Busy, busy...

Another busy month, and I just kind of forget about the blog. Oops.
It seems that we've been driving all over the place lately. This weekend it was nice to just sit at home and relax.

A few races since my last post. I did a crit in Waukesha...my first crit in over 2 years. The last few corners were pretty sketchy, so I just rolled it in with the main pack. Then I did a road race in Whitewater. Felt really good, I was in the leading group of 13 riders with a half mile to go in the race when two riders right in front of me tangled bars and went down. I ran right over them and hit the pavement. Luckily my bike escaped relatively unharmed...the wheels trued back up, just a couple small scratches on the frame, few marks on the shifter...some new hbar tape and it was rolling again. I had some good road rash on my arm, hip, and palms though.

The next weekend Annabelle and I headed to ND to visit the grandparents and do the Prairie Rose road and mtb races.
Here she is at one of the pit stops, enjoying herself.
The road race was on Saturday. Once again, I was feeling really good and was in the leading group of 7 riders on the last lap of the 50 mile race. About a mile past the start/finish line, my rear tire flatted. Crap. My sealant didn't work, so I had to walk it back a mile. Turned out I had a nice chunk of glass in my rear tire.
The mtb race was on Sunday, and that went better. Vino, Greg, and Sears were there, so it was good seeing them. Jay Richards, a semi-pro from MN, was also there. He and I got away on the first lap and rode the rest of the 6 laps together, taking turns pulling through the horse trails. Some new sections of singletrack out at Turtle River...great loop. He got me on the uphill paved sprint finish, so I got 2nd place overall. Jay's take on the race can be found here.

Annabelle and I arrived home on Monday, and then on Wednesday we were on the road again to our annual lake retreat with the Josef parents, this time near Phillips, WI. That was a nice, relaxing time. It was pretty cold for July...didn't go swimming or anything, but I managed to read some books, do some puzzles, play some board games, and watch the Tour.

This past Tuesday after work we headed back to ND. RIP Jack. Our thoughts are with the entire Leedahl family.

Random notes...I may be getting a new job at Trek. I have a 2nd interview on Monday morning, so I'll keep you informed of what happens with that. Also, a group of players from my league hockey team signed up for the 2010 Pond Hockey Champs in Eagle River, WI in February. That should be a really fun time. And that's all for now.

Catching up...

Back at it again. Let's get it started...the last few months in pictures:

Auntie Alane visited us for a weekend. We went for a nice bike ride.

Then Tonia, Dad, and Danette all visited over Memorial Day weekend.
Tonia said the cows smelled just like Trent.

Annabelle loves swinging at the park.

Sometimes I want to partake in the fun as well.

This week we started Annabelle on some "solid" foods. She liked that.

Within two days, she already figured out how to work the spoon. Now I just put the food on the spoon and hand it to her. She takes care of the rest.

I got a new bike as well. It's fast and light.

Last weekend was the WI State Champ road race. I got 5th overall and 2nd for WI riders...I missed being the state champ by about 2 inches. So close...so that's both cool and annoying at the same time. The winner soloed for the last two laps and second place was none other than Robbie Ventura (ex-pro rider for USPS and ex-coach for Floyd Landis)...he wore a helmet cam and taped the whole race. There was a hill about 200 ft before the finish line and another rider attacked on that...only me and one other rider went with him. Here's the sprint developing, a little closer, closer still, and then me being disgusted that I lost the sprint. The first three places were all IL riders, so if I would have beaten that one dude at the end, I would have been state champ. Such is life sometimes... :)

Fun stuff coming up...first mtb race of the season for me next weekend. Road race on July 4th weekend. Then July 11-12 I am planning on heading back to GF to visit and to race the Prairie Rose road/mtb races. Annabelle has been all over the US with her mom (Michigan, Maryland, and soon Kentucky), so it's about time that her and I went roadtriping together.

Over and out.

First and Last

Long time no post. My apologies. Not too much new going on.
Annie's getting bigger, and becoming much more alert. Her new favorite game is now "Is Daddy Looking At Me?" when she's sitting in her chair at the table. She'll hide behind her toy, move to the side to see if I'm watching her, and then laugh and smile before quickly looking away. Then she does it again. Pretty darn cute.

Outdoor naked time.

Wearing her summer tank top.

On Saturday was my first race of the season, a road race near Baraboo. We did 3 laps of a 15mile course with two decent climbs on it. I felt crappy on the first lap and didn't make the lead group of around 15 riders that got away on the big climb. I got in a chase group of around 6 riders and we stayed pretty close to the leaders for the rest of the 1st and 2nd laps. We kept picking up riders that had gotten dropped by the leaders, and with only a few miles to go our group had around 15 people in it, with the leading group having 9. We brought the gap down to around a minute, but never got closer. In the last mile, a team from Chicago that had three riders in the group started to do a leadout for one of their guys. They were all lined up on the left waiting to start their sprint, but as we got closer to the line I decided to take off on the right. I took the field sprint by about a wheel length and got 10th place. Not too shabby for my first race of the season. After I got past the first lap, I felt good.

On Sunday was the last league hockey game of the season. Team Blue had a pretty bad playoff run...only winning one of the 5 playoff games. We were playing Team Red in the 5th place game, and we ended up losing 4-3 in the shootout. I've played three seasons now, and so far my team has ended up like this in the playoffs: Lost the Champ game (2 years ago), Lost the 3rd place game (last year), Lost the 5th place game (this year). I think that streak means that we'll win the Champ game next season. Either way, I still had a blast playing and will do it again next year.

We are getting a visit from Aunt Alane this upcoming weekend. Having some fun in the yard and hanging out is on the agenda. The weekend after that I am hoping to do a race double weekend...road race on Saturday, mtb race on Sunday. We'll see.

New Things.

Fun new things at the Abraham household. We got our Burley on Friday and took Annie on her first bike ride on Easter Sunday. It was really nice out, so we rode the 10mile loop around town.

Getting loaded up!

Heading out.
On the bike path.

She was comfy.

She did really well...didn't make a sound for the entire ride, just alternated between sleeping and looking out the windows.

I also got the receiver hitch installed on the Subie a few weeks ago:

No more Yakima rack! I got the Saris Thelma 2 rear mount rack, so that should work well.

The Eddy got some changes this past winter as well. New wheels and a new group:

Got the carbon Aeolus 5.0 wheels with the new Shimano 7900 group. Nice! The 7900 brakes are amazing...might take me a few rides to get used to the new lever shape on the shifters though.

In other news...my first race of the season will probably be sometime in the next three weeks. I haven't decided on the exact race yet though. Still have 3 more weeks of hockey, that's always a fun time. Heather's parents are visiting us this upcoming weekend, and then maybe Brandon and Gillian the following weekend.

Talk to you all later! :)

Taxes...

We did our taxes this week. Another benefit of having a kid = increased refund. I like it. We are going to buy a Burley and a shed. And then we are flying to Vegas and putting the rest down on RED. We'll be set after that.

Speaking of lil Annabelle, she turns four months old on Monday. Even at that young age, she has already figured out what she wants to be when she gets older...
That's right, she wants to be Elton John.