Sunday, October 10, 2010

Tour de Pink Recap

This one is a little behind, but here it is!  All told, we raised $665 dollars towards breast cancer research.  A big "Thank You!" to all our supporters:

Laura Dornback
Lynda Curtis
Anne Linder
Bruce Byerly
Roger and Beverly McKemie
Amanda O'Brien
Mattie Rushing
Melinda Sedelmeyer
Cheryl Shore
Jason Greenwald
Steve Bledsoe
Kyle Carter

Thank you as well to Shirley Dornback for cooking us an awesome spaghetti dinner that we carb loaded with the night before.  We crashed in a field on the Prairie View A&M campus and listened to a few post game revelers wrap up their party while we chowed.  We woke up early, 5AM, to coffee from the vacuum thermos and PB&Js.  It looked like we were one of the few out-of-towners - at least one of the few to brave camping in the back field.   

Compared to the HH100, this was minuscule, with just over 1,000 riders, we took off right at the start time of 7AM.  The course was sort of like Wile E. Coyote's head, with his nose pointed to the ground.  We pushed hard and caught our first break rest stop 4, mile 55.  The rest stops were small, but friendly.  Lots of nice people helping us out.

Around mile 65 we turned north, and we really started to drag.  The wind pushed right into our face pretty much the rest of the way.  We ended up stopping twice more at 6 and 7 because we were so drained.  At 7 we made the mistake of dropping into some well intended folding camp chairs.  If you are ever considering doing a ride like this.... do.... not.... sit.... in.... a.... chair.  No matter how much you hurt, all that chair will do is remind you of how comfortable you could be.  It puts your mission at risk, and make no mistake, you are on a mission.  Completion is dependent on your focus.  That comfy chair will cause your focus to shift.

Luckily, not long after stop seven the course move east again and the wind wasn't quite as bad.  We actually picked up speed, hitting sprints of over 20 mph.  Crossing the finish line felt good, but not triumphant.  The post-ride fare was school cafeteria burgers.  We popped a few beers in the parking lot and relaxed for a while before hitting the road.

On the way home we stopped for for a plate of fried deliciousness at Sam's Restaurant.  They had a surprisingly good buffet.  There is nothing like real pan-fried chicken fried steak with smashed taters and fried okra to bring you back.

All told, a great trip that put us at 200 miles towards our goal of 13 hundred in 13 months.


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