Cindy dinner and ride reports!

[SadieKate]

I just heard from my friend, Marty. CindySue, Slinke and Jo met her at the Benicia Jelly Belly Ride and, at 50 miles, Marty's PB to date. This is my 65 yr old co-worker/friend who had been riding a little comfort bike 10-15 miles on the bike path last summer and came to me after the LRRH in June and said, "Do you think I could do that?" I said yes, with a training plan, a road bike and commitment. Last fall she rode 2 half metrics and bought a roadbike. Yesterday, she rode her first metric and a brutal one at that. Rain, wind and hail - she persevered. She said there were times if a SAG had pulled up next to her and offered her a ride she would have gotten in, but she stuck with it. She rode by herself with no companions, which I think makes it doubly hard from a mental view.

I am so proud of her and admire her grit and determination. She said she's tired today but not sore or having any spasms. She's feels good and she's on track for the LRRH. Gosh, I'm going to be smiling about her accomplishment all day.

[withm]

Just wondering - what was the general wind speed & temp?

[velogirl]

Just wondering - what was the general wind speed & temp?

Thankfully, it wasn't cold yesterday. I don't know the wind speed (I'm sure there's some way to look it up online), but it was stiff. At one point, I looked at my PowerTap and I'm pushing over 200 watts, sitting on someone's wheel, on a flat road, and we're only going 13mph. Sheesh!

I've done Cinderella a handful of times and this was the slowest (by over 3mph).

I never thought I'd use the words brutal or epic in the same sentence as Cinderella, but those are the two words that keep popping into my head.

For everyone who finished, you're studs. For everyone who started, congratulations! It was a truly epic and brutal ride. But that just made the soup at the end so much better!

[SadieKate]

Hourly reports for yesterday's weather in Livermore. Hope this link works.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recre...=0&when=032506

[carimail]

Wow! What an experience! Everyone was so nice! It made me regret even more that I only followed the training rides via e-mail. It would have been fun to know more people.
The weather kept things, ummmm, interesting didn't it? I was one of the few in shorts and I was glad I was because I dried off quickly when the fair weather came around and didn't have to ride in wet tights. Also, I invested in booties and had happy feet the whole ride. I looked funny in shorts and booties, but I was as comfy as one could have been under such conditions.
I was also very careful on this ride to stay fueled and hydrated which I think helped me finish fairly strong (for me).
Nothing could have susbstituted for the support of all of the great women (all ages and shapes and sizes!) around me, though. All in all, I had a great time.
But I need to know, who ran over the giant toad on the home stretch? Ewwww!
Cari (carimail)

P.S. Thanks to Slinkedog and Mountainpuddles for being such terrific training buddies - I hope we aren't stopping now!

[yellow]

Congrats to all. As a proclaimed fair weather rider, I probably would have been on one of the SAG wagons.

And for those of you that didn't make it for one reason or another, there's always next year!

[E2theD]

Hey gals, new to the board and first time poster. I did the Cindy yesterday with a few hardy women and I'll tell you by the end of the ride that patch was one of honor. Our group of 4 started out on the course at 11, pulling up the rear. BikeMomma lead the pack and thank dog because she is one strong rider. Emily sagged back in at the first stop to work the LunaChix tent and the 3 of us kept on. We missed most of the rain but picked up the really strong afternoon wind. At some points I was frustrated but I have to say the great group I was with kept me from ever thinking about throwing in the towel. Can't imagine finishing that ride on my own and can honestly say I had a great time.

The forecast for the day called for 20-30 mile per hour winds and when I got home and watched the news they reported gusts up to 35mph ! I think one of those gusts came close to putting me in the ditch.

Lorri, sorry I missed you at the booth but thanks for sending out my new VG jersey in time for the ride. I wore it proud even if it was under a few layers.

Off for a quick mtb recovery ride now...

Erin

[BikeMomma]

Hey gals, new to the board and first time poster. I did the Cindy yesterday with a few hardy women and I'll tell you by the end of the ride that patch was one of honor. Our group of 4 started out on the course at 11, pulling up the rear. BikeMomma lead the pack and thank dog because she is one strong rider. Emily sagged back in at the first stop to work the LunaChix tent and the 3 of us kept on. We missed most of the rain but picked up the really strong afternoon wind. At some points I was frustrated but I have to say the great group I was with kept me from ever thinking about throwing in the towel. Can't imagine finishing that ride on my own and can honestly say I had a great time.

The forecast for the day called for 20-30 mile per hour winds and when I got home and watched the news they reported gusts up to 35mph ! I think one of those gusts came close to putting me in the ditch.

Off for a quick mtb recovery ride now...

Erin

Yea! What she said!

What was funny was at the end of the ride, we were sitting there eating our soup, orange slices, animal cookies, and stuffing our pockets with leftover peppermint patties (which came in WAY handy for my son's #5 birthday party today), I mentioned the TE forum, and Erin (E2theD) all of a sudden said, "That's where I know you from!!! You're BikeMomma!!" At the first rest stop, when Emily went back, I had told her (Lunachix, right?) to say hi to Cindysue ("from BikeMomma"). Erin heard me say that, and couldn't think why the name BikeMomma sounded so familiar. The light bulb came on as we were sitting there stuffing our faces. Erin had just joined this forum about a week ago, she said, and had for some ungodly reason remembered my TE name. Toooo funny! I think it was fate.

Erin, I truly had a blast with you and Barb (and Emily, until ya split). We have to ride together again, for sure. I'll pull you guys through windstorms any day. You're super company. Flicka enjoyed it too. Hope your mtb ride was today was good. And everyone, I have to say, I was impressed: Erin even made a business call during the ride, while we were waiting on the first flat of the day to be fixed -- all professional, authoritative & stuff. Nothin' like being indispensible!

As for my personal experience of the ride, I went with the minimalist theory and just wore shorts, a long-sleeve thermal base layer with my Cindy jersey on top, and arm warmers until I took them off because my arms were too warm. As the ride progressed, though, it seemed like the temperature got colder, and by the time we finished, just after 5pm I think (I have 5hrs 12min for our total ride time), I was shivering, goose bumps galore. Normally I tend to ride better when I'm just a little cool/cold, so I was fine on the road after warming up again. But it was when we stopped for flats and rest stops that I would freeze. Bbbrrrrrr!

What a ride -- lovely wind, a little rain (we were relatively spared from the wet stuff, not so much from the wind), the aformentioned skunks and rats, and ah!...the gorgeous horses along the way! My favorite was a dappled grey just after Lemon Drop Hill. Even from far away, awesome horseflesh.

Already looking forward to next year --- hopefully with better weather so everyone else can enjoy it, too.
~BikeMomma

[SadieKate]

Who bought the jerseys and did you get the club cut? What did you think? Feedback please since Amici Veloci was the guinea pig. What did you think?

Any pictures?

[BikeMomma]

I got the race cut, women's medium. Fit great & was comfy the whole ride. Pockets nice & deep.

No pics, tho. Sowwy. I think we went through too late for any pictures.

~BikeMomma