Monday, June 13, 2011



Another excellent Tour de Cure. The weather this year was fantastic. At least for the 25 miler. I was originally going to make this my first full century ride, but I'm a fair weather biker. All the rain this spring kept me indoors when I should have been ramping up my miles. It was sunny but cool.

I don't understand why I can never find a single person to ride with though. Maybe because most of my friends don't really ride bikes often. I always kind of wish I had someone to ride with though. The nice thing about the Tour de Cure is that it's a fun ride and not a race. You can go as fast or slow as you like. Since I was alone I just took off as soon as I could get around the crowd and went for speed. I can't lie, it's really fun to pass lots of people going much faster than them.

To the handsome gentleman who took my picture for me, took the time to learn my name, then cheered for me by name through the ride--thank you. Call me.....

Oh, another reason I'd like to ride with some people is so I don't act like a baby right before the race start. Seriously, every year I get all teared up and almost start crying in public. So dumb. Diabetes just really sucks and has done bad things to people I care about, so I just get all internal and think about that before the start and blubber up. So embarrassing. Showing emotions. What's that all about?

As I said I went for speed. A few miles out from the 1/2 point rest/turn around spot, I could count all the bikers ahead of me. 9, then 7, then 6, 5 for a while, then 3. Most people take their time at the rest spots cause they have food and stuff and it is a fun ride so no hurries. I put down my pb&j and some dried fruit, drank lots of water, then got back on my bike. I guess I could have fratanized with the other riders, but I decided to just get 'er done.

There were 3 riders ahead of me. Then 1. Then none. For like 15 glorious moments, I was the lead rider in the 25 mile bike ride (that started at the regular start time, some people start early and I did see some of them headed back on my way to the turnaround ahead of me). Mind you all the more serious riders who could have left me in their dust were probably riding the 65, 80, or 100 mile rides. And it's not a race so there's no first place, but for a short time I was totally first place. Then my bike chain jammed up when I shifted. Boo. Probably a dozen riders passed me while I got the chain back on. I did end up passing most of them.

For a non-competitive fun ride, I think I was about the 4th or 5th person back. There was actualy a crowd at the finish line that were cheering pretty good as we came through. I can't lie. I like me some cheering crowds.

The Tour de Cure is an excellent ride for beginners or serious riders who are looking for a nice flat course. The century has a good "hill" (Golden Pass) to go over, but it's basically flat, farm countryside. It's got some good sponsors, it's a good cause, lots of volunteers help out, and the directors of the event do a great job.

Note to self--next time I ride or run and start with a long sleeve on, remember to put the sunblock on first. Burned my back pretty good after I took my shrug off.

4 comments:

Casey said...

Yay go Amy! Loved the blog update! I'll tell you what you love more than cheering crowds at the end, you love having me at the end crying because I'm so proud of you! hahah

Anna said...

Us Pett's don't get emotional that much, but when we get teary eyed it's for a good reason.

I get a teary eyed too for things like that. Heck, my friend ran her first 5K and she got teary eyed and then I got teary-eyed for her.

Lots of people cheering for people they don't even know for doing something that takes a lot of effort. It's worth teary-eyed.

And that's a lot of us the phrase "teary-eyed". :)

Crystal said...

I am always looking for people to ride with. Let's plan on doing this one next year together. I get teary eyed this year because I just had a baby and couldn't do any long rides this year. I love that countryside. Maybe we can both do a big ride next year.

xiaolong13 said...

@Crystal--I was actually going to message you on Facebook but I saw on your profile that you were about to have a baby so I didn't. :) Now that I know for sure you're interested, you'll probably be hearing from me.