A Try at Bangs

Hike at Aguirre Springs

Mike had an idea to go hiking over to Pine Tree Trail, where he used to go on father and son hikes back in the day. We decided to make a field trip of it and bring Barney along. He did so well! The hike is about five miles long and we were racing daylight, but we only had to use the flashlight for five minutes.

Barney stayed in between Mike and I while we hiked. He was good about staying on the trail.

He looks like he is choking!

The view. So beautiful.

Mike getting a little attention.

Such a beautiful hike. Totally recommend it.

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

We went to Tucson to go to the 24 Hour race in the Old Pueblo. Its a race where a ton of people come to hang out and have some good old mountain biking fun!

Its pretty much a town that is made of RV's and tents and when its done, it disappears! Here is the poster from this year:

After the race, Mike had cholla barbs in his feet and they had to operate!
The end of the race!

Mike going down the hardest part and almost getting in trouble cause the person stopped in front of him!

I got to ride at night for another group! So fun!

The clouds roll in...it rained and was so cold!!

Mike's first lap.

There he goes!

Inside the tent about to go out on the first ride.

The "town". You can see me in blue at the bottom.

Overall such a fun race. Too bad it was so old and rainy or it would have been better!

Snow Day!

We had a snow day today! It was really nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of work and actually be forced to stay inside. The only downside is cabin fever, but the dog helped to entertain!

Love the snow beard! He loved running in the snow!

His first check of the snow.
Let's dig in the snow!

Look at that face!

I know, I know...we act like crazy, proud parents. But how can you resist that face??

Bath Time!

He's getting so big!

The El Paso Puzzler

On January 16th, Mike and I raced the El Paso Puzzler. We had been looking forward to it because it was a really hard race: 35 miles, up and down a mountain twice, rocks, cactus, and downhill. Are we nuts or what?

Well, I didn't do very well. It took me 7 hours to get through it and a lot was spent running on foot. I had never gotten a flat and twice, my tire got a flat. Worst part was that I had handed Mike all my CO2s so I didn't have anything! So from mile 26-29, I was running.

Mike didn't have much luck either. He lasted an hour and a half in and split the side wall on his tire. He had to walk ALL the way back! Poor guy!

This is at the starting line. Little did we know...

Overall, we'll get em' next year! Haha!

Mt. Lemmon

The first weekend in January, Mike and I drove to Tucson to ride Mt. Lemmon with his brother in law Wayne. We were there to pick up a road bike for Mike and test it out!

Here is the road at the beginning on the way up. Mike and Wayne were catching me after having to stop and fix the seat. I never saw them the rest of the ride.

Mike and his new bike.

The weird thing is that we were there on January 8th, the day the congresswoman was shot in Tucson. Even stranger, is that we were right across the street at a Starbucks when it happened. So strange that a national crisis could hit so close.

Overall, Mt. Lemmon is more than 20 miles uphill and very cold in January. The boys loved it. I thought I was going to die of hypothermia, but it felt good to burn some calories!