St. George century

Last year is when Elias was really starting to get in to cycling so he did a few centuries (hundred mile rides) and his last one of the season was the Tour of St. George.  We had so much fun going down to St. George, getting away and enjoying the warmer weather.  

This year Elias was on the fence about going to do the Tour of St. George but when he found out that I could have work off he was all about going! Since it's usually impossible for me to get work off.  So he flew in late Thursday night from a business trip in Puerto Rico went to a half day of work then came home and we got ready to go!  

I drove us the whole way down (since Elias was extremely jet lagged and I love driving! Especially to St. George since I know that drive like the back of my hand).  The whole ride down we just saw bikes after bikes on the cars we were passing and we were thinking either the Tour of St. George was going to have a killer turn out this year or it was just a perfect weekend to head south! 
When we got into town we met up with my parents and Bella and ate dinner with them at Players Sports grill.  We then headed over to Elias' aunt and uncle's house where we were staying for the weekend!  They are always the sweetest and most inviting people.  We didn't even call them to let them know we were coming till we were on our way :/ ha ha but they are used to visitors and always love having people stay with them.

The morning of the race I drove Elias woke me up after he was all ready to go so I threw on some clothes grabbed my camera and drove over to the starting point which is just a mile from Anne and Bob's house.  Driving over there we saw sooooo many cyclists honestly I think there was a way bigger turn out this year!  

Elias' good friend Ben from work also went down to do the ride! And I didn't realize that this was him till Elias was looking at these pictures with me afterward! ha ha

So after Elias was off I went back to Anne and Bob's. I was planning on going on a run but seriously I was pooped that morning! For some weird reason Elias and I slept horribly, the baby was moving all night and I just woke up not feeling very well so I ended up just hopping in the shower and getting ready instead.

Around 9 I headed over to meet up with Bella and Karen at their hotel to eat breakfast with them.  We always love the breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn because 1. it is delicious and 2. there is a waitress that has worked there for like 5 years that always remembers us since we have stayed there so many times!  This time she talked me into getting french toast, scrambled eggs, potatoes, and sausage :| I am eating for 2 right?? ha ha I also asked for a side of whipped cream. She ended up bringing Bella and I 2 bigs bowls of whipped cream it was hilarious!

After breakfast us girls headed out to go shopping.  It is so crazy how many new stores and restaurants St. George has these days! We ended up going to Target, TJ Maxx/Homegoods and the Gap outlet which is a new addition to St. George.  And Gap was having an additional 40% off your entire purchase so naturally we had to go! And naturally I went straight to the baby stuff.  I ended up getting, onsies, pants, socks, footie pajamas and Kare bought some baby jeggings. I was stoked.

While we were walking out of the Gap Elias called me "just to see what I was up to" ha ha it was cute. I told him I just got a bunch of stuff for the baby and then he let me know where they were so we headed up to go see them and take them some drinks. (Keep in mind they have just been peddling away all morning while we ate and shopped!)

So we headed up to Santa Clara and bought them some things they requested. Elias: redbull, power bar, and Rockstar recovery. Dad: chocolate milk and redbull.

Last year I was there by myself trying to chase down Elias and my dad while they were riding and I ended up going to the Santa Clara City Hall to meet up with them and it was pretty boring! Thankfully this year I had Karen and Bella there.  So we stopped at the same place I did last year and we hung out just talking, taking pictures and watching bella dance around.  

 Bella had fun playing with my new camera, taking pictures of everything around. Including her almost spotless Chucks.  I told her that when I was her age it was cool to have dirty Chucks and I always tried to get them dirty as soon as I could.  She told me she keeps her cleaning by wiping them down with makeup wipes after she wears them.  ha ha times have changed!

We ended up waiting in Santa Clara for over an hour for the guys, I guess they got a crazy head wind right after I talked to them! But that's okay it was just fun to chat and enjoy the perfect weather!

