Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
It's Sticky AND Steamy!!
The title is a little shoutout to all the closet "Music and Lyrics" and Hugh Grant fans out there:) It's ok, I'm one of you!!!!
The title is also a reference to the weather here in beautiful Georgia! The last 3 weeks or so have been consistently 90+ degrees and humid. They assure me that this is not normal--all I can think, however, is that it is only June! What will the next 3 months be like if June is already this sweltering?!. Oye. I try not to think about it.
So, we make due. I try to ride my bike as early (or late) in the day as possible, and we spend a good handful of hours each week at the pool in our neighborhood. And, about 2 weeks ago, we finally turned the air conditioning on. Pete was strong, but it was just too hot!
With the heat, it's been pretty lazy. So, not too much to share except a few new pictures:
Pete and I have started "Salon Mahoney --we cut each other's hair:) Here's us this morning with our freshly trimmed locks!
Baby Joslyn--loves to eat! Bananas are her favorite, hands down. Close second, refried beans. Third, watermelon:)
Jos is still crawling, but.....
is so incredibly close to walking! She just realized she only needs to hang on with one hand now:)
Hugs and love to you all!
Kate
The title is also a reference to the weather here in beautiful Georgia! The last 3 weeks or so have been consistently 90+ degrees and humid. They assure me that this is not normal--all I can think, however, is that it is only June! What will the next 3 months be like if June is already this sweltering?!. Oye. I try not to think about it.
So, we make due. I try to ride my bike as early (or late) in the day as possible, and we spend a good handful of hours each week at the pool in our neighborhood. And, about 2 weeks ago, we finally turned the air conditioning on. Pete was strong, but it was just too hot!
With the heat, it's been pretty lazy. So, not too much to share except a few new pictures:
Pete and I have started "Salon Mahoney --we cut each other's hair:) Here's us this morning with our freshly trimmed locks!
Baby Joslyn--loves to eat! Bananas are her favorite, hands down. Close second, refried beans. Third, watermelon:)
Jos is still crawling, but.....
is so incredibly close to walking! She just realized she only needs to hang on with one hand now:)
Hugs and love to you all!
Kate
Sunday, June 7, 2009
First Visit to the "Low Country"!
Just got back from a great weekend down in Beaufort, South Carolina! We'd wanted to head down to the Low Country to check things out for a while, so spontaneously on Wednesday decided that we would use the bike race in Beaufort as a "reason" to go.
The event was a series of three races, a time trial on Saturday morning, a criterium (crit) on Saturday afternoon, and a road race today. Your finishing place in each race was awarded a certain number of points for a scoring in that single event and then to be combined into your score for the overall competition. Yes, maybe I'm crazy, but I did do all three races as I had decided to chase points for the overall competition:)
If you've ever been to a competitive sporting event, you may not realize how much happens "behind the scenes". Well, a cycle race is no different. There's a race calendar to manage and entry forms to complete and track. Uniforms to wash and gear to pack. A bike to clean, tune up, and put race tires on. A car to back with a bike trainer for warming up, a tool kit, bike pump, extra water, first aid kit, toys and clothes for the baby, and water for the dog. A cooler to pack for food for Kate, Joslyn and maybe Pete if he has time to eat since he's minding Jos during the event. The list goes on. This is where Pete, aka Mr. Organized!, shines. Somehow, he corrals all of us and our stuff into the car and to the races on time, every time! He has really been managing every detail, all I have to do is show up and race! I am so appreciative of his countless hours of work, commitment to the work at hand (despite the 6 am starts on race day!!), and his excitement and support for my efforts. Here is the driving force behind Team Mahoney in action!
We drove down to Beaufort Friday night, and arrived late to the hotel. We weren't sure how the day would go when Saturday morning, after 5 hours of sleep, we woke up to serious thunder, lighting, and torrential rain to head out to the time trial. Yikes! But, the race was about 30 minutes from the hotel (in the middle of beautiful, South Carolina forests!), and when we got there, the storms had managed to skirt our race route. Whew!
This was my first time trial. A time trial is a race where it is basically you and your bike against the clock. No drafting off other riders, no attacks or break-aways--it's all about going as fast as you can. Well, except for me... There was no prize money awarded for the time trial this weekend (it was for State Championship jerseys), so I rode hard, but not as hard as could have. I was concerned with saving energy for the crit later in the day (which did have a payout attached to it). Just needed to finish well enough to get points for the overall competition. I ended up time trialing 25 miles in the Elite 23-29 Women for a 2nd place finish in that age grouping.
Since we were in the Low Country not just to race, but to be tourists, we stopped on the way back to the hotel to check out this great old, old church... The grounds were hauntingly beautiful.
Next was the criterium. It was a race for 30 minutes plus 2 final laps. In this race, all the women from the different categories--Cat 1 & 2 who are experienced racers, and Cat 3 & 4 who are less experienced (I'm a Cat 4 currently)--raced and were scored for points together. I felt really good during the race, and it came down to sprint finish between myself and 3 other girls. I came out of the last turn in a great position and thought I had made the winning move but was nipped at the line. So close! But, it was a good finish, so earned me a payout ($!) and moved me up nicely in the overall points category to fourth.
