July 4

For July 4th Dana and Larry headed back to Kansas for some fun with family and friends. Friday night we spent the evening boating and watching fireworks at lake Miola in Paola Kansas. And nobody was happier to hang out with her favorite aunt than Emma.




The rest of the weekend we spent in Lawrence Kansas at the Tour of Lawrence . We had a great time hanging out with our friends and celebrating the holiday by watching some really great bike racing. On Saturday Larry took 19th in the pro 1/2 field and on Sunday he had some bad luck with some equipment troubles but was still able to finish. However, Larry was able to take 1st place in the best fans competition thanks to the the Snyders, Kelly, Alisa, and of course Dana.



Well, that's it for now. Next week Dana and Larry are heading to Colorado to do some hiking, camping, and mountain climbing so there will be no update next week as they do not have Wifi at 12,000 feet above sea level. In case you are interested these are the two most important places we will be visiting:

http://www.mountainsunpub.com/

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150434/crestone-needle.html

Tour of Kansas City

What a great weekend in Kansas City with friends, family, and each other.




This past Friday we traveled to Kansas City to spend some time with friends and, as always, ride our bikes. This weekends biking involved the Tour of KC. Friday nights race was in Longview MO. It was our first time in Longview and it was a nice place to visit. Larry ended up taking 14th in the pro 1/2 race on what was a very hot evening. It was great to have Dana's parents and aunt and uncle come out to cheer.




On Saturday Larry lined up for the race in Lee Summit with high hopes.




Unfortunately a small storm cell came through the area dropping a ton of rain on the race course. Although they didn't cancel the race Larry decided he did not like racing in the rain for fear of crashing and pulled himself out of the race. After Larry pulled himself out of the race we headed back to Scott and Kerry's house, where we were staying for the weekend, to enjoy some time in their pool.




Of course the only thing Dana likes more than swimming in a pool is a margarita the size of a pool.



And although we stayed up way too late playing in the pool we woke up early Sunday morning so Dana could do the Operation Breakthrough charity ride. She had a ton of fun doing the ride with our great friends (Carrie, Alisa, and Kelly) from Manhattan. Maybe a little too much fun...



Later that morning Larry did the pro 1/2 race in the Power and Light District. After spending half the race trying to chase down the lead group on his own, the main chase group caught Larry before the finish. However, he was still able to take 20th, in the money.

Week in review.

It's been a bit of time since we've been able to make an update but here is just a taste of the fun we've been having. Sit back and relax because this is a long one.

Two weekends ago our good friends, the Snyders, came to visit. We had a great time hanging out, going hiking, and playing at the park.



But lets be honest, the real winners of the Snyder visit were Ally and Lilly, who wore Dana's arms out with a weekend of swinging on our play-gym.



We had a ton of fun hiking at Rock Bridge State Park. While hiking in the park we decided to explore the Devil's Ice Box, a cave within the park. Of course Lilly had to be carried because she didn't want to get her pretty shoes wet.



After the hike nothing was cuter than watching the girls try and eat melting ice cream.



This past weekend was also full of good times. To start, and for those of you who haven't heard yet, Larry crashed his bike into the back of a parked car! He's not hurt and no damage was done to the car or his bike. We were just out for a nice leisurely ride around town and we were going really slow up a big hill, and of course Larry wasn't paying attention. Larry flipped completely over the front end of his bike and landed on top of the trunk. To add insult to injury the car alarm started going off alerting everyone in the neighborhood! After Larry left his phone number with a friend of the owner of the car, and Dana discovered that Larry was fine, she got quite a laugh at the whole ordeal! It's only too bad nobody got a picture of it or a video, it was hilarious!

This past weekend we also made an attempt and making some pizza from scratch.



Now although it didn't look the best, it sure tasted great!



Finally, we decided to take a day trip to beautiful St. Charles Missouri for a little romantic getaway. However, we didn't exactly make it. Along the way we stopped in a town near St. Charles so Larry could participate in the Tour of Winghaven. The plan was for him to race and then as soon as he was done we were to be on our way.

Although there was little excitement throughout the race, the finish proved to be extremely exciting. As Dana stationed herself to get a picture of the racers coming through the roundabout before the finish, she noticed the little figure in front of the field looked very familiar.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Larry had broken off the front of the field, about a mile from the finish, and had gained enough lead that he was able to win the race.

(Click to enlarge, Larry is at the top of the road, about to finish)

Since we were now going to have to stick around for the awards ceremony it meant we would not be able to make it to St. Charles. Oh well, we'll have fun anywhere! And Dana decided we might as well celebrate.

(Sneaking a beverage from the VIP tent)

Larry even got to give out his first autograph.


Here is Larry on top of the podium after getting his winnings.



Always make time for the fans!

Home ownership

One of the things we like most about our new home is that it is only 3 years old. This means that there is little to do in the way of repairs and up keep compared to an older home. However, our new backyard has a good number of trees and because of that they need to be trimmed. Over the past few weeks Larry has spent a fair amount of time trimming dead limbs and is quite pleased with his progress.

This past Friday our friends Kyle and Paulette were going to be coming through Columbia and were bringing their two little boys. Their little boys were very excited to stop because they know we have a play gym in our backyard. The night before they were to arrive Dana asked Larry why he cut down a live branch. Larry had no idea what Dana was talking about because it had been several days since he had done any trimming. When Larry looked outside he saw that a live limb had come down on top of the play gym. Because the kids were coming it had to be cleaned up immediately. Oh the joys of home ownership.



From what we can tell, the boys really appreciated it.

