09/30/07 Subaru Urban Assault Race

What a great way to disguise a 30 mile bike ride: place a few checkpoints in between where the riders have to perform whacky stunts which actually make the ride seem easier and more fun.

Edward & Rebecca were named "Whole Wheat Two Wheeled Ninja Warriors." Even though our team name was somewhat less extreme, Lorenzo and I were called "Team Extreme." He was right at home on his triathlon bike and I just took the training wheels off my mountain bike. Quite a mismatched team, but we both like whacky stunts, so at least we had that in common. The course took us on a tour of Long Beach that included downtown, the Aquarium, Cal State Long Beach campus, Belmont Shore and the ocean.
Zo, Edward & Rebecca. They may look tough now, but just picture them on Hippity-Hops...
Beautiful day for a ride near the Aquarium of the Pacific.

The first challenge, hippity-hopping up and down a hill. Not easy, but definitely funny!

Next was the wheelbarrow run at Cal State Long Beach.
I laughed so hard during this part that I almost fell out!














A few miles later, Lorenzo carried a tired Angela through a slalom maze of cones on a kid's bike. His knees didn't like it nearly as much as I did.





I hadn't ridden one of these since I was a kid! I wasn't very good at it then, and haven't improved much with age. But still had a ton of fun!

Results and more photos are HERE.

At one point near the end, I told Lorenzo that my GPS watch said that we had covered 27.92 miles. He asked, "What's the farthest you've ever ridden a bike before?" To which I tiredly replied, "Twenty-seven point nine two miles." Although he coasted through most of it and I struggled, we both still had a great time and would gladly do it again - especially the parts where he did all the work!

Click the play button below to see a video of this crazy event!