Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Century Man

My husband rides his bike all the time.  He rides it to work, 25 miles away.  Sometimes he rides it home again on the same day.  A few months ago he was asked to be on his company's cycling team for the Ulcer - a 111-mile race that starts at Thanksgiving Point and goes south, then around Utah Lake, and back to Thanksgiving Point.  (I hurt just thinking about it...)
Brian is the guy grinning in the middle with the sunglasses on.  The guy on the far right is racing for Jelly Belly.  I find that funny.

Brian is the fourth guy from the front.  At this point they were all still together.
Now he's Front Row Joe!  Not such a great place to be when everyone behind you is drafting off of you.
 With a few stops for water, food, or potty break, he finished in 5 hours and 52 minutes. He told us he'd be done around 2:00 in the afternoon, so Bridget and I packed a lunch and headed to Thanksgiving Point at 1:00 so that we could watch him ride in triumphantly.  We passed him riding his bike home from the race.  He was already done!  He finished with three other members of his team.  I watched one of the other guys come in about an hour later.  (Those first three photos were taken by the wife of the guy giving the peace sign in the above picture.  She followed them around and took pictures.)


Bridget was stoked about a new "badge" to wear around the house:

I'm so proud of my husband.  I got the Olympic Cry when I saw him riding toward us, knowing that he'd just ridden his bike for 111 miles.  He trained for this without disrupting our life - he left a little earlier for work, but he always came home at the same time and I think he only did one Saturday morning ride.  (He was back from that one before Bridget even woke up.)  Accomplishing this goal made him so happy, too.  Everyone wins. :)

6 comments:

SteffiD said...

That's such an awesome accomplishment! I bet you're so proud of him and I can understand why.

Congrats!

Jen said...

Complete awe. Standing ovation for the MAN!

Rae said...

That is awesome! Way to go, Brian! I think I would be lying on the side of the road dead about 2 miles into the trip.

melissa said...

Are you kidding me?! That's amazing! And inspiring. Also a bit crazy. Mostly amazing and inspiring. I love that third picture.

Angie said...

That really is great.

koryn said...

I love the Olympic Cry reference. Why do we do that? I really know why but it seems so strange out of the moment and so appropriate in it.

I so hope you are still thinking of the Newspaper Rock 10K. I am practically planning menus for you, and whomever joins you, for a visit down south. I wish I could promise warmer temperatures but it is so consistently colder here I will not toy with you. Instead, promise awesome views and a great run.

Great job Brian. I am getting ready to take on that long ride. I will call for pointers!