Tulsa Tough

This weekend we traveled down to Tulsa Oklahoma to participate in Tulsa Tough. Tulsa Tough is a three day cycling festival designed to promote fitness and healthy lifestyles while showcasing the beautiful city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa Tough offers events and spectating opportunities for everyone with professional level racing, recreational rides, kids and youth activities, live music and vendors.

Friday night Larry competed in the Category 1/2 race which consisted of a figure 8 course in the Blue Dome district of Tulsa. This is a supper fun race to watch and compete in as there are tons of spectators from the bars that line the streets and the race is held as day turns to night. Since Larry has not been consistently training his only goal for the weekend was to finish all three races, but to everyone's surprise Larry finished 18th on Friday which earned him some money.

Larry's cutest fan was there to cheer and even took some time to show off the new tattoo she got just before watching Larry race. Check out the video to hear her cheering.







On Saturday Dana did the 30 mile Tulsa Tough Ride. Here is a shot of her and their friends Carrie and Alisa getting ready for the start. The ladies finished in about 2.5 hours and there were just over 1000 people that participated in the ride.



Also on Saturday Larry once again competed in the category 1/2 race. This time the race was in the Brady District which consists of small eating establishments and shopping. This time the race was held in the late afternoon and it was quite warm. On this day he managed to finish in the top 40, not in the money, but he at least met his goal of finishing. Here are two nice shots of Larry (#282) taking a corner during Saturday's race.



Since Larry does not race well in the heat a plan was devised to help Larry stay cool. The plan seemed to work well as Larry did not over heat but Dana also seemed to have a little too much fun shooting Larry with a water gun.



Dana doesn't seem to care the race is over, it's just too much fun shooting Larry with a water gun.


Sunday was the last day of racing and was going to be the most challenging for Larry. He is not a very good climber and has never finished Sunday's race. It was another hot day but what makes Sunday's race so challenging is the BIG hill. Each lap, of the race, takes about 2 minutes, so every 2 minutes the racers must climb the big hill and depending on your category you could end up climbing the hill 10 to 40 times. For Larry's category, they were to do 30 laps. Unfortunately Larry only got to do 28 laps. With 3 laps to go Larry got bumped into the curb and fell a little behind and unfortunately was unable to catch back up and was pulled from the race. Larry was both happy and disappointing. He may not have finished but he got closer then he has in previous years.

On Sunday everyone gathered on the hill to cheer. Here Dana and Larry are with their friends Kyle, Paulette, Alisa, and the kids as they cheer Brian (in purple) up the hill.



The hill is where all the action is. Not only is it the best place to see the racers in pain but it is also the best place to party. Here is a shot of all the spectators on the hill.



Here Dana is Shooting Larry with the water gun again as she cheers on the hill.



Even Larry's smallest fan (Ally) thinks the best place to cheer is from the hill. She brought a "Go Larry" sign that her sister Lilly made.



Larry always tries to take time to greet and thank his fans.

Pedaler's Jamboree

This past weekend Dana and Larry attended the Pedaler's Jamboree. The Pedaler's Jamboree is a bike powered music and camping festival! For this two-wheeled celebration, we rode 30 miles of the most scenic part of the Katy Trail, from Columbia to Boonville, stopping for great live music, beverages, and fun along the way. That evening we camped and enjoyed live music by Big Smith. The following day we rode our bikes back to Columbia and once again stopped along the way for great live music, beverages, and tons of fun.

As always, the Debrick clan could not pass up a good time and decided to attend the Jamboree as well. Now that's a biker gang if I ever saw one.



Since Dana and Larry are new to the area, they thought it would be a good idea to find a way to stand out. Although they didn't get as many people to talk to them as they thought they would. Wonder why?



Our first stop along the trail was the largest tree in Missouri.



It took 8 people to hug the tree.



Our next stop was this huge cave that had a river running through it. We tried to see how far back into it we could go, but it started to get pretty dark and Ken ended up using it as a "rest" stop.



Along the way Dana's parents and Aunt and Uncle set up rest stops. I guarantee no one got taken care of or fed as well as we did. Just look at that buffet!



Nothing says "Man's Man" like dancing by yourself in the middle of a grassy meadow with pink tights and a farmer's tan!



Dana's reaction to realizing she is married to that person dancing in the middle of the grassy meadow.



Our camp site for the night.


While listening to Big Smith that night, we were really surprised at how good they were. We would recommend you go to one of their concerts if you ever get a chance. This is how much fun we had.



Dana had so much fun she didn't want to get out of her sleeping bag the next morning.

Maifest trip to Hermann

This past weekend we celebrated Larry's third College graduation with a trip to Hermann Mo, Missouri's wine country. It's one of our favorite places to go and have a fun filled relaxing vacation.



We had several friends with us and the girls took sometime to model at our first winery of the trip.



We decided to have our picnic lunch at our favorite winery. Here we are consuming what must be the largest spread of picnic food ever at Bommarito's Almond tree winery.




After lunch Nick Bommarito gave us a private tour of the winery. He let us drink from every vat of wine in the bottling room.




At the end of the day we walked up the hill to Stone Hill winery. The group was nothing but smiles. It was a perfect day for walking around the beautiful country side and enjoying time with friends.


Our ladies were the only thing more beautiful than the weather.



We usually stay in a hotel or a B&B but this time we thought we'd try camping in the park at the bottom of Stone Hill winery. It was probably the best weather we'd ever camped in.



Keeping true to both our family heritage and the heritage of the town, Sunday's lunch was German themed. Drinking soda and bottled water sure takes us back to the old country.