Christmas Is Almost Here

Christmas is just around the corner. With Paige being at the fun age of 2 Christmas this year is going to be so much fun. Over the last few days we have seen Santa Clause, rode on Santa’s train, went to the Biltmore, wrapped presents, and made cookies. Her are a few photos.

Paige found these birds at the gift shop.

Paige and Santa

Paige ridding Santa's train

Decorating cookies

Paige is crazy about Walt Disney.

The finished product

Redneck Madness

I can't tell but I think the plate on the back of the car is Jersey. This looks like something I would see in NC. Caution....bad language!!!!!!!!

Slip n' Slide

I want to build one of these. Maybe next summer.

A Weekend Full Of Fun

This last weekend my mom flew into town for a short 5 day visit. Paige only gets to see her about every 4 months so we packed a lot of fun things in those short 5 days. Friday Paige and Grandma hung out at the house all day and played and watched movie like Polar Express and of course Cinderella. Friday evening we went to the Grove Park and looked at all the gingerbread houses and watched the sunset. It was really nice. Lyn meet us downtown after work for dinner.
Saturday morning we headed of to Johnson City for my cross race. I felt pretty weak and no real snap. I’m sure it has to due with the fact I have not been riding like I should be. It's always difficult for me to have a good late season run. Between family, work, and riding something has to give. Family is first, and we need to eat, so that leaves riding. I have one more race this weekend and I’m done for a while. I might try and hit a few races in January but we’ll see. Lyn and I are expecting our new addition to the family in January so I might be doing no racing whatsoever in January. Anyways…I did my race and bolted over to Newland, NC to cut our Christmas tree and stay at the family cabin.

Saturday afternoon we went to our favorite Christmas tree farm on Hickory Nut Gap in Newland. After Lyn and I went around and around about how big of a tree we need, I ended up winning the battle on size. We loaded up the tree and headed back to the cabin to relax and watch some college football. Later that evening we had a great dinner at a place called The Best Cellar. Very good food!!!!!

Got up Sunday morning and I was supposed to race but bailed. I decided it was more important to spend the time with family so we went to Grandfather Mountain and hiked around. The weather was cool but really good views. After Grandfather Mountain we headed back to Asheville to put up our new tree.

The tree fit perfect with very little trimming. Lyn, you need to listen to your husband when it comes to Christmas trees. So we got the tree up and Grandma decided we need to do a little Christmas shopping for Paige. Lyn and I are not big shoppers but my mother doesn’t get that many opportunities to shop for Paige so of course we headed out to shop. Where else to go but Toy”R”Us. We loaded up with some really good things we all think Paige is going to enjoy. Not a bunch of plastic things that make horrible sounds, but more mind stimulating things. We also got a few more lights for the tree and headed to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants down the street from the house. When we got home from dinner we put some lights on the tree and called it a night.

Monday came around and Grandma and Paige did a lot of the same things. Read books, played with a few new toys she got on Sunday, and of course watched a few Walt Disney movies.

Here are a few photos from the weekend. Thanks for coming mom. It is always great to see you.

Grandma and Paige showing off Paige's new Disney figures

Paige having a good time at dinner.

Paige is tired of her stright hair


At little cross actions Saturday morning

Trying to gap the group I was with and bridge up to the top three guys

Paige thought this tree would work in her room

On the hunt

Yes....I'm always working.

Paige helping me put up the tree

Paige telling me what she thinks we should do

Mom and Paige enjoying the tree

Doing some decorating

Paige talking to Santa Clause about wanting a bike for Christmas. Yes!!!!

Putting the final touch on the tree.

Princesses On Ice

Saturday night we got tickets to the Walt Densey Princesses on Ice. Paige loved it! I have never seen a 2 year old sit still as long as she did. I was actually a really well do show and I even enjoyed it. We had great seats. Here are a few photos of the evening.

Waiting for our pizza at the Mellow Mushroom

Consume, consume...when made it by the Cinderella stand without buying anything. That was a close call.

Getting ready.....

Sleeping Beauty

The Dwarfs...

Beauty and the Beast

Cinderella....

Focused.....

