I'm a Fisher(wo)man

This last Friday my team at work had a team building outing. SNORE, I know. Actually, it was a lot of fun. My boss got a new boat and decided to take us up to Jordanelle to go fishing for the morning.

It was so cold! At first anyway. I started out with snow pants, my pink puffy coat, gloves, scarf, earmuffs. The only thing that was cold were my noes and my toes! I also, was the only person who wasn't cold. Could have also been the giant thermos of hot chocolate I kept nursing. Once the sun came out it was a beautiful fall day. We had divided ourselves into two teams of three, each team to a boat. My boss's neighbor, Jerry, provided the second boat. Jerry also happens to be somewhat of a pro fisherman.

Jerry caught the most fish of the day, but second to him was Heather and me! We creamed the other team, it was so much fun. Everyone did catch something so even though the other team got creamed by a couple of girls, we all still enjoyed the day. Some of us just more than others.

Here are some pictures of the trip for your viewing pleasure.

That's Heather on the left, no doubt reeling in another "big one". Jerry is on the right overseeing his little apprentices. Oh, and what's that? Taunya, holding two lovely small mouth bass. I'm bragging to the opposing team on the other boat.

This is Lane, our other teammate with one of his healthier catches of the day.

Ha ha! Here is me again. By this time I was such a pro I was reeling in fish left and right. This little guy got a kiss, a photo op, and I sent him on his way.

I didn't really kiss him.

Here's all our fish which Bob later helped me gut. If I can get those pictures onto my computer I'll blog that experience at a later date.

And here is the whole group. Steve (the boss), Me, Heather, Lane (seated), Rob, Rondo (on dock). As you can see by the smiles we all had a lot of fun.

Then we went to lunch at the Red Rock in Park City. Dang tastiest veggie pizza I've had, maybe even better than Geppettos? I'll have to have an official taste competition to see.

Promised Pictures

Here are some pictures that I have previously promised to post. At some point in the future I'll create a photo album where you can browse through all my posted photos. Unfortunately, this function is not available at this time.

This is Bob getting his waterbottle for third place up the Snowbird Hill Climb (see related story http://roberttaunyalofgran.blogspot.com/2006/08/weekend-race-report.html )

This is Bob on the Snowbird podium with L- Norm Bryner,2nd and M- Nate Page, 1st. Note the weenie water bottle in hand. Yes, I'm still a little bitter.

Bob, with Bill & Celia Underwood, two of his most supportive fans.

But here is Bob's #1 fan! The traditional good luck kiss, I can't let Bob race without it. This is one of my favorite pictures ever and it is actually from the front page Deseret News article Bob was featured in which ran October 2005. Sorry, no link available.

A Day in Brugge

This is Taunya and me in front of the canal in Brugge. Not too far from here we had the best pannini sandwich you could imagine. We spent most of the day in Brugge exploring, taking pictures, and picking up a couple souvenirs.

This is the Chapel of the Precious Blood. Just to the right of this picture was a priest with a sacred relic, a golde caped crystal vial containing what is said to be the blood of Christ. People were lined up to pray to or kiss the relic that has been kept at this church since 1147. See http://www.sacredspiral.com/Database/blood/untitled-3.html for the full historical story. You can also see a picture of the relic at http://www.terragalleria.com/europe/belgium/bruges/picture.belg30133.html You can't tell in the picture but it looked like an old dirty, possibly moldy, wadded up rag.

The lovely canal road near the city of Oostkamp where we've been staying. We walked down this very historic road after getting off at the wrong bus stop. The far side of the canal was patrolled by German soldiers during WWII. The left side that we were walking on was U.S. allies territory. We passed by three large cement bunkers covered in grass and moss, one of which had a large rupture on one side from what we're guessing was a german grenade.


Even with all the sightseeing training has been going well. I woke up Wedensday morning to the most dense fog I've ridden in while being here. I was pretty nervous to ride down the farm roads because I wasn't able to see very well.
Tuesday I rode with the team for just over 5 hours on a new hilly route. It was nice to get a few hills on my legs before I head back home. We were supposed to have done a Kermese, but new rules were put in place just a couple days before stating we had to have a signed paper to participate, which you usually only need for the big UCI races. The paper was left at the CC and so we were left to our own devices. Since I hadn't been living at the CC for the last week I didn't know about the new rule. There was also a German team there who wasn't allowed to race becuase they didn't have their paper either.
So that's it for now. Taunya and I are going out to explore some more.

