Tour de St. George Century Ride

Tour de St. George 2016

Dad and Mike decided to jump in a 100 mile bike race/ride in the Washington County area.  The Century Ride included conquering an elevation of 5,500 feet.  The day was nice even though there was a little wind to aggravate the riders.  

Early morning preparations

Mike got off to a great start.  He was in the lead peloton when I got the following shots near the St. George airport.  Instead of stopping at one of the rest stops, he powered through and found himself leading the race for the next thirty miles.  It was during this part of the ride that he discovered the benefit of the pack.  By the time the leaders finally caught him, he was not feeling so great.  But after he found a group to ride with again, he was able to draft for a minute and catch his breath.  He ended up finishing with the top 12 riders!  A great effort for his first race. Yes, that man is an animal.

Find Mike in this leading peloton.

Here he comes!

There he is!  Wow, what a fast start.

LeGrand was in the second group only a few hundred feet behind the leaders.  Not bad for an old guy.

LeGrand is the yellow sleeved rider.

As luck would have it, LeGrand's front derailer failed him after about 40 miles into the race.  It took him quite a while to fix his bike and of course by then he has lost his peloton.  Riding by himself, he got very discouraged and felt awful.  He wanted to call me to come and get him, but he would not give up.  Going down the canyon from Veyo should have been an easy ride, but there was a stiff wind and LeGrand hates to ride in the wind.  A group of five young men rode up to him  and invited him to join them.  LeGrand was so thankful for these boys and their kindness because the rest of the ride was great with the help of their draft and their encouragement.  

Mike was so proud of his old pappy. He had been so concerned that he didn't come in right behind the leaders.

I love these guys.