Papa Bear is a rockstar.

Update 7/25

We woke up at 5:30 to make it back to the dorms to get Frank's bike ready for my dad and breakfast at 6:30. The weather started out looking a little sketchy, but it wasn't raining.

The ride began with poor directions and a big mass of us were riding on the bike path on various directions. Eventually we got on route, and it was full of cracked roads and small shoulders not to mention it was also raining. I stuck back with my dad and we passed three flats! What a great introduction to the big ride! At the first check point, we were both soaked since we ditched our jackets at breakfast. I took my jersey off and just wore my jacket. Frank let my dad borrow his jersey, and my dad put his new rain jacket on top.

We started out with Isang, Chacko, Jeremy, Toby, and Chad, but around mile 35 my dad started to fade. There were lots of rolling hills, and Southlake is just not the best place to train for that. He was also on a borrowed bike and an uncomfortable seat. To add to it all, his quads were cramping. We slowed down the pace, and my mom and Cilla drove by just in time to meet us at the lunch stop. After a struggle, we made it to lunch at mile 50. My dad had had enough, so he got in the car with my mom and Cilla, and i continued off on my own. I was in the back at this point except for Todd who had gotten extremely lost.

At mile 75ish, there was a nice surprise from a past big riderless. He had brought DQ blizzards and watermelon and cookies and lemonade. The weather had cleared up, and it was hot, humid, and headwinds. 3 of the 4 Hs in Illinois. The last H is hills.

I left the rest stop after about 15 minutes. I didn't want to hang around too long because I wanted to see my parents. I called my parents when I was just under 10 miles from camp, and we ended up arriving at almost exactly the same time. Perfect!

I went back to the hotel with them to shower and run some last minute errands. We first went to the bank since I was finally able to find a Bank of America. ATM fees can get a little obnoxious. Then we went to Macys to get a wedding give for Ron's daughter, who jut got married. We searched for her in the gift registry, but the Stephanie that showed up wasn't going to get married until October in CA. Ron's daughter already got married, and it wasn't in CA. Not the right person. Struggle. My parents just picked out something else. Afterwards, we went to Wal-Mart to get more Cliff bars, wrapping paper, random treasures, and lunch for the big riders (cold cuts, sandwich toppings, hummus, avocados, pita chips, granola, watermelon, and lot a of other yummy food....I still like pb&j, but lots of others don't.) I unfortunately was not able to find an Illinois pin. After our little shopping adventure, we went to a Texas steakhouse for dinner.

Once again, after dinner I packed up and crashed. Alarm- 4:30 am