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accomplished

Livestrong Challenge! And the Story of the Slash! And 50 Miles of Pain!
Okay, so yesterday was the Livestrong Challenge. Yes, it was a "omg, why did i sign up for this again?" moment, but it was also a great, albeit painful, experience. Looking back, I'm really glad I went through with it and what a wonderful feeling having so much support! Y'all are awesome! Thank you soooo much!

So, the day started at 0 dark 30, as previously mentioned...



So, back in May when I decided to do this, I spent some time looking for tips and other people who where going to be doing it, just to get an idea of what it would be like (and to get an idea of how screwed I was). Following link after link, I ended up at a cycling blog, called Fat Cyclist. Not only was the blog terribly funny, but a lot of people who followed the blog seemed friendly, and funny, and really supportive :) So, I clicked the little "Join Team" button. Little did I know I'd be riding on the coattails of winners! Team Fat Cyclist won the award for raising the most money for the Live Strong Challenge (64K o.0)! What did that mean? The team got to start in front...


Doesn't look so bad, right?



Well, immediately behind us was this....

About 2500 crazy-ass driven cyclists, a lot of whom were doing the 100 mile course. And looking very... intense... Uhhhh. I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this. I had originally intended to join them for the photo and then go back to my proper place at the back of the 50 mile group, but I succumbed to peer pressure and ended up staying. ALL of the Team Fatty people were soooo nice and supportive, what a great group of people! I can't say enough nice things about them, and if you are looking for a team, I strongly suggest them. They have a team at all four cities this year!


Getting ready for the team photo...

At the start line... when I'm still smiling. (and yes, I don't have the cool team jersey :(


My bike... wildly inappropriate for a distance event. Hey, at least I took off the baskets and the super knobby tires! The guy at the bike check stand (who ended up being a friend of Marcus', small world!) said it was one of the heaviest bikes he saw all day (Because I'm just That. Hard. Core. *snicker*) Doing this event has convinced me that if I intend to continue doing bike touring, and I think i want to, it's time to get a "real" bike for non-commuting purposes.



Unfortunately, I didn't even attempt to get photos at the beginning because I didn't think it was safe. However, it was CRAZY! The streets of downtown were just this solid mass of bikes. I was riding over as far right as possible as all those bikers behind us were sweeping past and people were still using the gutter to pass. CRAZY. Here is about two miles in when I thought I could whip out the camera safely.


Biking through Willow Glen. I was really surprised how many people had come out to watch, and cheer, the bikers. It was really inspiring. A lot of "you can do it!" :) You can also see one of the team members I quasi-rode with during the day.


So, the 50 mile course basically circled the entire Santa Clara Valley. It went out to Monte Sereno, south to Santa Teresa, east to Hicks Road/Silverpine, and then west back to downtown. There was also three really really big hills. Okay, big to me. 1200 feet of climbing while the 100 mile course was 3500 feet. I was really worried about being able to finish/looking foolish. I had practiced on the first two (Fruitvale and Shannon Road). Surprisingly, not only did I finish (woot!) but my miles per hour was actually slightly better than my training rides! I didn't have to stop on Fruitvale at all, and there was only a couple of stops on Shannon Road. It actually made me feel so much better to see lots of other people "cross-training" (i.e. walking up the steeper bits).

However, when I got to Silverpine, it didn't go so well. By this point, it was mile 35 and I was hating life. I biked up the first two sections on this hill, but when I turned the corner, there was a "oh, hell no" moment. Luckily, at least 50% of the people were walking up, so I wasn't just me. The SAG Wagon (Support and Gear minivans, or "Sore Ass Gluteals"... the medical and technical support for the ride... they are the ones that rescue bikers off the course), would swing by with the "are you doing okay?" quite frequently lol.


*snicker*


Okay, now for the "exciting" portion of the ride. I was about six miles from the end, and it was sorta-downhill ish. Even teeny rises were moments of oww. At this point, I had run out of Up. There was no more Up in the tank. Up had left the building. Up has said "screw you!" and went to disneyland. On a stretch of downhill, there was a dramatic POP, and my bike went all whobbly.

Uh. Oh. My first flat in the middle of nowhere (I've been lucky, I've only had flats within walking distance of bike stores or home). Okay. I can do this. I have all the equipment. I have spare tubes. I've... watched... people change flats. This is not a problem. I can do this. This does not mean I can't finish.... right? meep! I pull over, and after a bit of fussing, get my back tire off. And what do I see?


A two inch slash in the tire itself. It went all the way across the tire, and then a fair amount down the side. A tube isn't going to solve this problem. Lots of swears. Then another cyclist stops to help, and says, if I want to finish, I might be able to finish the ride on it if I slip a couple of dollars between the tire and the tube to temporarily seal the hole. And then two SAG wagons stop, and one has tires! Plus tubes that fit those tires! And it was very much a "need a tire? Need a tube? need us to change it?" I think they would have vacuumed the house if I asked. So nice! and so prepared!


After a bit, I cycle on. Sweet blessed downtown!


The finish line, omg!


And 50 miles later. AJ, Wei-ling and Marcus were so nice to meet me at the end. Omg, sore. But yay! And what about next year? lol


ETA: The Team Fatty Picture!