What a beautiful day!!! How in the name of all that is could this have happened? I think we all know the answer to that one. So, the weather was cool, but not really cold and not a drop of rain fell. In fact, the weather all day was fantastic. After what we went through the day before and the weatherman threatened for ride day, we seemed doomed to suffer. I guess sometimes someone has other plans for us.
The team started out slowly rolling towards the Emerald Bay climb in order to get warmed up. Once we hit the climb, I had to make a quick restroom stop that put me behind the team. However, the group waited for me at the top of Emerald Bay and they cut me some slack for causing a ten minute delay.
Once we regrouped we rolled passed the Vikingsholm rest stop and kept motoring until we reached SAG #2 at Homewood. Along the way, the terrain varied between rollers, short climbs, and descents. So far, the ride was going exceptionally well and the views were spectacular. There were a lot of cyclists on the course, around 3,400, but most were pretty polite and the TNT contingent numbered around 50% of the total.
At the Homewood stop we got to see Caesar's family which was a great spirit lift for all of us. The rest stop was pretty crowded with really long bathroom lines. Upon leaving Caeaser's family behind at Homewood, we headed off to Truckee. Along way David and I got separated from the group and landed behind some slow traffic on the bike path. Once we made our way around them we leaned into a bit and managed to regroup with people on Highway 89. The group then worked at pacelining, but this has never been our strong suit since some riders just aren't comfortable close to the rider in front of them.
It was just about this time that a group from San Diego went by and Cliff, David, Vanessa, and I latched on for a 26 mph thrill ride through the 'Mouse Hole' and off to the Truckee rest stop. Once at the rest stop, manned by TNT, I saw Roger Rintalla the former TNT head coach from my first season. He is a great guy and it was fantastic to see him (and Ryan and Aspen).
Once everyone arrived we had a lengthy stop and then headed to Tahoe City and King's Beach for the lunch stop. Along the way, T-Bone was "bonking" a bit, but she was finally revived by a visit (one of three) from her husband and sons. They were so happy to see their mom, but not nearly as happy as T-Bone. On the way in to King's Beach we lost one of our number to a medical DNF at 76. It was very sad and the whole team was bummed.
After leaving King's Beach we headed through Incline Village and up Spooner where popsicles waited at the rest stop. I rode on ahead and took pictures of some of my teammates as they triumphantly climbed their final AMBBR climb (of course, some argued there were other hills afterwards as well). It was great to see Vanessa just hammer up the climb like she had no chain. I also was able to see Melissa in action as she just spun the pedals up the climb towards a visit with her husband at the top.
Our regroup and popsicle consumption complete, we set off down Spooner. I really wanted to let it loose, but my back wheel was just way to sketchy and felt like it was going to fall off. What a bummer, in 2004 I was able to blast down this descent at 50+ mph. This time I was forced to hold it at around 30 for fear of the rear wheel collapsing. I did my best to make up for this disappointment by absolutely hammering the rollers after the descent.
----- The ride in -----
Cliff and I left the team a short ways from the finish in order to salute them as they turned for home at the Horizon Hotel. We waited around the corner an greeted each rider. It was the best part of the whole season. After a bunch of group hugs, Cliff and I took up our positions at the back of the group and watched our charges cross the finish on their way to receipt of their 100 mile cycle event finishers medals.
It was a great event with great people for a great cause. Go Team!
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