On Friday, Aug. 8th Ethan was fine in the morning. By 2:00 he was running a temperature of 103+ degrees. He rarely gets sick, but when he does he gets REALLY sick, so I thought it would pass quickly. He stated at 103+ degrees until Sunday. I made sure he got plenty of rest, liquids, whole fruit, etc. By Monday it was down to 102 degrees. Tuesday bought it down to 100 degrees. At this point I became a bit worried. Partly because the fever was still so bad and partly because I was worried that he would miss camp. Wednesday afternoon his fever was still going down a tiny bit, but I decided he should see the doctor. She had seen two other boys with the same condition. She put them in the hospital. I thought he might have strep throat. It turns out that he had Walking Pneumonia. We told her about camp. Ethan was so excited to go and did not want to miss it! She gave him extra strong meds and that did the trick. The next day the fever was nearly gone. When Ethan was not sleeping he was eating. It seemed that he made up for all of those feverish, yucky days all in one day. By Friday he was even better and we all got to go to camp.
Mountain Bike Camp took place at Snow Mountain Ranch. It was even more beautiful than ever since it was green and relatively lush. The green mountains, the snow cover peaks, the fluffy clouds, the blue sky - it was all like something from a movie. Then came the rain. It rained all night on Friday. It was pouring in the morning. Saturday Colorado seemed determined to have all four seasons in one day. We had beautiful blue skies, we had monsoonal rains, we had hail, snow and ice (yes, ice - I had to scrap off my windshield - can you believe it?)Some of the activities were help inside others were morphed into something that worked well enough. Part of the time the kids learned strength exercises and stretches. The brave souls went for a bike ride. The younger brave souls went for a jog on a trail that became marshy from so much sudden rain. After lunch the cloud made way from blue sky and the kids got to ride and race for a while. The kids LOVED the race because they got SOOOOOO muddy. Dinner was greeted by more rain, thunder and lightening. Luckily we had already planned to do "Bump & Thump" inside. I imagine that we must have gotten 2" of moisture in a single day - I kid you not!
The head coaches were great people. Allison Dunlap was the Woman's Mountain Bike champion for three years. She also rode in the Olympics when it took place in Athens. She was so real and good with the kids. They loved her. During the races she acted as the lead car, keeping just ahead of the lead kid. Jason, a wild and wonderful 7 year old declared that he was going to beat Allison.He gave it a good try on his tiny legs, 14" wheels and determination. Rus Kappius was the other head coach. He is a sort of local celebrity in the Senior Men's CX racing as he has real talent. The kids loved him, too. I think you can see it in the photo above.
Sunday was a bit nicer. We got to wear lots of warm clothes and the kids raced. We had the final race and then awards. Both of them came 3 third in their respective categories. I was proud of them. They are good kids. I was also happy to find that Ethan was not piking a fever again.
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