Arkadelphia, AR

The day had finally come...the ride for world health olympics.

It started off like any other day. Tango was on support so everyone was on their best behavior in the morning since they know we mean business. Sarah Voss happened to be the very first rider to walk out all packed and ready to go, which was a first for the trip. She said she knows Team Tango is serious and she packed the night before to avoid our wrath.

We had a particularly good breakfast including some amazing donuts provided by the church that put us up at the last minute. The team hit the road and i hit the oven. It was not just a special day because of the olympics, Bryce was also celebrating his birthday and that meant cake was in order. I put my pillsbury skills to work and baked two cakes before speeding off to get ahead of the group before lunch since I was driving the lunch van. About 3 miles before the planned lunch stop I finally passed the front group and parked the van just in time for them to roll up for some grub.

They headed out on their way from the lunch stop to get to Arkadelphia to prepare for the games to come. Once everyone had arrived, naps and snacks were had and the opening ceremony was set for 3:30.

The games would consist of 5 events testing all aspects of the riders abilities - athleticism, coordination, salesmanship, teamwork and coordination.

The day started with the wheelbarrow relay race. Each rider would be wheelbarrowed to a bowl of water, drink the entire bowl with a silly straw and wheelbarrow back to their teammate. Team Rice Water Stool took the early lead. Their enthusiasm was unparalleled by any other team in the competition.

The teams at the start.

Team Rice Water Stool on fire.

Libby have a lot of problems with her silly straw.

Following the intense wheelbarrow races we took things down a notch for the artistic portion of the games. Each team was asked to create a bike from playdough and then sell the final product to the judges.

The winning team with the red giant bike.

Team Rice Water Stool's work (my vote for winner, but I was overruled)

We brought back the action with a water balloon toss.


My camera decided to die for the fourth event - dizzy bat. Pete protected riders from the fence as they staggered back to the start line. By the end the scores were tight and it would all come down to the final event - the pie eating competition.

Each team was given a pie to eat together. The person eating could not touch the pie and the first team to finish would be crowned the winner.

Team Rice Water Stool had fallen behind the lead, but would not go down without a fight, and the final event would bring them the win.

Way to go Team Rice Water Stool.

All the competitors were fantastic and rewarded with a delicious BBQ of hamburgers (prepared by yours truly and Justin), pasta salad, fruit and two delicious cakes!