The day had finally come! Chicki flew in Wednesday day, we had some fun and relaxation together Thursday night, and Friday we ran some errands (oil change, new tires for the car, etc) before heading to the west side to stay with my friend, Corey, for the night. That allowed us to sleep until 4am instead of 3 or so. =) Thanks Corey!
We got to the Shell Woodcreek Facility, to meet with the rest of Team Shell, shortly after 5:30am. We grabbed a quick bagel w/peanut butter for breakfast, and about that time my friends Angie and Vince showed up (Jes showed up shortly thereafter). It was so great to have them there to cheer us on and wish us luck...at 6am on a Saturday morning! It meant so much to me. We said good-bye to James and Jonathan, as they needed to get on the road, to head up to LaGrange, since they were working as volunteers. The team started to gather to leave, I made a quick last minute potty break, and then we were off to the starting line at the Omni Westside Hotel.
6:30am: Waiting at the start line! Team Shell was the 5th or 6th team to get to leave the Starting Line, as one of the top fundraising teams (around $323,000 last I checked). The official start was 7am, but by the time we were able to go it was around 7:30. It was a really exciting time at the start line; music was playing and everyone was ready to get started and going! It was finally Team Shell's turn, and Chicki and I snapped a quick picture before starting our ~100 mile journey to LaGrange.
The roads were a bit wet, and we got drizzled on just a little bit on our way to the first rest stop, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. At Breakpoint 1, we took a quick stop to recharge with some food, fill out water bottles with some gatorade, and break out the iHome for some tunes! Unfortunately, in the process of getting the iHome out of my bag, I kinda fell over a bit and caught myself with one hand into some kind of burr plant/weed. So our first injury of the ride happened within an hour of leaving! We pulled out the burrs, cleaned it up a bit, and then just continued on. At least we had tunes! =D
Nothing specifically eventful for any of the breakpoints from there until lunch; we did stop to snap a quick shot at one point where they had this really cool sign (well, I thought it was cool...). I was just impressed because it was actually a heavy duty sign, rather than just the plastic stuff they had elsewhere. We took a quick couple pics holding our bikes next to the sign and then continued on.Around the third Breakpoint, we started realizing that we must be pulling up the rear of the pack; when we'd first arrive at any of the rest stops, there would be lots of people, but by the time we left there were very few. It was a little disheartening, because I knew we were doing a fairly good pace (16-17mph), and we had passed people, and so I couldn't understand how we were SO far behind. (Later, we determined it was likely because we were on the 100-mile route, and so we started further behind than a lot of people, too, and just weren't fast enough to beat them). It was a bit of a bummer, but we just kept on going.
About 40 miles in (10 miles from lunch), we started hitting the hills. Nothing too bad before lunch; just enough to let you know you aren't in Houston anymore! ;) We climbed up a hill into Belville for lunch, and ate a delicious peanut butter & jelly sandwich and a turkey sandwich, with some yogurt and Doritos and pasta. OK, maybe it wasn't DELICIOUS, but after biking 50 miles it sure seemed like it! We finished off the meal with an ice cream sandwich, and then got back on the road. We were, unfortunately, one of the very last people to leave Belville...but we just hit the road and kept on going.
After lunch, the hills got worse. It was constant up and down, with no real time for recovery. And, to make matters worse, the road was extremely bumpy; our bikes were constantly rattling and shaking our entire bodies. At the first Breakpoint after lunch, we asked around to find out if the road was still going to be as bumpy for the rest of the way in to LaGrange; one guy, also from Team Shell, mentioned he has ridden before and he didn't remember it being quite so bad. Not much more for us to do but get on the bike and keep going, so that's what we did.
Hills, hills, and more hills were all we dealt with the rest of the way in to LaGrange. As we hit Breakpoints 5 and 6, we saw people waiting in long lines for the SAG vans. SAG stands for "Support And Gear," and they travel the route to provide riders with help as necessary. If something happens to your bike on the road that you can't fix, the SAG vans will pick you up and take you to the next rest stop, where you can get repaired. However, it seems as though the SAG vans will also ferry you from one break point to another, I guess if you're too tired. We saw plenty of that happening, and although slightly tempting, we weren't going to give up! So we pushed on to Breakpoint 7, the final stop of the day.
