On, September 20th, I participated in the 2014 American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure. The day started early, just before dawn with the moon light to guide me through the pre-ride preparations. I was out loading my bike around 5:30am and captured this nice alignment of the bike, moon and Jupiter. Perhaps in retrospect, this was a sign that the stars would be aligned for a great day.Of course when you are up and active well before the sun starts to brighten the day, you can accomplish a lot. For example, you get to be the first one through the check in table. The volunteers were great and everything was set up and ready by the time I arrived. As you would expect when the volunteer ratio was at least 10:1, you can move quickly through and get busy waiting on the ride's start.
Brian W. was also a brave soul that joined the Mayo Clinic Team. He moved to Rochester last year and fell in love with cycling this summer. He trained hard to prepare for the event, and we made plans during the summer to ride the event together. Shannon, being the good wife with a love for photography, woke up early to take a few send off photos. Here's Brian and I getting ready for the day. The start was downtown at the YMCA. This proved to be a great starting place.
Mayor Brede was there for the send off. It was a little disappointing to see that many of the registered riders didn't make the start. It's hard to tell why that was the case. Perhaps it was the overnight thunderstorm...or the high probability of rain during the ride...or the forecast that consisted of high winds... Basically, it was an average day to ride in Rochester, so I'm not sure what it was. Those that brave the start were rewarded with rain, winds and hills during the day!
Actually, it was a beautiful fall day for the ride. It did rain and the wind did seem to be a headwind no matter which way we were heading. Here's Brian and I heading to Salem Rd on our way to Salem Corners. This was around the 5 mile mark on the ride. See, it looks beautiful!
The local biker club provided escorts for the riders. That was a nice touch. In this photo, you can see some of the early signs of Fall.
The ride was great. We did have a 'mechanical' while out. One of Brian's tires decided it was time to give up the ghost during the ride. We tried to patch a blown sidewall and limp our way to the nearest aid station. When we arrived, we learned there was a SAG wagon a few miles away with a loaner tire. We waited patiently while the volunteer took what seemed like 30 minutes to change the tire. That gave us a few moments to recharge a bit. It also put us last on the course. Have no fear, we did our part to thank all of the volunteers that kept the remaining aid stations open for us as we rolled through.
Our statistics were this: 84 miles, 5 hrs, 20 mins cycling.
Link to data on Strava
This was a road bike ride. One would normally think that would mean you wouldn't come out looking like you played in dirt all day. Well, that was not the case. Here's some before and after pics to let you get a feel for how demanding the ride was.
Before
After
