Weekend recap

Another fun weekend we had! Saturday morning took us to Eldridge for a short track bike race. It's like a crit (short track, lots of laps) but in the woods! It was a perfect spectator course as we could stand in one spot and see the racers all over the course. Salem and Kaden decided to take the video camera and go one way while I went another and we'd meet in the middle. The boys didn't get that part though as they stayed in one spot. They had found a couple bike patrol people to stand and talk with. I came up on them and they were having a jolly good time cheering the racers on, especially dad! It was also nice as we met up with the 2 bike patrol people the following day at the races too.

So Keith had his race, did really good and came in 2nd place! Boring recap, sorry. It was fast racing and fun to watch, but not much excitement to talk about.

On the way home the car was sounding funny and we could smell a weird smell. Nothing too bad, but about a mile from home the dashboard lights all lit up, the tach dropped out and the windows didn't want to work too well. We eased the car and got it in the garage. Let it rest for a minute and tried starting it up again, no go! Mad a bad cranking yucky sound and turned it off right away! Decided it was the alternator. It was super easy to take it off, sitting right on top, only had 3 bolts! Keith and the boys rode their bikes up to the parts store to get it tested to be sure it was bad before we bought a new one. The 1st store's machine was broken so they had to head to another one. Thank goodness they were both pretty close. 2nd place tested it and sure enough it was deader than dead. So he got a new one and home they came. Got the new one installed and car was good to go!!

The boys had YMCA night so we got them there. They went swimming, played dodge ball, ate lots of pizza, kickball and tye dyed a bandanna. Those were the highlights of their night. Keith and I stayed home and watched the Tour. Nothing excited for us since we had to fix the car. But we knew the kids were having fun, so that was good!!

Sunday another bike race, some more fun. Keith led his race for 2 laps and was still in 1st going into the 3rd and final lap. He had a guy hot on his tail, but he flatted in lap 2 and was out. The 3-5th place group gained speed and I knew he'd be caught before crossing the line. The boys and I were at the finish line waiting to see where'd he come across. Not 1st, not 2nd, not 3 or 4 or 5 even. Hum, I started getting concerned. Then one guy we had talked to at a few other races came across the line and told me Keith had flatted and was on his way out. Oh man that totally sucked!! I thanked him and then waited to see where he would end up. He came across in 18th place out of 55 finishers! 8 people did not finish due to flats and injuries. So frustrating after how well he had been racing knowing he could have taken top 5. Well, that's racing and hopefully next time will be better!

One of those injuries was a fellow teammate John. Kaden and I were in the woods taking pics when the group came by. We then started to head up to the start when I hear my name being yelled out in the woods. One of our teammates had hit a tree just before we saw them come through, but he's a tough bugger and so I didn't think I was being called for him. I ran into the woods and found John and Geoff standing there. Well Geoff was standing, John was bent over in pain. I took Johns bike and Geoff took off continuing to race. Turns out John hit a tree with his shoulder and dislocated it. OUCH!! Kaden and I stood there holding his bike while he tried to relax his shoulder to pop it back into place. John said it has happened before. He decided it wasn't going to happen and he would have to drop out. So we walked out of the woods and found a trail that would hopefully take us to the start line. Sure enough we weren't too far away and got there quickly. Found his wife and she took over. Then we were able to go to the start where we waited for Keith to come across.

After the race we packed up and headed back towards home. LAMBA (local mtb bike club) was having a picnic/party at the Beverly Trails so we stopped by to see if anyone was still there and hit the trails ourselves. Loads of people were still hanging out so that was cool. They had some big ramps and food still left. Keith and I hit the trails while the boys played with the other kids and on the ramps. Keith and the boys went out, the boys went out with other people. All sorts of fun. We hung out there for a few hours then came home to shower and bed!

Big exciting weekend!!