Kyle is just exhilarated with his new sport! He has competed in several triathlons, and has recently decided to just compete in cycling. He's really loving it and quickly progressing. We have been told several times by bystanders that Kyle is just PERFECT for this sport due to his size and because he is just all muscle (lean). We have also heard that if we give him two years and he keeps training, he'll be the one leading the pack and winning races.... Let's keep our fingers crossed!!! :)
Today, everyone in the family got up at 4:00am so we could get him down to Downtown Saint Louis for his second day to compete in the Gateway Cup. In his event, he is considered a "Junior Competitor" because of his age. In his event this morning, he was the youngest junior-the other junior being 18-19 years old which almost qualifies him to move up to the next age group. I had the opportunity to watch Kyle compete in his triathlon this summer and I really enjoyed it!! Now, after watching him compete in cycling.... I have never seen anything cooler than this sport. Hands down. At the start of Kyle's race, I realized that I was shaking with a familiar nervousness and my heart was pounding irregularly... quickly, I recognized these feelings as adrenaline. I wasn't even competing and yet I was thrust back into my days of competitive swimming and standing on the blocks before the buzzer sounded for us to start the race... it was SO fun to be reminded of that feeling!!! I don't know how Kyle does it with 30-40 grown men (anywhere from 20-40 years old) all around him waiting to start at the same time... it's truly an incredible site.
Kyle's event went really well! We are all so proud of him!!! I guess he told Mom that he "didn't care if I finished last, I just want to do this." My little brother is my hero =) what better words of encouragement for him and his race, and for our lives in general!! He did SO great!!! Way to go bud!!
He introduced the idea to us last night of wanting to stay to watch the "professionals" race. Only problem at the time was, their race didn't start until 2:00pm which meant we would be at the track from 6:30am-3:00pm which makes a LONG day in the sun... all of us immediately shot down the idea last night... and then... we got hooked on watching the races and stayed well past 3:00pm!!! Kyle got autographs from the "Big Dogs", I got some way cool pictures and videos, sweated COMPLETELY through my clothes, and a nice little sunburn on my neck from waiting in the sun to take pictures of Kyle... hmmmm... I must really love my brother ;)
These "Big Dogs" I mentioned, are not only GOOD, they're the BEST. Some of the men at the Tour of Missouri race today were the same men who competed in The Tour De France a couple weeks ago through France, Switzerland, and Italy. It was so fun to hear some of the men get interviewed by the MC and hear their German accents!! One guy in particular came down and was talking in German with a man I was standing behind, all I heard him say was, "Ja, ja genau!!!" I had the biggest smile on my face when he looked at me. I about flipped my lid!!! I miss my Switzerland!!! Ich liebe Suisse!!!! A couple of the men were Italian as well... how fun that was to hear their accents and hear their language again!! I saw the FASTEST man in the WORLD, the guy who had a HISTORICAL crash in The Tour De France and this was his first race back, and I saw Fabio!! It was SUCH an incredible experience to be SO close to these extremely famous people, but not only that, but extremely dedicated men to their sport, and their team mates. It was awesome :)
Kyle's race consisted of riding for 40 min followed by an additional 5 laps around the course. The professionals competing in the First Stage-which started in St. Louis-were biking a 7.5 mile track around downtown for 75 min with an additional 5 laps, ultimately traveling about 75 miles give or take. The Tour of Missouri will take these very men all across Missouri-covering and competing in over 600 miles of hilly roads and Midwest Humidity. These men are truly incredible!!!
Enjoy just a few of the pictures I took and some videos! Dad took over a 1,000 pictures... so we'll start with mine ;) Kyle did a fantastic job and made the day WELL worth getting up at 4:00am to see him, and all of the other races we watched!!! WAY TO GO BUD!!!!!
At the very end of this movie you can hear the announcer trying to pronounce his name and continue to give him encouragement. It was really neat to hear the crowd clapping for him and encouraging him to keep going...
YES!!! Girls race too =D
Kyle's finish!! Listen to the guy in the background... "HOW OLD IS HE?!?!?!" It was so funny =) Good job bud!!!
Men's Pro 1&2 event- they're not Pros.... yet....
CRASH!!!!!!!!!
Curve video-these men literally "DIVE into the curve" as Kyle puts it... it's scary to watch...
Women's Pro Final. YES!!! You go ladies!!
The Tour of Missouri!!!!
Half of my videos didn't load my videos won't upload from the Pro's race :( I think they're too long and I'm way sad.... grrrr.... I'll keep trying... Check back sooooon!! Those are AWESOME videos :)
Pictures and pictures galore!!!!
1 comment:
That is so awesome! I can't wait to brag about knowing the most famous "BIG DOG"...Kylemaniac-racer Rowbotham!!
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