Cameno Island ride

Hello Friends,

This week’s team buddy ride was not at all what I expected. As some of you know from my other updates the rain seems to be something I just need to get used to. Staying warm is the goal staying dry is impossible.

I offered to give a teammate (Carl) a lift to today’s ride otherwise I would have probably stayed in bed but a promise is a promise so I was up at 6:30am and at the Bellevue park in ride by 7:15 am. We had a choice this weekend on one of two rides I told Carl he could pick. This was my first mistake. I didn’t know Carl rides 60 miles a day and hills don’t faze him.

From Bellevue we drove north to Cameno Island. For awhile I thought I was going to be biking in Canada. Once at our starting point we checked our tires filled them up and got ready to go. Around 9 am about 50 of us pulled out of the parking lot all in wearing our sexy bike shorts, tights, team training shirts, and rain jackets. We took the first right and then the road curved to the left this is when my heart fell. The hill in front of me was something I never dreamt I would see on a bike route. I commented to my group of four and they laughed when I told them I was doing the Tahoe ride. Yes, today was the day I learned the Tahoe ride is all hills from start to finish. Have I mentioned that this was the fourth time on my bike and that I had never used any of the gears?

As I went up this hill and I swear it was the steepest hill I have ever seen, my trainer told me to start using some of the gears I paid for. He was talking me through the shifting process and that’s when I did something wrong and was pedaling and not moving. Unable to get my foot out of the clip I ended up under my bike instead of on top of it. The only thing hurt was maybe my pride and that’s only because as I fell I let out a yell so everyone turned then stopped to make sure I was okay. If I hadn’t handed my car keys to Carl I probably would have turned around and gone back to my car and taken a nap or better yet gone looking for a star bucks. I think I said this out loud which is when coach Ted the Torturer assigned someone to ride with me to work with me in gear shifting at least that’s what they told me . Drill sergeant Jim thought his job was to make sure I finished the ride in record time dead or alive.

I would like to say I didn’t keep track of how many times my bike road me instead of the other way around but I did keep track, 9 times total, three times each on three big hills. After about mile 35 I finally got the knack of when and how to shift gears to keep from falling. Between Ted the Torturer and Drill SGT Jim I was forced to use all 28 of the gears I bought with my bike.

By now my elbows ached and my right knee was bleeding but the good news is I was finally riding along on a nice flat surface. And I started to think that this really wasn’t all that bad. That’s when a large brown dog came running at me fast and barking fiercely. I love dogs but I am still having issues with my feet clipped to the pedals and not wanting to fall again I managed to get my left foot out and I was prepared to kick. Mr. Dog took one look at me and must have known I meant business because he sat down in the middle of the street and just kept barking I think the barking was to save face with the other dogs that may have been watching.

Next we came to a very long hill which was about a mile long and very steep. Steeper than the steepest hill I had every seen which as you may recall was just 40 miles back or so. This time we were going down hill. Sure going down sounds fun but it is also scary especially when you are riding with Ted the Torturer and Drill SGT Jim. Shift! Shift! Shift! They yell, pedal! Pedal! Pedal! They scream. I wanted to break! break! Break! and go slow! Slow! Slow! Maybe even coast a little. Ted and Jim told me I could coast up the next hill. Cars were racing by spraying yet more water on us and I was really flying I figured if I could get far enough away from my torturer I could pretend not to hear them. So I was flying down the hill which seemed like it was going to last forever may face was numb and cold and I kept saying to myself I don’t want to wipe out I don’t want to wipe out.

The whole ride was 56 miles and we finished around 1:30 pm. After the ride I was told I was going 52 MPH down that steep long hill in the pouring down rain and that my face was a white as a ghost with fear.

During today’s ride I only asked myself once what in the hell I was thinking when I signed up to do this and that was on the first big hill after my third time letting the bike take a rest on me, which then was followed with an out loud remark, “oh crap, all my friends have been sponsoring me so I have to finish”. I guess I have figured out why this program is so successful. Friends don’t like to let friends down! So today I dedicated this ride to all of you! Thanks for all our support! I couldn’t have finished today’s ride without you all.

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Today’s ride was hard but I learned a lot about how to handle my bike so after everything it may have been the best ride so far. I found out on the way home that Carl doesn’t usually ride in the rain and if he had driven himself he would have played hooky and sat in the coffee shop. I guess it’s a good thing for both of us that we carpooled

Thanks again

Cynthia


I am half way to my goal!
http://www.active.com/donate/tntwaak/evergirl
racing for a cure