2009 HHH

The weather Saturday was perfect, as was my 25-mile ride in the HHH. We all arrived in WF Friday afternoon to check out the trade show and check in at the MPEC. I bought a new jersey (my Microsoft Word wants to capitalized New Jersey :) and some new gloves. Toby bought some new stuff too. The MPEC was packed with people – I could have done some serious people watching. Bicyclist are an interesting breed. After buying some beer – Michelob sponsored the race, we went over to watch the young people ice skate at the Kay Yeager Coliseum, home of the Wildcat’s hockey team. Eventually, we all met back at Mom’s and ate some pasta and pizza – carbed up for the race. We got up early and arrived at the race before dawn. Jesse, Lindz, and her husband, Shay, rode with me while Toby and Jan did the 100K. That meant Toby and Jan were at a different starting point than the rest of us. The race was set to start at 7 AM. The National Anthem was sung on time and the USAF did an awesome fly over just as the last notes of the Anthem played – those boys are amazing with their timing. But the race was late getting going. It could have been that this year was a record amount of participants - close to 15,000 riders. Who knows; but we stood around another 30 to 45 minutes. Jes, Lindz and Shay got very silly and entertaining with the camera. I should tell you that my camera was too large to stuff in my bike bag, since Toby made me carry and extra tire tube this ride. Jesse had her little point-and-shoot, which is where I got these pics. Lindz also took some photos, which I will try to steal later. Notice that the first photos were in the dark, while the next ones were more daylight. Here is one of Jesse's self-portraits as she went through the starting gate. Random shots:Cute family The crowd thins somewhat Me

My ride went smooth and wonderful. I think the youngsters let me go ahead of them so that they would not have to worry about me, but I still had a much faster, smoother ride than last year. Once again, the folks at Sheppard AFB did a great job. The Airmen and women were friendly and fun. I thought Jesse would take more photos of the Airmen lined up to cheer us on, but she did not. Here is one of Shay and you can see the Airmen in the distance. I am hoping Shay got some good pics as he made the corner. I took this photo of Jes and this very tall young man. Jesse took one of me with him also; I look like a midget up next to him.

Here is the finish line as we rode across. Here we are relaxing at the end of the race.

Toby's ride did not go so well. He broke a spoke, which sent his wheel wobbling. The SAG wagon picked him up and took him to Electra. Since his sisters live in Electra, he called them to come get him. They brought him back to WF. Somewhere along the way, he lost one of his new gloves. Jan finished the 100K and seemed to have had a good ride. I hate it that Toby's ride did not go as well, but mine was excellent making me want to do it again next year.