Woo doggie!

Wow, am I spent?!

This morning, we took off around 5:55 AM and headed towards Whiteface Mountain. I wore arm warmers, but almost immediately regretted it. It is very humid out there. We rode part of the run course and then hopped on the bike course in reverse. Now, that was nice getting to go down those hills!

Then, we made a left turn off the course and onto the mountain. I forgot how steep and long that climb is. It is 3 miles of almost continuous uphill climbing. Matt quickly got ahead of me. He was nice to stop at Santa's workshop in North Pole, NY to wait for me. But, when we started again, he quickly got way ahead of me again. Yes, he is a better rider, but he was riding his Frankenbike and was carrying a lot of weight in food/water. Eventually, we made it to the toll booth. Matt gave me 2 choices: 1) finish the climb, but then head back to town the way we came or 2) descend now, but ride the course in reverse. The mountain was misty, so I knew there would be no good views. I also knew that we'd have to ride up the Keene 6-mile descent. I still chose option 2. It would give us a longer ride.

On the way back down, I hit a new personal top speed of 43 mph - a little scary, but exhilarating for sure! At this point, we are about 23 miles into what would become a 54 mile ride. The next 20 miles were great as we headed backwards down many of the hills the racers will have to climb tomorrow and onto the flat section. There was a headwind on the flat part, but Matt let me tuck in behind him.

Then, we reached the Keene hill. I asked for a brief pause to get some nutrition in, because I knew I wouldn't have a free hand for the next 6 miles. At first, it was great. There were a ton of bikers coming the other direction, either out there for a ride or if racing, out there for practice on the descent. Eventually though, my quads and spirit were a little shredded. Matt again was way ahead of me. I stopped waving at the bikers coming towards me. I was hot. Very, very hot. But, eventually it was over and we got to enjoy some good downs heading back into town.

All in all, it took me 3:43 to go 53.5 miles. My suitcase of courage was completely empty. But, I really enjoyed that well-deserved burger and french fries at lunch today!

In other news, Sam and Joe are locked and loaded. We had dinner with them, their daughter and Sam's parents last night. They are nervous, but still smiling. Tomorrow is just the icing on the cake - the reward for all the hard training. They will be great!

Matt and I will be cheering for them tomorrow while incorporating a Rocky theme. Sam calls me her Apollo, so it seemed fitting. We'll be wearing "Italian Stallion" t-shirts and we made a poster with a picture of them that says "Gonna Fly Now". Can't wait!