Tour de Cure 2009

This years Tour de Cure happened in Saratoga Springs, NY. Last year it was held on a different course and I had never seen any of the course but I did see the elevation profile which made me more mentally prepared than I thought I was going to be. As you know, I have had knee pain since my long run on Thursday which was finally getting better yesterday and I was unsure how I would fair on the bike today. Waking up this morning, my knee hurt a little (maybe a little more than a little) and I was a frustrated by the fact that because of my neighbors (crying cats, barking dogs, yelling drunk people out of a window, hysterical child, and the automatic light going on in the backyard due to something in my backyard) and because of my mental psychosis where I dwell on random things when I should be sleeping (last night it was will they let Joe ride since he didn't do the fundraising and I did and please remember the checks) I had only slept for a maximum of 2 hours. We packed the car and then took off to Saratoga. We checked in with the first of many extremely friendly volunteers who insisted that we take powerbars and made sure we had our pins, tags, and most importantly our maps. We left to eat breakfast (yes, they provide us with breakfast) and then headed out to get our bikes and get ready. I was anxious to get started so I waited for a couple of minutes for Melinda but just decided I needed to know how my knee was going to cooperate so I took off. It was a good thing too because I needed to concentrate on my pedal strokes and how I was pedaling to find where my comfort level was (I could tell you where it was - UNCOMFORTABLE). I made the decision that I wanted to bike for 2 hours before giving up so I was out there for a while, I may as well find a place/way to pedal that was comfortable. The first 14 miles hurt. I was worried. I got to the first aid station where the volunteers were so excited to have us visit them. I had an orange and pretzels, stretched, and saw a casuality of biking. A man had been run into by another cyclist who wasn't paying attention, fell, and probably broke his colar bone (there was an obvious deformity). He couldn't put any weight on his left arm at all and thus had issues controlling the bike and was incredibly uncomfortable. By the way... he fell at mile 4.5 of his planned 100 - which he didn't end up doing. You always know the risks but seeing them happen and knowing that they can happen to anyone is scary. I got to the second aid station and spoke to a man about how I had no idea where I was in Saratoga County and if I got lost, I would have no idea which way to go. Subsequently, I missed a turn and got lost in Saratoga County. Luckily, the man I had talked to, his son, and another biker had also missed the turn and they had already asked for directions. I followed the directions and learned nothing about where I was in Saratoga County - I know that I did add more distance to an already long ride though (and a few hills for good measure). We found the first craziness of the course though while getting back on the course. One aid station for all of the course at the same time. Ugh!! The signs said "Left first loop, Right second". I was confused and people don't know how to mount and dismount their bikes or stop their bikes in an appropriate distance of other bikes which was really scary. We then left the aid station and headed out on a long gradual uphill. The conversation that was had by two riders was "Which do we like best: short big hills or long gradual hills?" I don't know the answer to the question as I have that discussion often with myself on long rides. We continued on through Corinth, Hadley, and Lake Luzerne. It was a beautiful ride. Perfectly balanced with hills, flats, and downhills. There was a volunteer at mile 75 that made me my own PB&J sandwhich made to order. When I entered the last aid station, the volunteers were so nice - they were asking me about my riding, how much I normally ride, what did Ironman entail, how did I get my tour de cure jersey (from fundraising over $500 last year), giving me these fantastic muffins made by 2 of the riders who own the 4 corners lunchenette in Delmar, asking if I wanted water or fruit. As I entered the station (which was the same station as the midway one that was crazy), the chaos had calmed down and the bike people from LLBean were bored. As soon as I got off the bike, they asked me if the bike needed anything, how was it riding. I cannot say enough about all of the volunteers - the ones at the aid station were just the friendliest people I have met, the LLBean bike guys really wanted to be helpful, the guys from the Downtube were fantastic at fixing the bikes of those on the course that needed help, those who were cheering people in as they came back to the high school had so much energy even after having been there for hours, the people from Friendly's who gave me ice cream at the end were asking me all about the ride and how much I generally ride, one of the riders who was also on the course committee asked me where I got lost to make sure that they revisited that area again next year. This event is one of the best to be a part of.

My knee had loosened up at around mile 30 so I was really excited to be riding through most of the ride. What kept me from deciding to quit at mile 24 was the fact that so many of my friends and family members had donated money to me to ride this distance and I felt like I was not living up to my end of the bargain if I stopped early. I also didn't stop because my mom and dad didn't answer their phone when I called twice to ask what I should do (yes, it hurt so much that I wanted someone else to tell me that I needed to stop). I know they would have understood but I really wanted to ride since Ironman is 7 weeks away and people had supported me and I am stubborn and didn't want to get off the bike yet (Ironman training is tough - physically and mentally). I am glad I stayed on the bike now even though I really didn't expect my knee to feel better but it did, not sure why or what I did but the pain really just went away and was just nagging at times but most of the time it was fine.

This ride wasn't as exciting as last year from the prospective that I didn't have deer jump out at me or a peacock in the middle of the road but this years ride was better than ever before just because I was comfortable for most of the ride and felt really strong! I felt confident that I could do the 100 this time after the Hilly 100 two weeks ago. One interesting thing that happened during the ride was that I was asked 3 times if I was doing the 50 because they thought that I was lost. I kept telling people that I was doing the 100 and they would let me keep going. At the last aid station, he explained why I was being asked - I had been given the wrong color bib number so everyone was confused by me being on the 100 mile course. Even though I didn't start with a riding partner, I had some great riding partners on and off, here and there, depending on my speed. It was such a nice day too - mid/low 70's with overcast and no humidity. This was an improvement over last year too (last year was 90 degrees, sunny, and humid).

I really can't say enough about those who run Tour de Cure and the riders that do it. The riders are so nice - not competitive, but helpful, interested, and having fun for a good cause. This is a great event and I can't wait to participate again in the future.

Next up, Lake Placid Half marathon next weekend (hopefully - depending on how the knee progresses this week and how running on it goes). I may take the week off from running and only run on Thursday to make sure it heals completely so that the next 7 weeks are complete training weeks. I need the swim time anyway. By the way next weekend also brings me to my first open water swim of the season!!! I can't wait to be sexy in my wetsuit!!! For those of you who don't know, no one is sexy in a wetsuit (except me - haha)!!! I can't wait since this weekend generally means the start of our time on a consistent basis up at the camp and the actual start of triathlon season.