Out of retirement

Gary has not done a bike race since Caroline was born. He has done triathlons or duathlons, but not a traditional bike race weekend like he did for over a decade and a half. He got a new bike for his birthday and had aspirations for just a few time trials (solo racing against the clock) this summer. He did come out of retirement this weekend for the Marx Bensdorf/Smith & Nephew Grand Prix held in Memphis/Collierville. The weekend involved a road race on Saturday morning, a time trial on Saturday night and a criterium on Sunday. His hope was to not embarass himself and to finish. Wow, did he finish!! Saturday he was in a nice breakaway group and took 6th place. Saturday night at the time trial (which historically has been Gary's strongpoint) he took first place and had an average speed of greater than 30 mph!! He was so excited. Sunday he was steady and finished 6th again. All in all, he took 3rd place in the overall for his category. We were so excited to see him enjoy the racing, the heat and his results. Gary even snagged an interview on Fox 13 news which aired on Sunday evening. Go Gary!!

gary getting ready for the criterium

gary (blue helmet, black jersey) working hard in the race

anna was excited to cheer on her daddy

gary being interviewed immediately after the race