WORS 2010 #11

Last year, I had an awful migraine and was also very pregnant, so I stayed at my parents' house while my brother had his WORS debut and Ted finished fifth in the Wolf River Rendezvous.  This year, my parents offered to watch Valerie, so I could enjoy the Bear Paw Rock & Roll race with only one little one to chase around.  It was great to have some one on one time with my little man, but we were feeling really weird without our little chatterbox around.  When we arrived, Ted's teammate, Nick had to do a double take when he saw us with only one kid.  "Wait..." he said and I quickly said, "Yeah, we're missing one today."  Of course, Valerie had a great time entertaining my parents, my brother, Dan, and my sister, Melissa.  When we got back she didn't even run up to say hello.  She was having too much fun to miss us.  I was feeling bad for leaving her all day, but she was having too much fun having all the attention to herself.

Almanzo and I found a spot in the woods for the first lap of the race, but it was an interesting walk getting there while avoiding getting hit by a Sport racer.  Almanzo enjoyed running around in the woods and having all my attention.  Right before Ted came through on his first lap, I put Almanzo back in the Ergo and he took a little snooze.  I decided it was a little boring sitting in the woods all by myself, so we walked back to the start/finish area and watched the rest of the race from there.  Almanzo woke up shortly after we sat down and spent the rest of the time entertaining the spectators sitting near us.  We were excited to see Ted come around in the top ten...and even more excited when he finished fifth!  He even had a sprint finish at the end in order to keep his fifth place.  Way to go, Ted!

Check out this video interview Ted did about the race and check out my Flickr album for more photos of race day.

WORS 2010 #10

The day before Treadfest, we packed up the van and drove to Lake Geneva after lunch.  Ted's sister, Sarah, and her husband, Dan, joined us for the weekend.  Dan decided to try out a WORS race and even had a new bike to break in for his WORS debut.  When we arrived, Ted went to pre-ride the course while Sarah joined the kids and I at a playground nearby to visit.  Valerie had so much fun going up and down the slides all by herself, while Almanzo enjoyed eating the dirt.  Yes, he is all boy, that's for sure!  Of course, the slides were also wet from the rainfall the night before, so Valerie was just as messy as Almanzo by the time Ted finished his pre-ride.

We had a little while before we had to meet Dan for dinner, because he was busy watching the football game.  We decided to walk around downtown Lake Geneva for a little while, but, when we realized we were starving, Sarah waited for Dan while Ted, the kids, and I went right to Ryan Braun's Tavern & Grill.  Dan and Sarah joined us soon after, so we decided to order our dinners right away.

When our dinner arrived, Dan noticed his spaghetti had big chunks of sausage in the sauce.  It was not quite what he was expecting, so he told the waitress he wanted "meat sauce", not "sausage sauce".  "The menu says 'meat sauce' and this is not 'meat sauce'", he said.  The poor waitress (who seemed to be new to her job) quickly apologized and told him she would fix it right away.  He soon got his spaghetti with "meat sauce", but still wasn't completely satisfied.  When the waitress asked him if he liked it, he said "it's ok".  She said, "Just ok?" and he replied, "well, it's not my Sicilian grandmother's spaghetti recipe, but it's ok."

Shortly after she left, another employee came over to our table.  He was an older gentleman and introduced himself as Ryan Braun.  He was very concerned that Dan would leave as an unhappy customer and asked him about his meal once again.  Dan explained that it just wasn't what he was used to, because his Sicilian grandmother always made the best spaghetti.  We could tell by Ryan Braun's accent that he was Greek, so Dan tried to explain to him that Sicilian spaghetti is quite different than what he was eating.  Ryan Braun insisted on giving him his meal "on the house", but when Dan quickly explained that it was really not a problem, he asked if he could bring him something else.  When he mentioned dessert (specifically a delicious lemon cake that we all shared), Sarah's eyes lit up, so Dan agreed to have dessert "on the house" instead.  When Ryan Braun left, Dan said, "No wonder he can't make spaghetti; he's Greek!"  Ted, Sarah, and I had been trying so hard not to laugh the whole time he was talking to the owner, but we burst out laughing the moment he said that. 

After dinner, we followed Dan and Sarah to their hotel so Ted could pick up his Golden Bike he had lent to Dan and Dan could show off his new Trek mountain bike.  Ted, of course, had to take Dan's bike for a spin and, when he returned, he had the biggest grin on his face.  It's that grin that reminded me mountain biking is something Ted really loves to do.  He's a pretty calm, mellow person, but he really gets excited about anything biking related.

