Tour de Cure and Waco Wild West 100

2013 is quickly coming to an end, and while I have made a few goals for the year, the one I have best kept is the goal to do more biking events this year. The Tour de Cure, a ride to benefit diabetes research, and the Waco Wild West 100 were two brand new venues for me. I rode with Team Beef for the Tour and tried to represent Team Roadkill and also Team RW&B Ft. Hood Chapter. I always meet the coolest people and end up surprising myself at how much I really do enjoy cycling. I did 46 miles for the Tour and raised over $300. I rode 26 miles in Waco and got a pretty cool shirt and snazzy bike jersey. All in all, I live a pretty good life!

 The jerseys

Sunrise before the start of the ride

 

 Team BEEF lining up!

 Rest stop 1 in Andice

The route

Great burgers here for a big price!

 

                          

 Sweet helper at Rest Stop 2

 ...and Queens!

My bike being taken hostage by Storm Troopers...I have seen their sister on another site!

Cove House Classic 2013 Bike Tour

This was my second year to do this event, and it is for a great cause. The event is to benefit the Cove House Emergency Homeless Shelter. During last year's event, it was rainy and overcast. In fact, it POURED the last 5 miles or so of my 26 mile route. This year the day dawned with one of the most gorgeous sunrises I have ever seen....unusual colors on a huge moon.  I tried to take several pictures, but no camera could do it justice. As I drove through town, I saw several others (passengers in vehicles) trying to take pictures of the beautiful moon as well. It made for a good start to the ride for sure.

                                                               A neon moon.....

Many from my bicycle riding group were in attendance for this ride with a range in ages from 10 year-old grandkids to one of my friend's 77 year old father, and his plan was to do the 60 mile route (he did it)!

               Pre-ride gearing up!

 

Friends and riding partners

 

Pre-race mingling....

 

Interesting ride......and leader of the pack.

 

Team Roadkill in the pack

 

 

Rest stop one.....some riders were surprised by the number of hils along he route. I reminded them that we ARE in the Hill Country!

 

I chose the 26 mile route.....

 

 

Rest stop 2.....

 

And finally....

 

 

My 2013 Cove House Classic Shirt and Race Number

 

This was another great time with some good friends and awesome bike riders. I love the camraderie of the riding group and the way each one encourages the other. My next ride will be next weekend on September 8th in Round Rock...the Tour de Cure Ride to raise funds to fight diabetes. At the end of September comes the Waco Wild West 100 ride, an event with lots of Skittles for the participants. These two events are new to me, and I am excited to see the routes and meet the people along the way!

Rivercities Triathlon 2013, Benton, Louisiana

                                                The Rivercities Triathlon Logo 2013

This was my 9th year to do the Rivercities Triathlon in Benton, Louisiana. It is a six hour drive to get to this venue, but it is so worth it. This is one of the best run events on the planet. Kudos to Matt Brown, the event director, for doing such a fantastc job! This event sells out each year within 30 minutes to an hour, and the entries are limited to 1200 participants. This year, the total value of the bicycles in T1 was an astounding 3.4 MILLION dollars!!

                                               The SWAG (Stuff We All Get)!!!

One of the reasons I do this event almost every year is the SWAG. This year was not as good as all of the other years, but it was still good nonetheless. The backpack alone is worth almost as much as the entry fee, and the cool max shirt is colorful and bright. I love to wear the hats from these events to other events and look for people who share my passion for travelling and doing athletic events. The one thing that does get my goat, so to speak, is that the sizes run small, so even when the stuff is awesom, not all of it can be worn by me. The jacket is this picture, for instance, is nice, but the sleeves are tight and it runs short, so I will have to pass it on to someone who can use it. They have Clydesdale (men over 200 pounds) and Athena (women over 150 pounds) divisions in this race, so you would think that the clothing would fit all participants, not just the sleek and trim.

 

 

The course for the swim and run.