Early Morning Ride With The Guys

Since we have this week off from cross racing a bunch of that race together decided to do a long over due mtb ride this morning. Great way to start your day.

I need to go back to watching the Nebraska vs. CU game. The huskers are up Steve!

Riding with the boys in the backyard

Happy Thanksgiving

We headed of to JC Wednesday night to have dinner with the family. Thursday we went to the big family luncheon. I ate way too much...but who cares. The food was great! I hope everyone had a safe and fun Thanksgiving.

Paige and her Thanksgiving dress for Wednesday night dinner

Paige reading about UT while we get gas.


Paige hanging out with mommy, uncle B., and her great grandparents

Paige enjoying some music

At lunch on Thursday the younger boys decided it would be fun to box. So we had our own little boxing tournament in the living room. Little boys are crazy!


Paige thought it was a lot safer to sit down and eat some whip cream.

Round Two Of The NC Grand Pix UCI Race.

Another day of pain and fun in Hendersonville, NC. On Saturday I put in a pretty big effort to try and get back with the leaders after I had to pit and fix my cleat. I could feel that effort on Sunday when I was warming up. I’m not making any excuses but I could tell I burned a few extra candles. Sunday’s race started off horrible. I got a pathetic start and was in dead last. Talk about having my work cut out for me. So I fought back and made some ground. I made it back to around mid pack and found Tim. Tim and I worked with each other for the last half of the race. I figured if we would battle each other we would ride faster as two. Needless to say at the end of the race we could not catch the lead group. Tim and I had a really good time beating each other up. Tim nudged me out at the finish line. All and all it was a good weekend. Saturday I got 15th and I’m not sure how I finished on Sunday.

It was good seeing Frank and Anne, and the rest of the CX family.

UCI Race #1 Down

Frank and Anne made the trip over for the UCI weekend. Frank is the master mechanic for several racers and lucky for me he helps me out. They got in around 7:30 Friday night and Frank had to build some wheels for Charlie. Frank never stops. He's either fixing someone’s bike or building a bada** wheelset. Saturday’s race went pretty good but midway through the race my cleat came loose on my right shoe. Luckily Frank was in the pits and ready to help. I pulled in all NASCAR style. It took maybe 14 seconds and I was back on the course. Thanks a million Frank. I also took a big cooler of beer and put a sign on it that said FREE BEER! It was a big hit with all the racers and fans. It helped motivate people to really heckle the racers.

Today is round two and hopefully I saved a little for today. We'll see.

Frank building wheels Friday night

People learning the rumor is true. There really is free beer!

Mommy and Paige after the race.

Paige Singing To Fran

A few days before Halloween Paige decided to try on her costume. She also decided to sing to Fran. Pretty funny!

Paige and Kitten

Lyn brought a kitten home the other night. Paige had a blast playing with it. I'm sure the kitten was very excited to get out of the Bedsaul's house.

12 Year Old Zack Racing Cross

This is a video of Zack racing cross last week. I asked him if he wanted to use my pit bike for the race instead of his mtb bike. Of course he said yes. Zack is the son of a friend of mine I race with. He's only 12. This kid has some talent. To bad he has to race in the 10-12 year old division. He has no one to challenge him. He should be in the c race soon.

Halloween Cross Race

I had a friend call me last night. He said "nice photo at the last MSG cross race". Yes....I used my wife’s Halloween wings and head band for the last MSG cross race. I guess I'll never live this one down. Check out the like below.

http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?user_id=35145&tmpl=52&event=134101&action=viewphoto&photo_id=5958507&album_id=134102

Cross Racing

Well I raced on Saturday and on the last lap I hurt my knee. I thought I was going to be ok for Sunday’s race. Sunday morning came around and I tried doing a practice lap and realized there was no way I could race. I was so bummed. The course was supper fast and fun. Instead of racing I took a few photos of the guys I race with.

Sweet little down hill section that was really loose. A lot of people crashed in this section.

A great run up. The course was fast and the run up was long and tough.

The leaders put in a hard pace. They pulled away from the rest of the field and battled it our among themselves.

More Halloween Photos of Paige

Trick or Treat

Here's a photo Gabe took of Paige last night. More photos to come. Thanks for the photo Gabe.