When we finally left to check into our hotel, it was almost 8:00.  We gave the kids a bath and then let them play while we watched the History Channel.  They were showing all kinds of footage from 9/11 taken from home videos.  I remember watching some of the news coverage, but, after a while, my mom tried to shield us from it by not turning on the news.  I don't remember seeing coverage right after 9/11 of the cloud of dust and debris that enveloped a huge part of the city.  I could almost feel the panic and terror of that day as I watched the home videos.  It was horrible, but, somehow, I couldn't take my eyes off of it.  I think sometimes it's good to be reminded of things like that, no matter how terrible they are, because it reminds us where we've come from and to be thankful for the life and freedoms we do have in America.  It makes me want to hold on tighter to the ones I love and brings me to my knees. 

Around 10:00, we finally turned the tv off and attempted to settle our little ones down for bed.  We had decided that, since we had a king size bed and Valerie has a hard time sleeping in unfamiliar places, that she would sleep with us.  We brought the extra pack n play for Almanzo and, while I tried to nurse him and rock him to sleep, Ted attempted to calm down Valerie.  When she realized it was bed time, she started crying and, because we had let her stay up later than usual, she was very crabby and whiny.  It took almost an hour (and some tears of my own) to finally get them both settled for the night.  Thankfully, once they were both asleep, they slept really well.  Valerie only woke up once and it was just because she had maneuvered herself to the foot of the bed and was disoriented when she realized it.  We quickly repositioned her and she fell right back to sleep cuddled up between us.  Almanzo didn't wake up until almost 7.

After showering and eating breakfast, we packed up our stuff and loaded it back in the van so we could go watch Dan in the Citizen race.  After watching the start and cheering him on, we found a shady spot to watch the rest of his race.  We waited...and waited...and waited...and wondered if something happened to Dan.  Sarah walked to the finish and finally found him completely exhausted.  He said he threw up at one point and just couldn't bring himself to do another lap.  I think it was a lot harder than he expected, but thankfully, after some rest, he said he still wanted to continue riding and would work at being ready for the race next year now that he knew what to expect. 

Ted's race went better than the precious race, but he didn't quite make it to a top ten finish once again.  He had a rough start and was in 20-something place after the first lap.  By the end of the race, however, he ended up in 11th, so he raced well despite a rough start.  Sarah and I took the kids to watch the "rock garden" during one of the laps.  Basically, they had to ride over a huge pile of rocks barely wide enough for one bike.  We watched a few people go over their handle bars or crash off to the side as their bike hit a rock in the wrong spot.  It was crazy how easy most of the riders made it look, because it didn't look like any fun at all to me.

For more photos from race day, check out my Flickr album.

WORS 2010 #7

The Alterra Coffee Bean Classic  was rescheduled for Sunday, August 29th, because on the original date (Sunday, July 25th) there was so much rain the course was partially flooded.  The rescheduled date, however, meant we had three weekends in a row of races, starting with Ore to Shore (hence the long time it took me to finally post about this race).  I enjoy watching Ted race and being able to see so much of Wisconsin, but this is the point in the season where I am looking forward to a break from bike races.  

The day before the race, the kids and I visited with my cousin and her little one while Ted pre-rode the course.  Since it wasn't too far away, we went back home and slept in our own beds (which is always a better option with two little ones). The morning of the race, we left around 10 so we could be there by noon for Ted to warm up and be ready for the 1:30 start time.

Aunt Sarah and Almanzo 

(I'm really annoyed with the spot on this picture.  There must have been a smudge on the lens.)

Elite Men Start

There's our favorite #7!
(in last year's jersey, because the current jersey is almost all black...NOT a good choice for a HOT race!)

We decided to bring the team tent along too, which was really helpful on that hot and sunny day.  Cameron helped Ted set it up and then the kids and I camped out under the tent for the day.  Ted's sister, Sarah, joined us and we enjoyed her company throughout the race.  We also enjoyed the company of two other spectators sitting near us, Ted's college friend, Jason, who rode in an earlier race, and a little three year old girl who kept inviting herself into our tent (and whose parents were not really paying attention to her either - seriously, why would you let your 3 year old wander aimlessly around at a race course???)

Ted

Cameron

A female rider who had a nasty crash that called for paramedics...but she got right back on her bike to finish her last lap.

Nathan Guerra is too fast for anyone to catch him!