After we saw the guys and gave them their drinks we headed to the finish line.  It was only about 10 miles away so it didn't take them long at all to get there!

 
 
 

 
So another 100 miles down for these 2! Elias said he probably won't do this ride again next year.  We'll see about that! :)

The rest of the trip was fun; we of course had Swig a few times, ate In N Out, went swimming and relaxed!

Until next time St. George 

-stef

Jackson Hole

After Lotoja Elias and my dad wanted burgers.  So to make it easy on everyone I Yelped restaurants in Jackson and one of the top restaurants was 4 star burger place called Macphail's Burgers.  It looked pretty cool and had good revues so we went there.  Not going to lie we were so disappointed! It was pretty expensive and not very good at all.  But we did get some entertainment from the extremely flamboyant and frazzled waiter! After dinner went went back to the hotel and were all way tired except for my dad who had so much energy you never would have guessed he had just raced!

The next morning we woke up a little earlier then we wanted, got ready and headed over to the awards for Lotoja we really just wanted to see the pro podium so when we found out that they were starting out from the bottom and finishing with the pros we decided to leave.

We headed over to where Elias' parents were staying which was at Ellison's extremely wealthy cousin's guest house.  right when we got there we could tell this house was going to be pretty immaculate!  It had it's own private lane that was probably a mile long and it had it's own pond in the front yard.  Once we pulled up to the guest house Elias' parents came out and told us we just missed a moose wandering around and gave us a tour around the property and literally 10 yards from the guest house, just over this little hill is the Snake River.

That's the Tetons in the background

Then there is this path that wraps around to Ellison's other cousin's house.  Which is absolutely stunning it has IT'S own pond as well, equipped canoes, paddle boards, a putting green and tons of dear.  Ellison told us that her cousin only spends 6 weeks in this house and the rest of there time is spent in Houston.

After this little stroll Elias and I decided to move to Jackson! Ha ha just kidding we WISH this place really is incredible :)

-Stef

Lotoja

Lotoja has come and gone so quickly!! Entered the lottery to race Lotoja back at the beginning of the year, and ever since then it has been on the back burner.  We've talked about it here and there and people would ask Elias about it all of the time.  Lotoja is the longest one day race in North America. It goes from Logan Utah to Jackson Hole Wyoming and finishes at 206 miles.  Elias has been training all year for various races but once the end of summer was coming he really stepped up his mileage for this big race.  Elias raced in the 3/4 category and his start time was at 6:20 am.  That means we left at 4:30 am ha ha!!! We woke up at 4:00 am finished packing the last of the things that we hadn't packed the night before.  Elias made his special little sandwiches to eat throughout the race and I did my hair and make up of course.  

So Elias's little sandwiches are so funny and I REALLY wish I would have gotten a picture of them.  A few weeks ago Elias bought some special tin foil off of amazon.  They are one side foil and one side paper.  We bought these little rolls called "dollar rolls" that are like 3 bites max and Elias made 2 different kinds of sandwiches, peanut butter and honey, and ham, cheese, honey mustard. He then cut the tin foil perfectly and folded them in a way that would be easy to open on the bike and labeled them PBH and H ha ha! 

Anyway so we get on the road at 4:30 and head towards Logan, on the way there we saw tonnnnnnns of cars with bikes on them headed in the same direction.  It only took us about 50 minutes to get there which was perfect because it gave us time to label our car with the race tags, glue Elias' bib number, fill his water bottles and for him to go to the "porta john" 

This is what the start looked like right before Elias's time.  There were SO many people and it was freezing.  It's so fun at races like this because even though it is so early, dark and cold there is such an amazing energy there!

Since Elias was in such a fast group I wanted to have enough time to get to the first stop before he got there. So unfortunately I didn't see him start but I got a few pictures of him before he set off!

