Every year, as a new bike racing season begins, it is always an adventure to remember how to pack everything we need for race day. It seems to get more and more complicated each year as our family grows. I think I need a maid just for race day weekends so I don't feel so frazzled!
Somehow we managed to get everything packed up by Saturday afternoon for Sunday's Crystal Lake Classic, but still had to prepare our lunches and snacks on Sunday morning before we could leave. We spent the night at my parents' house so we only had a three hour drive to the race instead of four hours. It was hard enough to get the van all packed and leave by 9:00 Sunday morning!
Once we finally got out the door and on the road, we enjoyed a beautiful drive through Wisconsin farmland. We arrived just in time for Ted to get ready to race and the kids and I to haul all our race day supplies to the perfect viewing location. We found our friends Mike and Rochelle and enjoyed hanging out with them during the race.
The sun was shining at the beginning of the race, but by lap two, we could hear the thunder rolling in and before we knew it we were drenched in a downpour. We had packed umbrellas, but I ended up holding two scared little toddlers on my lap huddled under one umbrella. At one point, Valerie started screaming "NO! I want to go home!" It was raining so hard, there was even some hail mixed in with it and we all started to shiver from the cold.
Thankfully, by lap three, the rain had slowed down and the sun came out again, but it didn't last long. As the kids and I waited at the finish, it started to downpour again. I ended up carrying a shivering, scared little boy, both our umbrellas and our backpack full of stuff, while attempting to calm my daughter, guide her back to the van, and keep her umbrella from blowing away. By the time we made it back to the safety of our van (and breathed a huge sigh of relief), we were all drenched and shivering, so we quickly changed into dry clothes and waited for Ted to find us after finishing.
This is what we saw when the rain finally stopped and Ted had finished his race:
Despite a rough start and a muddy race, Ted finished 19th overall. And we spent the day making memories in the midst of a crazy rainy day adventure.
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