So the Tour de Moore started off with a bang ... literally. We were all lined up at the start and it was very congested. I was next to Erin when someone rode in front of her and she had to unclip unexpectedly. She got one foot out, but unfortunately fell to the side that was still clipped in towards me and bless her heart she made sure not to fall into me - thank you!! The crazy thing was that when she fell, her hip bone landed right on her aero pad and the entire thing broke off - like not just the pad, but also the piece attached to the aero bar! Not the ideal way to start the race. She & Misty had a delayed start due to this but they were able to eventually jerry-rig the pad back on and they caught back up with us later in the ride.
Back to the start of the ride ... it was rainy/misting out and the roads were damp. It had been over a week since I'd been on my tri bike and there were a lot of people out there on course. All of this made me a bit nervous to begin with. I rode at the back of the paceline of my usual group. They started off at 20+ mph and there was no way around it, the effort felt hard. Too hard. After 10-15 min of this, I decided that I couldn't maintain that pace for the entire century so I backed off and just did my own thing. I rode at my own pace for the first 30 miles and over the course of that time I started feeling a lot more comfortable and confident on the bike. And my legs were warming up nicely. I caught up with my group again at the first aid station.
We got going again and this time I didn't have a problem staying with the pacemakers. I even did a little pacemaking myself :) I started really enjoying the terrain and the change of scenery! The sun came out and the roads dried up. It was a perfect day! At 50 miles in I think we were all feeling good!
Once we hit the Pinehurst section of the course there were some pretty tough hills! As opposed to Doug's big chain ring 40 rpm cadence, I used all of my easy gears and mostly spun up the hills! This worked pretty well and I felt like I was climbing decently. I was going up one of the hills and remembered that my horoscope for the day read "Any exertion you make today is effortless." I laughed to myself and thought "I wish!" I will say though that Doug singing "Jesus take the wheel" on the climbs did in fact make things a tiny bit more effortless. We rolled into the last aid station and Sami had made a new friend, surprise surprise, haha. She said she'd been interviewing him for the last 10 miles and we were all like, "We know! We can hear your voice a mile away!!!" :) Brian said that sometimes she builds up lactic acid in her vocal cords rather than her legs, haha! Actually I'm super thankful for all the encouragement you yelled out Coach Sami! And the smiling Yoda nestled in between the two water bottles on your rear hydration system was a nice touch!
Before we got rolling on the final stretch, we thought about texting Mark & Lindsey but we were all too tired to actually do it! Erin warned us that the worst was yet to come and omg she was right! The last 8 miles or so of this course was entirely uphill - nothing super steep, but just a long enough and insidiously graduated enough to make you want to cry. In fact the last 2 miles were just brutal. You hit 100 and then you have 2 more miles of pure pain to get through before the finish! I wanted it to be over but I didn't want it to be over. It was such a great day out there and riding with all of you who I've trained with this entire summer for IMCHOO was really cool!
After the ride, Mike & I threw on our running shoes and headed out for a short t-run. We ran a mile out (all downhill) and a mile back (all uphill) and my legs felt surprisingly springy. At the end of it all, I felt like my confidence was boosted for IMCHOO. Erin says that TDM is more difficult than IMCHOO and I really hope she's right! I also hope that my elbow finally fully heals before the race. I rode on it today without any additional padding for the first time since the accident and it was uncomfortable. By the end of the ride it had turned into a disgusting blood blister - sick.
I gotta give a huge shout and and thank you to the organizers and volunteers of this ride! It was so nice to have support, rest stops, porta potties, and food out there on the course! The course was marked so well I didn't look at my cue sheet once. And at the end of the ride there was a lot of food and it was vegan!!! Salad, rolls, veggie pasta marinara, & FRUIT! Yum! Cheers to a great day and to great friends and training partners. I will surely miss all of you when I go to FL, so please make a point to sign up for IMFL 2016 ;)
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