Tour de Cure Event Day – A Personal Story

What a Ride! Wow, I have survived uninjured this year!!! Thank you all for making the 2012 Tour de Cure Orlando great! You did an amazing job … raising nearly $2,205 for the American Diabetes Association. You were part of Orlando’s teamSAIC efforts which raised close to $8,000. teamSAIC consisted of 17 individual riders and 3 “fun”raisers. 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 100 kilometer (62.1 miles) ride. The night before the ride, my stomach wasn’t feeling right nor stable, I took some home remedies and by the time I awakened at 4:45 am, I was ready to go. The temperature was in the low 60’s. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day with the exception of the notorious Florida humidity.

25-mile Riders

We made a valid attempt at taking a team picture but because of the long lines at registration, the staggered arrivals, and the fanfare, this didn’t happen. However we took pictures of the different start. The 25 mile route started at 8:30 am and the 62 and 100 mile routes was scheduled to start at 7:30 am. The first ride start time was delayed 15 minutes and started at 7:45am. The national anthem was played Jimi Hendrix style at the opening of the event. What a way to start the event. Mother Nature was on our side this morning because the sun wasn’t glaring. There was a light cool breeze, which kept the temperature just right for riding.

This ride was a little different than others because usually I’m not the strongest rider, but since we had 11 new first time riders, I had to keep my speed at a moderate pace so we wouldn’t lose anyone.  The race started without a hitch and we were pushing the pace the first 10 miles, averaging 12.5 mph. We stopped at the rest stop for 10 minutes and off we went to the other 27-mile rest stop. We could not have done this if it wasn’t for the volunteers at these stops taking care of us with such enthusiasm and energy.  After we took off from the first stop, about the 15-mile marker the scenery was gorgeous. This year the courses went through some great residential neighborhoods.

25-mile Riders

At the 27-mile rest stop, I had 2 peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches, 36 oz of water, one pack of *GU Gel, and stretched my calves all in about 30 minutes. So far it has been a beautiful and easy ride through low traffic residential and business areas.  The majority of course had bike lanes, very few narrow two lanes roads without a bike lane. The narrow streets without a bike lane were a little hairy at times.  The Friday before the ride, I went out with Cesar (ADA Rep) to mark out sections of the course, but I didn’t take in the scenery. I was just trying to work and make sure we didn’t miss a turn.  Last year was my first Orlando Tour de Cure and this year I marked the first half of the courses but I still 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 49-mile marker (Curry Ford Road) is when this course became difficult. The easterly gusts of wind unofficially ranged from 5 – 20 miles. Well, it’s like a visit from that relative that you don’t want to see, there it was the wind … we fought the wind only traveling 13 -14 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. We stayed at this rest area for another 40 minutes. We wanted to make sure that the second group of 62 milers were still on course. All things considered, we were making good time.

As the 54.73 miles approached, we turned left from “Lee Vista Blvd” onto “Narcoossee Road” when a gust of wind hit us and the wind didn’t stop until about a mile away from the finish line.  The only difference this year was that I stayed on the bike and didn’t let the wind catch me by surprise.

100-mile Riders

The notorious bridge from last year was taken out of the equation. So the last leg of the route was on a flat surface. It should have been a piece of cake but the wind (17 mph) was hitting us face-first all the way down Narcoossee Road (approx 9 miles). Once we turned off Narcoossee it was figuratively all downhill from there and that was one of the best parts. I didn’t cramp up this ride nor get my usual 2-hour massage after crossing the finish line but I did enjoy sitting in a chair and feeling the breeze (17 mph gust) across my face without my feet and legs moving.

Stats for the day

Before I get into the stats, I just want to talk about proper bicycle fitting and how important it is. When I shipped my bike from Cali to Florida the mover loosened and changed some aspects of my bike. I didn’t think it was major but three months ago I went and had my first professional fitting since I have been in Florida and it made a big difference in my riding, power output, cadence, muscle fatigue, and cramping. So if you have not ever had your bicycle professionally fitted, my personal suggestion is you should. You will see it makes a world of difference and will be worth the money.

>> View bicycle adjustment video