Ron took off last Friday and we headed over to Stephenville for the weekend. "Come down and ride a race with me", said Chad a month or so ago. "It'll be fun", he said. Having never ridden a race before and not even owning a bike, we were a bit skeptical as to whether or not he had any idea of what he might getting himself into. But, Ron loaded up his bike and his old Tri bike and we headed west. We arrived in time to pick up the race packets and to make some minor adjustments to the bike for Chad.
Early Saturday morning, I rode down to Dublin, TX with Chad and Ron. The race was the Tour de Agua, the proceeds of which provide clean water for children in poor countries around the globe.
The race began at the local high school and was divided into three divisions: 64 miles, 34 miles and 9 miles. Since Chad had not ridden a bike since he was a kid and Ron hasn't ridden since last fall, they decided to really take it easy and not worry about being "fast".
The wildflowers at the finish line were beautiful!
Chad finished first.
Chad and Carmelle were working the Parents' Night Out at their local tumbling gym, so we hung out with them for a while and watched the kids play and tumble. Adellelyn and Michael's step-sister, Jexie is visiting for the summer, so it was nice to see her again.
After the start, I drove downtown to park and wait and wander around the small town. Apparently, Dublin is the home of Dr. Pepper, so the old bottling plant (which still operates, although it bottles different sodas now) is one of its highlights.
I poked my head into some of the shops,
then headed over to the finish line to await my bikers. (that's my spot on the grass)
I enjoyed watching the scissor-tail flycatchers flying about looking for breakfast.
The wildflowers at the finish line were beautiful!
But, Ron was not far behind.
They were both really glad to be off of their bikes, but also felt good about finishing the race and perhaps jump-starting more biking excursions. Ron's hair looked especially nice after taking off his helmet!
The reward for finishing the race was bottles from Dublin Bottling company--pure cane root beer and cherry sodas.
We headed home, rested a little, then changed into swimsuits. The whole family went to Water World, a small-ish water park located their City Park.
It was clean and very crowded, but it felt great to be outdoors and the water was pretty relaxing.
(how about that photo-bombing lifeguard?!?)
Ron tried out using his camera underwater, which was pretty fun, and we swam and splashed or a couple of hours.
It was a great way to cool off and relax before heading home the next day.
Ron tried out using his camera underwater, which was pretty fun, and we swam and splashed or a couple of hours.
It was a great way to cool off and relax before heading home the next day.
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