Climbing Kaiser 2017

Kevin is crazy and decided to do Climb to Kaiser again this year. It's 155 miles with 15,000 feet of elevation gain. This year was also super hot with temperatures in the 100s. Our friend, Verdo, flew back from Chicago to do the ride and ended up deciding it wasn't for him towards the beginning and changing his course to the century ride. He's a really good biker and I think this really discouraged Kevin. 

Pre race

Last year I was watching Bailey during the ride so I decided to to invite her again. Clara convinced her by telling her we were going to get ice cream! I must say, it was so much easier this year now that Emmett can walk and he and Bailey are much more self sufficient than they were last year. The kids had a blast! Our first stop was Shaver where we had a snack and waited for Dada at the rest stop. He was not feeling great and we gave him lots of encouragement.

Clara didn't want to take a pictire

We all fit nicely in the chariot

We managed to see Dada again on the way to the Big Creek climb and watched him pass some people!

We found the same picnic spot at Huntington Lake that we ate at last year. It was the perfect spot because it is right by the road that the bikers ride on. We had lunch and played a little while we waited for Dada. The girls both went potty in the outhouse and Bailey was very concerned that she would fall in! When Dada got there he was super tired, hot, and discouraged. He talked about giving up but we encouraged him to keep going and see how he felt. After he left we played in the lake. The kids were sopping wet, but had so much fun!

Stick fights are safe right?

Crying because I took his stick away

You'd never guess he was dying

Pulling Bailey's shorts up

We spent a long time at the lake and by the time we hit the road, Dada was already well up the last climb. I knew that cars were not supposed to go on the last section of the route due to it being narrow and windy, but I got on it without realizing and then there was no way to turn around. At this time it was pouring rain and I felt so bad for the cyclists. Not to mention it seemed extremely dangerous as the road was wet and slick and cars were driving crazy without paying attention to the bikers on the very narrow road. We got to Kaiser Pass right after Dada finished and I was going to just turn around and ignore him so he wouldn't get disqualified for my mistake of driving on the road. As I was turning around, someone affiliated with the ride asked me if I was helping. When I said no he asked me if I could help take bikers down to Fresno. I said sure and Dada noticed me at this point and told me that he was the biker who wanted a ride down. It was hailing with thunder and lightning at this point and around 50 degrees (literally a 50 + degree difference from the valley floor) and I agreed that it was very unsafe and he should quit. I am not normally one for quitting, but it just wasn't worth it and he had already made it to the top, which was the difficult part and we're proud of him for his perseverance as well as his good sense to know when to stop. We packed him in the car (Bailey and Emmett woke up at this point but Clara was still sleeping) and headed down through the crazy weather. We stopped in Shaver for ice cream and all agreed it was much more enjoyable than riding a bike in crazy weather! 

We dropped Dada and his bike off at his car and headed to Los Tios to hang out with Verdo. The kids were absolutely crazy at this point and I nearly screamed when Bailey swore to me that she had to poop really bad after just having gone potty literally five minutes before. I unloaded all three kids at a gas station and balanced Emmett (who wasn't wearing shoes) while I helped Bailey onto the toilet. Of course she didn't actually need to go potty and I had to restrain myself from yelling at her. Then Clara helped her pull up her pants (because I couldn't without putting Emmett on the gross bathroom floor) and Bailey hugged her and said, "I love you sister!" and it was all worth it.We packed back up and made it back in one piece. We all had a great time, and while I am definitely never having three kids, it really wasn't that difficult (aside from the time it took to load and unload a million times). Both of my kids were asleep the second we headed home that night and stayed asleep while I carried them inside and put them in their beds. I'll take that as a sign of a successful day! 

I promise I loosened his strap before I took the picture