Racing

We tried not to let the rain completely wash our day away Saturday. We had big plans to enjoy the Criterium events all day. The 5K was at 8:30. The forecast called for 100% chance of thunderstorms. J decided while eating his pancakes at 8:15 that he wanted to do it anyway. We ran out the door to start the race. He registered at 8:26, got to the start line at 8:29, found Ronda at the first turn after the 8:30 start and finished 21 minutes later. whew! I was so proud to see him come around the final turn to finish that fast. I was under the umbrella with 2 cups of Starbucks to give away when they caught their breath. J received a perfect prize of a can of coffee for his 3rd place age group finish and Ronda finished first in her age group. She gathered her prize while we held her bike at the start line of the bike ride to start 5 minutes later. We went home and gathered the kids and came back for their bike race. Ek won her heat!!! I couldn’t hold that in any longer. Ok, from the beginning. H had so much fun warming up on the course. It reminded me of a rollerskating rink. The kids were riding their bikes round and round the course. It started to rain as soon as the races started. Ek seemed a bit nervous, but dIdn’t want to make it worse by asking if she was. She was cold. H went first and rode great but did not finish first. It was not easy riding down hill and around the cones

in the rain! But he did great and was proud of himself. He was equally as proud to shake the ChickfilA cows hand while waiting for Ek to race! Ek took off down the hill quikly but not first, one little girl didn’t turn, another girl crashed and Ek methodically went around the cone to head up the hill in first place. She had the sweetest, happy little smile on her face as she knew she had won and peddled her way across the finish line. Oh we were so excited!! We were excited too to see them make the big loop in front of the crowd in the kids parade that night. Ek finished ahead of H. J was with H and declared while out of breath that they were much faster than last year! H was very proud of that. We hung around in the rain for a while under a huge tree that posed as our umbrella and watched some of the women’s race. It was raining so much thought, that we were cold and a bit unenthuased, so we left a bit early but full of fun memories of the day. Can’t wait for next year. Wait! One more thing, when we got to the car and buckled L in, she exclaimed, “hey! where’s my cow?!” The kids got ChickfilA cows when they crossed the finish line in the bike race. L suddenly realized she did not participate. Next year, L, next year.