 |
| Warming up on the rower....Balin's a little afraid that his legs are going to cramp. They did. He said it hurt. Next year he'll ride a bit more before the race. |
 |
| Ready to go! |
 |
| Here they come with a police escort. |
 |
| Balin in the middle of the pack. |
 |
| Balin right before he stopped and gave me a smooch. |
 |
| I thought the trucks were indicative of the boys birth order. |
 |
| Sam waiting for Balin to come off the trail. |
 |
| While waiting, Perrin left her crayons in the sun and then laid on them. Dreadlocks for the Pepe. |
 |
| Balin coming off the trail. He was in the middle of the pack for the 25 milers, which is pretty good for a single speeder. |
The Whiskey Off Road was last weekend and it was a hoot! Balin and his brother Charlie from Colorado signed up and made it happen. Well, I actually signed Balin up, encouraged him to get a new bike and sent him off.
Charlie showed up the afternoon before the big race - he signed up for the geared 50 miler. He drove all the way from Evergreen in one day in order to hang out with us. (thanks Chuck!) Friday night we started the evening right with a boy scout picnic and then headed off to beer and pizza. Bed time was early as Charlie had a start time of 7:30am.
Balin's start time was 9:30, so he was able to go down the street with us and cheer Chuck on! Balin headed off after warming up on the rower, though riding his bike previous to the race would have been a better warm up. He had put a total of 9 miles on his new bike and hadn't ridden over 2 hours on a bike in the last 10 years. That's youth for ya and why I married a young one.
Balin started out strong and stomped the first big hill with vigor...then came the second big hill in the forest and it stomped him. He and many others were walking their bikes - partly due to cramping and being tired, but also due to the 1500 other riders and 4000' elevation gain. Balin got a lot of "your crazy" comments, referring to his single speed. But that did not deter him. He kept going, finishing in the middle of the pack for the 25 milers. His time was right at 4 hours. Charlie whooped him at 4:20 for the 50 miler. (Charlie is married to his bike and lives at 7400')
All in all it was a great weekend of fun, friends and family.
Comments