Day #268 - Point 2 Point - TRAVIS

I'm a few days behind on my blog, but I must give a race recap. I have mentioned before that Travis has been training for a 78 mile mountain bike race this whole year. The last few days before the race, I think he started psyching himself out, but I knew he had trained hard and would do well.

My job at the race was to meet him at two different spots throughout the race and give him some food and drinks he had prepared, take photos and be supportive. I took LOTS of photos:

Start of Race at Round Valley - Trav is full of energy and ready to go. I hung out for the first hour so I could see him go by after the Round Valley loop - he got there exactly when I thought he would:

The next stop was at Deer Valley. Each racer received two free lift tickets up to Silver Lake Lodge where the racers would arrive for the feed zone. For some reason I have begun to fear heights and especially ski lifts. I used to love them, but the last one we went on stopped so many times and took an hour and 1/2 round trip - I was so scared and tense by the end of that ride and not a little befuddled...when did I become afraid??? Hmmm...Anyway, this ride was smooth and I only got a little anxious if I started to think about falling. It was so beautiful and quiet on the way up - very peaceful.

Once up there I began to watch all the riders coming down the hill and spotted some unique looking jerseys - thank goodness Travis had on red sleeves so he was easy to spot. Travis was 30 minutes early at the feed station at Deer Valley Silver Lake Lodge...I was worried he might be pushing too hard, but he felt good and was rearin' to go, took off his red under shirt & zoomed off up the hill...now it would be pretty hard to tell who he was until he got close enough. Next year I told him he will need to wear something more noticeable.

It was the next feed station at Park City Resort that was tricky - Travis was an hour later then I expected him. It was around mile 54 and he still had 24 miles left to ride to make it to the finish in The Canyons. His inner thighs had started to cramp. This was my biggest worry about this race - the cramping. I was rushing around to get him water and exchange his bottles and he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "It's alright, I am going to stand here for a few minutes". So he shoved bananas, cookies and coke into his mouth and came to stand by me again. I asked him if he had the legs to finish - he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know". I then asked him if he had the guts to finish, he simply said, "Yes". I told him I would see him at the finish.

Throughout the day I would update some of our friends and several people came out to support Travis at the finish line. It is hard because you don't know when they will be coming through, but they were in place at 4 p.m.

Finally, he came through at just over 10 hours, with a ride time of around 9.5 hours and 138th overall (over 300 racers) and 35th in his race group...I am so very proud of him.

I think he will want to do it again next year; there is something special about triumphing over yourself to finish something that wipes you out. I was talking to the wife of one of the racers who has done some of these epic rides as well and she said the last third of the race is all about guts, either you have the guts to finish, or you don't. This is why I asked Travis that question in Park City and because of his answer I knew he would make it to the finish line just fine. Way-to-go Trav!!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever"  Lance Armstrong