Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - 18 and 19 July

[Big Vic]

Saturday, 18 July

18 - disneyfan97 (Teresa) Too Hot to Handle 15K, Dallas, TX
18 - getnthinr (Wendy) Bull Moon Ride, Durham NC
18 - Pungodingy (Angie) Bill Luti 5 Miles, Concord NH

Sunday, 19 July

19 - amykab (Amy) Stowe 8 miler, Stowe, VT
19 – Mooshu () Napa to Sonoma 1/2 Marathon, Napa, CA
19 - ZWoman () San Diego Blood Bank 5k Walk/Run, San Diego, CA


GO! WISH Team GO!

 

[twoWDWfools]

Go WISH Team!!!

 

[suzannews]

Good luck everyone!!

 

[getnthinr]

Oooooooooo... Mine is the first race report! (Assuming I can write fast enough!)

So last night after midnight I arrived home from the Bull Moon Ride so happy and pumped up -- and I think that's how every event should make you feel! The ride started right on time at 8:31PM and began with "the worst hill on the ride" (according to the ride "scout" who shepherded me through the course) but ended with an almost magical ride on a paved, dark and country-quiet ~7mi stretch of the American Tobacco Trail rail-trail with nothing but the whisper of bike tires and the singing of the cicadas and frogs to keep us company. (Right in the middle of the city!) The weather was amazing -- cool with a light breeze, as if NC had forgotten its usual muggy and miserable summer self.

• First, it was for a great cause. One volunteer told me there were over 500 riders participating this year and all the funds from the ride go to Habitat for Humanity -- to build a home for Durham families in need.
  
• The volunteers and spectators were GREAT! I was surprised by how many folks were out in numbers on a summer night to cheer us on during our tour of the city. Even those on the outdoor dining areas of local restaurants and bars cheered as we past. It felt like the "Tour de Durham"!
  
• It was actually a fabulous ride. One of my favorite parts was being led down the semi-dark street by a stream of blinking bike lights as the riders ahead of me made their approach to the beautiful, brightly lit Duke Chapel. I nearly forgot I needed to keep pedaling! I did not remember my camera, so I hope one of the local news folks posts pictures from this part of the ride. It was truly stunning. There were lots of small visual treats, too, like watching Durham Bulls mascot Wool E. Bull (in full costume -- including huge hoof boots) pedaling his bike with his tail tied up behind his back to keep it free from his spokes. (I found these great photos from the ride on Flickr -- thanks DurhamDave!)
  
• The repast afterwards! Oh my gosh -- barbeque and spicy bean burgers and salads and all-natural gourmet fruit popcicles and sodas -- and so many cookies that a kind volunteer packed a box of a variety of them for me to take home to my kids afterwards. Entertaining free music by Sea Cow. And the chance to sit comfortably at tables lining the city street to enjoy it all with my husband in the cool night breeze, basking in the glory of our 17mi accomplishment (while he enjoyed both his two free beers and my two as well ).

It was a wonderful night -- and in the afterglow of that event I foolishly promised a volunteer that I'd be back for October's much longer Halloween ride (31 miles minimum!). I'd better get out there on the bike NOW! I've discovered that there is some sort of weird bike-and-asphalt physics that causes inclines that are nearly imperceptible in a car to turn into breath-stealing, gear-grinding mountainous climbs for me on my bike. Go figure!

I hope everyone else has similarly enjoyable experiences during their races this weekend. I'll be looking forward to your reports.