Thursday, July 23, 2009

Mountain Bike Nationals - Granby, Colorado




We drove to Granby, CO for mountain bike nationals. We left Tuesday, 7/14. Drove to Mesquite, NV where we stopped at about 2:30 am. I have to tell you that of the total 2000 mile trip, David drove all but about 60 miles. He was awesome! Anyway, we parked in an LDS church parking lot and slept until about 6:30 am. Drove on to Grand Junction, CO. We stayed in a nice little RV park there. Sara and I went swimming, David went running and Dallin went for a bike ride. We got up Thursday morning and drove until we got to Granby (about noon-ish). We stopped at a grocery store and then headed up to our camp spot. I'm thinking we will have a "camp site". I hadn't considered that we were going to be parked at a ski resort. No camp sites. Just a semi-flat area up on a mountain side where you could look for a spot to park your RV or pitch your tent. We did find a good spot...looking over the side of the hill. Beautiful! Dallin rode the course. Altitude was a bit different than what we are used to. We live at about 100 feet above sea level. Where we were was 8400 feet above sea level. The course climbed to about 9200. Yikes! Dallin said he couldn't recover very well and the hard breathing was making his throat hurt. Granted, we did know that this would be an issue before we came. I was completely winded climbing the hill to our camp spot. While Dallin rode the course we meet up with David's parents, who had driven from Logan. It was so nice to see them! We went into downtown Granby and looked at some little shops. Then David drove back to get Dallin and we went out to dinner (pasta for Dallin!). That night Sara went to Grandpa and Grandma's hotel. It was at a natural sulpher hot springs in the area. The next morning we all got together for some hot pools. That afternoon (Friday) we were back for the race. Dallin did well. Fourth place! The start was horrible...basically straight up a hill. But when you are riding at a ski resort, at least some of the ride is going to be a steep climb! I was impressed watching the riders go up that hill! We just kind of hung out waiting for the riders to start coming back in. Dallin came back after one hour and 12 minutes (I think). he looked good and felt good. No crashes or flats for him - that's always nice! We left that night. David drove until almost 4 am. Thank you skittles and diet coke. We stopped at a rest stop and slept (well everyone but David had been sleeping). Saturday we drove until Las Vegas. Stayed at a hotel there. Went swimming, watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, ate at a buffet. Drove home the next day. Whew! David didn't have to work until Wednesday, so it was nice for him to have Sunday evening, Monday and Tuesday to relax.

2 comments:

Timani said...

That is so awesome Dallin! Many CONGRATULATIONS! You rock!

Going from 100 ft to over 8400...OUCH! Our house is about 4500 and company from T-C (400) complains about the air w/o exertion. You might need to keep an oxygen tank in the van to help him recover. ;)

We've been to Grand Junction a few times (I have lots of family there). Although since my g-gma died (almost 102 yrs old)when Lily was a baby, I lack desire to go back.

You were so close to Dave & Shirley's, that would have been a fun place to visit.

Natalie said...

Sounds like a fun trip!! WAY TO GO DALLIN!! What a crazy kid, to enjoy that torture. Hopefully I'll make it to see you guys, and maybe a race!