Well we made it down to Waco and everyone survived the ride. We did the 50 mile distance so my son could get that out of the way for his Cycling Merit Badge. We hit a few snags as we discovered the extreme limitations of my son's trike. I had told him at the start that it didn't matter how fast we finished, as long as we finished. This came back to bite me in the backside (and knees) around mile 35. At that point my son had struggled up some really tough hills with his little 7-speed KMX. He was miserable and even the candy from the Mars rest stop couldn't restore his enthusiasm. We got into a series of rollers and he completely lost it. So, I traded trikes with him. He felt as though I had just given him the keys to a Jaguar and I felt like I had just gotten a single-speed My Little Pony. He finished the ride with 14 minutes to spare on his 8 hour time limit and a huge happy smile on his face. My last 15 miles were like hell on earth but I managed to limp in a few minutes later. My knees felt worse than when I ski moguls all day. My husband, Steve, hung back to help me encourage Rowan when things started to go sour. Steve had never ridden that far on a bike and although he had to walk a couple of spots finished in pretty good shape. My daughter took off at the start and finished an hour and a half ahead of us. She informed me that "there isn't enough gel cushion in the world to make one of those stupid bikes seats comfortable for that long" I just told her that's why I ride a recumbent.
I met Dianna shortly before the start but could not make it through the crowd to reach her before the ride started. Sorry to have missed you and the others, Dianna, but we never had a chance to catch you once things started moving.
All in all, it was a great day, a fun ride, some valuable lessons learned and I'm just hoping I get my trike back...