Taming the Slough

On Saturday Brian participated in a race called Taming the Slough up in the Quad Cities. The race consisted of Brian kayaking, mountain biking, and running. They had single, 2 person teams, and three person relay. Brian did the single. He said he had so much fun and his favorite part was the biking. He is definitely going to do it next year (this year was the first year he has participated). He had been planning in selling his kayak so we could get a canoe, but he is going to hold onto the kayak a little longer. I kind of wanted him to keep it any way since he made it.

I was a horrible photographer and only took pictures of him kayaking. Actually I was too busy cheering him on and encouraging him to think about taking pictures.

Can you find Brian's kayak? His was one of four wooden kayaks. The wooden kayak next to his was made by its owner and he had just finished it the day before the race.

Brian taking his kayak out to the mighty Mississippi.

I was amazed at how many participants there were at the race. The way they had everyone go was that everyone had a number and your turn was according to your number. They set you off in groups of three. They did it this way so there wouldn't be any congestion. Your time started when it was your turn to start kayaking. Kayaking or canoeing (some people did have canoes) was the first leg of the race.

Brian off to a good start.

Brian is coming back. He kayaked 2.5 miles. He said his legs fell asleep and he couldn't stand when he got out. He had to shake his legs out to get the circulation going again.

One of the three racks filled with bikes.

Brian is getting ready to start his biking leg of the race. He biked 8 miles and ran 2 miles. Five of the eight miles in the biking was all single track mountain biking. He said it was pretty tough, but it was by far his favorite.

Sofia was such a good girl through the whole race. She slept through the kayaking, but she was awake after that. She started to get a little restless in her stroller and she wasn't wanting to be held. She wanted to crawl around. I finally found a non-grassy (the grass was still wet) place for her to crawl around while we waited for Brian to get back from riding his bike.

Brian did not get a trophy, but he really liked them and so he had to have a picture of them. Brian's time was 1 hr 51 min and the winning time was 1 hr 21 min. Brian did a good job for his first year doing this race. There is always next year to get a trophy.