Aaaaaaand We're Back!

Oh my, it's been a long time since my last post!  A lot has happened, too.  In June I took 1st place in my category in my very first mountain bike race ever:

(I was so startled)

But then the race organizers changed the rules, so my official ranking now is 4th. (Sad face.)  This came about because the races are scored in two ways: you get X number of points for the way you place in each stage, and you also get a cumulative time by adding up your times from all the stages (in this case, 5 stages).  I got a flat tire on the first stage, so I came in last on that one.  But the next day I won 3 of the remaining 4 stages, so I came in 1st by two points.  Apparently, though, people complained that ranking by points was unfair, so they changed it to cumulative time.  But if I hadn't flatted on the first stage there's an extremely good chance I would've won that one too, so I can't say that I'm particularly fussed about it.

But I still got to keep the loot!  Yay!:

That's like 600 bucks worth of stuff.

So it was a good time.

Then, since I had officially caught the racing bug, I competed in another Big Mountain Enduro race.  This one was in Crested Butte, CO, and I came in second by 16 seconds:

And I still had no idea how to behave on the podium, so while everyone else was doing something appropriate I was looking like a doofus:

Derrr?

It's what I do best.

It's actually a good thing that I didn't get 1st again, because then I would have gotten the same tires, roof rack, tshirt, sunglasses and shoes that I did in Angel Fire.  This time I got a spine protector, different tires, different tshirt and different sunglasses (which I gave to Mike, because I need prescription sunnies).

I also won a new pair of goggles in the raffle, which was lucky because mine were all scratched up:

Awesome.

Other things of note:

In Crested Butte, I discovered Paddington's Mini-Me:

I got to hang out with lots of ass-kickin' ladies:

from left: Leigh, Sara, Sparky, Elena, Sienna

CB has lots of adorable chubby marmots trundling around in the park:

Well camouflaged, too.

Arrelaine came with me and hung out with the dogs while I rode:

Grass + David Sedaris + Oskar Blues = Awesome

And that's Crested Butte.
Also, if you're curious what an enduro bike race is, watch this video:
http://vimeo.com/68740190

I'm planning to race in the next BME in Durango at the end of August, so wish me luck!


Mike was taking anatomy and physiology classes at CU for the whole month of June, so he did not get to participate in the races (or even come and cheer), which was a bummer.  But he was supportive from afar!

Also tired.  Very very tired.

Let's see, what else...

Those of you on Facebook already know about Kermit, our foster dog:

We were trying to think of a better name for him than the one he came with (Nick), and I really wanted to go with something from either British literature or a Broadway musical.  We were toying with the names Mr. Bingley, Elder Cunningham, Fiyero, and Mr. Knightley when all of a sudden I gasped and said "His name is Kermit!" because, well, that's exactly what he looks like.

But his full name is Kermit Fitzwilliam Bingley, so that he can be Mr. Bingley on formal occasions.

Anyway, he's being formally adopted by his new family on Friday (the Browns), and while we've enjoyed having him, Paddington and Ellie are ready for things to go back to normal.
And I will miss the snuggle-wrestling:

taken two seconds before he started squirming like mad

Good Squirms.


Two weekends ago was Stevezie's birthday party, which involved a decent amount of alcohol, OHVs, and BB guns in a national forest camping area.

It went about like you would expect, but luckily no emergency services were needed.
There were lots of dogs in our group, and Kermit ended up making very best friends with a little beagle mix puppy named Anita.  They had a whale of a time wrestling and chasing each other around, while the more grown-up dogs pretended to be too mature for playing (but secretly wanted to join in).

We also had lovely weather for hiking:

Then last weekend, I went riding at Winter Park with some other ladies for Sienna's dirty thirty birthday celebration.  And, slightly on impulse but not entirely because I've always loved this particular make and model, after trying out one of WP's rental DH bikes I bought it, because it's so much bigger and squishier and awesomer than my current freeride bike:

Her name is Marshmallow because she is squishy and delicious.

We're going to go huck some fuzzy bunnies together at Keystone on Sunday.  Hopefully there will be pics and maybe even some GoPro footage.

Super quiet, super awesome!