Spirit Of Racine Half Ironman

Great Fun On A Great Lake was the theme of this weekend. We escaped the power outages in STL and headed for the air conditioning of Racine, Wisconsin for a Half Ironman. What a weekend. A 1.2 mile swim in a choppy Lake Michigan followed by a flat 56 mile bike followed by a scenic 13.1 mile run (by the way, did anyone see the zoo?). The weekend was not without incident as Tom Irwin took a spill on the bike. As always, Great Times (both on the course and off) were had by all. It is always so much fun to be with everyone. We see each other through the good times and the bad with an overall sense of knowing that we all truly support each other no matter what! It is an overwhelming feeling.

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Firecracker 100 Century Ride

Off To A Good Start

Two Words = CENTURY DONE

It was an early start (4 am wake up call) on Sunday for the Firecracker 100 Century Ride in Greenville, IL. A chance for me to get my second century stripe while folks like TPR and Steve Frank where able to lose their 100 mile virginity. Tom, Nancy, Seiichi, Bill, Rebecca, Tommy, Steve and I hit the pavement in what turned out to be fairly pleasant temps. A beautiful ride through the rolling flats of New Douglas, IL. The day was not without incident, however, as Tom Irwin got a flat after riding one foot. Rebecca headed home at lunch so that her Steve could get in a round of golf. But, the big story of the day belonged to Bill Cragg who bit the gravel at the 90 mile mark. The big bear went down pretty hard but was able to tough it out for the remaining ten despite being tended to by Dr. Noda. While Bill was quick to question Seiichi's bed side manner let me be the first to point out that Seiichi is a heart surgeon and was not in his element outside of the OR. That said, I still don't know why he felt Bill needed a prostate exam out there. My favorite part of the ride was when I was asked by a Greenville resident driving a pickup truck, "where are y'all comin' from??? When I responded, "The Starbucks at the corner of Wydown and Hanley" he looked at me like I was from another planet! Anyway, congrats to all for riding the C NOTE. For those of us who need more than this, let me remind you that Nancy and Tom are doing a 130 mile ride at the end of this month. Any takers??? My guess is that Pepper will be so despondent that he missed this ride that he will joing them for the full 130. Stay tuned.

Labadie

A nice little 80 mile trek out to Labadie and back!!! This might be the toughest ride out there considering all of the hills. We started at the Schnucks on Hanley and Clayton and rode 40 miles out to Labadie. That was just 1/2 the fun - we then rode all the way back. Quote of the day goes to Seiichi as he was trying to keep up with the ladies he uttered..."Man, these CHICKS can ride!" Typical Bill, he showed up with most of the ride already done. Special thanks to Rebecca, Holly, Margie and Jen for letting the guys tag along.