solvang-century.jpg
Micah and I headed up to Solvang, Ca two weeks ago so he could compete in his first century ride.  For those of you who are non-bike riders, that means he rode a 100 mile race.  He has trained for it for a while, and was pretty prepared by the time he got there.  We went with his parents, and met others up there as well.  He started out at some rediculous time of the morning, and he didn’t finish until about 2:30 in the afternoon.
solvang-sign.jpg
I thought all must be going well throughout the morning until I got Micah’s call from approximately mile 25.  I answered, and happily asked how everything was going.  All I heard was, “This race is horrible.  My body isn’t even working today.  I am over this!  We have 50 mph winds in our face no matter what direction we are going in. ”  Not knowing what to say since he had 75 miles left, I asked how his dad was doing.  His reply was, “He is WORKING me.  It’s not even hard for him.”  At this point, I wanted to point out that not only was it his choice to ride, but he even paid a good chunk of money to do it.  But instead, I just said, “Well, have a good attitude.  Bye!”
Well, at the end of the race, I was there to cheer him in.  He said the race got better when he ate at mile 70 or so.  (Apparently the guy didn’t think breakfast was necessary?) But in support of his call, everyone we knew that rode that day, said it was the hardest century ride of their life.  I guess the winds were terrible and really fatigued the riders.  And as far as his dad goes, he said that he did think it was hard, but didn’t want to say anything because Micah was looking so strong. How classic!
micah-and-tim.jpg