three triangles times two

(thanks to mark for the pic)

got one exciting phone call on friday and an equally exciting email on friday... pics to come hopefully by next week. (edit: pics of one this week, pics of the other for sure next)
saturday morning john and i loaded up the element and headed up to the southern kettles. we signed up for the 6 hour duo. since we weren't up for ditching the kids we brought them along and just had a mellow race. we tented with 6 hour solo participants jeremey, jerry, lori, dave, aaron, 12 hour solo chris and chris' sis in law kari. thank you kari for making pee breaks not so stressful as well as putting up with 100 questions and "watch this" from casey. i gave john the nod to take the first lap. as much as i love running, i thought i'd share the love. not even finishing the start he sheared off his front chainring. kind of a bummer when you are running one gear. so he came back and stole the walt. i can't even imagine how uncomfortable he was on a singlespeed that was geared way lower than he would ever gear and a saddle way too low. it must've been like riding a big bmx bike. while he was out i ran to the car (thanks again kari) to get our "singlespeed box" to replace his chainring bolts.
i headed out and had no idea what to expect course wise. i was pleasantly surprised with some awesome singletrack! it was a blast. i made everything out there on the walt except for the end of, i think its called peanut butter hill. my heartrate would sky rocket as i reached the turn and i'd have to get off... everytime! i need more fitness. i would love to see a video of myself climbing that last steep climb near the end.
john's second lap had him on his own bike... he was back within minutes with no chainring bolts again. wtf! damn spot brand chainring. he had that on the ziggurat and had all kinds of problems. (we threw it away when we got home, bad juju or something) i was right in the middle of feeding zoe so nobody was out on the course for us. no biggee. i just hoped john could get his bike running so he could ride. i finished feeding zoe and headed out for another lap. came back and john was ready to go with a truvativ ring up front. i didn't see him until 20 some minutes later. he stopped and asked if i minded if he went out again. no problem.
we had a good time. it definitely wasn't a race for us. just some good riding with some good friends around. i woud totally do it again. i am totally envious of all you parents who have your shit together and all runs smooth. no matter how many times we do this, we still always run late because we don't leave enough time to pack it all. but in reality, we are like that with everything.
sunday we had plans on hitting PAMBA, but with getting to bed after midnight (zoe was trying to pull an all-nighter, i think she was overstimulated from the day's activities), it just wasn't in the cards. instead we went out and had a great breakfast. we headed out to the bookstore for a new atlas and to let the kids have fun in the kids' area. casey loves looking at the books and playing with the trains. the train table was heaven for zoe. old navy was right next store, so we bought the kids some new summer tanks and hoped to find a cool dog collar. hooters was right across the street and they were having a car show, so we walked over there. casey loves the old cars. she had a good time pointing out all the cars she dug. she now wants a hot rod or a big caddy. next up was best buy and then home.
the rest of the day was spent picking up, yard work, casey left for my aunt's to swim, more errands and a kick ass dinner on the grill... fish, peppercorn, asparagus, olive oil, sausage, salad... yum. i regret not going for a ride, but my ass hurts like it does after that first ride after the winter...