Ailsa's Karate Tournament

Tournament number 3 for Ailsa, and the first with weapons. She did really well in her set piece, sparring and in the weapons section, coming home with a huge trophy!!

Shelton Country Fair

We experienced the country fair experience today in the heat of the midday sun. In the 90s, we enjoyed beer, rodeo and fairground rides. Thanks to Summer's friend Rachel from her PhD days in Turkey and her husband John for being such fabulous hosts!

Ailsa and Charlotte

Ailsa's 6th

Ailsa and her friends had a super party at the Gig Harbor Dance Academy. Ailsa oges there for Hip Hop (!) and had her friends there to learn a special birthday routine, with toys, games and cake. Happy Birthday Ailsa!!

Drew's first stint as a pitcher

Drew was playing for the Pilots again this weekend, and had his break as a pitcher. Here's some phots and a little footage of his big moment.

Official: Gilby's Arse in a bottle...

...and it tastes great. A friend in the Cyclocross team made this beer for me and the boys in the shop - it may go global. Watch out for Gilby's Arse in your local Oddbins.

Malchus in training

The "it's me or the dog" approach didn't work. Malchus gets serious.

Drew in the Gig Harbor Maritime Parade

Drew attended his first official function as a Penninsula football player today!! He took part in the Gig Harbor parade where he waved to his fans and thre candy into throngs of admirers:

Here they come!There he is!

There he goes!

Woops, Daddy getting in the way:

Aaaaand a bit of post event posing for the press:

Pilots Victory

Drew's baseball team the Purdy Pirates had another win today, with Drew scoring a hit and getting round the bases to score a run - well done Drew!!

At the plate:

A hit! Running to forst base:

On first base with Coach Eric:
Running home to score:

Reliving the moment:

Enumclaw Stage Race

I raced in my first stage race this weekend in Enumclaw Wa, in the shadow of the imposing Mount Ranier. A time trial then a criterium race in down town Enumclaw on Saturday, and a road race on Sunday.

The time trial was a short one, which is just as well as it was my first individual time trial! I managed to borrow a time trial frame from a very generous team mate (thanks Larry!) and Summer gave me a custom fit and the benefit of all her experience before the day of the race, and it really paid off. I got off to a flier and got the 3rd fastest time out of the 60 or so starters.

Later that afternoon, it was the criterium in Enumclaw around a tight course full of technical corners, and fairly poor road surfaces. It was a full on effort from the gun, and hairy as we all vied for position in the corners. The pace slackened a little toward the end, with half of the pack dropped off the back from the eye watering pace. On the final lap, a rider went down one bike in front of me. Goodness knows how I didn't crash as well, but I skidded, swerved, and managed to stay upright - must be all that cyclocross riding!! I lost the wheel of the 4 or 5 guys in front of me, but made up enough of the gap to grab 4th at the line. Could have been better - could have been much worse!! Glad to stay upright to fight another day.

Leaning into those corners:

Business face - leading the crit:

Trailing in 4th

On the Sunday, it was the road race. Three laps with a relatively arduous climb on each lap. 44 miles in all. At the top of the 3rd climd a breakaway of 6 riders formed, and marshalled by my teamate Dean, we worked together to extend a lead on the chasing pack. In the last kilometer, I found myself in front - not a good position to be leading into the sprint. Anyway, at 200 metres or so I jumped as hard as I could and managed to sprint to the finish without anyone coming around....just!

OTB Enumclaw cat 4 squad: Dean, Matt M, me and John before the road race

Up the hill

Leading out the sprint:

It's the old jock by a nose!

I am pleased as punch with my second road win of the season, but it may be my last for some time. I have to upgrade to cat 3 on the road now, and with racing cat 1/2 in 'cross and cat 1 on the mountain bike, wins are going to be much harder to find. All in all a great weekend among friends!

Go Pilots!

Yesterday was a perfect day for Baseball, and Drew's team, the Purdy Pilots had a handsome win over their Penninsula Athletic Association rivals. Drew had a good game and got homme to score run. Well done Drew!!

Warming up:

Batter up!!

On first base:

Scoring at home base. Yay!

Ailsa: not so interested in baseball...

And some pictures from Abbey's walk to the beach:

A win at Ravensdale!!

I got my first ever big road race win today at Ravensdale, Wa. It was a beautiful northwest day on a rolling course - 4 laps for a total of 40+ miles, field size 64. Ben Collins, a pro triathlete turned out for our race, and we spent most of the first 2 laps trying to bring him back as he continuously attacked on his own. After that the race settled a little and I tried to conserve as much energy as possibe for the finish. The finish was, for the most part, a gentle uphill for about 2000m, however it was less than straightforward. In the last 3 or 4 miles we had a big crash, which I avoided by being wide, and at the front (my usual tactic - long may it keep me out of trouble). Then, in the last mile, we passed the women's field, which made sprinting for the line intersting (that wheel in front of me is one of the lapped women). Still, I got a good lead out, and found myself all on my own with 100m to go, and won fairly comfortably in the end.

2nd at Longbranch Road Race

I raced yesterday at Longbranch in the Men's category 4 State Champs road race. It was a rolling course with a 1.5km steep climb in the middle - 4 laps 42 miles. Field was 47 riders. The weather was great, and although there were a few breakaway attempts, we pretty much stayed together for a sprint fininsh. I got a good lead out from a couple of Wines of Washington riders, but a Starbucks rider jumped hard, and I couldn't catch him. Still, 2nd is a great result for me at this stage of the season, and I now have half the points I need to upgrade to cat 3. I'm also leading the cat 4/5 men midweek series after a win last Tuesday at Seattle International Raceways. Pics to follow!

As promised. In the bunch:

Sprint finish! It looks like I am leading here, but that shadow up ahead is the leader and winner - I never caught him...

Photo finish:

Ailsa's first karate tournament

Ailsa getting her scores...

Ailsa warming up!

Ailsa went to her very first karate tournament last Saturday! It was a big event, and she was pretty nervous but got her routine down, remembered to bow to the judges, and came home with a ribbon. She also got her first yellow belt stripe on Friday, so watch out Bruce Lee!

New Additions!!

We have two new members of our family to welcome! Drew's hamster is called Hamilton and he is a Chinese dwarf. He is very cute and like to run on his wheel all night.

We got Abbey from the pet shelter in Tacoma, and she has settled in very well. Machus is not so sure though, and keeps a watchful eye.