GOBA photos, part 2

The first pictures I took in the morning were too dark to post. But this give you an idea of waking at GOBA. Up between 4-5:30am every morning. Best to be on the road by 6-6:30am so that the bulk of the riding is before noon. Hit the bathrooms early. By 5:45am, there is a line. Pack up what's left out from the night before, pack the tent, make sure we have sunscreen on, water filled, stretch and eat a granola bar. Then we're off.


It doesn't take long for the sun to come up for a little Sun Salutation. :) I found yoga to be invaluable to me each morning. What a great way to start the day!


(Dad's bike is in the back, mine is leaning on mom's in the front right of the photo above)

Mostly the week looked like this...

On GOBA, we ride rain or shine .... it did both!


In fact, it was so hot the first two days, my body had quite a reaction:

That's not sunburn. I had 50-70 SPF sunblock on. That is a reaction to the direct sunlight and 100-degree heat we had the first two days. It actually cleared by mid-week as I bought capris to cover my legs better and it cooled down to 80-degrees.

Once we made it into camp. We had find our luggage and set up camp. Then we usually headed into town to find some dinner and entertainment.


This was the last night of GOBA in Versailles. The annual song contest was a riot! I was laughing so hard I cried most of the night. :)

GOBA-GOBA BANANA (to the tune of Copacabana)
(You may not be able to see the bananas dangling off the end of a pole from their helmets)

A few other key taglines: 'legs on fire' (J.Cash) and 'I ride my bicycle. bicycle. everywhere I go'


More to come.

I'm not stupid....I'm just forgetful

This was a mantra over the week of GOBA. Usually in regards to "lost" items. "Now WHERE did I put my sunglasses? my keys? etc." And in this case, my memory card for my camera. Took me til this morning to locate it. I "smartly" put it in a pocket in my wallet so it wouldn't get lost. ;)

I'd also like to make a disclaimer that this may take multiple posts as I sort through photos from GOBA. There are many and I'm trying to decide how best to do this. Chronologically or highlights?

Here are a few highlights. Gonna have to wait for the full-blown update til I get back from Origins.


Above: "The Gang" Left to right: Chad, John Gwinn, Me, my Mom and my Dad
John is a friend of my parents and Chad is his 14-year old grandson. What a great duo! This was on our first stop on the first day. They gave us "I (heart) Rockford" pins. :)



Above: This was actually taken on the first day at the parade from the Celina fairgrounds to the park where Opening Ceremonies were held. This was my favorite bike costume and family. The theme this year was "Bike Me to the Moon". What you may not be able to see is that Dad has a Moon Pie jersey and his son has a Curious George in a spacesuit jersey. Their triple tandem is decked out like a rocket and they made the cool star antennae for the helmets! Loved it!
(they did win a prize)

On to the heart of the ride.....cycling. Lots and LOTS of cycling.
Here are Dad and Mom pedalling along.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the ride were all the great people we got to meet. The man taking the picture is Dr. Mark. He helped my dad when he got a flat on the second to last day. This is his daughter Hope. Not only are they super cool for going on GOBA but check out their ride! There were a couple recumbent tandems (even three that were trikes) but this is the only one I saw with the kid upfront. (still stoker, there is a long steering axis to allow Mark underseat steering from the back). AND the red area behind his seat (Labeled "Student Driver") is storage! Now that's a touring bike!

We had scorching weather at the beginning of the week (photos coming soon of sunburn and temp gauge) and rain on the second to last day. But with rain and sun comes......

....yep, a rainbow. Awww.

Well, that's all you get for this entry. Check back after Origins. More photos of GOBA and Teagan's 2nd tree climbing adventure. :)