Ride for the Roses 2004: Zen Edition

What a weekend! I had a great time…weather was perfect, lots of interesting people…perfection. 🙂

Friday…

We headed for Austin around noon. I dropped Mommy off at her friend’s house and went to check into the hotel. There was some convention in town and a lot of the guests were housed at my property of choice. Judging from the horny, flirty old men…I’d say it was the National Viagra Convention. *shudder* Between the hotel fools and the strange Subway sandwich artist that looked at me like I was a big Hershey bar, I was too through. I asked if I could have a 6″ turkey on wheat…he said “of course…I’d give you anything, darlin'” Ugh…Chesty didn’t even come to my rescue…just stood back and laughed at me. I’ll get her back…eventually.

After taking a little nap (because we’re old ladies now), we did some shopping and eventually met up with a few friends and hung out on 6th street. No crazy story to tell because alcohol was outlawed before the ride. 🙂

Saturday…

LAF Health Expo…they changed venues this year and I was not impressed with the new place. Thousands of people come to the expo and there just wasn’t enough room for everyone. However, when have bad conditions kept me from shopping? As a reward for getting back on track (5 days of clean eating, thank you very much), I purchased a new bike jersey. You all know that my Buddha Belly is the bane of my existance. Well…I decided to take a new approach. I’m going to celebrate the Belly and treat it right :::Secretly plotting against the stubborn bastard:::

My tribute to Buddha Belly…(yes…those are jelly beans…)

I also scored a new USPS team victory shirt. I had to get it since the team will soon be riding for the Discovery Channel. Overall, the expo was cool. Lots of items I plan to get…and some that I can only dream about…like one of Lance’s Tour bikes…

Saturday night, Chesty and I went to the Austin Convention Center for A Conversation with Lance. The event was capped at 1600 people, so we were lucky to get tickets. Our seats were approximately 25 feet from the stage! I was so motivated by the event. Witnessing Lance in a candid interview…in person…unreal. He seems so down-to-earth and regular. Mama Armstrong and Sheryl Crow were in the crowd too…heifers were on the first row, of course. 🙂

The event was a moderated (Ann Curry-NBC News Today) panel discussion with 12 cancer survivors. They all had the opportunity to ask Lance one question and some of them were pretty deep. During one of his answers, LA mentioned “next year when I go for 7” and the crowd went wild. LOL I know he won’t commit 100% to next year’s TdF, but I still got chills.

Sunday…

Ride Day! Also known as got up at 3:30am-too nervous to sleep-almost tossed my breakfast-Day. I don’t know why I was so nervous…maybe because I waited all year for this ride? Chesty and I got to the event around 6:30am and ended up taking a nap in the car before it was time to go. I love the vibe of a fitness event…especially cycling. The sport attracts people from all walks of life! I decided that I’m going to collect “forbidden food/drink” jerseys. Fitness folks work so hard to train for events…and most junk food is off limits. Why not make people laugh with a funny outfit? I got 6 compliments from other riders during the event and the emcee announced me as “Jelly Bean Queen” when I crossed the finish line. Also spotted Twinkie and Krispy Kreme jerseys…so I’m not the only foodie that rides. 🙂

The event started with Lance welcoming everyone and reading the LAF mission statement. Will Ferrell stepped up to the mic next! It was SO cool to see him riding for the cause. He greeted the crowd as “Dubya” and announced how great it was to be back in the State of Texas and hello to all of “you helmeted people”. I was hoping he’d mention “strategery” but no such luck.

Sheryl sang the National Anthem and Robin Williams officially started the event…in the voice of a Southern Baptist preacher. LOL He’s a nut…

Lance and the 100 milers started first…to my surprise, Sheryl was on a matching bike and headed out with Lance! Now, I don’t know if she rode the entire 100 miles or not. If she did, big props to her. I guess when your man is on a bike every day, you either get a bike or take a hike.

Our ride started about 35 minutes later and my butterflies finally calmed down…until mile 2 when we see an abulance and a rider down. I still don’t know what happened, but they took the guy away from the course. How sad is that? You train all year for an event and wipe out during the first couple of miles? I’d be heartbroken.

The weather was good…low 70s and partly cloudy. The wind was a bitch, but that’s nothing new. I was just glad to have better conditions this year. 2003 was 45 degrees and rain.

The first rest stop was located at mile 9, so we chowed down on bananas (necessary evil…you guys know how much I despise them) and oranges. I am proud to say that my blood sugar was great during the entire ride! No bonking like I did last year. I had oatmeal and a banana before the ride. During the event, I ate 2 protein bars, 2 bananas, 2 orange slices, and drank 96 oz. of H2O. LOL Diva was not playing around. I can’t deal with Austin Hill Country *and* hypoglycemia.

Chesty and I kept a 12-13 mph pace for the majority of the course and finished under our goal of 2:30. My body was a lot more fit this year and the course proved it. Every little pound lost was less weight to haul up the hills. My thighs are sore today, but the cooch isn’t numb…hooray!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful weekend. The ride truly helped me return to a positive mindset. The accident drama and stress eating have been replaced with recharged batteries and determination. Again, I thank you guys for all the support. It’s hard to have a pity party when so many people are offering encouragement and understanding.

I’ll post more ride pics when the roll is finished…

Until next time…

-C