20 May 2008; 1910

Greetings Fair Readers,

It's been busy around Casa Hunger this week; charity bike rides, Mariner games, golf, etc, etc.

Let's see, Henry and I spent some time last week training for the 2008 Washington state Tour de Cure with a couple of rides from South Everett back home and another from the North end of Lake Washington to Seattle and back. Both went well and Henry is getting much better riding in traffic and understanding how we can ride together and how to avoid cars and also how to be assertive on the bike and take over the lane when it is appropriate to do so.

Saturday was the big ride. The weather was beautiful but hot; sweating already well before 8am as we worked on getting ready and getting some breakfast in us at the registration. Henry got to meet 3 time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond and had his picture taken with him (unfortunately I neglected to take my camera when I took him over) and I will do my best to get copies of those out here as soon as I can. We took off and Henry led the ride in the #2 position with Greg for the first little bit but fell behind as the stronger riders on their road bikes pulled ahead. At just over mile 5, he had a mishap with the gatorade bottle just as I caught up with him and he was drenched in it as the top had come off and he was very upset. Luckily, I had an extra bottle of water and was able to rinse him off and then rinse out the jersey so he didn't spend a lot of time in the stickiness. He was so frustrated that he wanted to turn back but we decided to continue on. We continued the ride and as it got hotter and we travelled further north we jus kept putting the miles under the wheels but as the hills grew longer and steeper and the temps rose it got harder and harder and a bit before the 3rd rest stop I felt like I was done and Henry was just about in tears. He solemnly said to me "we did our best" and "the next sag wagon that goes by I'm ready to hitch a ride to the end". Well, we talked to another rider coming the other way and she let us know we weren't far from the top of the hill and lo & behold after another 1/4 mile or so we crested it and had a long nice glide into the 3rd rest stop @ mile 27.

Once we arrived, we called for the sag wagon and as we waited we got some food, some drinks and some shade. After a few minutes Henry looked at me and said "Dad, I think I want to go on". I let him know the heat, hills annd the previous 27 miles had done me in but if we could find some other riders with whom he could keep up I was game to let him do it. We approached a couple of gals, Naomi and Robin with whom we had been chatting here and there over the past few miles and they were willing to have him ride along. I caught a ride back to the finish, feeling a bit low and also very proud of Henry for doing his best out there. I dropped my bike and grabbed a ride with the next sag wagon to head out to the course and saw by the thermometer it was now 95 in the shade. Henry had promised to stay hydrated, I made certain his camelback was filled with water and he had a full bottle of gatorade and some bagel and peanut butter before I left him but still I was worried so riding along in the wagon I could hear the reports over the radio of riders dropping off the course due to dehydration and heatstroke so still I worried. At the last rest stop, the driver and I decided to wait as we had just gotten a report of Henry at the back with Naomi and Robin and that they were about 15 minutes out and looking strong. Not long after Robin pulled up and said that Naomi had broken a spoke and Henry had stayed with her but they would try and limp in. Not long after that, here they came up the road slowly but surely and boy was I glad to see that kid. Strong and hungry and thirsty, he said he was going to finish no matter what. Well Naomi and he bike had had it by then so she rode back in with the driver and I and I got ready to go out and follow Henry in to make certain he made it but before I got too far out of the park where the start and finish line was, I found Robin and Henry pulling in; they had made the last 7 miles in record time and although they were the last two riders Henry had pedaled the entire 45 miles. He was sweaty and exhausted but the smile on his face was the widest I thinkI can ever remember seeing. I hugged him and let him know how proud I was and even shed a couple tears because that is my boy, my bike rider that raised over $1000 for diabetes research and finished the longest ride of his life in 95 degree weather and lots of up and down hills all on a mountain bike. WOW!

Just in case it's not apparent, Henry is my hero.

So then after all that Henry couldn't get on of the Chipotle burritos he had been craving all day as they had shut down the finish line food! Well, luckily there was a Chipotle nearby and I took him there and told him to order anything he wanted so he got a monster burrito but he was too tired to eat it all but after the olong drive home with a stop to se his Mum, Henry rallied and was able to finish his burrito and still didn't hit the hay until after 10 and was up again the next day by 7. We had a nice relaxing morning, drank some coffee, watched some cartoons, read the paper and then we were off to Hunter's 8th birthday party in Bellevue.

We had been warned of what was in store but as we arrived we found ourselves following a big black Excursion limo...

We loaded the kids and off we went to the Mariners / Padres game after a quick stop at McDonald's where Hunter's Dad Jason and I took the opportunity to get a few pictures

Can you say supersize me?

That's Henry poking his head out the sunroof

And a closeup of the squinty into the sun look

Watching DVDs on the way to the game with lunch

Drop off right in front

PLAY BALL!

As you can see, it was a great day for baseball and birthdays. It was a bit cooler than the previous day and the girls even got a blanket as we were in the shade all afternoon in right center field with hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts. The kids didn't pay a lot of attention to the game, they were more interested in getting back in the limo but they managed to make it all the way through and the Mariners even rallied in the bottom of the 8th to win. The limo picked us up right out front and we were off! But first we needed a group photo in front of the stadium (actually we took it before the game but I thought it would wrap this up nicely...