24 Hours Round and Round Spokane WA 2016, May 28/29

Well, it is always a challenge to pick a starting point to write this, so many memories, so many wonderful times... I guess I will start by saying that this year was one of the best road trips with the family to Spokane, the camping was great, the company, the places we visited, the few hotels we stayed in, and the joy of the kids running through the hallways of a fancy hotel. This time we visited the Spokane Water Falls that have been on our list for a few years already, as well as the carrousel and few other attractions around the area.
On Friday we set up the pits and left everything ready for race day, the camping area was less busy than previous years, but I guess it is due to the fact that there were at least 300 people less registered for the race.
I had pretty much the same set up than in previous races, however I did had less planning food wise.. Although Maria brought me in the traditional Burger King at around 7pm, the rest of the food that I had prepared wasn't as appealing to me during the race.
The water bottles worked fine, with my traditional 3 in 1 (beets, orange and carrots), but the watermelon didn't work out that well. I found it to sweet and wasn't settling well in my tommy.
I was leading the race in my category from the start all the way till about midnight, after that my motivation went down and I lost the drive for it. I was riding slower and stopping longer in the pits and even though I was focused on maintaining the lead, I started to contemplate another hobby !! yeah, how about remote control cars?? or motocrossing?? or just reading, or something else other than biking?? anyway, from that moment on the speed went down a bit and the gap with the now 1st and 2nd guy was bigger.
My 11th lap was the toughest, I was literally falling sleep ON TH EBIKE ! crazy, my eyes were closing and I seem to have no control over that... I decided after that lap to sit down for a few minutes and close the eyes properly and rest a bit. I did so for about 5 minutes or so and then sat in someone's fire pit, after a few more minutes the fire and warm kick in and recharge my energy to get back on the bike.
I Went out again for my 12th lap and felt more awake. Lap 13th was good, but with almost an hour behind the 1st and 2nd guy I completely lost motivation and secured my 3rd place where I stayed. The 4th place guy was far behind, so I knew that it was a secured podium and I was happy with it.
At 10am the kids race was ready to roll, and Nick, Lucas and Benjamin were ready to kick some butts !! off they went and after a few minutes of racing their push a bike the three boys finished on 1st, 2nd and 3rd !! way to go my little champs !!
We started packing and as soon as the race was over we left the course and onto a hotel in Spokane Valley to rest for the day./.. We enjoyed to pool with the kids and went out to Walmart for a bit to make the mother-in-law happy ::--)
On Monday morning after an awesome sleep and hot breakfast, we started our trip back to Calgary. Stop at Wasa Lake and had one of the best lunches ever right on the lake ! the lake was entirely for us, no one there on a Monday morning.. Right after that we were only 3 hours away from home. Last stop was in Canmore (McDonalds) just a quick break for the kids to grab a snack and stay awake for the last stretch.
Back home by 9pm we were very great full that the trip was clean and that we didn't have major inconveniences.. Another story to tell now and starting to get ready for Golden 2-4 in a few more weeks.