One day a friend of mine mentioned a cool little bike race called Tour
De Phoenix that I should look into. I read more about it and it sounded
like a beautiful ride around the Red Mountain. I had never been to the
Red Mountain so I figured having a nice ride through some incredible
scenery would be a nice way to spend the day.
I
had mentioned to my then wife that I was excited to try this thing out.
So I filled her in on what it was. That the ride could either be 26
Miles or 74 Miles. I am the hardcore guy and I thought I would do the 74
Mile ride but I would have to do some training. Now I love riding but I
had not ridden that far before. I had no idea how long it would take me
to do. She said that would be just fine.
The bummer
part came to when I was going to actually go out and ride. I had
mentioned to my then wife that at the end of the week I wanted to go
ride on Sunday. She agreed she could watch the baby. When that day came
she needed to work from home and could not do that while watching the
baby. She knew I was going to go early on before it got too warm. So I
was bummed but would do anything for my boy. It was not till late
afternoon when she wondered why I was not myself. I told her I was
looking forward to riding today. She had forgot I wanted to do that. So
she is like you should have told me you wanted to go. Well I did a week
ago. And this morning I had on my cycling clothes when you asked me to
watch Julian. Then I said tell me when you are done so I can go. Well
she did not. Now it was too hot to go. This was the theme a couple of
times when I had mentioned the day in advance and last minute her stuff
was more import. Now that I think about it this was the theme on
anything I wanted to do.
So I decided I would do it
without her help and support. I only had an hour during the day for my
lunch break to do what I thought would help me be ready since I need to
go home right after work to help with the baby. And of course no weekend
workouts. It was not until a week before the race that I was able to
actually ride outside on a street to figure out how to use and be
comfortable with the road bike a coworker lent me. And of course I rode
in the morning after the wife had left and I had dropped off the baby at
the sitters. I rode twice that week.
On race day I
made my way out to do my race. It was a dark and chilly morning but was
supposed to be into the 80's later on. I was nervous since I felt I was
not ready but also I was excited at what I would see that day. I was not
sure I was at the right place but shortly after the parking lot was a
buzz with riders of all shapes and sizes. I got what gear and provisions
I needed and made my way to the start.
The start was
the most energetic and enthusiastic I had been in for a bike race. The
gun went off and people seemed to be racing. All letting out cheers and
yells in their own special way to the delight of the spectators. I found
myself hauling butt myself but thought to myself to take it easy I have
a long way to go. Luckily I had my ipod rocking some tunes.
The
first hour was interesting. Many people were pulling over where ever to
use the bathroom. There was not enough facilities at the start location
and no one wanted to be stuck in a bathroom line when the gun went off.
A lot of drinking of water and a chilly morning was not a good
combination. I found myself looking for a spot myself. We did manage to
pass alot
of parks and I continued to the next one until I saw a lone bathroom
with no one waiting. Score. I was soon on my way and discovered the line
that had formed while I was inside. I was luck there.
About
two hours in I met what must have been a new recruit directing traffic.
He was giving some confusing singles and I thought the hand extended out
was for us the bike riders. So I proceeded to stop. With in seconds of
having stopped I get struck by another cyclist that was drafting me. Man
that guy was pissed. I told him the guy said stop and you could see his
hand still up so he went off on the traffic dude. The funny thing was
that I managed to take a hit from a cyclist riding full speed by just
standing there. I guess working out helped out a bit. But I figured the
bike I had had sustained damage that would put me out of the race. I
would have been pissed if that had happened. Luckily everything seemed ok, and I continued on.
The
scenery was breath taking once we got out in the hill area. I did not
realize a desert could be so beautiful. I was taking it all in. I came
up on a lady rider so i said hi. She had done this race before so I
asked he what to expect. she said we were coming up on one of the long
steep hills. To pace myself. When the hill came I felt good and kept
pushing. Not one person passed me at that point. So I managed to leave
my new friend behind.
There were a few stops along
the way where you could stop and get snacks and stuff to drink. I felt
good so I continued on. It was not until I hit around mile 60 that I was
slowing down. I stopped to have a huge feast. I must have sucked down a
whole bag of oranges one wedge at a time. I know I had at least 4
bananas. I refilled all my water bottles plus had some there. Finally
they had some cookies so I thought something sweet would help. Before I
knew it a whole sleeve of sugar cookies was gone. Now before you judge me I was out in the desert and I had to do what I had to to survive. :)
I
was refreshed an on my way again. I noticed up ahead that it looked
like someone I knew. It was my friend I had met before. She was a bit
confused as to how I was behind her again after dusting her on the hill.
I told her I stopped to get a super sized meal at McDonald's. She was
laughing and not quite sure if I was joking or not. I asked her what was
coming up next. She told me a very long section of rolling hills. Pace
yourself again she said. On the rolling hills I got into a groove. I
pedals down the sections that most people were coasting. Then I attacked
the hill each time it went back up. I was flying past people as I said
hi and how was it going. No one person passed me on that hill. I believe
it was all the time I was doing indoor cycling that helped me there.
At
about mile 69 the stars seemed to line up. It was a long steady down
hill, a cool breeze hit my face, an awesome song came on the ipod
and the sugar cookies kicked in. I was racing down this hill by
pedaling as fast as I could. I was screaming past people as I was
singing Van Halen. I had a smile on my face and was loving it. I think people thought I was crazy. I felt great and was in the home stretch.
I
had a few miles left to go. I was tiring again. Now I am a indoor
cycling instructor and do my best to motivate the class to have a great
workout. I always finish the class going hard so there is nothing left. I
had to become my own coach to motivate me to finish strong. I was
saying stuff like "Come on you can do it", "You know you always finish
strong", "You can smell the finish". All of which was working. I
continued to ride hard and catch up to people I saw ahead of me. My goal
was to pass one person ahead of me at a time.
I
could see the finish line and cranked it all the way through. 74 Miles
completed and I felt great. I did think to myself as I got off the bike
that I do not ever want to ride a bike again. But of course that is not
the truth. I love to ride. Four hours and 22 minutes is the longest I
have ever ridden. I loved the experience. I had managed to complete what
I signed up for even though I thought I was not ready. The body only
takes you so far before it want to quit. It is the mind that takes the
body to the limits it knows it has. My mind game is what kept me going. I
would do this race again for sure. Absolutely beautiful. See you next
year.
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