End of Year Party: Part 2

After the riding came the fun and games.

Annie and I set up our chairs and watched as people pulled a log with their bike, tossed some Huffys, and raced around on adult tricycles.  I thought about tossing the bike for a few seconds and then figured that with my luck I'd tweak a muscle in my neck or pull my back throwing it so I decided against it.  I was about to do the log pull with the Glow Worm when I saw someone completely stall out on their singlespeed... so nope for that.  Irish Luke, however, did give the pull a shot.  

It wasn't just a straight out pull.  You had to go out and around a cone and come back.  Navigating the turn so you didn't knock the cone over was a bit tricky.

watching for clearance 

Pure determination as he gets back to the finish line.  Luke crushed it, leaving me with no desire to get up there.  

TheMutt was organizing the coed tricycle relays and was embroiled in a little family competition.  TheMutt was racing with Little Miss Sunshine as his teammate and found himself stacked up against Lunchbox.  It was a close come from behind win - but ultimately Dad knows best.

Little Miss Sunshine trying to get started again after the ditch in the course

 Lunchbox had the lead going into his leg of the race but TheMutt pedaled furiously to gain some ground.  Out of the ditch the race really heated up.

TheMutt was catching up, Lunchbox tries to put it down to stay head

 Lunchbox started weaving, in an apparent attempt to prevent TheMutt from drafting him...

TheMutt looking back to ensure his victory

see that tongue hanging, I think he almost died!

 In the end it was all smiles!

After his victory, TheMutt was looking for a couple more coed teams for the tricycle races when Annie surprised me by volunteering us.  Annie's foot wear for the event was, let's say, more "fashion" minded than riding friendly, but she jumped out there without a worry.  

Annie took the first leg of the race.  The hard part about riding the tricycle was that the cranks were directly connected to the front wheel - so if the wheel is turning, so are the cranks.  If your feet came off the pedals going down the hill into the ditch area (thanks Lunchbox for the ravine climb section!) it was hard to get them back on and keep your momentum - I found that out the hard way.

When it came to my turn I had quite the gap to make up, and I hit the course pedaling my ass off.  I lost my footing as I hit the gravity cavity section (see how the dip in the course gets bigger and bigger each time it is mentioned??) and had a hard time getting back on the pedals... basically I had to start from a complete stop which ended my chances of catching up - it looked like I might as I started off pretty fast.  But it was fun!  You couldn't take yourself too serious on that thing, and that is what it's all about - FUN!

photo credit: Danielle

Then it was time for the main event... the bike derby!

If you don't know what a bike derby is... well, it's basically a bunch of people riding around in a circle trying not to put their foot down.  The only rule - you couldn't take your hands off your handle bars (you know, to push over your competition).  - Derby photo credit: Annie

TheMutt mc'd the event, telling the crowd to step in closer as riders went down.

Dicky started sizing me up 

So I leaned into him, and he gave up, for now.

Then Irish Luke stepped up.  He started putting on the squeeze

I reminded him who had given him a beer and was able to sneak out behind him.

Just in time to avoid Tom Tom's exit from the rodeo

In the end it came down to Dicky and Irish Luke.  It was a solid battle, but ultimate Dicky took home the inaugural Derby Belt. 

After the derby we got our grub on.  The food was gooood.  Annie and I hung out for the raffle, and the woman in front of us won no less than 6 times - for real!  After that we had to take off - so we missed out on the band.  Seriously people, this is not an event to miss out on - I expect to see you there next year.