Going Home

When the boys were small, I would visit our family in Texas every two or three months, because I knew that would not be possible when they were teenagers.

Well, the three of us don't get to go back as often as we used to, but it is still so much fun to see our family during the summer break.

It's really nice that Shey and I grew up together, so all our family lives in the same area. The boys get to see all their grandparents and most of their aunts, uncles and cousins, in one weekend.

The people in the Texas hill country enjoy their families and they enjoy their life too much to rush through it.

The town, where we grew up, moves at a slower pace. The kids still play washers and horse shoes and the men start barbequing at about 3 or 4 in the morning. You can earn a reputation by your brisket or pinto beans. And the food this weekend was out of sight!

They have THE BEST 4th of July parade AND they still throw CANDY!!

The boys are very lucky to have extremely cool grandparents on both sides of the family. Their aunts, uncles and cousins are awesome and lots of fun, too.

Donnie and Amber built a cool "party barn" and all of my mother-in-law's grandchildren were there for Cary's graduation party, so we grabbed the chance to get pictures.

Cary, Trae, Savanna, Courtney, Everett and Jansen. All very cool kids.

Brittany and her son, Cary, Trae, Savanna, Courtney, KC (Shey's younger sister), Jansen, Amber (Shey's older sister) and Everett.

You never know what we are going to bring back from the ranch or shopping at the Mexican Marketplace.

All that work!

We had an awesome trip to TX this past weekend to visit our family. When we got home, the garden was in pretty bad shape from being negleted for 4 days. It was a little upsetting.

This was 5 days before we left.

This was what the three of us found when we got back.

The boys and I worked pretty hard on the garden this spring, so I spent a few hours trying to salvage what plants I could. I got a few green beans, but the blooms on most of the plants looked like they did not set, so there won't be much to freeze, unfortunately.

Shey told me, over the phone, that it looked bad, but I guess if it's not a bike..........

Next year, we will set up a sprinkler system and ask our friends/neighbors to water the garden for us when we are gone. I'm sure I can bribe Kindle with some "two buck chuck" wine!

Brother Sacrifices for State Title

While Shey was racing in Ohio the boys and I headed to the GA State RR Championship race in Union City. I didn't want to miss the boys' start, which was at a different point than the other races, so I skipped this one and had a great time supporting.

Whoa, what a stressful morning ....long story short. Jansen's back wheel would not stay in during his warm-up 10 minutes before the race and he endo'd. Everett offered his bike to Jansen, since he has a state jersey from last year and has not been training as hard, and I let them decide what to do. (my bike does not have junior gearing and the guys tried to block it out, but it wasn't possible) Jansen raced Everett's bike and won.

We were up and running very early to make the 8 am start time.....Huge thanks to Eric for putting this race on for our juniors! I must say this was our very favorite race, ever, on the road, as the juniors had their own start and official and these guys knew the route and were very organized. Eric did a great job of organizing this and if weren't for him and the other parents there would not have been a state race for these guys.

BIG THANKS TO EVERETT FOR GIVING UP HIS RACE FOR HIS BROTHER. That was a tough one, because part of racing is caring for your bike and if there is a problem...well, it's your mechanical issue and no one else's. Everett was extremely bummed that he did not get to race, but was very happy for his brother and was very cool about it.

Registration was the same old chaos with incorrect numbering and no information on the start. We had to force the issue of a state jersey that was promised, but then they didn't get state jerseys after all....they got series jerseys or something like that. Nothing new.

Fulton Flyers had a great time on the podium and had a blast racing together. Congrats to everyone!!

We have pre-teen chickens, now.

The chicks are living in the hen house, now. It needs a roof, some more windows and a fenced yard.




The chickens love to play outside.

School is out and it's time for.......

Blacksmithing at night!

The boys found a stronger fan to hook up to the furnace and ended up melting their cast iron pot and the bottom of a terra cotta pot.

Everett removed the tire from an old lawn mower wheel and used the rim to condense the heat. It worked very well.....it was HOT!

This Week's Injuries

Shey hit a tree pretty hard and I didn't get a picture of his toe until some of the swelling had gone down. It was awesome looking. Huge! He should put some windex......

His shoulder looked pretty bad, too, but he wasn't feeling up for more photo ops, so.....

Jansen was just chillin' on the deck with the guys while I was working on the hen house. A GIANT ALIEN insect (or wasp) attacked him and he barely escaped with his life!

Pre-ride and Race at Heritage

Jansen had a strong race and got to hang out with a bunch of his buddies. Zach, Jaimie, Seth, Andy, Wes and a bunch of other guys were out there. Shey took Jansen to the race, so Everett and I could stay home and work on the hen house (which is taking FOREVER to build). We missed everybody, but got a lot of work done. Zach plans to be at the xc camp, which is very cool.

The pre-ride at Heritage was a blast. When you drive up and see the field, you are thinking, "great, another flat course, ugh". However, as soon as you hit the woods, it's roots, turns, rutted out downhills, creek crossings and tons of fun! Very mountain bikey.