Giro photo gallery #5

Henk Vogels, a real hard man. From what I hear this guy has been racing all over the place the last few weeks. Last week I heard he was hitting some local races in Colorado.
To bad Vino didn't come to the Giro.
Savoldelli getting ready to rock the TT.
Cunego was one who seemed a little stressed. He almost litterally ran to his team bus avoiding all contact with the fans.
Michael Rasmussen. There were guys like Robbie Mcewen who rode pretty standard road bikes with clip on aero bars but Rasmussen rode a standard road bike with no aero bars.

giro photo gallery #4

Taunya and me hanging out at the riders village.
Allessandro Petachi, Mr. Italian style
Ann, who owns the CC with her husband. Then You've got Wesly who's from South Africa. Then good old Derek Timmeraman from Michigan I believe. That's me on the end I guess.
Ivan Basso getting the engine reved up before he heads to the starting house. Focused on being number one. We also saw Bobby J. and Jens Voight put in their TT's.
Illes Balleares. Now these guys had some sick TT bikes.

Giro photo gallery #3

Heres a guy that you could tell was all bussiness. I was pretty surprised he came over to sign this gentlemens jersey next to me. Before this he was walking around the bus taking care of things looking very focused. Just from seeing his demeanor this once I would title him the Ice man. Smooth, calculated, focused and no nonsense.
This is as close as we could manage to get to the starting house. It took us twenty minutes just to get this close. Earlier in the day they let some pretty serious and pumped looking kids race the TT course.
The Keiser! I can honestly say that Jan doesn't seem nearly as a big a guy in person. Jan was actually one of the cooler big names at the race that took time out to sign autographs.
I think this Euskatel rider is Mayo but who nows? All the Basque country boys at their tent looked alike.
Unusually hot and sunny day for Belgium. Just a couple hours earlier the rain came down pretty good but luckily for the fans and riders it passed quickly. There was quite the variety of fans.

Giro photo gallery #2

Giro photo gallery #1

Some of the riders were more willing than others to sign autographs.


Sean Yates chillin before the Disco guys start going off. Nothing but high tech, high priced gear. Normally you have to have a v.i.p. pass to get into the riders village but not this time. What other sport can you get this close to the athletes and their entourage? You have to love this sport.
Mr. Axel Merckx was very fan freindly. He was one of the few to just hang out and talk with the fans. This guys really has class. Axel was one of the most professional acting guys we saw.

Flanders Photos #3

That's the last of my Flanders pictures that turned out. It has been pretty cool to be able to watch these races live on tv. This coming up weekend we're going to go watch the Giro prologue in Seraing. My wife gets here on Thursday so that should make it a bit funner too. I'm going to miss not being able to see this stuff live right on the living room tv. Even ran across pro races out on training rides. That sure as heck doesn't happen back home.

Aqueles sao as ultimas de minhas fotos de Flanders. Tem sido muito legal assistir estas corridas vivo na televisao. Este final de semana nos vamos a cidade de Seraing para ver o prologue do Giro de Italia. Minha esposa chega na Quinta entao vai ser legal ver a corrida com ela. Vou sentir falta de poder assistir as corridas grandes na minha propria casa ao vivo. Ate deu para passar algumas corridas professionais enquanto treinando aqui. Aquile certamente nao acontece nos E.U.A.

Flanders Photos #2

Flanders Photos #1

Here are some pictures from the starting of Flanders in Brugge.
The city square was packed and we could barely move but within fifteen minutes it was empty and everything was being dismantled. Talk about orginization.

Estas sao algumas das fotos que tirei na largada da corrida Flanders em Brugge. A quadra inteira do centro da cidade estava cheia mas depois da largada so levou quinze minutos vasar e tudo estava sendo dis feito e limpado. Que oraganizacao!