Patrick's Point State Park and Andy made a delicious curry dinner! If you can ever convince him to make it for you, do! It is absolutely wonderful. It's a gift. We also had amazing scones! Kara didn't tell us that she was a pro at making scones, but I'm glad that she finally let us in on her secret! The food always tastes so good when you're camping.

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 4

Today, we started off from Bullard's Beach State Park in Bandon, OR and headed off to Brookings. This is a picture from Face Rock. After a really good warm up hill, Jesse got hungry and decided that a burrito sounded good! So we stopped by a Mexican restaurant and got one for him. I think that he was one of the few in our group that could eat an entire burrito and hop right back on his bike! Amazing.

After lunch, Andy and I took our turn to go and get the truck from Bandon and making dinner. I'll be honest, I was glad to take a break for the second half of the day! And we were able to get some good pictures, too!

These troopers hung in there and suffered up the big hill at the end of the ride. We ended up at a really pretty camp site at Harris Beach State Park and had some delicious burritos! That was twice in one day for Jesse! Not bad...

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 3

Well our second day got off to a smooth start. We started off in Florence and rode to lunch. Right before lunch, Tony's rear derailleur broke. Brookie was nice enough to lend Tony her bike so he could complete the day's ride. When the support crew was driving through Coos Bay, they had some great luck and came up behind the owner of Moe's Bike Shop! Evan followed him to the shop and he was nice enough to fix it on a Sunday! Tony was back in business. Then we had to cross a ridiculously windy bridge. We walked our bikes across the sidewalk and I was worried my bike was going to blow into traffic a few times even though both of my hands were on the handlebars! After the bridge, we rode through Charleston. When Andy and I got to the place that we needed to turn to the Seven Devils Road, we decided to take a scenic detour to Sunset Bay State Park. The unintentional detour was well worth it...I wanted to add a few more miles to the ride, because I thought that 83 miles was kind of short. After seeing Sunset Bay, and adding four miles onto our ride, we went back to a delightful stretch of road called the Seven Devils. I had the understanding prior to hitting those hills that there were three big climbs, so I was prepared for a lot of pain on three hills and then a nice smooth decline into camp. That did not happen. It turns out that the map we purchased only gives an idea of the elevation gain. The reason that the road is called the Seven Devils is because there are seven RIDICULOUS hills. Of course, I didn't figure that out until we were done climbing the sixth hill and I saw some spraypaint that said 6th devil. At least at that point, I knew that we only had one hill left instead of turning corners and seeing another treachorous hill. The highest percent incline that we reached was 14%. Painful. After we called our support vehicles to make sure we weren't lost, we finally found camp! Brookie and Andy were nice enough to bring us caffeine for the last mile. We set up camp at Bullard's Beach State Park in Charleston. We were excited to finish Stage 3!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 2

Today the real ride began. Andy woke up early to go pick up Jesse who lives in Portland and met us back at the hotel for the continental breakfast. Our group was definitely the topic of conversation among our fellow hotel mates. I don't think many have ever seen so much spandex at one time. I think I saw one lady shield her child's eyes. Needless to say, we were all looking good. I've always thought that waffles and Lycra were a good combination.

From Portland, we had to drive down to the starting line in Lincoln City where a crowd had assembled to witness the historic event... or maybe they were there for the kite festival.

Everyone took a little time getting there bikes and minds ready for the task ahead of us. But finally we were off...at the crack of 11.

And it only took about 5 minutes until our first bathroom break. We knew from that moment we would traveling at a record breaking pace. From there it was 30 miles to lunch, waiting for us in Newport. We ate in the shade at Yaquina Beach State park where once again, no one could take their eyes off all the spandex. As soon as the food was on the table it was a free for all! It was like feeding a school of fish. Flashes of tights and cycling gloves and the ham sandwiches were gone.

After lunch everyone stopped for a moment to work on their cycling tans and warm up a little. It was cold when you stopped pedaling!

But soon we were back on the road.

