DAILY BLOG

Justy, my 14-year-old son, reached a significant milestone today—riding his first 50 mile ride. He’s planning on riding about half of the miles daily on the tour, so he has effectively reached his training goal. What was most exciting for me as his dad was seeing how he reached it—he kept up with Jared and I for much of the time, drafting off of us. He’s grown significantly as a rider over the past three months!

Justy, convincing himself that he can make it the last mile of the day

Speaking of milestones, Jared and I have come with our own impromptu competitions during lighter moments of daily rides. I dubbed them “meaningless milestones”. The basic rule is that if we see a hill, no matter how minor, we race to the top. The person who wins then raises his hands in total victory, as if he had just won a stage in the Tour de France. Obviously, we aren’t fooling around like that for much of the ride, but the occasional competition keeps things from getting boring.

Jared somehow beats me and wins a “meaningless milestone”.
I assure you that was his last win of the day!

Seventeen-year-old Jordan has had a busy spring with a variety of church, school, music, and other activities. So, he’s found daily training harder to schedule in as regularly as the other three of us. Since he’s not planning on riding with Jared and I the full distance each day of the tour, that’s not a major concern. However, he too made his own meaningful milestone today—riding over 30 miles for the first time this spring.

Jordan either giving the surfer “hang ten” sign
(or else showing that he can count to “2″ with his fingers).