Bike Details!

As I stood with my team mate Eric, in the starting corral for the Tour de Tuscon. I reflected back upon over one thousand miles of biking that I have petaled this summer. I was very confident that I could finish the race in good time, but I had no idea what to expect. My coach Bob gave me many pep talks on what to do and what it would look like during each phase of the race. His knowledge and coaching was priceless as every single thing was exactly as he explained. My success in this race is in LARGE part, due to him. Thanks Bob, you rock!
It is first come, first serve, in terms of starting place for the race so Eric and I went early at 5am to wait towards the front, to get off with the more seasoned riders. Race start was 7am and the temp was about 40-45 as we shivered in our shorts and jerseys. The temp was supposed to get up to 75 so being Minnesotan we didn't think waiting a couple of hours in 40 degrees was too tough. Bob had suggested that if we started towards the front with the "gold" racers, we might be able to keep up. He said to try to keep up with them for the first 5-10 miles and if we did that, we would "pace line" with them for the next 100 miles.
The sun came up, the U.S. Anthem was sang and the gun went off. The start, I am told, was a fast one. Within the first mile we were around 25-30 mph and in a big group of racers. As each mile went by the pack thinned every so slightly. At mile 9 there is a scheduled "river crossing." It is unique to the Tucson race. They have two places where y0u must get off your bike and carry it across a dried out river bed to the road on the other side. It sounded crazy to me, but it ended up being pretty fun. It was also the only times I stopped during the race. Along the way there are plenty of water and food stops. Most people take advantage of them but I had decided before the race that I wanted to try to do it without any stops. It takes a lot of pre-race prep to make sure you have proper hydration with you and the proper amounts of food to eat for your body to endure the duration of the race. Bob and my room mate Scott helped me to calculate that I would need to consume at around 400 calories an hour to fuel my body through the finish.
At the end of the first river crossing I reached in my "food bag" to grab a gel pack (calories in gel form) and noticed that during my two hour wait for the start, someone stole the two gels I had packed on my bike while we went to wish the rest of the team good luck. So right off the bat I was short 300 calories. But I did have more in the pockets of my jersey and didn't feel it was going to become a negative factor.
From the start I picked out riders around me that I though would push me. I pictured their jerseys in my head and attempted to keep up with them during the race. It was a fun mental game for me to see them come and go over the 109 miles.
After the first river crossing the pack got thinner and more refined. People were still trying to separate themselves from the large pack, so other small packs were forming but staying relatively close to each other. My legs were still feeling a bit heavy. I think the long chilly wait kept me tight for a long time. I was challenged many times to keep up with some of the jerseys I wanted to keep up with between miles 10-40. I had one helper during that stretch, she was a fellow TNT racer from Jersey. Her name was Jen and she really encouraged me to keep up when ever her group would pass me during my sluggish phases.
Then finally some hills came into play. I have a strange love for hills on a bike. I really don't like them all that much, but I really enjoy them for the fact that they pose such a challenge. I have always attempted to"attack" hills, everyone has to get up them you might as well get it over as soon as you can and have some fun along the way. Hills really "wake" my legs up. They did for me in the Disney Tri and here again they did in Tucson. Before I was playing cat and mouse with Jen from Jersey. Now I have hit some hills and my legs finally got loose and I felt power for the first time. I went from struggling to keep up, around the 20-30 mile point, to climbing my way into new groups one at a time. It was very exciting to see jerseys that I wanted to keep up with again.
Then at the second "river crossing" (mile 39) I took time to "empty my tank" by some bushes and refill an empty bottle with water just in case. I also re-applied my shorts with some butt-butter. Butt-butter is a bikers best friend. It keeps the seat area from getting any more sore that it needs to.
Right after the crossing you go strait into the worst hill on the course. I really liked it because it was steep but not that long. Right off the bat my legs are "juiced up" ready to cruise. The field of the pace line that I got into on this side was a bit more serious. I really liked it but I really had to pay attention. They were a bit faster and a lot tighter together, and they really jockied for position. I was not used to that speed (20-27 in flats) and had never trained in a pace line like that. You could say I was "white knuckled" the rest of the race.
Not too much talk from me, I was trying my best to look like I fit in, and doing my best to copy what everyone else was doing. The group I stuck with for most of the rest of the race was about 40 riders strong and was constantly changing shape and position. I did have a stretch of about 2 minuets where I "pulled" the group. "Pulling" is when you are in the front of the pack breaking the wind. Unless you experience the advantages of riding 6 inches off the tire in front of you, you would not believe me how much easier it is to "draft" in a pace line. It was a thrill to pull for that stretch. A cross wind had come up and our speed was dropping. People started to get sloppy, so I bolted ahead. Because no one was letting me back into the line I jumped up front. Basically it was, slow down or go up front. After my stint up front I got some encouragement and praise from other riders and that really boosted my confidence.
During this long stretch I reached back to grab a drink and realized one of my water bottles has jumped out of its cage. I had gotten caught in some rumble strips in the shoulder and couldn't get out right away because of riders on the sides. It must have jumped out then. I really didn't like not having that Gatorade, it was full!
It was smooth sailing coming into mile 90. Some people started to drop and some started to move to the front of the pack, pushing our over all speed higher. Around mile 105 one of the guys that I had tried to stick with from the beginning made a break to catch the group about 150 yards in front of us. I made a poor late attempt to go with him but was not able to get up on his tire to go with. He continued to forge ahead and I basically got stuck in between packs all alone. Not wanting to drop back I struggled mightily to remain positive. I felt the lack of liquid and the loss of those two gel packs now. I was out of gas to make the move I attempted. So close, just under five miles to go. I knew I could gut it out. I found it fitting that I was pushing the finish on my own. Adam's voice was very strong during this stretch. Not the kind fun one. It was the stern brotherly push, "well you got your self into this spot now get out of it" "this isn't hard." The memory of the pain he endured, and the strong amaizing way he "finished" was pushing me to the end. I will likely never experience the pain he went through, because of that I could never stop pushing at a time like this. At one point I was really getting burned out, I put my head down and challenged myself to only think positive thoughts. "You will keep going", "you can catch that group." Just after I put my head down, out from behind me comes some guy that had left the other pack with me. I didn't know it, but there he was. He pulls up beside me and says, "hey, let me pull for a while." What a blessing! I couldn't believe it! He gets in front of my wheel and suddenly i'm working 1/3rd less. I was beginning to recover, but we were not really gaining on the other group. I got up the energy to take one more stab at catching them and I pulled in front to give him a rest. We made up some ground but catching them was not going to happen. We came into the final mile trading places and at the finish line we were about one second apart. He was one of my angel's that day that helped me to a great finish.
I had no expectations coming into the race, but I am very pleased that I was able to finish where I did. I placed 612th out of 5300 because of my team and my coach. Because of my brother that will always bike with me, run with me and swim with me. I am so grateful that God has given me that ability and the opportunity to take part in these races for TNT. I am so grateful for all the people who have inspired me to push with their encouragement and generous donations. My healing is coming in the service of others, and I give thanks to my God for that.