On Your Mark, Get Set...

For anyone who was wondering, this is what Nick & Bill have planned for the upcoming triathlon season to the best of my knowledge. So who's coming with?

April - Rage (Vegas)
May - St. George Tri
June - Salem Tri
July - TBD (probaby Echo?)
August - Bear Lake Brawl
September - Kokopelli (St. George)
October - Powell

And I have one side comment which is: there must have been some pretty boring October nights around the group...

Halloween

Hey I was just curious on what everone was thinkning about Halloween. Brad and I are dressing up to take Alex out trick or treating. We would be happy to do a costume BBQ thing here if anyone is interested. Or if anyone wants to do it at their house, that is fine with me. I don't know if Nick and Ash will be dressing up their little bundle but if they do I am sure they will want to show her off, and I know Jandie wants to do something since she has been dieing to go to savers. So let me know something this week.

new blog

hey everyone i created a new blog (again... if you new i had an old one.) Here it is (click me!)

Who's with me??

Some Humor in Light of What's To Come

I think we have seen these before, but what can I say, we need a reminder! 

Ashley and Nick you guys are going to be AWESOME parents, and we cannot wait to meet your little missy.  I think she will be gorgeous and will be an amazing addition to the Octagon, as all of the babies have been.  We are so excited for you guys!

Now..on to the humor: 

ummm...Where's the doctor??

I don't know why but this guy's double chin cracks me up!! 

LE TOUR DE BEAR LAKE

Fellow riders,

I come to you with sobering news and research. As you well know, the tour rapidly approaches and training time dwindles as each minute passes. For this reason, I strongly encourage each of you to spend quality time in the saddle whenever the opportunity presents itself. As you will see below, the mountains we plan to climb are no small challenge. I tasted the wrath of half of the climbing we will do on this venture last Saturday; and let me tell you...the mountain b!%*# slapped me in the face and laughed at my under estimation! The following picture contains the total distance and change in elevation we will encounter on our "trek of all trek's.":


As you can see, we will travel (if starting at my house) a total of 168 miles to Fish Haven, ID.

Total ascent: 9,249 ft.

Total descent: -8,045 ft.

So, we will have a good amount of downhill/flat, but let's face it, those are some frickin hills!

You can clearly see that I've spent a great deal of time thinking about this. And if I may, I wish to propose something...After reviewing the map (a link will be provided below), I feel it would be prudent to tackle at least half of Monte Cristo in the first day. If you are wondering, Monte Cristo is the HUGE hill in the middle of the image. Here is my reasoning: It is only 71 miles to Pineview, where we originally planned to camp the first night. The last thing I'm going to want to face after having ridden 71 hard miles and sleeping in a tent over night is the most difficult climb of LE TOUR and the remaining 97 miles of the journey. According to my analysis, if we could make it about half way up Monte Cristo (~86 miles from the start) and camp there, we would afford ourselves a much easier ride the next day. Granted, this will require investigation to see whether it's feasible or not (campgrounds, etc...). Your research and opinions are highly regarded and warranted. Let's get to work gentleman!

Thank you for your time. May your preparation reward you accordingly! Sincerely,

THE BLACK STALLION

Link to map:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ut/salt%20lake%20city/671124224882157693

CONGRATS WILT & MINDY

I just wanted to post really quick to say congratulations to the Richards Clan on "Baby A" and "Baby B" coming out to join the world this morning! I looked up "twins" on Photobucket & here are some of the highlights (wow, productive day at work for me, eh?):

Powell Tri Reminder

One last reminder...if you are going to participate in the Powell Tri this October, make sure to sign up by April 30th so you get the $10 discount. You know you are all going to do it, so just sign up now and save a few bucks. For the record, the King boys are signed up for the Olympic distance.

Here is the event page, registration is a little ways down the page (through active.com): http://www.goldmedalracing.com/Events/EventHome.aspx?event=Powell

Pool Party Rugby....Burned Out?

Ok it is that time of year,  and it seemed like people at the end of last season were a little burned out?  So I have a question for you all, is it time to hang up the swim caps? or should we just do it once a month?, once every two weeks? or should we just have a pool bbq instead? no pressure.  Well let me know because I personally have to prepare myself mentally and physically for it.  So please lets vote.

WELCOME BACK RAGERS!  On behalf of Jake and I, we hope you guys had a blast, and that the Tri went well for all of you!  We can't wait to hear about it, and to hear your results! 

Calling All RAGE Participants!

