Hurt, Pain, and Agony

First of all let me squelch all rumors... there are no broken wrists, maybe a hand bone, but no wrist. When i took my big fall a couple weeks ago i came down hard on my hand and thought i had just sprained it, but its still not better and so i went to the orthopedic and they said, 'hey, lets put a cast on it just to be safe.' i said, 'I've got a race this weekend and i don't think a cast will work well' so they gave me a hard splint thing that I'm supposed to wear. Looking back i think a cast and not riding might not have been a bad option. The race was a charity event for the Cancer society. One of our friends, a breast cancer survivor and local Cancer Society representative helped organize the event. The race is appropriately called, 'Hurt, Pain, and Agony.' Turns out, they were right. You can follow the link below to see the details, but basically it was a long mountain course with a lot of climbing. A lot of climbing, followed by more climbing. If you know cycling at all, (and i don't really, but I'm pretending and everything you read on the Internet is fact so this is pretty much truth) you know that there are a special bread of cyclist that excel at climbing. They're usually Spanish and... well... smaller in stature. They're like jockeys and they have these tremendously large legs that push them quickly up hills. Turns out I'm not Spanish and not smaller in stature and therefore not extremely quick up the hills. However, I finished... not first, but definitely not last. The night before the race Zach S. called and said that he didn't in any way condone my cycling, but that I'd better not be last. One quick funny story...and of course its a little embarrassing, but after posting my rear cheek on the blog what could be worse? So the steepest part of the race came at mile 50 and at the end of a road called Mahogany Rock Road, (if you are ever riding your bike and you see a sign that says Mahogany Rock Road, turn around...it's a good idea... trust me). It seemed like we climbed steady for a really long time, forever maybe... people started to get off their bikes and stretch out their cramps and what not. Then all of a sudden the department of transportation had an idea to make a road and see just how steep was too steep for asphalt. Turns out the answer is... real steep. So I found myself going up, leaning forward as much as i could to not let my front wheel come off the ground. The guy in front of me gets about half way up and bails out... gets off his bike and starts hiking the bike up the hill. So i catch him as he dismounts then as he starts to hike, I'm still pedaling, but not passing him. He walked, i rode and yet, we made it to the top about the same time. There were several people along the top of the road cheering the riders on, so here i was... dude hiking the bike next to me, me nearly dead, and people cheering like we were about to win the Tour DE France. The bike walker then even says to me something like great job man. I looked at him and gave him a half smile, with the pain it probably looked the face of the man on 'men in black' (you know the one, "I'm looking for a man, a dead one") anyway what i was really thinking was, dude... at least push. So, it was tough, long, beautiful, and I'm really glad i did it, but really really glad it's over.
http://www.bmcc.us/id42.htm

Fishing with Daddy

The best part of our vacation in Idaho was the time that Whit was able to spend with the girls. Things get so busy at home that he doesn't get to do all the fun things that he would like to with the girls. This trip Whit and Uncle Joel took the kids fishing to the nature ponds in Rexburg. They had a fun time and even caught some fish. The fish were pretty tiny, but they were fish and that was all that mattered to the girls.

Idaho Trip-Yellowstone

The girls and I made it back safely from Idaho. The flight went well and we are just trying to adjust to NC time. It is always a lot harder to adjust to coming home than going. Luckily everyone has been sleeping in so that has helped. We had so much fun in Idaho. I can't believe how fast three weeks can fly by. I started crying one day as I was packing for the trip and the girls asked what was wrong and I said we are packing to go on our trip and that means it is almost over. I don't think they quite understood my problem, but that is really how it is. Sometimes I dread going because that means it will be over and I won't have anything to look forward to anymore. We did a lot of great things while in Idaho and it will probably take me a while to get all of the fun stuff posted so I will just do it in parts.

The first big event was going to Yellowstone National Park. This was a great day. We loaded 26 members of Whit's family in three cars and spent the day seeing the sights. Then ended the day at the Playmill Theatre where we saw Hello Dolly. It was a cute show and the girls loved it. They are very facinated by plays and musicals. Jaynie keeps asking when she gets to be in a play. I guess I should make more of an effort to get her involved. It was neat to be with Lee (Whit's Dad) at the Playmill. They recognized him as one of the original founders of the playmill. He and one other man and their families started it 40 years ago and now it is such a popular part of the Yellowstone trip for people. Pretty cool!!

Here are some pictures of our day in Yellowstone.

We saw a lot of buffalo (bison for the guy at Yellowstone), elk, deer, beaver, and even a bald eagle, but no bears :(

Pretty Paint Pots

Oh my sweet Eliza-that's just all I can say about this picture

Old Faithful-I have tried twice since I have been married to see Old Faithful and missed it both times so I wasn't going to miss it this time. The girls thought it was pretty cool.
Cousins!!!

Us at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. What a beautiful sight. As you can tell we caught it just as it started to rain. Lucky us.

Does anyone know where Grandma went?

rear carnage

so this is the deal... we just spent a week in Idaho. I caught the redeye sunday night and went straight to work. Stacie and the girls are staying for an extra week. We have made the trip to Idaho a few times now and a few times i've come home alone and Stacie has stayed. Each time we do that we promise never to do it again. Leaving my wife and kids and family and coming back to an empty house and a work is a great recipe for... well it's not fun. Anywho, to fight the lonelyness i went on the monday group ride and did alright for not having ridden in 10 days and not sleeping the day before. Then tonight my buddy Duane and I decided to fight the threatening weather and do a 30 mile loop through the city. We ride this loop often and sometimes alone, we have a reigning champion award for the the solo loop. FYI I am the current champion with a time of 1:15:39. So tonight we decided to work as a team and see how fast we could do it. Part of the loop goes through the campus of Wake Forest University. Part of that section goes on a narrow paved running trail. Turns out the trail was a bit damp from earlier rain and it also turns out that i was going way way way... way too fast for a narrow wet trail through the forest. Short story long, my wheels detatched themselves from the pavement and i went down hard on my right rear cheek and wrist. The bike luckily came off my pedals with the impact and i slid for a good ways on my hip until i hit the dirt and rolled to a stop. Bike was good, leg and wrist... not so much. So I am posting some pics of the carnage, the last pic was were Duane got a cap full of peroxide and poored it over the wound... ouch. So...any... here's the disclaimer **PICTURES OF ME IN LYCRA ARE NOT TO BE SHARED WITH ANYONE ELSE AND EVEN THOUGH I HAVE PUT THEM ON A PUBLIC BLOG DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PUT THEM ON YOUTUBE OR SHOW THEM OFF IN ANY OTHER EMBARRISING WAY. IF YOU DO I WILL GO TO YOUR HOUSE AND TALK TO YOUR MOM AND GET HER TO SHOW ME YOUR PHOTO ALBUMS AND I WILL POST SWEET PICTURES OF YOU, YOU KNOW THE PICTURES I'M TALKING ABOUT**