We enjoyed the evening in Beaufort at a great local restaurant (the "Original Steamer" on Lady's Island) and went to bed early. This morning (Sunday), was another early start for the road race. The road course was great 42 miles of smooth pavement, closed course (no cars! wahoo!!!!), flat as a pancake, and fast! It rained on and off throughout the race, but wasn't too bad. Felt good during the race, but ended up in a bad place strategically for the sprint finish so got "boxed in" on the sprint. So, ended up placing 7th:( Definitely disappointing, as I feel like I had the strength to finish higher. But, my time trial and crit places plus today's RR kept me in 4th place for overall points. Hindsight being 20/20, I'm kicking myself for not having put a little more effort into my inaugural time trial-- I may have taken 2nd or at least 3rd over all. Oh well! I still earned a payout for the overall, and as always, I definitely learned something! :)
Now it was time to enjoy the rest of the day--we went island hopping down to Hunting Island, and ended up at the state park there. Absolutely beautiful! For the most part, the islands are all ringed mostly by these large stretches of salt water marshes. Very lush and green, with birds of all sizes moving about.
Hunting Island is beautiful as well because right next to the beach is a thick, mature forest. But, it's striking, because the trees are about a 50/50 split between towering long needled pines and tall, spiky palms. The roads in the park were lined with them... very cool!!!!
Finally, we ended up on the beach. The rain was inland, so it was upper 80s and sunny! The whole family enjoyed the afternoon swimming--Mama, Papa, Joslyn, even Odessa as it was a dog-friendly beach! The sun was hot, and the water was warm and inviting. There was no better way to cap a wonderful weekend than this!!!!
The event was a series of three races, a time trial on Saturday morning, a criterium (crit) on Saturday afternoon, and a road race today. Your finishing place in each race was awarded a certain number of points for a scoring in that single event and then to be combined into your score for the overall competition. Yes, maybe I'm crazy, but I did do all three races as I had decided to chase points for the overall competition:)
If you've ever been to a competitive sporting event, you may not realize how much happens "behind the scenes". Well, a cycle race is no different. There's a race calendar to manage and entry forms to complete and track. Uniforms to wash and gear to pack. A bike to clean, tune up, and put race tires on. A car to back with a bike trainer for warming up, a tool kit, bike pump, extra water, first aid kit, toys and clothes for the baby, and water for the dog. A cooler to pack for food for Kate, Joslyn and maybe Pete if he has time to eat since he's minding Jos during the event. The list goes on. This is where Pete, aka Mr. Organized!, shines. Somehow, he corrals all of us and our stuff into the car and to the races on time, every time! He has really been managing every detail, all I have to do is show up and race! I am so appreciative of his countless hours of work, commitment to the work at hand (despite the 6 am starts on race day!!), and his excitement and support for my efforts. Here is the driving force behind Team Mahoney in action!
We drove down to Beaufort Friday night, and arrived late to the hotel. We weren't sure how the day would go when Saturday morning, after 5 hours of sleep, we woke up to serious thunder, lighting, and torrential rain to head out to the time trial. Yikes! But, the race was about 30 minutes from the hotel (in the middle of beautiful, South Carolina forests!), and when we got there, the storms had managed to skirt our race route. Whew!
This was my first time trial. A time trial is a race where it is basically you and your bike against the clock. No drafting off other riders, no attacks or break-aways--it's all about going as fast as you can. Well, except for me... There was no prize money awarded for the time trial this weekend (it was for State Championship jerseys), so I rode hard, but not as hard as could have. I was concerned with saving energy for the crit later in the day (which did have a payout attached to it). Just needed to finish well enough to get points for the overall competition. I ended up time trialing 25 miles in the Elite 23-29 Women for a 2nd place finish in that age grouping.
Since we were in the Low Country not just to race, but to be tourists, we stopped on the way back to the hotel to check out this great old, old church... The grounds were hauntingly beautiful.
Next was the criterium. It was a race for 30 minutes plus 2 final laps. In this race, all the women from the different categories--Cat 1 & 2 who are experienced racers, and Cat 3 & 4 who are less experienced (I'm a Cat 4 currently)--raced and were scored for points together. I felt really good during the race, and it came down to sprint finish between myself and 3 other girls. I came out of the last turn in a great position and thought I had made the winning move but was nipped at the line. So close! But, it was a good finish, so earned me a payout ($!) and moved me up nicely in the overall points category to fourth.
We enjoyed the evening in Beaufort at a great local restaurant (the "Original Steamer" on Lady's Island) and went to bed early. This morning (Sunday), was another early start for the road race. The road course was great 42 miles of smooth pavement, closed course (no cars! wahoo!!!!), flat as a pancake, and fast! It rained on and off throughout the race, but wasn't too bad. Felt good during the race, but ended up in a bad place strategically for the sprint finish so got "boxed in" on the sprint. So, ended up placing 7th:( Definitely disappointing, as I feel like I had the strength to finish higher. But, my time trial and crit places plus today's RR kept me in 4th place for overall points. Hindsight being 20/20, I'm kicking myself for not having put a little more effort into my inaugural time trial-- I may have taken 2nd or at least 3rd over all. Oh well! I still earned a payout for the overall, and as always, I definitely learned something! :)
Now it was time to enjoy the rest of the day--we went island hopping down to Hunting Island, and ended up at the state park there. Absolutely beautiful! For the most part, the islands are all ringed mostly by these large stretches of salt water marshes. Very lush and green, with birds of all sizes moving about.
Hunting Island is beautiful as well because right next to the beach is a thick, mature forest. But, it's striking, because the trees are about a 50/50 split between towering long needled pines and tall, spiky palms. The roads in the park were lined with them... very cool!!!!
Finally, we ended up on the beach. The rain was inland, so it was upper 80s and sunny! The whole family enjoyed the afternoon swimming--Mama, Papa, Joslyn, even Odessa as it was a dog-friendly beach! The sun was hot, and the water was warm and inviting. There was no better way to cap a wonderful weekend than this!!!!
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