High Desert Omnium

Well, after having this blog for a few months, we've finally decided we're ready to begin posting. We'll probably play catch up and fill you in on previous details of our summer as time progresses. However, for now we'll start with Eli's race this weekend.
We were fortunate enough to stay with Derek and Kim again while we were in Bend which was a huge bonus. It's always awesome to get to see them and spend some time together. After arriving on Wednesday evening, the four of us drove in to Redmond to get together with Eli's brother, Jeremy, at the Cascade Lakes Brewing Company. After many beers and greasy bar food ( a great way to prep for any race) Eli and Derek thought it would be a good idea to play horse shoes in the dark. Needless to say, after hitting the tree 9/10 times and the stake 2/10 times, they decided to call it a night.
After Jeremy came over on Friday morning, Derek took us to COCC to have our first-ever experience of Frisbee Golf. Half of the participants were clearly inebriated which created for some interesting rounds...however it was ironic that those of us who were sober ended up with the worst scores. Craziness, I know.
Afterward we met up with Mom and decided to...wait for it...go to another bar! It was here that Jeremy and Jeanna taught Derek and Eli how to play a serious game of shuffleboard. Let's just say that Team: Switzerland + Derek couldn't handle the shuffleboard finesse of Team: Dominators. Later we spent some more time with Mom, but it was kind of scrambled and random. Since she came down all the way from La Grande, we really wished that we could have gotten some more quality time with her...but so it goes with short weekends and LOTS of family.

Fast-forward a day and it's Eli's crit from the high desert omnium. Ross Weaver came out to watch along with Mom, Jeremy, Aunt Charlotte, and Jerry, so the "Eli cheering section" was huge (thanks also to Erik Edgar who finished 2nd overall this weekend!). Brian Bartel and Tim came down from la Grande to race, and it was great to see them and they only added to the Eli fan club. The race was awesome to watch and those guys went crazy- fast, averaging 28mph for 50minutes. That afternoon we met up with family at the Deschutes County Fair. It was fun to see the niece and nephew and their interaction with all the animals, but we were pretty exhausted so decided to head home with Derek and Kim.

This morning we got up and headed to Edison Sno-Park for the start of the road race. The field wasn't huge (44 riders), but it was kind of exciting because Ryan Trebon, aka TreeFarm, aka Kick a** cross racer, showed up to race. Eli managed to catch a break with 10 miles to go and ended up finishing 7th on the day. It was so awesome to see him do so well.

After the race we stopped by Lapine to say hi to some family and now we've finally made it home and are ready to get some SLEEP! Eli's throat is starting to bother him, so hopefully he can stay healthy for the State TT next weekend and Eugene Celebration in a few weeks.

Here's the link to some of our photos from this year's cycling season. We've got A LOT more, so let us know if you'd like to see them. http://picasaweb.google.com/Jeanna.Romer/2008CyclingSeason