the STP!

Jeff headed over to Seattle last Friday to be there in time to pick up his registration packet for his big race! He has been training for this ride for months now and the weekend was finally here! He was up at 3:15AM on Saturday to get to the starting line on time. He started the race at 5AM and would spend the next 14 hours on his bike, pedaling himself to the city of Portland. A mere 204 mile bike ride. I know. It's insane, isn't it? I get "bike bum" after 30 minutes on a bike. I can't imagine what my rear end would feel like after 14 hours! And honestly, I have no desire to find out.

While he was on his bike, I was at Brady's swim meet for 3 1/2 hours then we all headed down to meet him at the finish line in Portland. It took us a little over 3 hours to drive to his sister's house and then we headed over to the finish line. We were early and had to wait for his phone call telling us how far away he was and what time he thought he'd be there. He finally called and told us he was about an hour away. Luckily, the finish line was in a great park with these sprinklers. So this is what my kids did to kill some time! And I LOVE a good photo op with my kids!

It was 97 degrees in Portland and what a great way to cool off in that heat! Maddie saw the boys take their shirts off and thought that was what she was supposed to do, too. Thankfully she's only 2 and we can break her of that habit!

Yay! Here he comes! Crossing the finish line! We were at the end of this aisle where all the bikers had to come through and everyone was waiting to find their rider among the 9000 riders who entered the race! Everyone on the sides of the aisle were trying to high 5 the riders coming in! There were tons of people there and it was a little chaotic. Luckily, Jeff was in the front of this small group coming in and we saw him clearly!

Here he is being handed a "One Day Finisher" patch. You can choose to ride the 204 miles in one day or in two. Jeff likes to do it in one day, that way he's finished and doesn't have to hop back on his bike the following morning.

The kids of course are so proud of their Dad. Here he is after we were cheering for him while coming down that long aisle way. He's still standing and able to hold Maddie! His legs didn't feel like jello, yet. He told us a few things that happened while biking to Portland. His friend and co-worker fell while taking a corner and hurt his leg pretty bad. A 12 year old was biking in front of his dad who was right in front of Jeff while going across a bridge. The bikers had to stay in one line in order to not get hit by oncoming traffic. The 12 year old hit a rut and lost his water bottle, slammed on his brakes and nearly caused a huge bike pile-up. Jeff wasn't hurt, thankfully. He also at one point had to stop for a rider that fell unconscious and had to do a CPR check on him. Needless to say, Jeff wasn't racing for a record time, he just wanted to finish - alive and in one piece!

Maddie had prayed all weekend long that Daddy would be safe in his bike race! She was so glad to see him again!

Great job, Jeff! We're so proud of you! Although you're in such incredible shape to be able to handle this type of exertion, I still think you're a little crazy, I mean the notion of getting on a bike and riding for 14 hours straight just doesn't appeal to me. You're a STUD! You know we'll be there at the finish line waiting for you again next year. Let the training begin...AGAIN!