2009 Tour de Tow (And I do mean Tow...)

This past Saturday was the Tour de Tow in Bartow, FL. It is a cylcing ride (Not a race!) that takes you through the back roads of Bartow and Homeland. I did the tour last year as somewhat of a prep for my first triathlon, and since I had such a good time, I invited my friend Davina and her family to come along this year. They were awesome because they let me borrow, not only a nice child bike trailer for bringing Cindy, but also a nice mountain bike to ride in order to tow her. Quite a different experience being on a mountain bike and towing an extra 40 pounds for 18 miles! It was not like my road bike, that's for sure.

So here are the groovy highlights of the morning (brought to you exclusively by Davina, photog of the day):

Getting ready for the ride, Cindy was very nervous. Not sure why. Am I that bad of a driver?


I am definitely not making that face because the ride was uphill the entire way and my quads and calfs were burning like an oil fire in the Middle East. Puh-lease! I was totally just being a goofball...


This sweet photo was on theledger.com (my hometown newspaper). Please ignore the giant horse face, the real star of the show is in the background...



At the halfway mark there was a snack/water station at IMC Park. They had some trails that lead into a thick, dense, spider-infested forest, so naturally we let the kids out to run around. Here is Cindy with Becca and Alyssa.


After the race and makin' a face.

They gave all the riders a nice orange "cool down" towel. They quickly turned into cool down sarongs, turbans, capes, etc. The girls loved them.

Awwwwh, shucks! So did I, darnit!
And by the way, I declare this photo "THE WORST PHOTO OF ME EVER TAKEN"- seriously, It is so awful. But at least I am laughing about it :)



And for the best news EVER!!!! Look at the goodie bag/endless hours of entertainment they gave me :)
A proud addition to my Save the Planet canvas collection....