I guess it is about time for a new post

My cousin Marci, her Husband Joel and her boys came for a visit last week. We had a great time introducing them to the pleasure of Island Life and the Tour De France. Marci has two boys Avery and Chanse. Avery is 15 and Chanse will be 8 on Marci and My Mom's (twins) birthday9 Aug 08. The boys really enjoyed the Beaches. We visited the Hickam Beach several times and also spent time on Sunset, Waikiki, and Kailua. I tried to convince Chanse that the Tour De France was the best thing on TV but he still preferred Sponge bob.

The Friday after they arrived, they went to the Hickam Beach in the afternoon while I was at work. The Top 3 club was hosting a party at the Beach so we decided to go to it. Part of the entertainment was a jousting stage. Joel, Avery and I signed up. I got beat in the 1st round by Avery then they needed another competitor so they let me joust against Joel. I won that one and had to take on Avery. By this time I was starting to figure the trick was to push instead of hit. I was able to beat Avery the second time but he landed one hit squarely on my shoulder which I injured in may. I was able to continue to joust and won an ipod shuffle. Marci and Chris both won $25.00 gift certificates and we all ate for free. I guess I got my $10.00 annual dues worth.

I took Monday and Tuesday off and we went all over Oahu. We found a nice hike through the rain forest while driving around on Saturday. We went back and hiked it Monday. Afterwards we drove to Tantalus Lookout and to punchbowl national cemetery. They also squeezed in a Luau, a trip to the Arizona Memorial and a shopping excursion to Waikiki. We hated to see them go on Thursday as we had a great time during their visit.

Yesterday, I raced in the Boca Stage Race road race. Courtney's Birthday is today so i didn't race in the other stages. I have had a cold coming on the last few days so I wasn't sure how I would do. The course was a 3.5 mile loop that started with a decent then had 3 climbs on the back side, the last leading towards the finish. My goal was to stay in the lead group as long as I could. The first lap was neutral then the pace picked up. Each lap we would hit it hard on the uphills and rest on the decent. There were 10-12 of us in the front group. On one of the Middle loops I gunned it on the last climb and got about a 100 meter gap on the rest of the lead group. I held it through the decent but slowed abit because I didn't want to fight the wind alone. I was hoping to break up the group up a bit as they accelerated to catch me. On they next uphill section, a couple of guys made a break for it. I bridged up and brought another rider with me. We stayed ahead again but were caught on the decent. The breakaway and bridge took it's toll as I could tell my legs were sore on the uphill section. I was able to hang on with the front which slowly started to chip away riders. The bell lap we were down to 5 riders. I took a pull on the section leading up to the last climb but was passed on the climb by 3 riders. I hang on for 4th place out of a field of 35 riders. I felt pretty happy with my results. After the race, I went to Momentum and had the bike tuned then headed home. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for Courtney's Birthday. Courtney had 5 girls over for a party and 3 stayed the night. I think they had a great time because they were up until 430 in the morning. Today we are going to celebrate her birthday with just the family.