Everyone should have gotten an email showing the packet pick-up and participant list for the Rage Tri this coming weekend. It looked to me that everyone in our group was on the roster, but here's the list if you want to check anything: http://www.bbsctri.com/racepackets/rage/rage_roster09.pdf

Here is a map of where the packet pick-up is located:
http://maps.google.com/?q=loc%3A+2100+Olympic+Avenue+Henderson+NV+USA&t=m&hl=en
The place is called Club Sport. I actually just googled directions from St. George & it seems pretty simple. Notice that the packet pick-up is from 2pm - 8pm, which I assume is Vegas time. It also says there is no pick-up available on race day, so make sure you get there on time to get your packets. We are planning on leaving around noon so we aren't in a huge rush. That means if we are hauling your bike (which I think everyone is planning on), then getting them to us Thursday night would be ideal. We might have a bit of an issue with getting 8 bikes in the truck since we technically only have room for 7. Plus we then have no where to put bags assuming we have Nick, myself, Alex, Matt, & his friend riding with us. So I'm not sure what we are going to do about that right now, but I'll let Nick work that out with everyone. Anyway, any questions, comment on this post or email me. Thanks! :)

Happy Easter!

Hey there! Kim and I decided that we should dye Easter Eggs this weekend. We are going to plan on tomorrow night (Friday) at our house (Jandie and Bill) for anyone that wants to come! If you can bring eggs and some dye and anything else you think would be fun that would be super! For dinner everyone can just bring over their own food. Unless anyone has a different idea. I don't know what time works so we can just figure it out tomorrow. Yay for Easter!

Vegas entertainment ideas

Here is what I found for something to do Saturday night. Just some ideas. I put stuff on here that everyone would enjoy seeing. There were other things such as the Thunder from Down Under, Chippendale's, Burlesque shows, I figured everyone would want to pass on those.
So here you go.

Fun stuff to see
Mandalay Bay Aquarium $11.00
Bodies Exhibit $31.00
Shows
Price is right Live! $49.50
Wayne Brady @ Venetian (Black guy from Who's Line) $54-$98

Tournament of Kings Excalibur $61.25

Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo $67.00
Kevin James(guy from Hitch) and Ray Ramano (Mirage) $79-$99
Tony and Tina's Wedding $89 (includes dinner)
David Copperfield at the MGM $99.00Blue Man Group at the Venetian $100.00 (This is show is really neat, Brad and I have seen it and it was a lot of fun. But it is kind of pricey)
And Of course various Cirque De Soleil Shows.

And....
OOOOHHHH Donny and Marie!!!! at the Flamingo
Barry Manilow

Provo Tri

I found out on Sunday that the Kings are planning on doing the Provo Tri on June 20th. Nick wasn't a huge fan of this one (as I noted in the list of events), but I guess he's going to do it now. It's $53 for the sprint, and $63 if anyone wants to do the Olympic. They had nice t-shirts last year & various swag (put Powell to shame), the only downfall is you have to swim in nasty Utah Lake. But Nick said the bike & run were both flat & fairly easy. Anyway, for anyone who wants info on it, the maps & everything are on http://www.provotri.com/.

Nick is also doing the Sunrise duathlon on May 30th at Copper Hills HS. Here's the link: http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1716467&assetId=5D828361-0144-4A57-9D6E-557B0B6EA370. It benefits Hess Cancer Institute.

Also FYI for the Powell Tri: if you register before April 30th, it is only $90, then goes up to $100 until Sept. 30th, then goes up to $115 until the race is full or registration closes. So if you are planning on doing it, you might as well sign up now. Nick & Matt are planning on doing Olympic distance for that one. Here's the website: http://www.goldmedalracing.com/Events/EventHome.aspx?event=Powell

Manly Meal

Just wanted everyone to know how great it felt to eat six pieces of pizza and some yogurt. Jake I hope you enjoyed your 6.3oz of chicken, Nick you almost made it with five pieces. Well I look forward to the next party Nick plans for our house, its always a good time having you all over.

Baby Shower for Mindy

This is for the Women.

Kim and I are wanting to throw Mindy a kind of baby shower lunch. We were thinking about going out to lunch on a Saturday. I asked her(Mindy) and she said she was good for anywhere. So I was thinking Cheesecake Factory. I was going to call tomorrow (Monday) and find out about maybe a private room or something. We need to do it in the next couple of weeks considering the fact that Mindy is due in 4 and we (the Octagon: Kings, Petersons{?}, Sanchezs, Clarkes) with be out of town April 17th-19th, for the triathalon in Vegas and she will be due the following week after that. And she may or may not go on strict bed rest in those 2 weeks before the babies come. I was hoping maybe doing it this coming Saturday April 4th. But if that is too short notice for you guys let me know, and we can do it the next weekend. (Just comment on this and let me know).

