I finally managed to clip in and start my way down the helix. I proceeded down with caution and I could tell there were several anxious men behind me waiting to pass. There is no passing on the helix, which I'm sure frustrated the daylights out of the men with fast bikes with scary looking wheels. Once down the helix the bikes went sailing by me. Moments later another woman had fallen on her bike. So we were riding around her. There were also quite a few dropped water bottles to navigate through as well.
The way out to Verona was a blur. I saw several friends out on the course during this stretch - Mary, Analise, Dan....I also made use of the first water station. I stopped to use the port-o-potty. To my surprise and delight a volunteer held my bike while I was in there. WOW! That was cool. I killed two birds with one stone here - a little bathroom stop and my first croissant sandwich. Yum! I breezed on through Verona and began Loop #1.
Before I knew it, I was approaching the last major hill on Cty G. I shifted down into my small ring, since there was no need to crush the hills so early in the bike. As luck would have it, my chain fell off when I made the switch while going uphill. I clipped out, fixed the chain and somehow managed to get going up the hill. I got up the hill and began a nice descent until I hit Hwy 92. I again shifted into my small ring for 92 as it's one constant climb into Mt Horeb. A few friends came by during this stretch - Pete and Ed blew right on by me. It was awesome to see friends out on the course and to see them doing so well.
The bike was going fast. I was already coming into Mt Horeb. This would be the first spot that I would see my family. And sure enough, they were there in full force - cameras ready and cheering loudly. My friend John had even made it out at that point, so it was great to see him waiting there. I also saw Judy at this point - another great moment. The hill was packed with people - so packed that you forget you are climbing a hill. I slowed down at the aid station and took some water. To my total surprise, my friends Jim and Dana had come out to Mt Horeb with their daughter Isa. What an awesome sight! The next several miles were spent thinking how lucky I was to have so many great people in my life!
Loop #1 was just cranking right on by. We finally hit Garfoot and had a nice long descent and some flats before the 3 dreaded hills - Old Sauk, TimberLane and Midtown. I've heard that these hills get pretty crowded. I was a little nervous about people watching me struggle going up a hill, but what can you do other than keep going. These three hills turned out to be the highlight of the course. They were jammed with people. I saw SO many people on these hills - Maggie, Shelly, Cindi, Darla, Karen, Aggie, Donovan, etc...It was such a rush, I honestly forgot I was climbing a hill. In fact I couldn't wait to get back around to these hills to see all those people again. How cool was this?! On Midtown, I saw Danielle and Ed. Ed ran alongside me for a bit, taking pictures and updating me on his son Ben. After cresting Midtown, it was all downhill into Verona. This was the next spot I'd see my family and I couldn't wait.
I was just about to climb the last little hill on Cross Country when my family appeared. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mike first, then my parents and then my Mom and John further down the road. Going through Verona was awesome. It was like the Tour! There were barricades set up, the streets were blocked off and people were lining the roads to cheer us on. I saw some friends from work out there and also heard the announcer call my name. I started to head around to Old PB to start my 2nd Loop. Holy cow - the bike was half over!
I stopped off at Special Needs where I had a bag packed with some goodies that I'd need for the 2nd half of the ride. My friend and training partner, Howard, was sitting in the grass enjoying his sandwich when I stopped. It was great to catch up for a minute and see how he was doing. I didn't stop long and then continued on. I wanted to get this thing done.
The 2nd Loop was not as much fun. Everything hurt a little bit more, the wind picked up and I slowed down a bit. It didn't matter though. I just had to keep moving forward (thanks Ang!) and using my PowerTap as my guide. Again, this loop flew by. I just tried to focus on getting out to Cross Plains again. Those three hills were so motivating and the next spot that I'd see my family. The course definitely started to clear out a bit at this point - especially in the Mt Horeb area.
I made it to the three monsters again and the crowd was still very energetic and packing the hills. I again saw my friend Darla on 'Bitch' hill. This time she ran alongside me offering words of encouragement. It was really great of her to do that. It definitely made me feel special and very loved (sorry if that's cheesy, but it's true!). My family was also there and again, kinda spread out. How nice to see all of them again.
Verona had cleared out a bit by this time, but there were still plenty of people to make it exciting. I passed the 93 mile sign and wow - I had just gone the farthest I'd ever gone on a bike before in a single ride! My feet finally started to hurt at this point, but I had less than 20 miles to go. I had to just hang on and ride smart. I still had a marathon to run. That's right - the marathon. (Shudder!)
I was in very familiar territory now. I rode on Whalen all the time and could ride this road in my sleep. It was nice to have that sense of familiarity. Actually, it was pretty nice to know this the whole ride. I knew what I was in for, when to push, when not to push, when to enjoy the descents and when to work the hills. I was coming up on the last big hill of the course and the last spot where my family was supposed to be. I was about 1/2 mile away when I could see their cars lined up on the road. I knew they were there. In fact, they were almost the only people there. My friends Doug and Laura were also there cheering. It was a great push before going up that last big hill.
I hit the 105 mile point and knew I had only 7 miles to go. 7 miles - that's nothing! Less than 30 minutes and I would be preparing to run a marathon. These last 7 miles whipped by. It was a complete blur. Before I knew it I was riding up the helix. I dismounted my bike and was more than happy to hand it off to the volunteers.
T2
T2 was very much like T1. I grabbed my gear bag and headed into the change room. Again, I had my own personal attendant and she was wonderful. She put my socks on, packed up my gear bag, listened to whatever babble was coming out of my mouth at that point...She was great! I got dressed and headed outside. Volunteers applied sunscreen and I hit the port-o-potty. I headed for the run course...
26.2 - here we go.
Up Next: The Run (or The Run/Walk)
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