Dad dropped from the Tour

Our first drop of this Tour season.  Jim abandons the Tour following the first stage following our return from Guatemala (you can read about some of the trip here, here, or here).
He has been suffering from neck and shoulder pain for some time and cycling serious aggravates the condition.   We look for his return in the fall.
In the meantime, keep watching for other updates from the other riders.

From the Riders

Rider Quotes:
Jacob - "My back hurts."  "My shoelace is caught!"  "You're going to fast."  "I'm tired."  "Go slower."
After being asked how he intended to win the race, Josh replied, "I think I have a pretty good chance if I just finish ahead of everyone."
Caleb - "I'm having so much fun, I'm speechless."
Laura - "I enjoy beating the socks off my children."
Jim -  "It's not a race guys - let's just enjoy the ride."

Favorite Stages:
Josh - Time trial stage where I placed first by a margin of 1:05 over second place and the longest stage thus far - Stage 5.
Caleb - Stage 4 with the time trials
Laura - Stage 5, on July 4th.  We traveled on an unopened extension of El Conquistador Pkwy.  It was so nice to be on brand new pavement with zero traffic.
Jim - I really enjoyed Stage 6.  We explored an older neighborhood that I had never been in before.  We also discovered a new way to reach the Anna Maria Oyster Bar - Landside.  I also liked the Sara Bay Country Club area in Whitfield estates we traveled through in Stages 2 and 3.

Catching Up - Stages 3 - 6

Here are the last 4 stages. Probably the last we will have until our return from Guatemala. Hopefully, I will have some comments from the other participants in the next post.
To date we have covered 55.99 miles in the last 6 days.  Our longest stage was Stage 5 at 12.07 miles on Wed, July 4.

Featured Rider

Featured Rider from Stage 2

Our youngest rider in this years tour is Jacob (he's been our youngest rider for the last 3 years).   At 8 years old, he has a tough time keeping up with the other riders on the team.  Not to mention he rides the smallest bike and it's a single speed at that!

This year he is riding a Next Wipeout.

He is also a big Mongoose fan and hopes to save enough money to get a Mongoose Freestyle BMX bike in the fall.  For this tour, he is sporting a Mongoose BMX helmet with visor.

He can hold his own on most of the neighborhood race courses, but struggles with the open road.  He prefers to ride on sidewalks when available, but is not too bashful to ride the white line when necessary.  He also likes to do some drifting, so keeping tires on his bike is a challenge.
He's experienced several equipment issues on the first 4 stages with his shoestring wrapping around his pedal.  So far, this has only resulted in a brief stop.

We expect a lot out of this young rider in the coming years.

Stage 2 - Whitfield - July 1

The second stage of the Tour de Freeman saw us meandering through residential areas where we rarely venture. The old country club community offered wide roads, extremely light traffic and nice views of the lakes and greens. Raced at a much lighter pace, this stage even included a water break where we had an opportunity to chat with Mike & Nancy and Aaron & Gabby.
After we left the watering hole, it was a short mile and three quarters back home.
The most notable event was a minor equipment failure as Jacob had his shoestring wind around his pedal. I wish I had video of his coasting along, pushing off with one foot like he was riding his scooter.

The Tour de Freeman Begins

June 30, 2012 -The Tour de Freeman has become.  Each year as the Tour de France is run, we do a lot of riding as a family.  The goal is to do at least 100 miles over 23 days.  This year will be a little tougher, as we will spend a week of that time in Guatemala working with malnourished children (you can read about last year's trip and see updates on this year's here).
 Look for each stage as well as the featured rider of the week and information about the routes, equipment and special stages.
 Below is the first stage.  With a little incentive, thanks to 7-11 and Wild Cherry/Coke Slurpees, we made a little over 10 miles on the first outing.