Tour de Cure Event Day – A Personal Story

What a Ride! Wow, I have survived not uninjured but survived just the same!!! Thank you all for making the 2011 Tour de Cure Orlando great! You did an amazing job … raising nearly $750 for the American Diabetes Association. You were part of Team SAIC – Orlando’s efforts which raised $1,485 and the team consisted of 3 individual (Jonathan Nunes, Steve Vasquez, and I) fundraisers. Considering these economic times we are humbled and grateful for the donations we have received thus far because every penny counts.

On this past Sunday, I participated in the American Diabetes Association Lake Nona Tour de Cure 54-mile ride. The day started at 5:30 am, my stomach wasn’t feeling right nor stable and I thought I might miss this ride if I couldn’t stabilize it. By 7:15 am, I was all loaded up and ready to go with an 89% stabilized stomach. The temperature was in the mid-’60s. It looked like it would rain but the morning was unfolding beautifully without any of the notorious Florida humidity. The skies were cloudy while I’m standing next to my riding bud, Jonathan Nunes (RW Beck Group/SAIC) waiting for the ride to start at 8:00 am. These conditions ordinarily would not be a good thing but Mother Nature was on our side this morning. There was a light cool breeze, which kept the temperature just right for riding while wearing the new SAIC designer bicycle jersey.

The race started without a hitch and we were pushing the pace the first 15 miles, averaging 22.5 mph. We stopped at the rest stop for 10 minutes and off we went to the other 27-mile rest stop. We could not do this if it’s was not for the volunteers who are at these stops taking care of us with such enthusiasm and energy. After we take off from the first rest stop and on or about the 25-mile marker I felt a very faint pain (my old friend) in my left calve. I didn’t let it get to me; I pushed on to ride it out.

At the 27-mile rest stop, I inhaled 2 peanut butter and strawberry (actual fruit not jelly) sandwiches, 18 oz of water, one pack of *GU Gel, and stretched my calves all in about 10 minutes. So far it has been a beautiful and easy ride through low traffic residential and business areas. The course had bike lanes and some narrow one car lane two-way without a bike lane. The narrow streets without a bike lane were a little hairy at times. I have never ridden on this course so I didn’t know what would be waiting for me around the next turn. We started on our last leg of this so far relatively smooth ride.

On or about the 30-mile marker is when this course became difficult. The gusts of wind unofficially ranged from 5 – 25 miles. Jon said that we would be riding into the wind for the last 24 miles of this course and I didn’t doubt him but was more hoping that wasn’t the case. Well, I was wrong … we fought the wind only traveling 8 -10 mph to the last rest stop about 13 miles from the finish line. The volunteers were great at making noise with their cowbells along the route. The third rest stop was right on-time because I needed to stretch badly. My quads were starting to feel a more pronounced burning sensation but the calves were feeling good. We only stayed at this rest area for another 10 minutes. All things considered, we were making good time.

As the 44.73 miles approached, we turned left from “Lee Vista Blvd” onto “Nacoossee Road” when a gust of wind hit me from the left side and moved me to the right of the bike lane. The half blacktop and half concrete bike lane seemed leveled as I entered it but somewhere within the last 50 ft, the concrete had become uneven, raised about 2 -3 inches from the blacktop and my wheels were stuck in the groove which wiped me out, landing in the driveway of the Hess gas station.

I went over the right side of the handlebars landing on the right side of my head and shoulder while my right ear was touching my right shoulder on impact. Good thing I had on a helmet, have a strong neck, and a hard head because that is what hit the pavement. Jon and the Patrolmen that was stationed on that corner came over and asked if I was okay and where am I hurting … I responded, I can feel/move my toes, fingers, eyes, and neck so I think it just my pride that is injured. I have taken many spills before but this was one of the hardest in my 20+ years of riding. The bike was unharmed or scratched!

I was back on the road within 5 minutes. Only 9.4 miles away from the finish line my quads were on fire from fighting the wind for the last 15 miles but still functioning so I kept moving. Within the last 9.4 miles (still battling the wind), I had stop and stretch 2 more times before the finish line. My last test was to take an overpass in the last 3/4 mile of the ride and it was a killer. Keep in mind after all that riding, a little incline seems like an enormous hill because your legs are so fatigued that they are twitching.

Then the downhill on the other side came up and that was one of the best parts not including the 2-hour massage after crossing the finish line.

I thought the San Diego hills were difficult. The Orlando wind makes up for Florida being flat.  🙂

Stats for the day