New Family Members

I've been off the bike for three weeks due to my other fun hobbies.

Vegetable Garden is loving the rain!

Can't wait for the blueberries to ripen.

Our new fuzzy family members....who we hope make it through the hawks, racoons, and snakes that we have in the woods behind us.

Once these guys are large enough to hang out away from a heater and warm lamp, riding will resume. (about another week or two)

The boys and I are building a hen house. We got to use a POWER SAW! It was AWESOME!! (though it took us 15 minutes to figure out where the safety latch was to open the saw, but that's a secret)

We starting building the coop the day before mother's day. It was a ton of fun.

Kari

Yargo GSC

Cohutta 100 and 35er

Our camera was not working, so these are pictures from a kind soul, Ronnie Fields.

Wow, what a crazy, muddy, but fun race!

I was lucky, as my bike shifted as well as can be expected in the mud. I was only out a few gears and have had enough chain suck in the past to know that I was incredibly lucky to be able to pedal. That kept me smiling the whole way. I noticed that my front tire would not hold air the day before the race and Shey and I decided not to risk replacing the stans with no air compressor. So, I took a Co2 cartridge with me to add air as needed. That worked well.

This a fun, fast and beautiful course. Good stuff all around.

Suzie broke her ankle, so I wanted to hammer to find a volunteer to give them detailed directions to her. I didn't want to take the time to add air, then, so I made it through the first few muddy downhills with a squishy tire, but reinflated before any major decents, after that. Gave quick directions to 3 different volunteers to make sure she would be found asap and I'm sure 20 other riders did the same.

Jansen and Everett had a very fun and fast race. I didn't see them laying on the side of the trail during my ride, so I knew all was well. Bruce eventually got Jansen's name and age right at the start, so he was smiling, too. (Jansen, not Everett and he just turned 13) Everett hit hard on a bridge, so he wasn't smiling quite as much. Shey NEVER smiles.........

All four of us had a ton of fun and Jansen won some pretty cool prizes.

While I was scoring, I heard this incredible noise in the distance and I said, " I bet Aimee is coming in" and, sure enough, she was making her way across the bridge. I am soooo proud of her. She had another amazing race! Very cool!

Kate had a major mechanical which left her on the side of the trail with a sad look as she tugged at her chain. She got it moving and finished the race in a darn good position!

I wasn't sure if we could use ipods so I took mine off, which left me talking to myself for most of the race. I'm sure the guys around me thought I was totally crazy, but what's new? I sang each time I had to add air to my front tire. I chose an Avril song, which is quite poppy. It made me calm down so I wouldn't loose too much time from fumbling around with the CO2 cartridge.

The food was great. The tshirts, hats and mugs were great. The trail and foliage were great. The volunteers were awesome this year. They were very clear with directions as I came through. (last year, there were a couple times that I wasn't sure if I was still on the race course or not)

And you guys....our cabin was AWESOME!!! It makes it feel so weird to drive back into Atl and all the noise and buildings, because the cabins and homes are tucked into the moutains, where it is so peaceful.

A big thanks to my buddies for coming over to hang out for a bit and keep me company after their races. They are so understanding and would only talk when racers were not coming in. I've got the coolest group of buds and family around, for sure! It was very cool to have so many friends in one place this weekend.

Big, big thanks to J and E for all their help after their race. I know you guys were tired and you are always volunteering to help whenever needed. It's always cool to hang with my boys!

Kari

Columbus GSC Race

The weather was AWESOME!!! Couldn't ask for better!

Shey (pro/semi-pro), Jansen (sport 19-29) and I (expert women 0-199) raced xc this weekend, while Everett worked the feed zone and helped the Bergers score the race. (yep, he broke his xc bike AGAIN!)

Crazy morning, as usual. So, Shey decides that we need a CIRCUS TENT to create shade for all the young racers. He said there was no problem bringing it, because we would just strap it to the top of the car......yep, it screamed on the highway!! So, we pull over twice and he ends up putting it in the car. Two adults, two teenagers, two 70 lb dogs all our gear and food and a big/huge/gigantic canopy right in the middle. Right-O and we're on our merry way.

The trail was perfect with just the right tackiness to keep the dust down. The course is flat with tons of tight stuff like Pig Trail, so you have to have your mojo goin' on or you clip trees like crazy!

Shey got to mix it up with two Canadians and Jansen had 15 guys in his field. This was his first race in the 19-29 sport age group, so he was anxious to see how he would do. 3 out of 6 of the ladies were Sorellas in the expert field. Shey was talking to the devo juniors and didn't get in a warm-up, but Jansen and I got to hit the dirt road for a few minutes before line-up.

We started off by heading into a field which gave the ladies time to sort places out before heading into the single track. This was much better than the dash for the woods in the past couple years.

The young guys come up first and their adrenaline is pumping, the middle aged ladies chuckle.... Then I hear "hey Mom!" as Jansen flies by. Very cool!

