LOTOJA

 Need I say more?? 

No. But I will anyway, because it was such a great weekend!!

LO-TO-JA

Translation: Logan-to Jackson 

206 miles. 

3 states. 

1 day. 

Yes, the infamous bike race that I have had my eye on since a few years ago when I picked up this fabulous sport.  Lotoja is the longest 1-day sanctioned stage bike race in the US.  Starting at the crack of dawn in  Logan, and ending up in Glorious Teton Village in Jackson Hole. 

 It is a beast!!! 

I had my first experience with this race when I went to be on the support crew for my uncle 2 years ago.  My uncle is an animal on a bike and inspired me to want to be apart of this crazy feat!

SO- this brings us to this year.  I was lucky to be able to ride on a relay team.  Just a little background- this race is EXTREMELY hard to get into.  They have to cap how many riders are accepted, and they turn many, many more than that away.  thousands of riders, with several people there as their support crew.  There are literally tens of thousands of people along this whole route. For lack of a better term- this is a really big deal.  

But we got in! I was astonished! And a little freaked out because that meant that I had to train for this thing.... But ready or not yesterday came! We stayed up in Bear Lake (about an hour away from Logan) because all of the accommodations in Logan were booked. ALL of them. The smart cyclists book their hotels a year in advance... But we stayed in BL and it was fabulous. So also in Bear Lake we went to Pickleville Playhouse which is absolutely HILARIOUS.

We saw Juanito Bandito and laughed our heads off!! This is a little melodrama theatre that is an absolute blast.  I want to take all of my friends there!

"Who Choots Juanito Bandito? What the heck? That is like who punches Juanito Bandito in the jugular with an old rusty hammer!"

"And as they say in West Valley City..... Adios Amigos!"

If you are ever in the vicinity- GO to Pickleville. You won't regret it.  Oh and get a Raspberry Shake from Le Beau's.  Nuff Said. 

OK back to the Bike race. We stayed in a condo in Bear Lake, 17 people! We figured we probably had over $35,000.00 in bikes with just the people staying with us (7 riders)! Imagine how much money in bikes there was on the road that day!! 

Our wonderful support team was pretty awesome.  My dad and Brad are both Closet bikers... My dad knows everything there is to know about bikes, but for the life of me I can't get him to ride.  And Brad is chomping at the bit after this weekend to get on a bike, however if he does he will probably waste away from burning too many calories and his Basketball coaches probably won't like that too much.

We also had my Grandpa and Grandma, Janet, and Ryan and Jessie as Support crew too! I loved when they would drive by and cheer me on! Made me go just a little bit faster :) 

Before my leg of the ride, ready to ride!

A few other team members... My mom, Elissa, and Karlyn

Handoff from Rob- ready, set,

Go!

This is where the car passed me- riding up the King of the Mountain hill.  

We should really call it queen of the mountain now, if you know what I mean... :)

K, seriously it was hard. haha.  There are a ton of professional cyclists in this ride, so they just went around me, but for a non- pro I thought I did alright :)

Oh ps- it wasn't a bad view either...

Approaching Jackson Hole

And then for fun, I rode up this one. 

Not!

At the finish line waiting. I wish I got a pic of how many people were there! It was crazy! So fun though!

Moose Riders- finished in 12 hrs. and 11 mins. Not too shabby!

Our little fam! (PS- we're hoping we can do it again next year! We just need to convince Robbie...)

Such a fun ride! I got a little dehydrated at the end of my leg (flattest, LONGEST 5 miles of my life!) But other than that we had a wonderful day! Perfect weather, fun ride, awesome atmosphere!

We stayed in Jackson Hole Saturday night and got some really good sleep :)

And then we went to the most adorable "locals only" breakfast place with this as our view. Are you serious?

AWESOME.

Let's do it again!!!

One For My Sister

Hello blogging community- It is me, Brad again. And like before, my wonderful wife has secluded herself to get some serious homework done and I have nothing else to do but blog (or is it an excuse for me not to do homework?)

Anyway, this post is dedicated to my sister Shaina. She loves to blog and post pictures of her delicious creations of the kitchen. So this past weekend, Dani and I tried to take a leaf out of Shaina's book. We attempted to make crepes (despite the sad looking thing in the picture, they were really delicious) for breakfast and French Dip Au Jus for lunch. 2 of Shaina's favorites. The French Dip's were delicious. So delicious in fact, that one hopped right off the counter and onto the floor. Here are some picts.

