The Longest Race Report Ever

Thursday, August 23, we pack Betty Lou and get ready to ride. Of course, she has to leave Fred behind. Why you ask? Well, because she has to make room for this guy...

"The School Bus" No room for Fred when Bigun's Ride jumps on





(remember click on any picture you wish to see bigger)

Plus, Bigun needs to be able to fit in for the long journey too.





We hit the road.

Betty Lou avoided all temptation for the numerous Road Side Stands along the way

Somehow she also managed to avoid the PoPo in Lawtey, Waldo and Starke. All notorious "Speed Trap" towns...according the numerous billboards posted along the highway.

She did not however manage to avoid the many, many construction zones between Tampa and Chicago. I lost count after 25.

She kept the numbers in check

Said hello to recently Hitched Jen and Rob - from Tennessee

Cafe Risque definitely wanted our business. One of the signs even welcomed couples. Huh - go figure

Betty Lou was a trooper even when subjected to the minor indignity of bug splatter

Splatter which Bigun so kindly rid her of at every stop. What a nice guy. She says she'll keep him... hey, wait a minute...






We drove through one city ( L'Ville) after another





one construction zone after another...swear, it's a different one! They all look the same is all...



Then another city (Nashville)....

She drove through Thunder, lightening and driving rain storms.

Betty Lou FLEW through Atlanta




Narrowly saved our lives from this flesh eating, bone crushing monster

She took us to a Fine International Restaurant for some vittles





Skirted more construction in Georgia - They burn their highway debris....

All for this. The largest Triathlon known to man or woman.

More than 8000 competitors came out for this race. Incredible. And we were there...

This is Sherpa Extraordinaire - Andy. Andy and Brittany are our friends who live just outside of the Windy City. They rose at 3 am the morning of the race and packed a Sherpa pack to be envied by all. They totally rock. We dropped Bigun off about a block from the transition area so that we could go find a parking spot. We found a great spot in the Monroe Street garage. Perfect.

Andy, Brittany and I made our way down to the water where the athletes would be coming out of the swim. It was a beautiful morning and everyone seemed in great spirits. Smiles were everywhere and the chatter and excitement certainly was contagious if you weren't quite feeling it before. We were certainly feeling it.

We hung out and watched the people while we waited for Bigun to join back up with us. The first wave was to start at 6:30. We arrived at 4:30 and Bigun's wave wasn't due to leave until 9:41. The insanity!! Holy cow, all those waves of people. There were a total of 52 waves for this race. Bigun was in wave #51. lol. Truth.

So, to kill time while waiting, guess what I did.






The clouds were lit up like they were on fire . The edges reminded me of a slip of paper that falls into the fire and you snatch it out just before it is consumed by the fire. But the edges are glowing with that bright orange and yellow burn. The morning on the lake was like heaven. So beautiful.


The water was full of swimmers for 3 hours... look at all of those bodies both in the water and spectating. I read there were over 150,000 spectators last year. I wonder how many there were this year.

Finally found Bigun. Here he is with Tim Davies (left) Bigun, Roman Mica and Dr. Dave. These were the guys we were her to watch. There was some time to kill before they took off. So we all hung out and chatted and enjoyed each others' company for a while. It afforded these guys an opportunity to watch other athletes competing in the sprint portion of the race.



Master Sherpa taking a short break








The guys stretching and contemplating their race strategies...Tim went to find his dad and his wife. we didn't get to see him again until the bike.




I think this lady's morning must have started a little too early for her. She took a quick cat nap in the sun during the early portion of the race.

Beautiful Bride Brittany of Sherpa Extraordinaire Andy enjoying the wonderful morning with her hubby. We pretty much relaxed and waited for Big Mike and J-Wimm to join us. They arrived before Bigun and Roman hit the water. Where is their picture... I know I have a few or two here...hold on, they're coming.

Okay - the race is on! Bigun had a pretty good time in the water. I got a great shot of him just coming out of the water but he used it on his blog. I borrowed this shot from Andy.








Big Mike caught this shot of me, J-Wimm, Brittany and Andy cheering on the bike portion of the race. Man oh man. Talk about some HAWT bikes. They were there, J-Wimm and I both drooled over the new pink Trek and purred over the new Orbea Diva - in pink.




Bigun came peeling around the curve and screaming down the hill with the speed of light. We yelled, cowbelled and cheered pretty loudly! Then we had to figure out the logistics of getting to the finish line for the run. It was about 4 blocks away. we had a bit of a trek ahead of us. We made it fun.

The Fountain was celebrating it's 80th birthday on August 26th. They even had cake for everyone and clowns for the kids.

Andy was feeling a little "Pretty"

Sing it with me now "I fell pretty, oh so pretty..."










Fellow Photographer Brittany was sashaying all sexy like too...must have been the water spouting out like it was...

There they are!!! I told you Big Mike and J-Wimm were there with us!! It was so wonderful having them join us for this race. I felt like I dragged them all over tarnation though from this spot to that spot. It was fun. I couldn't say enough how happy I was that they drove 2 hours to hang with us. How awesome is that?

