Tour De Cure part 2

This was my first year doing the Tour. It was very well supported, on the rest stops, and by motorcycles escorting us. Often the motorcycles would stop ahead of a group and point out a turn onto the next road, although the signage was good also. We passed some rest stops, depending on the will of the group. Every one seemed to be very comfortable with Greg pulling us along 18- 20 mph. I spent some time riding back in the pack, chatting it up, riding 2 or 3 wide. The day was gorgeous. 70ish degrees, partly cloudy.

The Bikebeat group stayed together until about 30 miles in Greg decides to ramp it up. As I was hanging on to his wheel at 27 mph., I'm thinking, we still have 70 miles to go! No way I can keep this up! We shortly pulled in to a rest stop, and regrouped. Now came the only real boring part of the ride. The highway is so wide and straight, not much to look at. I did some pulling, as did some others. A flat tire was quickly delt with by our resident mechanic Carlos, and we were back underway. Greg and Rob were nice enough to let me pull up to the Joseph P. Knapp Bridge, then pass on the climb. Hit the lunch stop 55 miles in, the volunteers had sandwiches, water, and sports drinks ready. 30 minutes or so to eat and we were back underway!

Part 3 coming soon.

Tour De Cure part one

What a perfect day for a bike ride! Thanks to all who donated money and time. Thanks to Greg for putting the Bikebeat team together. We had 14 riders do the 100 miles! I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.


The alarm clock, aka the devil cat, jumped on the bed right on time, Saturday morning, 6 o'clock. Everything goes smooth, and we arrive on schedule for breakfast at 7. Now, just to put on my official orange, 100 miler bracelet... left it home! This gets me breakfast, food and drink at the rest stops, lunch, and food at the end! Thankfully we only live 10 minutes from Hickory High school. I race back home and back to the school again. Just enough time to gobble some scrambled eggs and orange juice before the team picture.





I grab a apple and head to the start. (Notice the bracelet)





The Bikebeat team!
(Notice the bracelets)








Shortly after 8 a few hundred cyclist head out into the countryside, headed to Manteo.
With so many people starting at one time the pace was a snail like 14 mph for the first couple miles. Soon the crowd thinned and Greg led us 18-20mph. The first 30 miles or so wound about nice country back roads.





More to come...

Get ready for the Tour!

Okay, Sam reads my blog too. Its good to hear from California once in awhile. Keep me up with whats happening out there. Meet any mountain biking chicks yet?

The Tour De Cure is next Saturday, April 19th. 100 miles to Manteo! The forecast looks good, subject to change, 70ish and partly sunny. Need to find my sunblock! 5 hours in the saddle plus or minus depending on the wind. Send me some money!!! Come on tight-wads.

Up to speed...

Since Carlos scolded me today for not posting enough, and he is the only one who reads the stupid thing, I was inspired. Greg has made comments also, he must be checking in some. What has happened since my last post? Lots of drizzle, some rain, some time on the trainer, and some on the road. Here are some highlights.
Two weeks ago Tyler and I went to the Slaughterama. It was billed to me as a place to go see alot of Tall Bikes. All we saw was underage drinking and drug use in a city park, lots of Tattoos, lots of trash on the ground, and a total of 2 cops. The police stayed well away so as not to be involved. Doesn't speak well for the city of Richmond. I hope this kind of thing stays in the liberal "big city".
Greg, Dave and I have been riding a 28 mile loop after work from my house. Carlos made it out one time to show off his new bike. Nice! Of course with Greg around a hammerfest usually ensues. I could draft that newly dropped down to 180 lb. ass all day! Oops, did I type that out loud?
Today, 8 of us departed Bikebeat, 9 a.m. 4 hours and 75 miles later, 4 returned. This was advertised as a "B" pace ride, 18-20 mph. The first 30 miles took us to the Pungo- Ferry Bridge. Greg and I did almost all of the pulling, at the correct pace. We sprinted a few times, then waited for the re-group. I got a wild hair and pulled a short section at 26mph. Then Greg pulled us to 29! That brought us in to the general store in Creeds. Time for a potty break and Slim Jims.
No one seemed to be hurting, so to fix that, we decided to add a 15 mile loop. The pace slowed dramatically. At some points we were dropping people at 15mph. After the loop, and crossing the bridge again, we still had 30 miles to go. How long does it take to do 30 miles at 12-15 mph? We would stay a group if needed, but Barry graciously told us to go our own pace, he would get the others back. 4 of us split and soon we were cruising! The average speed for the last 20 miles must have been 23-24mph! That was fun!
Now I feel better about the 100 mile TourDeCure next Saturday. Looking forward to it! This will be my second century, and I am determined to not let Greg drop me again! Click the link on the right, and donate some money!!