 The delicious blub-peach-whip-syrup crepe for breakfast.

A scrumptious French Dip with simple Au Jus for lunch.

Again- I am not really one for recipes, I just cook by what feels good. Well, I watch Dani cook and it feels good at least....

A Hike and the Prep...

Just a quick one today... In our (rare) spare time Brad and I have been going on a lot of hikes lately! We went with Blizzake and Spizzence :) a few weekends ago and it was truly wonderful. Good friends, good laughs, gorgeous views. 

I don't have the pics of Blake and Spence, but they look a little something like this....

 And amid the hiking and busyness of life, I've also been prepping for LOTOJA this coming weekend! (Relay Team-not the full thing are you crazy?) Yeah baby!!!

BRING.IT.ON.

Summer please stay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The First and The Last...

Hello blogging world- It is a Saturday night and my lovely wife is doing homework, I have watched enough college football today to last me all season, and I am bored. So I figured I would join the blogging community. I do not really know what to write, being my first blog post ever and I have a feeling this will probably be my last blog post ever as I feel kinda feminine. Here is a picture for you-

From what I gather, blogging is really just posting about the creations you've made recently in the kitchen.  Kinda like bragging, I guess. I'm not complaining at all, however, since the Pioneer Woman and Guy Fieri and many others have been an inspiration to some delicious meals in my stomach at the hands of my wonderful wifechef. Anyway, this pict is a pie I made in the First Annual Pie-Off between Dani and I last Thanksgiving. As you can see, it is a work of art and took hours to make. Yes, it is not as beautiful as one out of Bobby Flay's latest cookbook but it was dang good. Sour Cream Apple. If I knew how I made it, I would post the recipe. But I have to call my mom for every recipe I need so talk to her.

I realize blogging is all about pictures and no one likes a wordy blog but I do not have any good picts to share right now. Maybe next time.

Well blogging world, that is all from this guy for now. It's been fun.

Favorite.

Among our crazy new schedules, you always need to make time for the important things!

Like this little slice of heaven :)

Fruit Tarts are probably my favorite things!
I made this one this week and just wanted to share!

Who needs an MBA? Can't I just make fruit tarts for a living??

Hibernation

Well, to my dismay, SCHOOL is upon us yet again.
And Oh Boy is it upon us
So....
It was nice knowing you.
See you next summer.

I've gone into "hibernation" for the next 8 months

Today: Meeting, Class, work, Class from 6-10pm
Tomorrow: Work 8-5, Class 6-10

So long, farewell outside world!

Yes, this is a self-realization moment!

Warmest Week of the year??
I miss the sun!!!!!

Brown Lake Vacation

Meet the Brown Family...

Add the Lake.

You have got yourself one great week!

My very first Brown Family Vacation! And boy am I glad they have such a wonderful Lake vacation tradition! We all headed to Seattle where we then drove out to Wenatchee, WA to basically our own private lake.

We stayed at a gorgeous cabin

And played on the glass lake alllllllll dayyyyyy long :)

One whole week of lake, ski, wakeboard, tube, games, reading, eating, peaches, abstracts, and great quality family time! I just wish we could all get together more often!!

Jesse Tearing it up

This picture doesn't do it justice, because Brad is unstoppable on a ski. WATCH OUT.
My Husband :)
Me? I've completely turned over to the skiing world! Used to wakeboard, but skiing is so much more gratifying! Oh and did I mention we have the cutest nephews & niece ever? Little Stevie Cheesing it up!
Jay

Call him Captain Baby Dan

Rose didn't get to ski this year, but soon enough!

Steve and Em on a wild tube ride :)

Soon to be Elder Brown- don't worry this was his first time wakeboarding... 2 180's and some major air, he's ok.

Jesse figured it out too...
The Man.

Skiiers


Uncle Ky Ky and his passengers.


Despite all the skiing and boating time, I think this may have been Brad's favorite part of the trip! Uncle Brad was pretty fun!

Thanks Lake for a wonderful week of extreme relaxation and extremely sore necks- see you again next year!