Piece o' Cake

Yesterday was the Venus de Miles ride and it was a ton of fun. The weather was perfect, except for a few minutes when it got really overcast and I was afraid we might get rained on but other than it was nice and cool. The route was no problem, there were a few hills but nothing major. The route also was a bit shorter than 35 miles according to my Garmin -32.13, which includes a mile from the hotel to the start. It took us 2 hours 23 minutes, for what that's worth since it's not a race and we were just out to have a good time. 2 weeks earlier when Heather and I did 35 miles it took us 2 hours and 42 minutes and we weren't trying then either - but I guess we got faster in our not trying from an average pace of 12.7 mph to 13.5 mph.

Saturday afternoon my friends Suz and Heather met up at my house and we loaded up bikes and headed for the party town of Longmont (not!) we found our hotel, figured out where we needed to go to get to the start line the next morning, and went to have dinner. We ate at this great place called The Pumphouse, recommended by Suz's aunt - and it was yummy, sorry it's not closer. After dinner and we were going to try and hit a movie but there wasn't enough time to get to the only theatre in Longmont and the only decent sounding movie playing. So we headed back to the hotel moved the bikes inside the room and after finding one of the three movies Heather hadn't see yet from the 30 some available we got in our pj's and watched Duplicity which had us all utterly confused.

In the meantime, the second half of the crew (Leslie, Jenny and Jenn) showed up who were behind us since they stayed in Denver to run the Skirtchaser 5k that evening. Oddly enough they also went to the Pumphouse for dinner and then they were all exhausted and went to sleep in the other room while Suz, Heather and I finished trying to make some sense of Duplicity before we went to bed

The next morning we got suited up in the kits that Tokyo Joe's had provided us and headed down for some hotel breakfast . . .



Then we pumped up some tires . . .

And headed to the start . . .

We took a pic of the team to send to Larry at Tokyo Joe's to thank him for his generousity in donating our kits for the ride . . .

We ended up at the front for the start from taking that picture and realized that everyone lined up behind us. So at the start, Leslie and the Jen's were off, Susan ended up some where behind us and Heather and I were stuck in the mddle wondering what to do next - we decided that going and trying to catch up with the first group was the safer option rather than trying to slow down in a tidal wave of riders to see if we could regroup with Susan - so we shifted into gear, knowing we'd catch up with Suz at the first rest stop. I didn't hear it but Heather told me that has we were cruising by everyone at a pretty good clip to catch up with the first group in our matching uniforms that she heard some women talking as we passed, "Oh, there go the pro's." That made me feel really good and wished I'd heard it myself, but it also made me laugh . . .yeah that's why we're doing the 35 ride instead of the 65. Yep here we are, the pro's . . .

The ride was fun we saw some good costumes, some odd things, and ate some good treats. The first leg was no problem, and the first rest stop was really unnecessary except to go to the bathroom, and to regroup with Suz who wasn't too far behind.

The second leg was definitely more hilly, but nothing too bad, the area around Longmont is beautiful and I can see why a lot of cyclists go out that way for some long rides. Heather, Suz and I regrouped again where we needed to cross onto Hwy 36 - Suz had minor mechanical difficulty, her chain fell off in mid-hill - UGH! So she just walked it up the rest of the hill, how frustrating. . . In the group waiting to cross onto the Highway someone was saying the that we only had one more hill.

They lied. The next few miles were rolling hills, but again nothing too killer and actually no real downs, just up until it leveled out and then up again. I rode the middle and had Heather and Suz in my sights at most times. Then it was back across the highway and downhill the rest of the way. There was another rest stop - with some awesome chocolate. Truffle brownie combination things which I could have stayed and eaten all day. . .
Oh and we regrouped with the first group again. . .
It was home free to the finish. I had to laugh though at one point we're riding along about 25 miles in and Suz says, "20 more to go" I think she's insane, talking about something else, or even worse at math than I am. We're blocks from the finish and she says that her GPS is saying we only went 18 miles so far. After we're done she's showing Leslie (who she bought the Garmin from) and turns out the Suz was looking at her calorie burn for the ride and not mileage! But nevertheless we were done . . .
and we grabbed some lunch . . .

Before heading for home.

At one point during the ride I'm struck with the thought of what I'm doing and who I've become. I'm now someone that gets a group of girlfriends together to go do a 35 mile bike ride. 5 years ago, I didn't even ride a bike, and I couldn't have gone 5 miles without being out of breath. And I sure didn't have these amazing women around me to share in this journey with me. It's great to have all kinds of friends for all the moments of your life, but it just goes to show that if you suround yourself with the type of people you want to become - so you shall. I'm very proud of myself and my accomplishments and I'm always looking forward to the next adventure.

A good time was had by all, and I think next year I can talk everyone easily into a longer ride. But for now the focus switches back to running - One month until the DuWop Duathlon!