Thanks for great friends

I had a great group of supporters at Wildflower. My failure was not for lack of effort on their part. As I came back into the lake area after my longest-ever bike in a race, the Cal Tri crew was all painted up, spelling out “BEARS” or something, and yelling and screaming. They made such a scene that the announcer took notice and said something about how excited they were to see me. After I went passed them, they headed to a good position to see me on the run, and the announcer apparently made some comment like: “That was all for him? Just for him?” Then on the run, I was walking when the entire Cal Tri contingent saw me. They started yelling and screaming for me. I had to start running. They got me going for another 1-1.5 miles before I finally gave it up. But they also chalked the road for me. It was awesome.

Then, when I quit, Keith from Zoom-Pac Bikes was there and so was Muddy Waters, who coaches the Alcis athletes. They have both been great sources of encouragement for me. It was good to have them there when I felt so demoralized. They told me to think about two weeks ago and to know I would have it in me to finish another time. I really appreciated have them and the Cal Tri Crew—Kim, Robyn, Melissa, Dwight, Curtis, Kenny, K-Haas, Sabine and Own—out on course. A race like that is mentally and physically exhausting. Their encouragement was a big help.