The peleton crossed the bridge out of Newport and we were on our way to the last stop of the day by the Devil's Churn.

Then it was onward to camp at Harbor Vista Campground...for all of us but Chris who didn't think that 76 miles was enough for one day. So he just kept going...and going...until he found some nice locals to tell him he overshot the campground and needed to turn around. Andy, Andy, Kara, Brooke and I didn't have enough either. So after a quick spagetti dinner made by chef Kara we went back to Lincoln City to get the other truck. We were very happy to be in camp and those foam pads made the nicest bed I have ever slept on! Not even Evan's snoring could keep us awake.

A successful end to Stage 2!

Vuelta Pacifica 2009 Stage 1

Today one of the world's biggest cycling events started. Most of you are probably thinking that it is a few weeks too early for the Tour de France, but that is not the event we are speaking of. We are of course talking about the Vuelta Pacifica. The majority of our road warriors loaded up in two trucks and headed north to Portland to begin our biking adventure down the coast to San Fransisco.



The first stage was rather uneventful until we entered the state of Oregon where we had a slight hiccup on the way when one of the trailer tires lost its tread, but luckily the tire didn't blow while we were driving. After the boys got that fixed, we were off again!
With a quick stop and some big time help from the best Les Schwab employee in the entire United States...or maybe the Universe, we headed on to Portland. We arrived just in time to pick up the road warriors traveling to Portland by plane and get take out from the Olive Garden next to our hotel. Stage one was a big success.

Bri's School of Marathon Running-Take 2

Well we didn't get much time to rest after our trip to SF, because that next Saturday we ran the Ogden 1/2 Marathon with Brock and Lindsay! You would think that I had learned my lesson when I ran the Nike SF Women's 1/2 Marathon that training might be necessary. And by training, I mean running more than 5 miles in preparation. The science just seems so sound. But, I am a slow learner, as it turns out. And this time, I decided that I would get Andy sold on my method of training. Before we left on our trip to SF, we thought that it may be a good idea to do our first run. We ran about 3 miles and I was dying. We were off to a good start. We went on 2 more runs before the marathon and figured we...?were set?... We had to wake up before the crack of dawn on Saturday because they had shuttles that took us up the canyon over by Pineview, and there we sat FREEZING around a fire for 1 1/2 hours. Not sure about the logic there. The sun was finally coming up when we started our run, so at least only my hands were freezing at that point. Andy and Brock went off in front, of course, but I was feeling pretty good. And then, before mile 3, my iPod froze. Running is a lot harder when you don't have something to distract you from the fact that you're running! I was not a happy camper. Luckily, I caught up with Lindsay and she let me run about 7 miles with her. She actually trained for this, so she had a lot easier time than me. And since she had a goal to run the 1/2 without walking, I had her go on without me at about mile 10. But I finished! I'll admit my expectations were low, and my goal was simply to finish-my aspirations did not include running the whole thing, but at least my training method allows for a finish. And that's all that you can ask for, right? Andy and I were fairly broken the next day, but we're recovered now! Do you think I've learned my lesson? I'm not sure either...

California Knows How to Party: Graduation Edition

It is no big secret that we love to go to The Golden State. It is home to some of our favorite things. Disneyland, the beach, and of course, Addi, Blake, Max and Jack. So when it came time to choose a place for a short vacation to celebrate graduation I didn't have to think for long, and thanks to Addi's keen bargain-hunting skills, we were able to get plane tickets for a steal. So Andy jumped on it and off to San Francisco we went! Day 1: we went to the California Academy of Sciences, which was a new place for us (our tour guides are always mixing things up) and we played around the whole day!

We saw the aquarium, which was awesome, and ate outside to let the boys play for a little while. I'm not sure if Andy or the boys had more fun at lunch... After lunch, we saw Max's "moon" movie. We finished off the day at the Academy with the Rainforest area. Max made sure that he knew all of our favorite animals before we left.

Addi dropped us off at one of the stores I always make an effort to go to in SF-MAC!!! Andy was nice enough to humor me and wait while I got my make-up done.

