Demolition Derby! You know you’re a redneck if… August 21, 2008

you think the last few words of The Star Spangled Banner are “Gentlemen, start your engines!”

And that is exactly what everyone did at the first annual Demolition Derby at the Utah State Fair on Saturday!! They TOTALLY oversold tickets. By 7:15 (it started at 7) they stopped letting people in that had tickets! I guess we were lucky to get in because we never found a seat! It was so exciting to hear the engines roar! I even got hit by some dirt a few times! Who on earth thought of the idea to go to a junk yard, find the most beat up nasty car, put a better engine (or something to improve the car) and race it around in the dirt and run into other cars!? It amazes me. Not only were these cars junk, they had to make them “safe” to ride by welding the doors, hood and trunk shut, break out the windows, and take out the seat belts! I can see the planning committee now saying “yes! yes! that’s a great idea!”

Anyway, I really enjoyed it! I went with a girl I used to work with and her husband. We had so much fun working together this summer that we couldn’t stand it to end when I quit. She came up with the great idea to go to this and of course I obliged! I invited a guy from my ward that was itching to go to a demolition derby. It was so fun even though we were standing for 3 straight hours.

I wish I could share the excitement of the smell of dirt and smoky cars, the sound of exploding radiators, purring engines, and the crashing of 2 cars head on! The videos we took just don’t do it justice so I’ll try to help you see why the pictures I took are so great.

I saw my friends Jill and Logan there! I definitely didn’t recognize them at first, but HAD to take a picture. Oh Jill, how I admire you!

This guy ran over the cement barriers… I guess he got a little excited.

If you look closely, you can see this guy has 2 back wheels on the driver side. He ran over a wheel (axle or whatever you call it). They had to stop all the drivers because there was debris in the arena. I thought this was kinda funny because there were bumpers all over the place.

Car #300 won, and we thought he was way out of the race before he was even in the top 3 cars! If you look closely, you can see his front wheel is totally disconnected. When they were interviewing him after he said that he couldn’t figure out why he lost his steering control until he got out of his car and saw what was going on… It was pretty entertaining to watch him drive all around!

They had a “powder puff” derby too, and this was the most exciting crash of the night! The winner from the guys derby had his wife race and paint her car to match his. The wife of this guy was giving the other car the ol’ one two, backing up and ramming right into her. About 2 hits later she ran right into the car and knocked it right over! It took a while to get the cars off each other, and the girl was waving that she was ok. Interviewing the winner’s wife they asked her how it felt to do that and she said, “it was awesome, but I was so worried about her!” Oh, girls…

It was sooooooooooooooooo fun! I can’t wait to go to another one!

I’m still alive! August 19, 2008

I successfully rode 111 miles around Utah Lake!  Torey and I finished the century ride in just about 7 hours!  We averaged around 15 or 16 miles, which is pretty good considering I haven’t been on a bike for about 5 years.  It was really really really really really really hard, but I can honestly say I am glad that I did it!  I was so sore from sitting on that seat for so long though.

It was a really pretty ride.  We rode all around the valley, and every time I look around while I drive I am amazed that I did it!  The biking itself went well.  I had never rode a bike with cleats and pedals that I have to clip into, what an experience.

I borrowed pretty much every little thing that somehow contributed to the ride.  I borrowed this very pretty and very expensive bike, the special bikers spandex, a jersey, water bottle, cleats, helmet and even gloves.  It must sound like I was very prepared for the ride…

I was doing really well until lunch, when my bum was soooo sore from 63 miles.  Lunch felt so good to be off the bike, but it took me a few minutes on the bike to get numb to the pain again.  Unfortunately, I should have been better adjusted.  Right after lunch we were on some farm roads making some sharpish turns and I didn’t quite slow down fast enough, and yes, I ran straight into a ditch!  I couldn’t get my hands on the breaks or my feet out of the pedals fast enough, so the bike went straight down.  All of a sudden I had grass stains on my shirt and dirt in my mouth.  I yelped a helpless yell to Torey and she turned around.  Some guys behind me came up and asked me if I broke anything and helped me put the chain back on the bike.  I was just fine, and they couldn’t figure out why I was so worried about the whereabouts of my water bottle (which I borrowed too).  The women with them made sure to tell me that the crash looked “pretty!”

When the ride was over I was soooo glad!  Melissa came to see me come in, thanks Melissa!  I was so emotionally and mentally exhausted.  I wasn’t really sore, except of course for my bum from the seat.  But by 10pm, I couldn’t carry on a conversation.

I had high hopes to take pictures at each rest stop, lunch and everywhere in between.  Here’s what I ended up with!

Before it all started (still smiling)

The streamers are the finish line

So glad to be done!

Smiling and eating so much!

I think I figured we burned around 5500 Calories, and I think I downed x2 that in the following day!

crazy? i was crazy once August 8, 2008

So I think I’m the craziest I’ve ever been… My friend Torey talked me into doing the Utah Lake Century Epic Ride. Please remind me next time that anything with such a grave abbreviation as ULCER can definitely kill you!! This is a 111 mile bike ride that starts and ends at Thanksgiving Point and follows Utah Lake. Now this might not seem so bad because we are riding over rolling hills, and it’s a pretty easy course. This might be true, but I have only been on a bike for 11 miles at the most! She has convinced me that doing the half marathon (which I have trained for) will be harder than this little 111 mile ride. I hope she’s right! So then I tell people what I’m doing and they all act like I should be sending out invitations to my funeral!! So… stay tuned to see if I live