Tour de Tucson

The much anticipated (and sometimes dreaded) weekend has come and gone. This past Saturday was the Tour de Tucson, my first one to be a participant in. I had a great time, it was fun and the weather was perfect for the race. (mid 70*s)

For those unfamiliar with it all, this year the Tour was a 108 mile ride. There was also an 80, 66 and 35 mile rides. Spencer's family has been riding in it off and on for years now. Mostly his dad (12 or more times) his mom, brother Taylor and Spencer. This year the 108 had 3,633 riders finish and for all distances combined, there was a total of 6,483 finishers.

So this year Spencer's dad wanted to go for the "family award", and as I said before, 10 of us signed up to ride. We don't know yet if we got it, I guess that will take a few weeks.
Here's a look at the overall finishing time and place of our family.....

Dad Hansen -4:52:01 platinum ~ 343rd place

Taylor - 5:02:30 gold ~ 424th pl

Spencer-5:23:59 gold ~ 727th pl

Talmage- 5:48:14 gold ~ 1001th pl

Kimball-5:49:07 gold ~ 1024th pl

Lisa-6:04:29 gold ~ 1319th pl (average speed 17.7 mph)

Lindsay-7:08:49 silver ~ 2281st pl

Mom Hansen-7:15:17 silver ~ 2386th pl

Rachel-7:56:02 silver ~ 2767th pl

Mckay- 8:19:02 silver ~ 2970th pl

A few points of interest from the day were:

1) Dad Hansen~ his first platinum finish for the Tour de Tucson

2) Taylor~ got two flats and wrecked 2miles from the finish requiring layers of stitches because the cut was to the bone by his right eye. Face hit the pavement and sunglasses broke, cutting into just right of his eye. Despite this he fixed the flat the wreck caused and finished, missing platinum by only 2 1/2 min., then went to urgent care.

3)Kimball~ also crashed. Was looking down to stretch his neck, looked back up only to see a 'keep left' sign right in front of him and "BONG!", nailed it head on. Rode away with some scrapes on his arm and a bruised ego.

Not knowing if platinum was even obtainable for me, I really wanted to try for it. I was very happy with my end time, but at the same time thinking where I could have pushed harder or what I could have done a little different to close in on those few minutes. I guess I may just have to attempt it again.

I did however fail miserably this weekend at taking pictures, so this is all I have until my Bro-in-law sends me some.


Spencer and I, layered in clothes ready to head to the starting line at 5am in order to get a good place before the 7am start time.

In the 40*s as we waited. Most of us here from L to R. (Kimball, Lindsay, Mom H., Dad H., Me, (Ben a family friend), Spencer, McKay, Talmage. Not seen in pic. ~ Rachel & Taylor.)

Again at the starting line Spencer & I (Kimball in the back, Talmage in the front)

Now, to get to the point of those of you who made a guess at my finishing time. I felt I had to at least come in close to the guessed times. Spencer told me when he posted his that once I finished the race I would realize that I could have pushed it harder. So with that in mind I was determined to come in under his guess. Amazingly the person who won guessed within 31 seconds of my time. My friend Marinda called out a time of 6hrs 5 min, so to her a gift will go!

And here we sit, the day after on the couch. Asking the kids to do everything for us as we recover. I knew they were good for something, sweet little things!!

Ready or Not

Well, the time is nigh. The Tour de Tucson (109 miles)is this Saturday. A few days ago Spencer printed off the map and went over the route with me. I've been fine up until then and now, when I think of it, my stomach turns over.

Earlier this year Spencer's dad talked about if there were enough family members riding this year, maybe we could get the family award. So 10 of us signed up and it's been train, train, train ever since. (well, for most of us anyway.)

So wish me luck, and no flats. I'm looking to come away from it all without wrecking (because I seem to be good at that)! For a little fun, let me know how long you think it will take me to finish. I'll join in with all the other blogger contests out there and give a prize to whoever guesses the closest time to my actual finish time. ( So Mom Hansen, you'll have to leave another, more exact guess if you want in on this.)

Because this is my first year riding, I have nothing for you to use to figure this. But Spencer has rode it 3times and here are his finishing times....
with only 2 training rides under his belt, (not recommended) 7hrs 55min
the 2nd time , 5hrs 39min
last year, 5hrs 25min

And you all can give a guess for Spencer's finishing time too.

like new again

One of my recent projects that I've finally completed. And it only took me 4 months to get to it. (And Spencer thought it would be the usual 6 months.) I guess I showed him.

Anyway, the first part of July I found these little chest of drawers at the local 'hand me up' shop. I've always prefered the chest rather than the dresser, so I've been looking for a while. Here are the little gems. There are two, exactly the same. All colorful and bright.
BEFORE

And here they are after I finally got down to it and spent a few hours with them. They are going in the girls room along with a new(for us) but really an old mirror that I got at an ebay sale.