Around a mile from Breakpoint 7, approximately 87 miles into the ride, I started getting emotionally spent. As we finished climbing a hill, I could feel tears starting to well up, but I fought against them. However, the emotions were still there, and I was panting hard from pedaling up the hill, so I started wheezing/hyperventilating just a little bit. Chicki asked if I was all right, and I said yes; we could see the Breakpoint now that we had crested the hill. We made our way over to it and took a fair bit of rest. We kept telling each other "OK, we only have 11 more miles!" More people climbed into the SAG vans, and even as we were getting ready to leave, we were asked if we needed a ride. We said "nope!" and began to head out. "Your clip just fell off" a woman called from behind Vicki. We look at her bike, and the ground, and see her pedal was on the ground. Luckily, the bike repair tent was just across the road from us, so we hopped back over and got it tightened back on. We start to head off again...and I realize my bike doesn't feel right. "Chicki, do I have a flat?" "Yep!" So, once again, we turn around and go to the bike repair tent. A few minutes later, the bikes are repaired and we again try to head out for our final ride into LaGrange. Third time's a charm, I guess, cause we were able to head out and make it all the way to LaGrange with no further incidents.
We arrived in LaGrange around 6pm Saturday night and made our way over to the Team Shell tents. James and Jonathan were no where to be found. We grabbed some food: some BBQ brisket and sausage, cole slaw, potato salad, and beans, and just waited for the guys to get back. We learned that my car had died at some point and required a jump start, so they had taken it out for a drive to try to recharge the batteries. However, when they tried to get back in to the Fairegrounds, the police wouldn't let them! So they had to park far away and walk all the way back in. When we finally met up with them, we went to get our shower stuff to try to enjoy a nice warm shower.
And that is when the "rush" and frustration began. We headed over to the massage tables in the Team Shell tent to put our names down for a massage after the shower, and we were told that they were no longer taking any names because there would be no way they finished everyone before Lights Out (9pm). I was pretty bummed out, but James had made friends with one of the therapists there while he had been working in the tent, and he managed to work it out with her to get me in when my shower was done. However, he said "make it quick," cause she would likely have room in about 20 minutes. Chicki and I headed over to the shower trucks, where we were supposed to have special access to "Club 300" showers. Club 300 is for the top 300 fundraisers of the MS150, and has special perks associated with it (like a special shower truck, so you don't have to wait in 45-60 mi lines for the showers). Unfortunately, they must have shut down the "special showers," because we saw no Club 300 sign. I knew there was no way I would make the massage if I stayed, and I knew it was far more important to get the massage then to shower before getting the massage, so I headed back to the tent and Chicki showered.
I waited patiently and sleepily for my massage, and finally got on the table for about 20 minutes, just to stretch out some muscles and get the soreness out as best as possible. Chicki had finished her shower and reported back that the showers would close at 10pm, so James and I grabbed our stuff and headed that way, expecting to be able to enjoy a nice long shower. However, as we arrived at the trucks, we saw a maintenance guy flicking the lights on and off in one of the trucks. "What time do they close?" "9pm." It was 8:58. "You have a couple minutes, but make it quick, we have to get to Austin." I jumped in the shower, rinsing and washing as best and fast as I could, as well as trying to rinse my bike shorts for the ride the next day (people had told me that you could easily wash your shorts in the shower and wear them the second day). We headed back to the tent and had a few minutes of light before the tent lights went out. As I began preparing for bed, I found my pajama bottoms were soaked from the shower (they had gotten wet in my rush to wash my shorts), and so I only had one layer for warmth.
At this point, I was so frustrated and unhappy: I was hurting from 100 miles of biking, I couldn't get a proper warm shower, and I didn't have warmth for the night of sleep (we had only brought one blanket, which we had to put under us to keep the ground from sucking our warmth). I made the statement that if I ever do this again, I am not staying at the campgrounds, I would just find a hotel because then I can be warm, get a shower whenever I want, and not have to deal with any other people. I curled up in my sheets and fairly quickly fell asleep.
