Team Grace

This past weekend, four members from the Grace College community (Michael Voss, Matt Hotchkin, Aubrey Evans and Mark Weinstein) participated in a community event in the Village of Winona. It was the annual Fat and Skinny bikefest that included a relay race on "cruisers." This is a bike like I have never experienced. Well, I hadn't experienced it in 40 years.

This one-speed bike was used by all 16 teams in the relay that took place around the Island in Winona. It was a beautiful day with the temperature hovering near 70 degrees, plenty of sunshine, and along the race course, many people cheering each team. Our goal, as a team, was to win the race. Another goal was to have fun. We had a lot of fun as we finished fourth. We would have finished higher if it wasn't for the oldest person on our team--it wasn't my intention to lose one spot in the final order (I got the bike with us in third place).

Below are some pictures from the race. As you will see, the team was excited at the beginning of the race and from one of the pictures, it looks like I brought home the championship. Oh, pictures can be misleading at times. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to be a part of our community, something we are committed to doing every year. Grace will field a team in this race for years to come and be a sponsor of the Fat and Skinny event that brings many bikers to our community each year.

What a great time we had; what a great opportunity to rub elbows and skin knees with so many other people. Being part of a community is real special...and our team had a blast!

Oh, by the way, after the race, I felt so good (physically) that I talked a little girl off her bike so I could compete (and win) in the age 5-7 race. I was a little taller than most of those competitors, but no one really noticed. (See this photo, and others, in the post above).