At about 6:15 I took off to my next stop which was Montpelier Idaho.  To get there you go through a canyon that drops down into Bear Lake and then you head north to the very tip top of Bear Lake and that is where Mont Pelier is!

The drive was gorgeous! Although I was pretty tired and all by myself so I was blasting my music trying to stay awake!  The funny thing is that through the canyon I was like the only car.. so I started getting worried that I was going the wrong way.  At one point I even pulled over because I noticed the stickers with Elias' race number on the back of the car were starting to peel off.  So I pulled over to fix them and expected some cars to pass me and there was still NO ONE!  

Here is the end of the canyon where it opens up to Bear Lake! It was so beautiful with the sun rising over the water.  I've only been to Bear Lake a few times but it really is such a pretty place it would be awesome to have a cabin or something up there!

So when I first left Logan to head to Montpelier I really really had to pee and I was starving aaaand I needed to buy ice for our cooler.  So I was going to find a Mcdonalds but I didn't realize that there wasn't one in between the start and Montpelier so when I got to Bear Lake I stopped at the first Chevron, went to the bathroom, bought some ice and when I was putting it in the cooler is when I saw the first line of cars pass me!  So legitimately I was one of the first people to leave the starting point.

For the most part photos without people are kind of boring, so you have to throw some selfies in there right??

Here is a pretty chapel in Paris Idaho.  Keep in mind these little towns I'm going through have populations of like 1,000 or less! It is crazy ha ha.

So I got to Montpelier with plenty of time to spare.  I stopped and went to the restroom and got a disgusting breakfast sandwich from maverick.  Then went to the feed zone for the riders.  The feed zones are separated into 9 sections and a neutral zone which is for rides who don't have anyone supporting them.  Elias and I decided to be in zone 9 that way not too many people could pass him without him knowing it.  

I sat in the feed zone for awhile, then Karen got there and we hung out for awhile and then Ellison came as well!! So it was fun to sit and chat with them for some time before the riders rolled in.  First the pros came in and then about 5-10 minutes later was Elias' group.  I'm not going to lie it is pretty stressful when your rider gets there.. the goal is to switch out their water bottles, take any trash and clothing they want to get rid of, and reload there jersey's with anything they need in less that 60 seconds! Thankfully Ellison helped me at this stop and Elias was out of the shoot in probably 30 seconds.  We gave Elias some new bottles, clif bloks and sandwiches.

Because of the stressfulness I didn't get any pics.. But let me tell you Elias looked awesome! He didn't even look like he was sweating!

From there I took of to the next stop.  I knew this one was going to be more difficult to get to in time because the route they make you take to get there is soooooooo long and you back track so I got out of there fast and headed on my way.  It took over 2 hours for me to get there and I was falling asleep hard core! I was popping sweet tarts the whole time trying to stay awake.

all day these clouds were threatening rain but thankfully Elias didn't get rained on.

As I was taking the longest scenic route of my whole life I was in like a mile long line of cars going to the same place and at one point the line came to a stop.  Why you ask? Oh just to take a look at the sheep.  Seriously look at all the of those! I'm not going to lie I was pretty mad people were stopping.. they were going way too slow as it was. But since I was already stopped I figured I should take a picture ha ha.

Okay here comes to the most insanely frustrating time of the whole day.  I'm pulling into Afton Wyoming where the second feed zone was and there is a ton of construction.  Keep in mind I already took a 2+ hour route to get there then I pull in to the town and we are going about 5mph because of the construction.  To make it worse I saw the pro group coming towards me which meant they had already made their stop and elias was mere minutes behind.  My heart started racing, I pulled out of the line of cars and found my own path to the feed zone.  I took some side streets until I could see the zone, I knew I would be cutting it close but I parked about two blocks away left the car running opened the hatch back grabbed all the crap I could and then a volunteer told me I couldn't park there, I told her I didn't care (I was panicking)  In the same moment Elias is calling me and I could see him at the feed zone looking for me.  I start sprinting (pregnant and all) with my bags of food and drinks and am saying "looking to your right I'm two blocks away!! Look I'm right here!!!" He couldn't understand me and said "I'll just get stuff from Matt's dad" Thankfully Elias was strategizing with his friend Matt who happened to have extra stuff so Elias didn't go hungry or thirsty!  So I head back to my car as Elias and Matt pass me I yell "I'm sorry babe the caravan was too slow and I didn't make it in time!!!!" he couldn't understand me.

