Race re-cap

The 2007 edition of El Tour de Tucson broke a record for attendance, both overall and at the 109 mile event. Over 5000 people (and their bikes) were at the start line. Our 14 person team rode a warm up ride on Friday that was filled with adrenaline and anxiety. It was a tense 14 miles. After Friday's ride I was worried about the mass start on Race day. Turned out my worries were for nothing. Everything on Saturday (for me anyway) was so smooth. Once we started rolling, we just kept rolling for 9 hours and 12 minutes (aprox). Seven hours and 12 minutes of that were wheels moving, an average pace of 15 mph. Two hours were spent total in breaks for food/water/restroom and 4 tire issues for Dale. Poor Dale.





Someone said to me on Friday, "you realize, Amy-Preacher, I don't even know your last name." Didn't bother me. I was happy to be part of the preacher/teacher duo. Amy-teacher was my roommate for the weekend, here we are in the hotel lobby just before walking to the start line. The sunflowers and wheat helped our coaches count team member helmets from behind and allowed us to share our Kansas Spirit with everyone we passed. Out of the 587 TNT riders at El Tour (from 40 different chapters), I can easily say we had a completely unique team ethic, team spirit and team pride. We rode together, stayed together, finished together. Goofy wheat-headed and all.



My other concern, pre-race, besides the mass start, was carrying my bike across the 2 dry river beds. This also turned out to be fine, a little dusty, but not excruciatingly hard. If you count the walking we did through sand, we actually traveled 111 miles on Saturday. That's my baby blue bike in center-front hoisted onto my shoulder.

Though at times, due to hills and traffic, our form broke apart a little, we rode well as a team. Not everyone had the easy day I did, but bodies are different, a few were recovering from illness and one never knows until race day how the body will perform. I am grateful to Travis for excellent coaching and a tough training plan. This is our team at the last turn, yards from the finish line (I'm third from the front on the near side). Just around the corner, we "took the road" and crossed the finish line four across, fists in the air, screaming. It was a rush.

All done! My medal now hangs on my office lampshade. A reminder of a wonderful day, a season of hard work, a great team, money raised toward a worthy cause and a meaningful tribute to my aunt Pat. I am so satisfied. Grateful, of course, for a healthy body, some stubbornness of spirit, and truckloads of support. Life is Good.

And we're back

Landed in Wichita this afternoon.

The Arizona trip was like a dream.

Like time outside of time.

All I could have wanted it to be.

The ride was fantastic. I am not even sure how I will explain it to you.

For tonight, a picture of the team at the finish line.

We rode as a team, finished as a team, accomplished our goal as a team.

What a feeling.

Tank ooo

My mother claims this was my first word.

Whether it was or not, it is what I want to say to all you faithful readers, supporters and contributors.

Thank you.

In the last few days I have been inundated with encouragement and support. And that feels wonderful. My church is super excited (they even gave me a horn and license plate for my bike in worship on Sunday). I have also gotten phone calls and e-mails and...well...lots of love. I love it! And I'm thankful for it.

We fly out tomorrow and I can think of little else.
I'll be unable (or otherwise occupied) to post for a few days, but pictures and story of "the big ride" will come sometime next week.

I trust you'll be reading ;)

Amy

Homestretch

I guess my TNT season is over. There is one more group ride, a 45 miler on Saturday, which I will miss because of a funeral. I will ride alone that afternoon. I will also ride this afternoon and Sunday afternoon and then put my bike on a semi-truck to be delivered in Tucson next week. I am already dreading that moment. Not having the bike in the garage will be a little like not having the dog in the house for the night….something just ain’t right…

Let's take a moment to review. It's been fifteen weeks of riding and over 1500 miles.

My favorite cycling food:
Peanut butter and graham cracker sandwiches. Sweet, crunchy and full of the power needed to pedal on.

Least favorite food:
Berries and Cream Power Bar. Yuck.