After Blake got home from a long day at school, we went over to Ghirardelli for some yummy ice cream!

Day 2: we went to Max's favorite park to play around for the morning, and Blake met us for lunch. Then I rode my first cable car!

I can't believe in all our trips to SF I had never been on one. So we rode to Union for some shopping!

We spent longer than Andy wanted, I'm sure, in H&M, but that store is just WONDERFUL! And thanks to some graduation gifts and an H&M gift card, I went on a bit of a shopping spree! Blake picked us up for a hike to Tennessee Valley Beach, which was a really pretty hike. However, it was a lot longer than expected! They said it was only 3 miles round trip but I'm sure that was not the case. And poor Max was still really tired and fell a lot, including into the ocean when a wave crashed on him. But it was worth it! Maybe next time we'll have to bring a stroller...for Andy! And I guess it was good 1/2 marathon training. Blake is always looking out for us.

After that, all we could think about was food. Max had his mind set on pizza for his belly. Addi picked up some CPK for Max and we went to one of our favorites, Pacific Catch, for dinner. I'm not sure, but I think that the hike before dinner made it taste that much better! We finished off the day with some Phase 10 and a movie before bed. What a great day!

Day 3: we started the day off how every day should be started in my mind, with Mama's-the best breakfast place EVER!!! Where else would you wait in line for 1/2 hour to get breakfast? I wouldn't anywhere else, but those Monte Cristo sandwiches are more than worth the wait! And it didn't disappoint. After breakfast, we tried to walk to Point Bonita Lighthouse, but it wasn't open! We did see a seal in the bay, though, so that was pretty cool.

And then for lunch, Blake, Andy, Max and I went to the Crawfish boil. Someone at the dental school does this every year, apparently, and we were lucky enough to be there at the right time this year! I held one for a picture, but I couldn't bring myself to eat any of it. My stomach was at its limit just watching the boys eat. They said that it was good, though!

Blake dropped us off at the house after so we could nap while he went to work for a few hours, and when he got home we went for some REAL food: In-n-Out Burger. That place is so yummy! It was everything I'd hoped for and more. We decided that we would have a quiet night inside to get geared up for Day 4.

Day 4: While the rest of the crew went to church, Andy and I took advantage of a Mother's Day deal-all of the museums in the area were free! So with some google maps and the trusty accord Andy and I braved the streets of SF. We've been to the Legion of Honor several times to take pictures with the Thinker statue they have outside, but we have never actually been in! It was fun to go and look at all of the art that they have to offer.

After lunch at the house, we went with Blake and Max to the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts and played around with awesome science experiments. This is another place that we have been to several times, but never inside. Andy thinks it's physics heaven. So if you are a small child or a nerd like Andy, you would love the Exploratorium. And we did by the way!

After a deluxe dinner that Addi made, we went for some dessert at the Bi-rite, another new stop on our SF tour. It's an organic ice cream shop. Can I tell you, it may even rival Fenton's as our new favorite bay side ice cream joint! You haven't lived until you have tried salted carmel and roasted banana ice cream. And it just so happened we ran into who we thought was a celebrity. When we saw such a magnificent stache we thought it had to be Tom Selleck. But it just turned out to be Max covered in organic, non-dairy, low fat ice cream. (yes he chose for himself. He wanted to make sure no one else wanted to share his cone...and it worked. But he seemed to like it.) Evan would be so proud. Add Max to the list of great men with moustaches. But I still wont let Andy grow one!

After Bi-Rite, we went over to do some virtual bowling. Someone misinformed Blake when he called to see how long they were open, so we had literally 10 minutes to do it! But we didn't let that stop us! Andy, Jack and I against Blake, Addi and Max. And, of course, Andy and I won with Jack's help. Our plan to have Max sabotage the other team worked like a charm! It was quick but absolutely delightful, as usual.

Then it was off to bed for our early flight home and the completion of our latest trip to SF. We're excited for July! Thanks again BAMJ!