I was SO furious.  How could the stupid Lotoja people purposely make us go the stupidest route and miss our riders????

I was not going to let that happen again.  I drove so fast and I was driving I was cursing the Lotoja people in my head.  I was thinking why the heck do I even have Lotoja numbers and caution signs on my car?  And then it dawned on me.  That is the only way they can patrol where you go! So I got to the next feed zone and furiously ripped everything off of my car and decided I would go whatever way I wanted because I am not missing Elias again.  Especially when he finishes!

So I got to Alpine which was a good stop.  I had enough time to situate everything for Elias and was ready for him when he got there.  We even had time for a kiss :)  I was so proud of Elias at this point.  He was killing it! It is such an incredible thing to see a person do something so physically and mentally challenging, and to see them do it well!

Unfortunately no pics again :( I just DID NOT want to jeopardize him in anyway.

Once again I took off fast from this point, this was the last stop before the finish so I wanted to give myself enough time.  This was another part of the race where they make you go a way stupid roundabout way to get to Jackson.  So instead of going the stupid way I sneakily got around the volunteers and sheriff's and took the fastest way which was through the canyon.  I am so happy I did, not only did I get there in time but I was able to see Elias riding as well.  When I passed him he was riding hard up a hill and looked incredible.  

I finally got to Jackson and I was extremely happy, until I realized that they actually finish at Jackson Hole Resort which was like another 10 miles.  I couldn't even believe it, this course definitely plays mind games! I couldn't even imagine how it would be on your bike to realized you had that much further to go.

When I got up to the finish line there weren't many people there.. and I probably hung out for about a half hour before the pro's came through.  It was pretty lame when the pros came through they came in so fast but there was no crowd, so it was really quiet and not a lot of energy.  After the pros a few more groups came in and I was getting worried because I saw the group that Elias was with the whole race and he wasn't there.. I was thinking did I miss him? or did he crash?? oh geez I was praying that he didn't crash. 

And just before I started panicking Ellison called me and told me she saw Elias.  She said he was with another rider and they were about 2 miles out.  THANK GOODNESS!!!  The announcer said there were a few guys coming in and lo and behold it was Elias!  Yay!  

He was with another Intermountain Livewell guy and he looked pretty disappointed.  Although his time was 8:59... um sub 9 hours is unheard of! He did amazing 

I was waiting for him with a big kiss and a Blue Berry Redbull.  His friend was like "you get a kiss even when you're gross and sweaty??" He sure does!!!!

So all in all Elias wasn't happy with his rank (14th in his category) but was very happy with his time 8:59.  His goal was just sub 9:30 so he killed it!  Especially since most of the people in his category had done this race 5 or 6 times and knew the course like the back of their hand.

Right after he finished Ellison came running to the finish and about half hour later Karen came so we all hung out waiting for Rob and my dad!  As the time went on sooooo many people started showing up.  Elias and I think it's funny because in the above picture there is no one but around the 10 hour mark there were hundreds of people.

Rob came in at 10:08 and my dad came in at 10:28!  

I am so proud of them all!  They worked their butts off for months and months with waking up extra early, riding thousands of miles, having strict nutrition and having killer self control.  I am so excited for Elias to do this race again next year and to have our little girl see her daddy kill it!!

