My First REAL Christmas Tree

Since multiple Roth's have been alergic to chrismas trees the Roth family hasnt ever gotten a REAL tree. So this year when I went to Ashley's for Thanksgiving (on Friday) we spent our afternoon today going to find a tree to cut down... Everyone came along... Even Misty the dog!

Ashley likes this one... me too... Its our pick and the final decision!

This one didnt make the final cut...

Heres Ashelys Dad cutting down our pick...

Since Travis and I walked the tree back to the barn and didnt get to use the cart Ashley thought we should use it for a quick ride down the hill...

Heres Travis and Cassie(Ashley's Sister) in the grove searching for a good tree.

Now off we go with our tree strapped to the top of the van.

Peppers

Ashley had some peppers that she needed to use so we decided to try out our culinary skills and make stuffed peppers. Here is what we ended up with... and they were thoroughly enjoyed by both.

Our First Adventure Race!!!

The Platte River Team Triathalon-
2 person team team member 1 runs a 9k (Ashley), Team member 1 and 2 Canoe a 7k, team member 2 (Me) Rides a 20k. The day started early for us, we had a 45 minute drive to the Air Museum, then had to drop off the bike at its place then head to the starting line so Ashley start for us. It wasn't the warmest of mornings but we got through in decent time. We had a lot of fun and it may be the begining of our adventure racing careers! The results are posted here. We got 46th overall, and 6th in our division, our bib number was 207...

My New Ride- Daria the Bike Ninja

I have finally saved up enough money to buy a new BIKE!! It came in on the 1st and I have started the process of putting her together.

Beings that I am still in school and dont want my brand new bike taken from me I am planning on taking off all the decals so it doesnt stick out as being a SURLY. They make great bikes not extremely pricey but enough that you wouldnt ever want to have to replace one on a limited budget.

It was quiet a process to remove all the decals. I used a plastic spoon since the decals werent under a clear coat. It took about 3 hours of work! Once all were off I applied FrameSaver to the inside so it wont rust from the inside out.

I had to wait an extra day for the FrameSaver to cure.... But I decided that one more day off the bike wasnt going to kill me. I have been saving up for about 7 months and Ashley had to hear about it the whole time. She is also convinced that she is going to need to get a new hobby since I will always be on my new ride. I have a nice Brooks saddle that I have taken on all of my touring trips. Stepping away to look at the whole picture I decided the stickers needed to come off of the rim as well.

Transforming my baby into the "Ninja Bike" there arent too many more parts that could be black on it. The guys at CycleWorks coined the name and I think its pretty fitting. When I find some more time and money I want to add accent pieces on in royal blue.... When that happens Ill be sure to post a couple new pics.

Black Hills Bike Tour

This past fall break I spent four of the most beautiful days in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was my second trip there this year and I saw one of the most amazing sunrises in the Badlands...

Here we are at a trail head with the Lucky Chicken that has become a Bike Tour Tradition. He goes with us everywhere so that we don't experience any bad wrecks or problems with our bikes.


Here we are on the side of the road checking out good ole George Washington's Profile....
On the way to Mount Rushmore we get a glimps of the beauty the Black Hills hold.
Here we are riding on the outskirts of the Badlands right next to a HUGE Prairie Dog Town.Yes, The chicken rides along with the Riders not the Support Vehicle.



Watch out for Dale he likes to go FAST... like upwards of 40 MPH fast!!!!

Here I am with Dale the Lead Mechanic at Outdoor Adventures in the process of getting the bikes ready to be loaded.

Gotta tear em' down so they all fit!Ya I got it pretty hard when it comes to working... haha the views tend to be extraordinary!

Market to Market

From the Historic Old Market in Omaha a course takes 86 miles to the Haymarket in Lincoln and was the setting for the inaugural Market to Market Relay... In the first year 150 teams of 6 to 8 runners exchanged the baton 23 times and made the epic journey from Omaha to Lincoln in just a single day... An early start would be needed and a post race shindig would be at hand. With beautiful weather to accompany each team they would experience an amazing journey and view the landscape of Nebraska firsthand and as we all know wind would be their biggest enemy on this day...

Well I wish I could say I ran the 10 miles each participant would have to finish I chose to grab a bike and be a medic at the back of the race to make sure no one got lost or hurt while participating. I spent over 5 hours on my bike trekking my 40 some miles at the back of the pack. Gladly and under Gods watchful eye no one had major injuries or setbacks.

The Lincoln Journal Star sent out a Photographer and here is something they put together...

http://media.journalstar.com/comments/?mid=M48f1c61776b2b

Also here are some of the post race comments by participants!

I am still profounding dumbfounded, you and your staff are absolutely amazing!! That event I participated in yesterday was by far the absolutely most organized and well put on event I've ever participated in my 11 years of running.

I've run small 5k races that were completely screwed up and a fiasco. I've been to Boston Marathon, Chicago, Honolulu, Carlsbad and many other places...what you guys pulled off yesterday was without a doubt equal if not more incredible to what these top notch races pull off.

An 86 mile race from Omaha to Lincoln...unbelieveable, a well mark course the entire way! Volunteers at every single checkpoint for 86 miles! I am speechless! ;)
-Gary Dougherty - Team Ndorfnz Nebraska Orthopaedichttp://www.ndorfnz.com

Great job on the race. Great volunteers, great route, great organization.
-Bob Glissmann
Team World-Herald

Hi, I just wanted to thank the two of you, the rest of the organizers and all the volunteers for a GREAT job. For a first time event, this was very well organized. We had a great time.
-Mike McKain

I just had to take a moment to send a thank you to you and all of your "staff". Yesterday was one of the funnest days I've had in quite awhile. There were moments (during the middle of my runs) when I thought I would die and cursed myself for getting into this, but the moment I saw the group of people waiting at the exchange point, it all went away. Your volunteers did an outstanding job directing traffic and runners. The directions were great and the ending was just right. Again, thank you and all of your volunteers for taking on this momentous effort and giving us a day we will not soon forget.
-Judy Sather

It really was a great event and an honor to be part of such a well organized event especially in its first year. It will be very interesting to see it grow in the next few years... who knows I may even take part even though I am no runner, it would be a great experience.

Shelf Road

Well each fall and spring most of the climbers from Lincoln head out to one of the Sport Climbing capitals of the U.S. and do exactly that CLIMB... Here are a few pictures from our escape....

Here I am Leading Raven (5.9+) Its a very classic route at Shelf and is bolted that way as well... Classic bolting style means that for the first couple clips they are spaced reasonable then as you get higher up the bolts get further and further apart. This makes it a little bit scarier and also can lead to some big falls onto your rope. It also means that the grade says its a lot easier than it really is.

Yes thats me... Hair chopped off and all!!!!

Just doing some Top Rope on Shelf Pride.