66... a Highway speaks

What a weekend. It all started at Beecher’s Pad where we embarked on our 18 hour trek to trek. Highway 40 was our route of choice. It runs along to O.G. highway 66. Bono paid homage to this road in the song “heartland”. It was only fitting that we used it. The drive was full of anticipation…which made it much longer. But we pressed on. I even got pulled over and placed in the cop car close to Amarillo,TX. I decided to turn on my San Antonio charm mingled with some talk about how the cop’s wife can use eBay better…..and I got off with a warning.
The next day we finished the final leg to meet up with Mark Bennett…AKA..Yoda....(needs no explanation)….and new AKA…Cole Trickle…(needs some explanation). I enjoyed spending the day with them as we checked in, ate some grub, checked out all the new bikes and expensive things you could add to your bike. We all bought a jersey and agreed to wear the team colors. We also agreed to make new team jerseys for next year. Just need to think of a team name and design. That night we played some madden. I allowed Beecher the pleasure of beating me. We finally got to bed after fighting with the AC. The repair man came by to fix it and Beecher was the only one who understood him. Of-course the AC did not work as it should have and we went to bed sweating and woke up shivering.
The day of the ride was intense. My heart rate was pumping already. I just wanted to get going. 11,900 riders had the same feeling as well. We stood right by the howitzer as it shot off….and we were off. The first few miles were typical 24 mph movin…until the event happened. Just as Cole Trickle decided to go through the smoke, Mark decided to bunny-hop a group of riders that had crashed in front of him. Amazingly, he was fine and we can all laugh about it now. He kept moving. I felt like a million bucks for the first 65 miles. I felt like I could take on anybody and kept a good pace. Even at mile 75 I was a little spent, but I still felt I had some juice in the legs. I took off from the rest stop feeling pretty good. I saw Cole T come in for a pit stop which was a good sign since he could have given up miles ago. As I turned that infamous corner for the remaining 20 miles it hit me, the wall, the bonk, the wind and the stomach. I was in bad shape. I thought I could just hang behind some guys and draft in….nothing doing. I finally made it to the Hot dog stop and but some food in the belly. I could not hold anything down. I could not even drink any water. Really weird. My mind was playing games with me. “Just quit, the other guys on the side of the road are…You need to survive, this is insane just jump on the sag…don’t be a whimp…be a man…is that a rest stop over the hill there?” Yes and it saved me. Mile 90 was where I gathered myself for a good 30 min. I laid on the cot stripped down and just chilled. I was determined I was going all the way. I was about to head out when I saw Cole T. Like a 7th grader in the corner of the gym at the dance. I walked over and asked him to dance. It was nice to see him there and we decided to finish this thing together. We paced ourselves the last few miles and crossed together. What a feeling. I don’t even know my ride time. I just know it was not better then last year. The win in all this was that I finished…and I finished with a great group of guys. We all went to eat that night and I was toast. I could not function until later that night.
The next day we kissed and said goodbye. 19 hours back to the valley. It was good hanging with Beecher on the ride and glad he came along….His kids made a sign for us that said Welcome back. It was also nice to see my kids as well. A special thanks to all the wives…Sam-Christine and Kristin. Thanks for the support. It create a great memory for your husbands……having said all that…here are my lessons learned:
· Drink more water
· It’s not about the bike….I would have finished in the same time with a 5000$ bike then I did with my “lady”
· Pickles really do taste good at mile 90 (if you know me…I hate pickles)
· San Felipe was 80 miles shorter then the HHH
· I have good friends
· There is a Dairy Queen in every small town
· You really can Bunny-hop a road bike
· Heat does crazy Shiz
· Oranges don’t really work for me

Until next year….this chapter has closed. I have another ride in Oct. that I will prepare for…just won’t be the same….