Gravel & Whine

After we sent the riders off on their adventure it was time to get to business. I rushed the boys to the van, loaded them up, and headed to the first feed. The feed station was about 18 minutes driving so I wanted to make sure I got there with plenty of time to find my way, get a good spot to give Kevin his bottle of EDGE and help if needed. This first drop was 23.3 miles from the start for the riders. Just south of the fire station on Sage Road. When we arrived we offered to help the team set up the feed station and play with the dog that was there.

 

The feed station had a jug of water, a jug of liquid fuel, gummy bears, energy bars, pickle pops and more. They were fully loaded. By the time the tent was up and the jugs were full we had riders coming in hot! The leaders flew down the dirt road without any grabbing anything from the aid station. I took a second to check Strava and locate Kevin. It seemed he was a bit further out than I thought he would be, but gravel is new for us so I am not too sure what his pacing plan was. I projected he would be pretty close to the leaders. Then his Strava dot got closer. I got in position the boys go their signs up and their bells were ringing. I saw his red jersey. I handed him the bottle while be blew past at race pace. Then I noticed he didn't pass me the empty bottle and he was missing 1/2 of his handlebars!! I tried looking him over before he was out of sight to check for bleeding or other signs of a crash. I saw nothing. I yelled " ARE YOU OKAY?" he said  "YEP!" and kept riding. The boys and I were shocked and instantly jumped into the van and drove to the 2nd feed station to get eyes back on dad and make sure he was fueled properly, especially if he's planning on completing this race with half a handlebar.

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Feed station two was kind of hard to find. I went to the cross roads that were given to me and didn't see anyone. We drove down the dirt road a bit and still no tent in sight. I checked Strava and Kevin was still out a bit. So we set up our own feed station with water bottles from the van and the snacks from the cooler. We found a good turn to post up at and hung out until we saw the leaders. The cyclists were flying by in smaller groups. For the most part the riders were happy and waving and stoked about the Wake boys cheering them on. The boys made signs that even I couldn't  read or understand.  They held the signs upside down with pride, fully unaware that nobody could understand what they said. But the screaming and bell ringing was in full send mode to match the energy we were getting from the riders. That's when we saw Kevin's red jersey. He was flying down the hill just like everyone else.  Smiling, stoked, and giving high fives to the boys. We got him his second bottle and he was on his way!

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We left the second feed station and went back to the vineyard. Where the boys enjoyed riding around while the waited for Kevin to cross the finish line. We were there for about ten minutes and Kevin called me.  He says " babe am I off the course?" I checked and responded "YEP!" I sent him my location and he made his was back on track after about 4 miles of climbing in a residential area. He finally made it back to us and we were full of questions... 

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Us: did you crash?

Him: no, I tried to pass on the side, and my handlebar ripped off.

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Us: what happened to your first water bottle?

Him: I knew I wasnt going to podium and I met a girl out there that could potentially podium and she needed it so I gave it to her.

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Us: Did you have fun?

Him: The most fun!

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Kevin is going to take the time to write something up about the whole race this week. So we can get the details straight from the beast himself. 

 

The Lorimar Winery was a beautiful place to host a Gravel race! I love that Paul leveled up the cycling event by choosing such a classy location. The venue had a pergola covered stage, which hosted the live band. The food was served from chrome chaffing dishes by a team of servers from inside the barrel room. The bar was home to wine and bubbly waters where the staff was kind and quick. The tables lined the lawn with table cloths and comfortable seats. There was even a fire pit surrounded by cozy outdoor patio furniture. The winners were announced with pride and speed. The drawing for the raffle went off without a hitch. Most of my children helped pass out all the winnings which they absolutely loved. The crowd was happy and everyone pretty much packed it up after eating, podium, and the raffle.