AFTER

Halloween

Our Halloween was lots of fun this year. Friday night was adult night. Spencer and I made it to a party at the Coleman's. Boy do they know how to have a good time! Last years Christmas party, this year Halloween's....if your not attending these parties, you are missing out on some good times! Anyway, there were 9 or so couples there, in costume of coarse. We saw Abe Lincoln, Flo (from Progressive Ins.), a nurse, a few witches, some nerdy guy who should have dressed up but didn't and a plug and socket to name a few.

I usually leave these parties with the following: sore abs, 1/2 my eye makeup gone and a headache, all from laughing so hard and so much. Oh and I cant forget that I always walk away with unforgettable and sometimes surprising information about all those in attendance!

So Saturday night was all about the kids, as it should be. For the second year in a row, they have let me off the hook. I didn't have to make a costume! Paxton was Sharpay Evans and used her dress up dress that she got for her birthday this year. Daisy was a bumble bee that we borrowed for the evening. We dug through the "halloween bag" of rags and such and came out with a bib with a sheriff's badge and bandanna on it for Calvin. And Caden came out with this black ninja getup.

We started the night off at the Church doing Trunk or Treat. Again they had the great chili and corn bread along with hot dogs to eat. It's so nice to have something to eat besides candy while we're all up there. This year the boy scouts also put on a haunted house which Caden loved. He went through a lot and finally became part of it, jumping out at people and scaring them. Paxton went twice and said it wasn't scary. Oh quides, they all had fun.

It all seemed to go longer this year, which was fine. We only had time to walk 1/2 a block of homes before the babies had had it and it was too late to go any longer.

Fall break

Our fall break was wonderful. We went to Missouri to visit my family and loved seeing that part of the country at this time of the year. Each year at this time they have a Maple Leaf celebration with activities all week long. So we wanted to get in on some of it. And my youngest brother Luke is leaving on his mission, so we needed to see him before he left. Well, we've been home now for almost three weeks, so I'm way past due on this post, but here we go.

It rained on us for most of the drive there and was really coming down as we got into Missouri. In a day and a half's time, they received 5 inches of rain. So much was flooded, including the park were our century bike ride was to begin and end. As well as about 5 or so roads along the route. So after some much needed sleep, we headed over to the bike shop in Joplin and found out that the race was canceled for sure. Disappointed, we went out to see what the damage was for ourselves.

This is the park under water, not stagnant but full on running water. The actual river was off to the side and usually had a 4-5 foot waterfall, but it was completly hidden in the flood.




Because the ride was cancelled, we were able to go watch my niece Sierrah (Andy's daughter) play in her volleyball game. This was one of the youth leages at the YMCA. She is dang good at age 9, and is so tall. She is going to be kicking tail when she gets older!



Paxton had her 5th birthday while we were there. For weeks, she and her cousin Gracie have been on the phone planning what they wanted to do for their combined party. (Gracie, Heather's daughter, is a year older than Pax). Here is Paxton on her B-day.



One of the first things the girls did for their day was has a little spa day. It consisited of: facials, pedicures, manicure (complete with fake press on nails), makeup and hair. Here are a few pictures during the process.








And during all this "girly" stuff, Caden found something to pass the time with his cousins.


And Daisy did as well.


Later the kids spent a couple of hours at House of Bounce. Lots of castles, slides and obstacle courses, all inflatable. They enjoyed running like wild animals all over the place. Afterward we went to see Andy and April's first house. They just bought it and are loving being 1st time homeowners!

Daisy didn't like this slide at all, but the rest of them loved it.




We checked out the maple leaf parade. This parade is huge. It is 2-3 hours long and they broadcast it on tv there. High school bands from surrounding towns march in it and later have a band competion. The kids were not used to this at all. The only parade they have ever seen is the town of Kearny parades. Max time=usually 22 minutes. Spencer asked the kids which parade they liked better this one or the ones in Kearny. Paxton said, "this one, but in Kearny I'd be home by now."
I love this picture with the Town Square in the background.


Oh and did I mention how cold it was while we were there? In the 40's.

They even have the Budwiser Clydesdales in it.


Here we are hanging out at my G-pa Cliff's house.


You know those 3 wheeled, body powered bikes? The Trikke? Well my Grandpa has one and loves it. Spencer and I gave it a go. It was fun and hard. My G-pa got on to show me how it worked and he made it look so easy as did Spencer. It's a workout! I could handle the flats and go down hill just fine, it was the up hill that got me.



Andy, April(his wife) and Calvin.


Uncle Luke, Paxton & G-pa Asa

G-ma Barbie & G-pa Asa with the Kiddos


It was a fun trip and we are looking forward to going back. Maybe in March to ride in the rescheduled ride. It's a good excuse to go again! Glad to be home and glad the driving part of it is all over, but we sure miss them all.