With all of our Dilly Dallying at the fountain, we almost missed Bigun crossing the finish line!! We did! we were so busy cuttin' up and playing the fool we barelymade his finish. Thankfully we did. he finished really strong. look at that smile! Look at that gait! He smoked chica at the line.

After the race we all sat and roasted for at least 2 hours in the blaring sun waiting for the awards. Talk about a crappy end to an excellent race, well...we won't even go there. That is an entire post on it's own. I am sure most of you have heard about the controversy over Roman's finish. He kicked ass on this race. For those of you who don't know, well...well...I just better not. It gets me spitting mad all over again!!

So, we made our way in three different cars to a wing place in Evanston. It was called Buffalo Joe's. Best wing sauceI've had in a very very long time. Talk about an adventure getting everyone there. It was a lesson in hysterical funny. Afterwards. During...well, we were worried about losing J-Wimm and Big Mike. They got caught in traffic in downtown Chicago. Big Time. I know they got a 20 minute later start than we did. Talk about flying, well Big Mike and J-Wimm must have sprouted wings on their Envoy, because it pulled into the garage 2 minutes after we did. AMAZING!!!!

We all had wings, all 9 of us at a table for 6. It was a bit of a challenge to get everyone in but we did it. This place we ate at was what one would describe as a "dive" . But Roman and his friend Steve had the skinny on this place. And they were right. The wings were sehr gut! 3 of us ordered the suicide wings - they weren't that hot. Really. ask Big Mike, but they were still really tasty. Did I tell you the wings were yummy?

We all laughed so hard. Big Mike and Dr. Dave were hysterical. Ask Big Mike about "Pinch to Pass". Dr Dave had all of the older (like in their 70's and up) age group ladies passing him up on the run, they had to "pinch to pass" True story. Okay, so not really, but according to Dave - by the time he made it back to Omaha it would be true. We were rolling with laughter.

We said our farewells to all and hitched The School Bus back on the back of our Team Sherpa car and headed off into the sunset. It was a glorious day and a glorious race.

Almost There! Chicago Day 3

We said good bye to Bigun's Mom and her hubby Bob - (we have no photographic proof that Bob exists...)

I got behind the wheel for this leg of the trip. Driving through the mountains of West Virginia while roads are under construction... loads of particularly challenging FUN!!!! NOT!

We were almost killed when a big dually about 4 cars ahead of us goes riding up the cement barrier in a single lane run of a 6 lane highway. Other than that, easy drive.

I drove to Ohio so, no photos of the journey there. This is the morning of the third day. We had a lovely breakfast with Uncle Mel, who you see sitting here with Joey.

The breakfast was lovingly prepared by our Cousin Kim and her mom, our Dear Sweet Aunt LaVerne.

Our Cousin Anne stopped by too with her little boy Spencer. I have a shot of Anne, but if she saw it (it was early morning) she would kill me to find it posted on the blog. So, I got Spence with his Uncle Joey. (It's really Joe - but Joey gets his goat...lol)

After a really fun and tasty breakfast we hit the road again. Bigun was driving this leg of the trip...

The day was pretty uneventful.
It poured in buckets between Ohio and Chicago. Not a lot of photo ops there.

As you can tell.

We arrived safely in Chicago.

That is me on the right with our friends Andy and Brittany. The way the camera captured the sun in this shot it looks like Captain Kirk is beaming us back to the Enterprise.

This is where the swimmers in the race will be swimming in about 12 hours.

We get back into the traffic to head out to Andy and Brittany's for dinner and a couple of hours of sleep. Knowing what the traffic is like lets us know the morning will start for us at 3am, central time. Crap.

How Day 2 Began...On The Way to Chicago

This was the start of our second day. We stayed over Thursday night at Bigun's Mom's. We arrived in just enough time for dinner. It was absolutely delicious! Ribs with a light marinade, grilled chicken, rolls and the most incredible side dish in the world! Pineapple baked in the oven with cheddar cheese and bread crumbs ... I think it was bread crumbs. I don't have the recipe yet. She promised it to me. Oh. My. Gosh. I am salivating just from thinking of it again. (remember - click on the image for a better view)













The Hummingbirds ( there was a pair, male and female) were trying to get a little breakfast in before the day started. The female wasn't too keen on me watching them. The male on the other hand found me quite interesting. He hovered around my face about 10 inches or so away. It was incredible. Incredible.














Mrs Hummingbird trying to keep an eye on me while she dines on breakfast (did you click on her?)






















Mr Hummingbird on the other hand, found me as interesting as I found him to be. He was quite bold and quite beautiful (when you click on him, you'll see his colors- the white light behind him made his blue head bleed a little but still gorgeous)

















A little back lighting here












The back light shows off the wings much better than the background of the green trees. (click on this shot and you'll see all of the detail in the wings)






















(click click click...lol)



















I hope you enjoyed my brief encounter with these beauties.