Jen once again put up a good fight.  I’ve always said that girl looks good in the woods.

Victory went to my 12 year old nephew, Brandt (pictured below going head-to-head with me in a tie breaker).  He’s been practicing hard this year and it paid off.  Congrats!

And special thanks to my dad for sponsoring this year’s (and every year’s) Bowersock shoot off!

Why, you might wonder?  Well, simply put, we delight in a challenge of body and mind.  It’s beating it with a few thousand (yes, like 5,000) others.  If you’ve done the Mini, the buzz of the crowd felt much the same…and there are riders of all ages, shapes, sizes who ride all kinds of bicycles.  Recumbents, tandems, parents towing kids, an older gentleman with his terrier whose head bobbed above a milk crate behind the saddle…there are costumes and crazy socks, hats and flashy cycling jerseys.  We like the cyclist breed, and we fit in well.

It’s also the food.  As the day went on, I began to think that people rode as much for the SAGs (or refueling stations) as anything else.  There was entertainment in the form of live music at each stop, riders stopping to stretch, re-filling water bottles and stocking up on much-anticipated treats.  Square Donuts anyone?  Really?  All you can eat muffins and bagels and trail mix?  Bananas and pb&j sandwiches?  Wow, and this was at mile 14.3!  We each snarfed a Square Donut, then split a half-bagel.  We were glad to have some carbs and patted ourselves on the back for not gorging.

SAG 2 – Mile 28.1 “Lunch” – Fried Chicken, raw veggies, chips and cookies.  Heck, even the Schwan man showed up!  One could fist a chicken drumstick in one hand, a chocolate drumstick in the other.  Naughty, yes, but it’s possible at the Hilly (for the record, we did not perform this stunt).  By the end of this SAG, we had ridden several miles with a couple whose wedding we photographed a few years back…we ran into one of our former brides and her children passing out the aforementioned Square Donuts (her groom was riding)…and after seeing the fanny flag (the name bib you wear on your backside) with Bowersock on it, a woman knowing Kurtis in grade school said her hellos.  Really neat.

SAG 3 – Mile 44 The Last Stop – Apple Cider!  Fruits and Nuts.  Musgrave Orchard poured some 900 gallons of cider over the weekend.  That’s incredible.  We were feeling a little ragged at this point and were ready to pedal onto the finish.  So we went, pumping our fists at the finish line.  And what was waiting for us???  Oh yeah, a Ritter’s ice cream bar.  All that riding and probably a net day for calories in/out?!  But again, totally worth it.

We had to go home before Sunday’s ride, an optional 49 mile or 39 mile ride.  I’m sure there were more goodies to be had and more leg busters.  We’ll give that one a go next time.

All in all, a wonderful event. A must-do for cyclists.  There are so many great sights, I hope to capture the event much more with my camera next time.  We look forward to doing it again and hope if you’re planning on it, we can pedal together.

I didn’t pack my good camera for the ride, but I did grab it before we started.  Here’s a view of the starting line of the 2011 Hilly, the moon backing off in the distance.

Look, they’re growing up!

Our first mystery trip – Mrs. Curl!

Clearly a hit!

I made them do this…couldn’t resist!  Thanks to Bryce for being our daddy duck throughout Camp!

If you’re the last one sleeping, Kurtis is sure to rouse you with a cheery morning tune.

Enter the sweet treats…sugar cookie making!One of my favorite trips was to an urban farm, South Circle Farm.  Farmer Amy gave us a tour and let us try several varieties of tomatoes, cut fresh flowers, eat carrots just pulled from the soil and check on the bee house.

Onto the Children’s Museum where the fun for us is keeping track of them!

We had guests…another aunt and uncle with a nephew in the womb (and he’s now here)!

And it wouldn’t be Camp without chocolate inside AND on-top-of your pancakes

Soaking up the last day at Camp!
Another Camp done!  Whew, we love it!

I’m adding a paddleboard to my wishlist.

Adventurous people out there, TRY IT!  Here are some local rental providers:

http://twitter.com/#!/SUPindy

http://www.ripplewake.com/

http://www.rustedmoon.com/

Back in 1994 on the Thursday or Friday prior to the inaugural Brickyard 400, my brother and I stood at an Indianapolis auto parts store in a line of autograph seekers to waiting to meet Jeff Gordon.  We each brought along a white ball cap with a black brim, Brickyard logo emblazoned on the front, tag still on it.  Jeff happily signed our hats…we were thrilled and had this good little feeling that we might just be holding the future winner’s signature in our hands.  As luck would have it…on the front stretch we sat on Sunday afternoon and cheered wildly as the 24 car took the checkered flag.  We’d picked the winner just days prior.  Cha-ching!  Gosh, I wish I would have those moments more often.

And so it was serendipitous this past July, the 13th anniversary of the race, that I watched from the pits of the 24 car, peering over my brother’s shoulder as he worked to ensure a fast machine for Jeff.  How cool, huh?

Here we are on raceday!

A couple shots from Friday’s first practice session…

And then on race day…approaching Gasoline Alley

An interesting sight while walking through the pits…Cola Cola being shotgunned onto the asphalt surface of a pit stall.  I’m sure if these guys could have used their sponsor beverages, sticky frat house floors in mind, they would have.  Less filling, I mean footing, means loss of time in the pits, and that’s a no no.

My favorite member on the 24 team gets ready

The pagoda and flyover, trackside

And then, hundreds (i guess) of balloons!

Once the race begins, without a good view of the on-track action, you wait for a pit stop

Here’s an interesting fact you may not be aware of…a camera is mounted to a pole and perched on top of the pit stall.  It records each pit stop.  Immediately after the stop, the crew reviews to take note of any improvements it can make.  That’s precision!

On the fence, or rather grill, I rested, feeling like I was being cooked for dinner!  Due to the 90+ degree heat, I found some AC for the middle laps of the race.

Jeff had a fast, fast car all day.  He led many laps and was in the perfect position to win.  A stroke of luck and a gamble on fuel allowed Paul Menard to stay in front.  On the straightaway, final lap, here’s the oh-so-close split.

And the charge to the finish line…

It’s hard not to be pleased with a second place finish, especially on at Indy.  But we could taste a win because it was so very close.

Next year awaits…I’d better get a ball cap

A few of my favorites from the trip…

Felt like the big giraffe was hiding from the baby!

Thanks again Molly for having me go with you to the zoo!  Love you little miss!

Kurtis is in full-on attack mode, clearly unleashing fireballs or imagining he has claws like that of Wolverine.  But as I tell him often, it’s not fashionable to wear white ankle socks without also wearing shorts.  And it certainly cuts down the intimidation factor.  He tells me he’s channeling Bruce Lee, and Bruce Lee would agree with white socks.  hmmmm….