Hill Country Ride for AIDS
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009I’m still coming down from the combined endorphin and proud parent high from Saturday.
Spencer and I participated in the Hill Country Ride for AIDS this year for the first time. I serve on the board of the Care Communities, the organization that runs it and is also one of the 10 beneficiaries. Since Spencer is nine, immortal, and has infinite energy, he had set a goal of riding 65 miles.
Friday night was registration, new rider orientation, and pasta dinner. We ran into a bunch of friends, some old some new. A couple of people mentioned seeing Spencer in the LIVESTRONG Challenge video so word is getting out. We got up bright and early Saturday morning. I had already loaded the bikes in the new SUV, reminding myself once again that I need to get locks for the roof racks so I can preload the bikes there without risking loss. We headed to Rudy’s BBQ for breakfast tacos, Spencer’s dream pre-ride fuel.
We ran into Chris Brewer form the Lance Armstrong Foundation after we unloaded the bikes and Spencer found a bulge in his rear tire. Chris strongly advised getting it fixed (no brainer there), and we headed over to the Bicycle Sport Shop truck. Unfortunately, they had no 650×23C tires, but we opted to put in a new tube and hope for the best.
Riding out, Spencer was totally psyched as usual and trying to be faster that all of the 20 somethings, so the first 10 miles went by pretty fast. I would like to repeat here and for the whole world to know that at 30° 32′ 9.08″ N, 98° 15′ 49.68″ W, 09:46 on April 25, 2009, my son, Spencer Robert Sartin (age 9) beat me up a hill while I was trying my hardest to catch him. My heart rate was right at my anaerobic limit and I was chasing him hard as he crested the hill. Afterward, he paused reluctantly to pose in the bluebonnets for a photo recording his achievement.
The weather was wonderful for riding: cloudy, not too hot, tiny sprinkles of rain every once in a while. We had a bit of wind (15 MPH, gusting to 25) from the south which was headwind most of the time. We rode, and eventually Spencer settled to a more reasonable pace and kept at it for the long haul. Despite constant comments of amazement from our fellow riders, it wasn’t until we hit the 39.6 mile mark at the “Chicken Ranch” rest stop and the turnaround for the 65 mile course, that it really sunk in for me what he was accomplishing. The rest stop folks had bandanas to give out to everyone to prove they’d been to that outpost and a small pile of plastic Sheriff’’s badges for any kids who got out that far. Spencer was the first (and I believe last) recipient of one of the badges.
After lunch, we hit a little hill they call Ski Hill or Mt. Everest. It’s a tough little climb and I was chasing Spencer again and in my granny gear. Spencer has only the two chain rings and was toughing it up. Right before the top, it gets super steep for a bit and Spencer was zig-zagging up and refusing to give up. Refusing so hard that he fell over when he hit his limit. He was briefly frustrated and angry, but one of the volunteers gave him a short push to get restarted. He was still mad when we got to the top of the hill because he “couldn’t ride all the way up,” but that got a little better when I pointed out all the people behind us walking, or waiting for a SAG ride to the top.
Out of the Hill Top water pit, we had an amazing decent and turned to the north, putting the wind finally at our backs and just sailed effortlessly for the next 5 miles. As we hit the turn at the one mile to go mark, I paused to page Rachel and Jacob so they’d know we were coming. The caboose caught up with us and Spencer was ready to try to sprint ahead to catch the rider in front of us until I convinced him that it seriously was an honor to finish last in this ride. We rode in with a caravan of support vehicles behind us celebrating our finish.
The post-ride ceremony at the Hill Country Ride for AIDS is amazing and I was just buzzing with pride the whole time. I think I may have convinced Spencer that the comments from all those passing riders telling him how amazing he is were honest and heartfelt. I also agreed that when we buy a shorter crank (on the advice of Kevin Livingston when we had a session at Pedal Hard), we will switch his bike to a triple (after all, he needed it for 20 feet on Saturday’s 65 mile ride). I may also have convinced him to set our sights on 70 (tandem) for Seattle and 65 (solo) for Austin, but to focus on reducing our time and have the longer rides wait until he’s double digits. It really will be OK if his first century is when he’s 10 or 11.
You can still donate to the Hill Country Ride for AIDS and support 10 Austin area nonprofits that help people with HIV and AIDS.