I was in bed before sunset on my last night before the MS150 began. I fell into a wonderful dreamless sleep only to wake suddenly for no apparent reason. It was around 11 pm, and I knew that I needed to get back to sleep. I finally got back to sleep only to wake up again from a nightmare. Once I finally realized that it was just a dream, I fell back to sleep one more time before my alarm went off. I easily could have hit snooze and slept some more, but I knew I did not have time to waste.
I checked my work email, and found that NOLA girl had donated $250 to my MS150 fundraising. This meant that I was over the $3000 mark, and this made me very happy. I believe whole heartedly in the cause that we are riding for.
I got dressed in my bike riding clothes, shoes and helmet, and I took my bike out for a ride. It was just after 4 AM. No, I did not leave from my house to Austin. I was doing two things. One, I was testing out my chain and tires after yesterday’s debacle of an attempt at bike maintenance. Two, I wanted to log in about five miles, so I would finish the day with my first 100 mile ride. I like it when people refer to it as a century ride.
Our logistics, were carefully thought out. A group of about 15 of us, planned to start at Mr. I Ride Really Fast on a Bike’s house. We would need to ride about 10 miles before we reached the course and merged in with the other riders. Overall, our trip would be about 95 miles.
Starting from Mr. I Ride Really Fast on a Bike’s house meant that I needed to find a ride to his house, and then a way back there after Austin. Mr. I Ride Really Fast on a Bike was extremely organized, and obviously knew what he was doing. He had a quick meeting earlier in the week where he went over the logistics, gave us a map, and explained the plan. We would all ride together up to the course, and his wife would follow us as sag support until we got there. During the meeting, I mentioned that I had a ride back from Austin, but needed a ride to start. Trumpet kindly offered me a ride, which I really appreciated.
Trumpet picked up Family Guy and Canary, and then the three of them got a little lost on the way to my house. I was out on my little bike excursion when they called. Google maps had the name of the street into my section of my neighborhood wrong, so I in turn gave Trumpet the wrong street name. We got the situation worked, and we were off to Mr. I Ride Really Fast on a Bike’s house.
I honestly could have thrown up. There was a bit of discussion about this, and Canary, who was also feeling a little nauseous, blamed it on coconut milk and Trumpet’s driving. I blamed it the fear in the pit of my stomach. Throwing up on Canary in Trumpet’s truck did not seem like a good idea.
I was so nervous when we got to our destination that I didn’t notice how cold I was until Zip mentioned to me that I should not walk around without shoes on. The only shoes that I had were my bike shoes, and I hate walking around in them, so I had taken them off.
I had some logistics to take care of, like getting my number pinned on to the back of my jersey and finally throwing up. Once that was all said and done. I found myself standing outside without anything to do. Smiley and his crew were running late. It really wasn’t a bottleneck time wise. It was still a little dark for riding, people were still airing up their tires, and Cowboys fan had run over his bike helmet with his SUV. Hey, it happens.
Finally the sun was up. Zip, Trumpet and I were ready to take off. The two of them are both really good riders. I felt a sense of reassurance being among people that know what they are doing. I found myself wondering if they would be in La Grange before I even reached the lunch stop. We still had a few people pumping up tires. FINALLY, we were off. My heart was pounding. The day was finally here, and the ride had begun.
This was the perfect way to start the ride. I had ten miles to relax, get comfortable on my bike, and we had a number of stops and starts which built my confidence with my shoe clips. Everyone stayed together, we were a team with solid leadership, and energy. I laughed every time that Canary said, “Are we there yet?”
We stopped in a parking lot just before it was time to merge on to the actual course to regroup, and make sure that everyone was ready to go. The only other female member of our riding group asked jokingly, “Who is charge of planning this? Just where am I supposed to pee?” When I laughed out loud, I realized that I was relaxed, and my fear was behind me. I also realized that I still did not have that feeling that I always had in all my marathons and half marathons where I knew I was on my way to the finish line
Next…It was time to merge.