Favorite article of cycling clothing:
My headband. I bought it on a whim at REI in Portland (mine’s blue, matches the bike). It keeps sweat out of my face, which is great. But I love it because when I put in on I feel like I am about to walk on the set of a music video for Olivia Newton John. “Let’s get physical, physical…”



Favorite Wichita Area ride:
Thunder Road. Yes it’s fun to say, but also to ride. Great road, great trees, some good hills, little traffic.


Biggest surprise of the season:
The power of the team. I’m kind of an independent girl but I would not want to be doing this alone. (And along with that the power of my personal team to raise $4,000. That’s humbling.)



Scariest moment:
Chin meets pavement. I did wonder if I was going to get up from that crash with all my teeth.

Favorite moment:
This is yet to come, I suspect it will be the finish line. In the last two weeks we’ve practiced a move called “take the road” so we can cross the line four cyclists abreast. I’m smiling just thinking about it.

Biggest gratitude:
The opportunity to recognize as an adult a loss I suffered as a child. The bike riding has been fun but what means more to me is connecting with my family around the death of my aunt in a way I couldn't at five years old.

This is a page out of the guest book at my aunt Pat's funeral. I don't remember that day at all. I vaguely remember being horrified at the funeral home when we went for family viewing to look at her body.


I don't remember much of anything about my aunt at all. I know she loved chocolate chip cookies and breakfast at Denny's. I know she taught school and lived alone. I know she loved me and in my five year old way, I loved her too.

I can see that it was important for me to sign my own name at her funeral. My brother did too but his eight year old handwriting is much better than my kindgergarten script.

So on the 17th I will ride remembering Patricia Jane and her life that ended too soon. I will remember her life that ended in great pain, physical as well as emotional. It was impossible for my grandparents to know how to watch their oldest child die.

I will remember her because even though she is 25 years gone, I know she has a place in our family. She has effected who I am, who my parents are, how I interact with the world. I intend to honor that for at least 109 miles.

still riding

The Big Ride is 11 days away.

Good thing because it is getting a little tricky with church business, cold temperatures and the ever-earlier setting sun to get my rides in.

Today I hit a car.
It didn't hit me, I hit it.

And no, it wasn't parked.
(This is where my mother says, "oh, Amy.")

It pulled out from alongside a concrete wall as I was headed down a sidewalk/bike path. By the time I saw it there was no stopping. I squeezed my brakes, yelled and turned my wheel sideways so that I actually hit the car with my left thigh and slid down the side to the ground.

Laying on the ground, I half expected the car to pull away. But he didn't. He came out to see if I was okay. I was and so was my bike, amazingly. His car? Well...I left a nice dent in the side panel of that little Honda Accord, just below the passenger window. How awful it must have sounded inside.

The high amount of spandex necessitated by the 50 degree temperature prevented the spilling of any blood. I anticipate a car door sized bruise on my thigh by morning.

But really, I'm fine. I rode home. I took a shower. I came back to work.

I'm feeling a bit guilty about hitting him. I don't know if it was my fault or his. Probably a little of both. I do know it's going to cost him to fix the car. But I suppose less than if I had been 2 seconds earlier and he had hit me instead of the other way around.

One of my teammates, Lori, was hit by a car last weekend in Dallas. The car was stopped behind her at a light when the driver took his foot off the brake while reaching for his cell phone. He ran right into the back of her. She has 17 stitches in her ankle. In Car vs Bike, Car usually wins.

On to other news, our Saturday rides have been going well, the long distances have been enjoyable. It's amazing how the day can slip away between tires and pavement. I think I like the simplicity of it. I get up in the morning and the only thing to accomplish in the day is the ride. Two weeks ago I snapped a few photos of the team in action.

Our paceline, I'm the second rider from the front. Usually we are in two lines taking up our own lane of traffic. This was a moment on a busy two lane road so we were single file. Dale is in front. For the record I can beat him anytime I want to. Yes I can, Dale.

Dale and Coach Travis (to the left) sporting his official TNT jersey. I will have earned my own in just a few more days.

Pit stops are crucial to the long rides. Refilling and emptying water. Travis has rarely found a convenience store with more than one woman's toilet. We have 10 women on the team. He needs to work on this.