Amy and I attended the second Rans Rally in Hays Kansas over Labor Day Weekend. For those of you who don't know what Rans is; it is a company that manufacturers recumbent bicycles and kit airplanes. http://www.rans.com/ Amy and I own two Rans Cruz crank-forward bicycles that they produced. It was also my Birthday weekend which was a great way to celebrate and my Mom decided to join us this year. The Rally is a three day event, unfortunately we have not been able to attend the Friday evening or Sunday activities.
Saturday morning we met at the Rans factory to depart on a 37 mile ride that went through the towns of Catherine and Victoria Kansas. The ride was wonderful until mile 20 or so when we turned South and rode directly into a head wind. With very little riding under our belts this year Amy and I faded as Mom left us in her dust. It was a rough 10-15 miles to say the least! After the ride we ate lunch and then returned to the factory to test ride the other bikes that Rans manufactures. We went back to the hotel and cleaned up for a dinner back at the factory that evening so we had an opportunity to watch K-State take care of UCLA just before we had to leave. Dinner was fun as there was a stage set up and Randy (the owner) unveiled the new product coming down the line in 2011. Amy had also surprised me with a cake that read: Happy Birthday Ben. Randy then had everybody sing Happy Birthday to me. It was a very nice surprise from my wife who is always very thoughtful! After dinner there was more test riding of bikes and visiting with others. The coolest bike ride of the day was 5 or 6 Trizards (recumbent trikes) hooked together like a roller coaster train that everybody took turns taking rides in. After things slowed down at the factory Amy and I decided to go out to the movies. It was a fun movie and fun to stay out late. Overall it was a great birthday! I look forward to celebrating it again next year in Hays!
We didn't take too many pics this year but here's what we've got. Here is a link to another attendee's pathetic photo album from the event as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53703907@N02/
More pics:
Great cake! We are sorry that we missed the fun, but being on the other side of a terribly busy few weeks, I can see that staying home was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the photos. The ride, with that kind of wind, would have done me in. Do you two still want Zenetiks? Or something else now?