Vegas Tournament of Kings

Well since I (Carly) have heard from everyone regarding the entertainment for Saturday night, it's seems as though eveyone is on borad for the Tournament of Kings. There are two shows; 6:00 and 8:30.

There are currently not enough seats on the first row for the 6:00 show. But there are enough seats on the second row in the middle of the "stadium"(russia and Dragons). Also there will probably be more kiddos, not that it's a big deal. The 8:30 show there are more options for front row. Russia and Dragons, which are in the middle of the "stadium".

It is a little pricey ($65.21) but you get...

"The kings then feast with King Arthur at the Round Table, after which a series of games, including a horse race, a jousting match, sword fighting and gladiator-style battles commence."

Dinner is served as the show begins - an appetizer of "dragon's blood" (tomato soup) is followed by a Cornish hen(whole), twice-baked potatoes, broccoli, a roll, soda and dessert. Keeping with the show's medieval theme, no utensils of any kind are given."

I will be calling tomorrow regarding a group, so that we can all get tickets on the same row and not have anyone sit next to us. Also Jake and Kim I need to know if you guys are coming so I can tell them exactly how many people are going to be in our group. Just say that you are coming. It will be fun and it wont be the same without you guys there. The Octagon, wont be the Octagon without you guys!

I will post information about the group as soon as I get it.

Salt Lake Century May 16th 2009

Just another option, I think that I will be doing the Salt Lake Century this year.  It is going to be on May 16th,  we start in Salt Lake, Ride up and out to antelope island, then return, you can do the 50 miler 65 miler or 100miler.  Anyway just another option. Oh and death to the Octagon. (Not to the people in the octagon, just the orginzation itself)

http://www.nosack.com/CycleSaltLakeCentury/

More Tri News

Here are some more triathlons coming up this summer that might be worth looking into:

• Jun 13 - Utah Summer Games Tri (in St. George)
  utahsummergames.org


• Jun 20 - Provo Triathlon (at Utah Lake) ...Nick wasn't a fan
  (I didn't pull the website on this one)


• Jun 27 - Rock Cliff @ Jordanelle
  ustrisports.com


• July 11 - Echo Triathlon (at Echo Lake) ...highly recommended
  triutah.com


• Aug 22 - Jordanelle Triathlon ...the one Nick got stung by the bees last year
  triutah.com


• Aug 29 - Bear Lake Classic ...Bill would like to do this one
  bbsctri.com


• Sept 12 - Ogden Valley ...1000m swim/15.2mile bike/4 mile run
  triutah.com


• Sept 12 - Bear Lake Brawl ...the "other" Bear Lake race
  goldmedalracing.com


• Sept 19 - Daybreak Triathlon
  ustrisports.com


• Sept 19 - DuXtreme Duathlon ...there are 3 distance groups, but it's a run/bike
  endurancefestival.com


• Sept 26 - Kokopelli Triathlon (St. George)
  bbsctri.com
• Oct 17 - Powell Triathlon (Lake Powell)
  goldmedalracing.com

If there's any other races that you guys want to put up here, let me know. I know Nick probably wants to do the Echo, the Jordanelle, the Bear Lake, and the Powell (although when our baby decides to come might affect the Aug. tri's).

Rage in the Sage Tri

For everyone who is going...

April 17th - we're staying in Boulder (?) right by the tri. If you haven't booked a room yet, get to it...you can ask Bill where everyone is staying because I have no idea.

April 18th - Triathlon in the morning, then heading to Vegas in the afternoon/evening. We're all staying at the Excaliber that night. Possibly doing the King's Feast thing for dinner (the show at the Excaliber)...we need to sign up for this SOON if we're going to do it, so voice your thoughts now. Carly has the info on it if you need it.

April 19th - heading home...I don't think we have much of a plan, but it will probably depend on who rides with who to figure out your Sunday itinerary.

And just to throw it out there...Jake and Kim really ought to come!! Well, really Jake should do the tri, but I'll settle for more spectators to cheer on our "team" of tri participants. I believe we'll have somewhere around 8 people in the race.

First Things First

I thought this would be an easier way for everyone to communicate rather than sending 500 emails over one thing. So if anyone has an opinion they want to voice on something, better throw it out here. And this gives Jake a place to post all his weird YouTube videos...

Anyway, if anyone who wants to contribute is having issues getting logged on or whatever, let me know & I'll set up a new login for you or something. I've never set up a group blog before, so I'm not positive this is going to work, but I've seen it done so we'll figure it out eventually.

If you have something to post & aren't familiar with Blogger, just go up and hit "New Post"...pretty simple.