Saturday, October 31, 2009

Psycho Cross and the ER

The Velodrome held a cyclocross race on Halloween this year. Fulton Flyers volunteered to help out on the day of the race, so we headed in to Atl in the morning. The course was really cool and the weather was cold and very wet....perfect for cyclocross.

The boys and I helped set up the course, then Jansen went out on the course to warm up for his 1pm race, while Everett and I changed for a road ride around the area. Shey showed up in the meantime, as he planned to race at 2:30.

I registered Jansen and was taking his number to him, when I saw him walking up the venue while holding his arm and telling Shey not to look at it.

The course was wet, muddy and slippery and Jansen went down on the cement. We think we must have fallen on something because there was the typical road rash, but also a deep hole on the inside of his elbow. I didn't think I could tape it up, as it was just a hole with no tissue for me to pull together. Jeff, the race promoter, was very helpful and got a first aid kit for us, to clean up the lesion.


Waiting in the ER.

Everett kept us entertained. We are thinking of starting an entire scrap book of the Lindners sleeping with their mouths open.


Jansen really wanted to take the cool gown home with him.



So, we spent over 4 hours in the emergency room and Jansen got six stitches. I think the worst part was that we all ate lunch really late. Those two boys look pretty bad when they miss a meal.



Let's just say the emergency room had some interesting characters in it and we stood out a good bit, even without our shiny cycling kits.......

Then we headed back to the race to see Shey race the A's. He skipped the masters as he was pretty queasy from seeing Jansen's injury.

Oscar was flyin' around the course.



Shey and Tinker Bell road very strong.





Jafer has a new name, thanks to Bruce. I think he will start a new lingerie line.



The Roman slid down the concrete embankment on his bare back. It was brutal to watch. That will be a great story to tell the grandkids.

All in all it was a good day and Jansen will have a super cool scar to show. We saw many great friends that we haven't seen for awhile and that totally made it worth the trip.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

HIghland Games

We like to visit the Highland Games at Stone Mountain in the fall. It is a gathering of Scottish clans.

They have scottish dance, bagpipe/drum and athletic competitions.

They also have all the bands play together in the field. There are handmade knives, lots of kilts and wool items for sale along with sheep dog and falconry demonstrations. It's pretty cool and the three of us have a great time wandering around the grounds. 98% of the men are wearing kilts on that weekend.

We love watching the guys throw the huge poles and heavy weights.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Off to Colorado Again

Jansen got the chance to attend the USA Cycling National Camp for juniors at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this year.



There were many more flights into Denver, so we decided that Everett, Jansen and I would fly in to Denver, rent a car and drive down to the camp to drop off Jansen.

No, they didn't make the guys carry around one of these balls!


Everett and I then spent the next 4 days hiking around the area and sleeping in the back of the car which we parked in the national forest.

Nissan Pathfinders make good warm sleeping quarters......



So, the pictures of the guys' buddies who were at this camp last year, were all sunshiny and warm looking. This year it was 19 degrees at night and 27 during the day! Brrrr......



Jansen called each day to tell us the scoop on what they did. It was pretty cool. No, he didn't just mention the cafeteria....he actually talked a bit about riding, tests and seminars.





Everett and I:

hiked through Garden of the Gods, a fossil reserve, and a few state and national parks,
we couldn't get up to Pike's Peak due to the weather, built a fire (wahooo), checked out some cliff dwellings, found an amazing coffee shop, ate at the best diner in CO, found an old used book store where I bought some 1994 Alaska magazines that were fun to read in the evenings and listened to the wolves howl at night.


Lots of fun!

This little guy wanted out Payday candy bar, really, really bad.

The Hungry Bear Restaurant was our favorite place for brunch.

The food and local discussions were amazing! All the food was from local farmers.


We saw a coyote on one of these trails.


Petrified redwood tree.

Oh, I was so excited that I got to build a fire!

Cliff dwellings.
The ancient one.


Minus one amigo......

Garden of the Gods trading post.

Frozen spider web.

Ice on the waterfalls.
Hiking....somewhere far away. Aspens with black marks from where the elk have eaten the bark.
We ended up on a long dirt road.

it had a couple tunnels on it.....Everett had to check them out before we drove through.
Hot chai tea and apple pie at Agia Sophia. Excellent!


We saw lots of huge mule deer.




Jansen was pretty sick by the time we picked him up, so we headed home early and he went straight to bed. He had a great time meeting some new guys and seeing old friends at the camp.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

12hrs of Dauset Cycle Youth Devo Team

Gone Riding, at the request of several parents, decided to add a junior category to their 12 hours of Dauset race, this year. This is our off-season, so we normally don't race too many xc races in the fall, but the boys wanted to show their support of the new junior cat.




So, they signed up to race on a junior team. The Cycle Youth Devo group did not have enough to fill three teams of four riders, so Everett and Jansen raced a three man team with Joe Buck.


Joe is a nice young man who pulled very consistent lap times and did a great job of racing his very first night lap.



These two young men have supported me at numerous races, so it was the least I could do for them. They have always been there with my feeds and to shove recovery bottles in my face at the end of the laps. This weekend it was my turn to do the feeding and it is always so much fun to hang out with them.


Jansen, as the miner-of-forty-niner.



Everett was THRILLED when Jansen showed up about 30 seconds before the cut-off time and he was sent out for the final lap.


Everett riding off into the night.


Each of the boys completed four laps, then Jansen and Everett each rode one more for a total of 14 laps.


I think Brian (Sven Dalawnagee) just told Jansen he was going to hunt him down and bounce him off the trail like a little rubber ball...........

Andy and Mike were there with awesome support! Thanks so much to those two guys!! Dave kept everything organized and brought the BROWNIES!!!


Cycle Youth came up with three teams of riders under 18.


Cycle Youth took first and Cherokee High School took second and third.




Danger Dave took first in the 12 hour. (Jafer took first in the 6 hr, but I didn't get a pic)


Anet finished first in the women's 12 hr solo and Patti got 2nd.

We were tired, so we headed out, but Brian and Shane got on the podium, and Ty and his buddies stood on the boxes, too. I'm sure there are others that I missed, but everyone had a great time.


(A couple of the Cherokee parents acted like they came straight from organized sports, so it will be great to see them transformed from hanging out at the mtb races! I actually had to tell one of the mother's, at the awards cermeony, that her attitude towards the juniors was really not cool.......it won't be long before that lady is out hiking and biking WITH her kids and finds out what it is all really about and that is a VERY cool thing! It's pretty awesome that an outdoor recreation has the ability to have such a positive affect on so many people. Hopefully it will touch her.)


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