 

The course is just gorgeous, even if the lake swim is tough because it is so murky and usually runs about 84 degrees in early August, the time of the race. There are kayaks and boats out on the water to assist swimmers, and as you swim, you are kicked and splashed from the mass of swimmers all trying to break PRs. It is a given that you are going to end up swallowing some of this swamp water, and the smell of diesel and gasoline from the boats on the 2nd leg of the swim is cloying and overpowering. It never fails that my goggles fog up, and I end up swimming off course more often than not.

 

 

A stop at Soulman's BBQ in Terrell, Texas on the way to Shreveport and our hotel. The Double Barrell baked potato. Yum!

Our tradtitional night before the race meal at Monjuni's, a cute little Italian place.

The Italian Sampler. Mmmmmmmm.....

Getting set up before the race begins.

 

My bike, #349, and set up

Predawn at Cypress Lake Park. Beautiful area!

1200 participants strong!

The food tent at the finish line

Posing with Team RWB Shreveport after the race. Good times! I am representing Team RWB Ft. Hood, Texas

 

 

 

 The Rivercities Traihlon 2013 medal

 

Another great weekend doing what I love. I am already looking forward to next year!



 

Layers

Layered cornbread salad

 

Tonight as I was making this layered cornbread salad for a birthday luncheon tomorrow at work, I was reminded of how much our lives are multi-layered as well.....

 

I have some very close family members, some of whom I got to spend time with at my nephew's dance recital last weekend; I also have cousins and friends in various locales throughout the states and around the world. I have friends at work and friends outside of work. I have bicycling friends and motorcycling friends; I have triathlon friends, and I have running friends, and sometimes these groups overlap, like when my family members form a group to complete an athletic event together, or when my work friends get together to support a specific cause such a Relay for Life. Sometimes my tri friends will do running events or bicycling events, and sometimes my co-worker friends double up as my motorcycling friends, too.

 

This past weekend, several of us did a group ride together out to the Oscar Store for lunch. One of my oldest and closest friends led the ride, and it was a gorgeous day to be out and about on the roads.

 

 

The Oscar Store then.....

 

                                                               and now......

                                                Some of the group gearing up after lunch....

                                        A stop for gas along the route back home....

                                           The ending point where we all go our separate ways.....




        Getting a quick drink and relaxing in the shae before heading out to our respective homes.....

After the goup ride, I wanted to do some solo riding and thinking and hunt for some more murals in nearby places. I was fortunate to find a couple, and, you guesed it, they had layers as well.....

All of these layers...of family, of friends, of friends who became lovers and of lovers whose friendsdship ended along with the relationship. Sometimes the layers work, and sometimes we peel back one layer to find yet another, and another, and another. But the beauty of it all? Everything works just they way it was meant to do. I find comfort in that.............

KOM

KOM......the first time I rode this bicycle route in Central Texas, I asked one of the riders with me, once I could catch my breath, what this sign painted on the road meant. "Well, Miss J, that means King of the Mountain!" I'll admit, once I completed this ride, and continue to complete this ride of varying distances but always, always with killer hills and gorgeous Texas scenery,  that I felt and feel a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

There are days it seems I am always conquering mountains, personally, professionally, and athletically. I often put too much faith in those who are unworthy of my trust, consistently take on professional mountains in order to move up the career ladder, and challenge myself to enter a variety of athletic events that push my perserverance and stick-with-it-ness well beyond what I ever believed I could endure. And yet, I keep looking for more mountains to climb, and every time, I still feel that exhilaration each time I make it to the top. I like consistency, and it comforts me to know that in life, there is never a shortage of mountains where I can test my grit. And I DO have that quality...in spades!

 

                                                               Anticipating the climb........

                                                                        Wide open spaces.................

                                                                      Just keep pedaling.........

 

   The wildflowers along the route.....I have seen wild turkeys and a few coyotes while riding out       

   here.