Unloading the bikes (6:30 AM)
Checking the air in all the tires (6:40 AM)
Ready to ride off (6:50 AM)
Found our spot with all the other 25-milers (6:55 AM)
The fly-over signifying the start of the race. (7:05 AM)
Waiting for our turn. (7:15 AM) (See the 3 yellow jerseys just to the left of Kat's head? That's a tandem bike pulling a trailer bike like ours. It's George's dream to have a tandem bike some day.)
Still waiting... with a view of the 25-milers standing behind us.
Tiger waiting not so patiently. It takes a little while for 11,000 riders to get moving.
STILL waiting for our turn. (7:20 AM) Our turn finally came at 7:23 AM. We rode 7 blocks to cross the starting line at 7:30 AM.
Zoom. We're now 7 or 8 miles down the road and stopping at the first rest stop. Kat and I probably ate the equivalent of 3 or 4 oranges each.
The second photo of the whole team.
He looks like one cool dude here, but Tiger did not want to smile for or look at the camera all day long.
Speaking of cool dudes....
30 relaxing minutes later and we were ready to roll again. Go BlueEyedRacers!
Still smiling near the halfway point! A little further down the road Kat started doubting herself and saying we might need to call Granddad to come pick her up.
But she stuck to it and we made it to the second (and final) rest stop. Just before this rest stop, our route merged with the 50-milers and the 100K'ers. As they zoomed past us, many of them shouted out encouraging words to Kat.
Several oranges, some bananas and a few pickles were consumed. This rest stop had a Hawaiian theme and Kat was given a pink lei to match her shirt. At this point there were only 5 miles left in the 25 mile ride.
This may be the closest we got to capturing a smile from Tiger.
This rest stop was on an Air Force Base. As we wound through the base, we passed through a section with planes lined up on either side. Tiger's favorite out of the ten or so planes was the shark plane with the teeth painted on the nose.
We left the second rest stop just as a class (or something) was letting out . Thirty seconds after this photo there was a line of about 50 airmen cheering us on and giving out high-fives. Tiger loved it and it was quite motivating for the rest of us as well.
At the finish line! The orange pin in the corner of her bib is the pin they handed out as we crossed the finish line. She was so proud of her pin. It went from daytime shirt to nighttime pajamas and back to the next day's shirt nonstop for 5 days.
Just beyond the finish line a large hose had been attached to a fire hydrant and angled so it sprayed up in the air to cool everyone off. Tiger got soaked to the bone, of course.
Kat played in the water too, but didn't get quite as soaked as her brother. We're so proud of both of them, but Kat did a particularly excellent job! 25 miles at the age of 7!
