Our older son, Chad, was in the most important race of his life this past week. He was in the Netherlands for a Team Sunweb 2020 meeting when his wife called from Colorado at 2 a.m. telling him, “Get home now.” Although she wasn’t due for 2 weeks, they were going to induce her labor. He had 22 hours of travel and was still 30 minutes away when Kate was ready to push. This “Wonder Woman” was able to wait until Chad arrived to push. Thanks to prayers from lots of friends and family as well as a friend “enthusiastically driving” Chad from the airport, Chad arrived in time, and Elena Brynne was born 30 minutes after he arrived at the hospital. Kate and the baby are doing well. Chad ended his racing season by winning the race and the biggest and best prize of all. I think he’s still standing on the top podium basking in its glory.
No Longer Just a Dream
In 2010, Chris told our older son, Chad, “Go for it and chase your dream. I have no doubt you’ll make it.” (see my previous blog): Chasing a Dream
Chad reached one dream last year—his first time to race in the Tour de France. Today he reached another dream: to win an Individual Time Trial (ITT) in a WorldTour—a Grand Tour—the Giro d’Italia (Italy’s version of the Tour de France for those who aren’t familiar with the cycling world).
More Than Sport
My older son, Chad, just finished racing his first Tour de France, and his professional cycling team, Team Sunweb, helped Tom Dumoulin place second overall. As proud and excited as I am for him and for them, Chad will be the first to tell you that there is more to life than just sports. Below are excerpts from a blog that he wrote about a life-changing experience he had in 2013 (shared with his permission):
The Rest of the Story
He Was Going to Play Baseball
People frequently ask me, “Did your sons get into cycling because of their dad?” The answer is, “No. Chris got into cycling because of our boys.” Whatever sport they became interested in, Chris wanted to become a part of to spend more time with them. (Okay, to be honest, he also wanted to make sure they were safe when riding on streets with motorists during their earlier years.) But then he, too, got bit by the cycling bug and loved to be on the bike even if Chad and Shane weren’t around.
Since our older son Chad is currently racing in the Tour de France, I decided to share (with his permission) a blog that he wrote in March 2011 on how he became a cyclist.
Living the Dream
Well, yesterday was quite the exciting day. Chad officially became a bike racer in the eyes of the American public as he entered his first stage of the Tour de France. Although he has seven Grand Tours already under his belt, because the general public in America has never heard of those races, those tours don't count.
Chasing a Dream
Our older son, Chad, was scheduled to graduate in December 2010 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Although he had already received a job offer from the company where he had interned, we weren’t surprised when he called Chris in October to say that a couple of semi-professional cycling teams had shown an interest in him. He didn’t ask his dad’s opinion of what he should do, but Chris sensed he wanted to. Our son apparently couldn’t get up the courage to make this career change after we had put him through four years of college.