2007 Tour De Cure (Team Wipe Out)
I would like to start of by thanking everyone that has supported my family
and me this year and in the past.
As I was driving out to Blossom for the Tour De Cure I drove down this huge
hill. I started to doubt if I could do the 100K Challenge ride.
The 100k Championship Ride will take you through the winding hills and
beautiful scenery of Cuyahoga Falls through the towns of Bath and Peninsula.
Once you are out of the Valley you will wind through the quieter roads. The
100k Championship ride is not for the faint of heart! The 100k Championship
ride requires pre-event training! Any cyclist who completes the 100k
Championship Ride will receive an Official 2007 Tour de Cure Champion Medal
at the post-event celebration.
The more I thought about the more I decided that I was not going to do it..
I would just do the 50 K difficult ride. Yea that is the ticket.. I went
back and sat in my car waiting for 50 K ride to start an hour after the
100K.. I started to think about what I would tell my daughter if she was
going to not do something because she didn't know if she would be able to do
it.. I got out of my car, got the bike down and decided to go for it..
We all lined up (about 30 riders out of the 60 riders that signed up for the
100 K) for the start of the ride (not a race). Before I got out of Blossom
I had to stop because there was not enough air in my back tire. I must have
forgotten to check the back tire.. So now I am by myself.. I did not see
another rider for another 6 miles. I stopped at the rest stop at about 12
miles. I was only there long enough to grab 1/2 bagel and so on.. There has
been some hills but nothing that was too big at this point.. Then I see a
note painted on the road.. Hill be warned. I went up this hill and thought
this is not bad. This is going to be easier then I thought.. After about
another 1/2 mile there is another note.. IT IS HERE.. It was the hill that I
drove in on.. I made it up it.. I was still feeling pretty good about at
mile 30.. Only 30 to go..
We have had lots of hills but only that big one so far.. Then I see another
note.. Climb Every Mountain. It was a huge hill but again I made it up with
out walking.. Then another couple of miles down the road was "UP, UP and
Away" I look up the hill is steep but does not look very long.. I shift and
I am grinding up it.. Then it turns and I see that it is a HUGE hill long
and steep. I stopped for a second and catch my breath and then grind away
some more. Ok.. Great I didn't walk that hill.. A couple miles later
another huge hill.. I see 2 people walking the hill.. I pedal past them.. I
saw a motorcycle rider that was helping on the ride sitting on the side of
the road getting ready to go.. I asked him if he needed a push up the hill..
Made it up that one also with out walking. I am talking to the two other
riders about how hard the hills are.. Then we hit another hill right away..
I shifted.. Pedaled and then it was like hitting a wall.. I had to stop. It
was so steep that I could not get enough momentum to start riding up the
hill again. I had to walk this hill. I was not happy about this
Then on the ground was another note.. Want Hills.. And we had a lot of hills
not huge or really steep but a lot of them.. So for the entire ride I only
had to walk the one hill. It took me a little bit over 4 hours of riding
time and 5 hours in all to do the 100K Challenge ride..
The rest of team wipeout.. They did the family fun ride that was just inside
of Blossom.. Next year we will be doing 3 different mileages. My daughter
and my niece that are the same age will be doing the family fun ride with my
wife. One of my sisters and my other niece will be doing the 25 K.. One of
my other sisters volunteered for registration and already said she would do
it again next year.
Team Wipe Out raised a total of $1,950.00 for the American Diabetes
Association..