I stay at a moderate pace, since this has been a crazy year and I haven't put the miles on my mtb that I had hoped for. I think, "remember, you have 30 miles to do and you don't want to be crawling those last 10!"

I come through the feed zone and my older son is there with my bottle, damn...I totally forgot to drink...very unlike me. So, I gulp what I can and take a new bottle.

After the feed there is a fun, flat, twisty section. This has always been my weakness. I can't turn, but I've been working on it and I didn't screech to a halt as often as I have in the past. (Shey's buddy was making fun of him through these sections......let's just say that Shey is a shifter....)

Funny second lap story: There is a guy out there in mesh basketball shorts and a cycling jersey. Very nice guy. I see him in the twisty area at the end of the course and I call out "passing on your left" he says "okay" and moves to the left and hits the brakes. (yes, when you are tired, you hear and think all sorts of weird things and we have all moved to the wrong side before) If was a fast section and I hit him pretty hard, tire to tire, and I go flying over the handle bars. The funny part is that I land right in a pile of leave with my mouth WIDE OPEN. I jump up and spit out leaves which are in my mouth, up my nose, stuck to my chin, etc. I wish there was a video! I jump back on my bike and the guy immediately apologizes. It obviously was an accident and not intentional and I tell him it's not big deal and laugh as I spit out more leaves. Then, I take off.

Well, I come across this guys AGAIN in the field. (yes, I just left him in the woods, but he appears again) I start laughing and I say, "Okay, it's me again and this time I'LL GO THE THE LEFT AND YOU STAY ON THE RIGHT AND WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T HIT YOUR BRAKES.....he starts laughing and says Okay." I tell him he's doing great out there and I head out for my third lap.

Nothing eventful in the last lap. I was just happy to be done and I was STARVING!

Jansen had a very exciting race and sprinted to the finish with his buddy Luke. Those two took first and second which was really neat, after their battles last year in the junior category. Their race is always exciting to watch and I hated to miss it.

Everett has been a great help during the dirt races that he decides to volunteer instead of race.

Though he is a road and cross racer, he still hits the dirt with us every week and he's a ton of fun to ride with.

It's good to be out there again and the day could not have been better. I took the dogs for a walk and they played in the lake for awhile. We all got to visit with our friends before packing up for the 2.5 hour drive home.

Cohutta is next!

Kari L.

Jansen's B-day!!!

Yep, he is officially a teenager. Jansen turned 13 this month! After our road race, we booked it home to clean up before his buddy Danny arrived.

After they hung out for a bit, we headed to Mad Cactus for burritos. Then, at home, we ate this awesome cake from Southern Sweets...who makes the BEST cakes, ever! Of course, they shot each other silly with water guns and stayed up late doing those obviously necessary things, like watching X-Files.

In the morning it was pancakes and the candy rain! We were sorely disappointed that Danny actually remembered his umbrella this year. We had grown accustomed to seeing him in our super cool Shamu poncho from Sea World. This is the fate of anyone who does not remember his umbrella for our candy rain.

As the guys get older the "candy" turns into cool airplanes, money and other items that could cause a concussion. Still, they turn their umbrellas upside down to catch the most loot, at the risk of getting beaned in the head. Smart guys these are!

HAPPY 13TH !!

Gainesville Road Race

The boys and I all race the Gainesville Road Race on April 5th.

This is a GA Cup race, so the course was not marked well, the results were not posted for protest and the results were wrong. Typical of this series. Many racers missed turns, which put guys leading the pack....chasing the pack, instead.

Everett's lead car led them off the course and they ended up on a highway where they had to pull over in a parking lot in the cold rain and wait for another car to come find them and take them back to the course. I will say that these juniors handled this with grace. No complaints or anger, dispite their disappointment, again, in this series.

Here is Jansen's race report:


Last Saturday was the Georgia Cup, Gainesville race. It was the first road race I’ve ever done. (I’ve raced xc for three and a half years) So, I raced the juniors eleven to fourteen category. At the start line, I looked at the competition. The category consisted of mainly Frazier Cycling juniors with a wide range of ages and abilities, one guy who was even taller than me, my teammate Sean and me. The tall guy had a sweet steel lugged Colnago!

When the race was off we started in a slow moving mass of blue and white. After a while, three guys ended up at the front. Tall Colnago kid, Sean and me. In that order. As the race went on riders kept popping off the back, until, after a long hill, I looked back and no one was there.

We rode the rest of the fifteen miles in a breakaway pack of three. Sean and I tried to pass the Colnago guy, but he would have none of it, so the three of us came down the final stretch together. Sean pulled away with me right on his wheel. Then, I moved around for the sprint and we came in first and second. Very cool.

The awards were very frustrating because they didn’t post the results for a protest period. Then when they were posted they were wrong. We did get our medals...eventually, after standing around in the cold for 45 minutes, but the results on-line are still wrong and my name is nowhere to be found.

I had lots of fun and got to see friends and teammates that I don’t usually get to see, since I’m a mountain biker.