Sweet Saturday

Now, I know this may come as a great shock, but on Saturday I did NOT have a bicycle race to attend. Whatever did I do with myself?? I'm glad you asked. Here are some of MY hobbies from the weekend.... nothing as exciting as racing, but we can't all be crazies. Look what I did!

First, I decided to see just how many plants we can grow out on our balcony. We had flowers out there but the heat has long since shriveled all of those. This time I went for herbs...

Okay, I planted some flowers too... I have my doubts about them, but you never know what might happen!  Hopefully these pots will be much prettier in a few weeks.

I also decorated a little with the summer decor that Justin's mom sent!  She keeps us festive.  Thanks, Cindy!

Then, I made a pocket organizer for our closet door.  This is going to be very useful I believe.  It's hard to see the details in this picture, but trust me, it took some time.

I also made an earring holder...

I even worked on a scrapbook that has been on the to-do list for many months.  It's amazing what a girl can do with a couple of work-free, school-free, race-free days!  Maybe I'll see another one someday. :)

Race Days

I'm thinking about changing the title of my blog to "Justin's Race Results," or something equally fitting. I'll try to throw in some other tidbits about what's going on around here, but these races really do make up a large part of that precious free time outside of work and school.  Here are some highlights for you!

GS Tenzing Crit

Frisco, TX

These are from two separate races over Memorial Day weekend.  Here's Justin at the starting line. (Please note that I even got a smile out of him!)

See those clouds rolling in?  This was taken at the evening race... The guys started racing in the blazing sunshine and finished in cool rain and wind.

Here he is up front just before winning a prime.  Justin ended up third in both the morning and evening race.  That's been his magic number lately!

Texas State Championship Criterium

Fort Worth, TX 

The Texas Championship race was held on Memorial Day.  Because Justin had to work, he had no expectation of being able to race that afternoon.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he ate a brownie or two for breakfast. 

As it turned out, Justin's boss decided to let him off early so that he could represent Bicycles Plus at the race, which meant that about five minutes after hearing about this race for the very first time, I found myself in the car flying to Fort Worth.  You see, by that point we had less than an hour to get to Fort Worth before the race registration closed.  After a couple of setbacks, we made it to the race in the nick of time and Justin raced over to the starting line.  This meant, however, that he had to start in the very back amongst 60-70 cyclists.  Not where you want to be in a competitive race! 

Justin worked his way to the front, only to have a mechanical problem on his bike pull him out.  He quickly took care of it and was let back into the race.  He managed to work his way back up to the front a second time and ended up getting third in this race, too!

Bike the Bricks
McKinney, TX

Here is Justin with his buddy, Chad.  They both work at Bicycles Plus and frequently ride together.  These two took a trip to Austin for a race last week and had a great time!  They even stopped in Belton to have lunch with my mom... wish I could have gone with them! Here they are before the "Bike the Bricks" race Friday night. There were a LOT of cyclists at this race and Justin ended up 5th.

                                                          

Justin has continued to race in a weekly crit series and is having a great time!  He was recently moved up to the next division of racing and has quickly gained enough points to "cat up" again. One of the most exciting things that has happened recently was an offer from Bicycles Plus to sponsor him.  This means they are going to pay for all of his races (even the ones he has already finished!) and give him jerseys to represent them... not a bad deal!  The shop has been very good to Justin and we are very thankful for them.

If anyone feels like going to a race sometime, I have a feeling I'll be able to find one for you... just let me know!