My friend, the Ironman

We hopped in the car and sped off to Madison. Our friend had already finished the swim portion of the race and would be into the biking leg of the competition in Madison.  Ironman Wisconsin is considered one of the more difficult Ironman competitions according to www.runtri.com, a website that offers comparisons for Ironman races and marathons.  The only logistics we had to worry about were getting three kids, one on crutches, and a dog to the city to catch up with the bikers.

The benefit and the down fall of this race is you can follow the competitors all around the city but you inevitably wait long periods, waiting for your guy/gal to pass by.  I held my camera for close to an hour to catch our friend. The minute I dropped the camera, he sped by. I did capture some of the other hard core, fiercely focused bikers.

This guy actually looks like someone that would be in an Ironman competition. Renegade.

Here's my family waiting...and waiting...and waiting. We did see our friend, Mike go by and then we raced off to the bike finish point.

And there he is coming up the Monona Terrace parking ramp.

And he spies me.

I couldn't love this picture any more. He's just completed the 112-mile bike ride.

It was a long day for the kiddos.  They did pretty well as long as we kept the snacks

and food coming.

Candy cigarettes.  They are timeless.

The last leg and he's still smiling.

And when he crossed the finish line he was still smiling.  

We're proud of you. We also can't believe you were crazy enough to do it.

Mike, you are an Ironman.