Aug. 2, 2015: Biking

Cade mounted his bike to begin the 112 mile ride. The two-loop course went through Boulder and other neighboring towns at the base of the mountains. 

“It was really pretty cool because they didn’t shut the towns down, but people were set up in lawn chairs along the road to cheer you on in kind of key spots,” Cade said. 

Brooke watched with pride as Cade flew through the race. With pumping adrenaline and muscle memory from years of athletics, the difficulty of the race hadn’t hit Cade yet.

“He seemed determined and focused and fine,” Brooke said. “I mean, he would smile at us, wave. He did not seem like he was in distress.”

But towards the end, the course got hilly, and for the first time, Cade began to struggle. Even though the thought of still doing a full marathon would make most people sick at that point, Cade refused to give up.

Because when he hung his head, Cade locked eyes with Miles.

“I taped a picture of him on my bike frame so that anytime I was feeling down and looking down at my bike, it would remind me to keep going,” Cade said.