The Mellow Johnny's Classic

Today was the bike race, called the Mellow Johnny's Classic at Lance Armstrong's ranch. Scott finished 14th out of 17 (out of 20 if you count the three who didn't show) in the 20-29 age group in the beginner's category (called Cat 3). The goal was just to finish, so expectations were exceeded.

Brad and Scott, ready to ride.

This was their group at the starting line.
And they're off...

While they were racing, Renee enjoyed the views near the finish line.

Where the vendors were set up and the start and finish lines were placed was on the top of a hill, and although the day started cloudy it got really pretty by midmorning.

Scott crossing the finish line!

It rained a couple days ago and the course was really muddy in places. Scott didn't fare too bad, especially since he didn't crash this time :-) There were a lot of riders, especially in the early races that came back covered and splattered in mud.

Just as Scott finished, the pro category (Cat 1) was getting ready to go, which is the one Lance was racing in. This picture is from right after they left the starting line, and they were going so crazy fast we weren't able to get a picture of Lance. He's in this group but behind some people so you can't see him in the picture. We went over to the finish line to try and get him when he came back after the first lap but they announced he had gotten a flat tire and withdrawn from the race. He may have come back to the staging area eventually but we left shortly thereafter. Long story short, no pictures of Lance and since it's so hard to recognize anyone with a cycling outfit and gear on, especially when they're going past you in a group at what seems like 100 mph, we really didn't even see him. He was in there somewhere towards the front :-)