Tour of Utah Bike Race - August 7, 2015

At the beginning of the summer, my brother Rich told us that the Tour of Utah Bike Race would be coming right up my parent's street.  This is an elite race and we looked forward to it all summer.  This was Stage 5 of 7 of this race and it was a loop the bikers had to do 7 times.  My parents street is super steep (which made it quite interesting to learn how to ride a bike as a kid), so we got to see these amazing athletes as they faced one of the hardest challenges of the race!

Emily left to go rappelling in Zion's that afternoon with the Stake Young Women and Lindsey had a soccer game, so they weren't able to come.   Kate, Hannah, Hailey, Sam and I went to my mom's early and enjoyed spending the afternoon with her (we definitely don't do this enough!  It's crazy that we live so close now, but schedules just make it tricky to do).

 Hannah, Sophia & Hailey 

We walked up to the finish line a couple of hours before the race.  It was amazing to see all the work that goes into putting on this international race.  There were lots of tents set up at the finish for dignitaries, etc and we got to see the finish line up close.

Jon and Jack came a little bit before all the roads closed and we got all set up to watch the race.  As the time got closer, the volunteers walked up and down the street reminding people to not even have 1 foot in the road.  There were helicopters overhead (it was being shown live all over the world), support vehicles began to come and then the racers!

There was usually always a group of 10-12 racers in the lead.  I love this picture because Mike is literally cheering them on right in the middle of the driveway. 

And then several seconds later, the majority of the bikers!  It was indescribable to see this huge wall of bikers as they biked up the hill!  They were literally inches from each other.  The strength and endurance was amazing and every time they would come, the crowd would go absolutely wild.  It was patriotic and unifying and so much fun!

This was one of the many motorcycles with a cameraman on the back - probably next to a couple of the stragglers.   As the bikers completed the last couple of laps, they were so exhausted that the last ones were begging spectators to run behind them and push them up the hill. 

After the race, we had BBQ hot dogs in my parent's backyard, but literally within minutes, a huge wind & rain storm hit.  We all were so grateful it didn't happen during the race, but apparently it knocked over the finish line, hurting a couple of people.   All in all, it was so memorable and we really hope the race will go up Zane Avenue again!