Until next year LOTOJA

-Stef

whoa backup let's catch up on life!!

i just got home from the gym. it was my first time going in what seems like years but i guess it's just been about 6 weeks and let's just say i have become a weakling!! i was only able to do 25 min of cardio and about 15 minutes of weights but you know what? i am so proud of myself for going.  fitness has always been a part of my life and i feel like i need to do all i can to stay in shape this pregnancy so that i can have a healthy body so that my baby can be healthy!

anyway i sit here on the couch listening to brand new very quietly since Elias is napping.  He went with the scouts on a night hike last night! they left at 9:30 last night and got home at 10:00 this morning! so this nap is very very needed.

so i basically need to catch up on the whole month of july!  the 4th was so much fun we love staying local because k-town does a pretty awesome independence.  in the morning Elias went on a nice long ride then we went to his grandma's for the annual independence day breakfast (although nothing there really seemed that appetizing) i ended up only eating a few mini muffins and some fruit! after breakfast we went to the parade and sweated our brains out.  unfortunately the parade was a little disappointing this year but it's tradition right? the rest of the day consisted of hanging out, eating and fireworks of course!

Also we spent a whole day reconstructing out front planter and planted these bushes! I'm so excited for them to grow and one day be nice shrubs :)

when the night time rolled around we were originally planning on doing the layton city fireworks because they are the bomb, but after driving over there and realizing we would have a really hard time of finding a spot we decided to head to kaysville but it was the same story there so we decided to go home shower put our jammies on and the just go to a park by our house and watch them from there.  and let me just say it was the best decision ever! i loved just spending time with elias :) out of the chaos!

next big event.. FARMINGTON STATION CRITERIUM RACE! since i got pregnant we decided it wouldn't be the smartest thing to go on pioneer trek so we were able to be home for one of the most exciting races of the year! elias got to be in the crit race at farmington station park.  it was the coolest race that he has been in so far.  when i got to the location they already had this huge amazing real podium and i instantly got nervous for him! i was thinking "holy cow this is a big deal" ha ha.  he was in the category 4/5 and right off the bat we could tell this was going to be a dangerous course lap after lap people were crashing out of the race! on elias' first lap he almost crashed right in front of us on a corner (i think i had a heart attack) but we saw tons of bruised and bloody cyclists, not to mention their kits were totally ruined! but after all the sketchi-ness elias came out with the win! i absolutely love hearing his name over the speakers and watching him blow through the finish line a winner :)

Look at his calf!

my new obsession is ruby red squirt oh my gosh it is so good! i was definitely craving it for a few weeks ha ha the gas station right next to my work sells single cans of it for like 70 cents.

my new job has been good! although i feel like all i do is work.  also it is really hard because my manager has asked me not to tell anyone that i am expecting so it is so weird not talking about it, and it almost makes me forget i am pregnant when i am work. which has made the last couple weeks go by SO fast pregnancy wise!

pioneer day i had to be in a parade for work and i met the ksl news crew! they were the float right in front of us. and let me just say if you want a good parade go to the bountiful pioneer days parade. it is a BIG DEAL and i had no idea it even existed! people do amazing floats and sooooo many people attend. then on the actual 24th we went to the ogden rodeo which was incredible as usual :) it is always so patriotic and really reminds you how amazing the USA is (even if Obama has made you forget that). in the opening ceremony they played a speech by Ronald Reagan and showed footage of some big events in American history and i'm not going to lie it brought a tear to my eye! then they had the american flag parachuted in it was awesome! and of course the rodeo is always great.  the ogden rodeo is a top 5 rodeo in the nation so you get the best cowboys in the world there!

last but not least i went to the bridal shower for one of my favorite people in the world, my cousin brooke! and after the shower we were able to attend the temple with her for her first time! she is the cutest and i am so so excited for her and her fiance.  they truly are made for each other and it was so awesome being in the temple with them!

(We made her play the bubble gum game!)

pregnancy is going well, i am going to do a completely seperate post on how i am feeling and all of the nursery stuff that i am dying over!!!!!! yay :)

-stef