The Ride In.
Finally was back in NoVa and seeing places that I recognized.
LOTS of people out along the route cheering us on - really makes it SO much easier to ride!!! Made the full route with no problems. :-D
Bless his heart, Tim rode with me the whole time that day, as slow as I am. (Must have been pretty relaxing for him, though, LOL!)
Made it to the first pit with good time.
Second pit, my shoulders were screaming - grabbed one of the med techs (big beefy firefighter dude) and demanded a massage. They actually do have chiropractors and massage therapists throughout the ride, but none at this stop. Fortunately, a shoulder rub is easy and requires no professional training.
20 miles from pit 2 to lunch. Rumors of a grab-n-go (2 bathrooms and just water - better than nothing) We’re about 10 miles into it. Stop at a red light in Falls Church. I look to my right and see a Taco Bell, and decide I am NOT waiting for the grab-n-go, I am going to get a Coke and a smoke and use a REAL bathroom. Tim agrees this isn’t a bad idea. So we get our Cokes, use real bathrooms and come back out and cheer on the rest of the riders coming up the hill.
Falls Church Police at that intersection to make sure no one gets run over. We finish our Cokes, get back on the bikes, hollering a “thanks” at the officer as we go by - and I get TOTALLY busted…
“Did that soda and smoke actually help???”
Why yes, it did. And as it turned out, there was no grab-n-go, so my kidneys would have exploded if I hadn’t stopped.
They say the lunch pit isn’t the finish - but it is. You ride in and all the other riders are there screaming and hollering for you. I almost started crying right then - I finally knew what it was like to finish the route for the day.
We got our “victory shirts” (they have everyone in red shirts in the mall run - great visual), grab lunch and then get back on the bikes and go down Pennsyvania Ave for the ride onto the mall. I start thinking about my Dad and wondering what on earth he would have thought of all this. Yeah, I got teary eyed yet again.
Coming onto the mall was absolutely incredible. Over one thousand of us. A ton of people cheering us on. I was crying like a idiot, but I couldn’t help it.
I sucked at the “victory lift” - everyone picks up their bikes. Damned if I have enough strength in my arms for that - I got it about halfway up and somehow Tim had a free arm and helped out.
My brother said he was looking for the rider who picked up her bike and then tipped over backwards, then he would know it was me.
My mom was crying when I found her after the ride in. Damn, guess I did something good.