The heat really got to Ted that day and by the end of the race he had the "I want to crawl in a hole and die" look.    He still finished 14th overall, but I know he was hoping for a top 10 finish.  However, he was happy to know that he is still in the running for a top ten overall finish for the series based on points received at each race.  Last year, he finished 7th in the series, hence his #7, but right now he is 8th in the series.  Hopefully, he can hold onto that so he can still be in the top ten for the series. 

The finish (finally!)

Jason and Ted

the "I wanna crawl in a hole and die" look after a long, exhausting, and very HOT race

WORS 2010 #9

Since we are heading off to another WORS race today, I figured it was about time I blogged about last weekend's bike race.  For some reason, I have not really been in a blogging mood this week.  Hopefully, next week, I will have more motivation to blog about what's going on in our day to day life as well as a review/giveaway that I'm excited to share with you.  So, stay tuned!

Since the bike race last Sunday was only a little over an hour drive away, we just packed up the van Saturday night and left early in the morning on Sunday for the 11:30 am start time.  The race format was different than most races, because almost everyone was racing at the same time and the laps were much longer than usual.  We had to hike through the woods a little bit (with two little ones and a double stroller piling high with all our race day gear), but we soon found a nice shady spot in the woods to sit and watch the race.  Cameron's parents joined us and Mike once again did water bottle hand ups for Ted so I could watch the kids and take pictures.

After the start, we had to wait almost 45 minutes for the first racers to come through.  I was ready with my camera and was excited to get a few good shots of the racers.  The Pro/Elite field was really fast, so I was thankful for my nice Canon Rebel camera that allows me to take action shots quickly.

Ted was hoping for a top ten finish, but ended up finishing 11th.  It was still a good race day, but he was disappointed he couldn't keep up with the speed of the top ten racers.  He doesn't seem to handle the heat really well on race day either and it was pretty hot and humid that day.  I told him afterward I had no idea how he could race in the heat and humidity, because I can hardly stand to sit around in it. 

We stuck around for the awards ceremony and Ted was surprised to only get an age group award this time.  (Of course, he missed going up for his award, because he was too busy chasing a certain 2 year old girl around.) Usually 11th place would have gotten him an overall award, but there must have been a smaller field of racers that day.  He did receive some WORS cash though, which he can use for today's race fee. 

WORS 2010 #6

On Saturday, we packed up the van with everything needed for an overnight trip and a day at the races and headed to Eau Claire, WI for another WORS race.  It was a long drive, but the kids were great.  We only stopped for lunch; the kids took their afternoon naps the rest of the way.  We did, however, drive through a nasty storm with heavy rain and hail.  Most of the cars were pulling over and we almost did.  We thought for sure our windshield would break; it was that crazy! 

When we arrived, we went straight to the course, so Ted could register and pre-ride.  I decided the kids and I would stay there and enjoy some time outside while he pre-rode the course.  We found a pavilion to sit under and brought Sweet Pea's little bike along.  She enjoyed riding on her little bike and playing with her baby doll while Little Pumpkin enjoyed exploring.  When Ted finished, we ate dinner at Noodles & Co. before heading to our hotel for the night.

I had quite the adventure that night trying to find the Super Target after realizing I forgot to pack several things.  My GPS told me it was in the middle of the highway, but, thankfully, my sister and her friends were able to give me better directions.  By the time I finally found the store, it was 15 minutes till closing, so I rushed through the store throwing things in my cart.  When I got back to the motel, Ted was starting to worry about what took me so long and I was almost in tears telling him about my crazy adventure.  I had told him earlier in the day "What would we do without a GPS?" and we laughed at how a GPS isn't always a better solution. Ha!

The night went much better than expected.  Ted had to lay in our bed with V until she fell asleep.  She then slept in her pack n play for a few hours before waking up scared and ending up in our bed.  She only woke up one more time and slept with us for the rest of the night.  A woke up once as well, but went right back to sleep after nursing.

Sunday morning, we took our time eating breakfast and packing up since the course was only a few miles away.  When we arrived, V had fallen asleep in the van, so Ted dropped off the pack n play, my chair, and V's little bike along the course for and I finished reading the book my mother-in-law lent me.  After about a half hour, the kids woke up and we loaded up the double stroller to go watch the race.

(Photo courtesy of velogrrl)

When Ted came around the first time, he was in the top ten and I was so excited to see him doing so well.  By the second lap, he had moved up to 4th place and held that until the last lap.  He said he worked a little too hard during the second and third lap, so he got passed up by two people at the end.  He ended up finishing 6th.  I knew he could do it and was so proud of him!