Team in Training Adventure: 3 bears

I like my new Team in Training cycle cap. I wore it all day like a little kid. One of our team members made these to sell for their fundraiser. Great idea
This was our longest ride with Team In Training so far. We did two loops, Pinehurst loop and 3 Bears loop the opposite way we did it last time. The ride was 50 miles with 4k feet of climbing. We started at Orinda Bart. Nobody could believe how wet it was. We all expected it to be dry, but it rained all the way until we got out of the cars, then it was fine for the whole ride. The ground was still wet, so we were wet and dirty anyhow. The scenery was beautiful. Team In Training has taken us to some great places to ride.
This ride was full of craziness. Just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
1st off we had a rider turn back on the first climb because his knee was hurting him. We were like 10 miles into the ride and he knew it wasn't going to happen, so he did the smart thing and turned back instead of hurting it worse.
2nd I had a blow out on my brand new tires... we were descending a hill, going around 30 miles an hour, bang instant flat front tire. Thoughts of crashing were running through my head. All I was thinking was, you crash when this happens, period. Thank God that didn't happen. It was totally controllable, pulled over to the side, did a quick tire change and on the road we went.
3rd another rider got a flat. I went back to help. Had my bike upside down while working on other bike, bang my sidewall blew out. Second flat on my front tire. Now I had a big gash in my sidewall, and our tire boot was not working so onto the sag car my bike went. Off to the the bike store to get a tire we went. Just like Heather, last time we road the 3 bears. I love our sag drivers. They are great. We were able to find a tire and rejoin my group before we climbed the 3 bears. So I didn't miss any climbing just about 10 miles of flat.
It made me feel real good when I rejoined the team because they were all happy to have me back. Clapping and hooting, and it wasn't the same without you is what I heard as I got Sammy off the rack.
4th after I hooked back up with my team I found out another rider dropped because she wasn't feeling good. It's been a long and cold training season for us so far. One of my biggest concerns is staying healthy through this whole training period.
5th Another rider and I were riding side by side talking and he crossed wheels with another rider and down he went. I call this guy the kid, even though he is 30 years old. He went down very gracefully and instantly said I'm ok. So I started laughing. I think that was our teams first crash.
6th and most crazy. Right after our last sag stop we started to climb the 3 bears as I heard a noise behind me. It was one of our riders crashing and laying face down in the gutter. I call this guy powerstroke cuz he is big and powerful and just goes and goes. When I looked back I could laugh because he was moving, just laying there face down. SO as we turned around to help two other riders kinda hit each other and would up on the ground and in the gutter. The cutest guy on our calls this crash a sympathy crash. Well powerstroke rolled over and said his knee hurt. A really nice lady in a pickup truck stopped to make sure all was good as powerstroke jumped up and started hopping around in pain. We talked him into putting the bike in her truck and skipping the 3 bear climb. Thank you nice lady, it's nice to know there still are some nice people out there.
7th I felt pretty good climbing the 3 bears and was sitting on our best climbers wheel until he decided it was time10to let me know he was our king of the mountains. He dropped me like a bad habit. I got my ass handed to me. But at least it was only one person. Even though we are not racing and he has more experience than me and is in better shape, I WAS NOT HAPPY about this. I'm going to take my diet and training a little more serious now. I really don't like getting dropped like that on climbs.
8th I did my first pee in the bushes on a ride.
9th after a quick 3 mile ride back to Bart Me and the cute guy had a lil playful sprint through the parking lot to the cars. I won and had to throw up my arms like an idiot, like I just won a stage in race. It was all a show for Heather and her group because they were cheering us on.
10th the cute guy told me at the car he thinks he has a hairline fracture in his wrist from the sympathy fall.
All this was just in our 10 person group. I don't know what happened in the 4 other groups.
Heather sounded like she had a strong uneventful ride except for her first flat. She was happy that she changed it basically all by herself without much help from any men.

It was great... when we got home from our ride we were greeted with the coolest double rainbow we have ever seen.

I have plenty to say about this Team in Training ride. The 3 bears loop is the most climbing we have done so far since our short cycling hobby started just a few months ago. The route was 40 miles with 3780 ft of climbing. The Solvang Century we are training for is 100 miles with 5000 ft of climbing.. So you can see this was a good training ride for us.

We both were ready and really looking forward to this ride for weeks. This is the first ride that we started in reverse order.. the slower groups first so we would all finish about the same time. The groups left in 30 minute increments. Heather's group left 30 minutes before we did ( the wild ones). The ride started in town and then led onto a bike/walking trail that was beautiful.

At the end of the trail was a much needed bathroom stop. Then on towards the fun stuff the 3 bears. Its named the 3 bears because there are 3 climbs. Baby bear, Mama bear, and Poppa bear. Team in Training placed the S.A.G (support and gear) stop right before the climbs so we could fuel our bodies. Well at the S.A.G I saw Heather's group. When they saw us coming they all scrambled to their bikes to hit the road. Their goal was to beat us back to the end of the ride. (yah right.. we are the wild ones). Not but 3 minutes after they left I get a phone call... Hey Hunny the love of my life.. do you have an extra chain.. I just broke mine. Heather is starting to put out so much power that she is busting chains climbing now. Well I couldn't help Heather, I felt terrible, so I sent the S.A.G to her. When our group rolled by Heather and poor broken blue she had a sad pouty face on sitting in the passenger seat.
At that point I figured Heather's day was over and I would see her back at the box waiting for me. But since Rich the S.A.G guy is so totally awesome he got Heather to a bike store and got a new chain put on blue and got her back to with in a couple of miles where she broke her chain in no time flat. Heather was the last rider on the loop at this point. So lil Lance or psycho Santos (sally's name for us) took off like a crazy women chasing down every rider she saw in front of her. I would have loved to seen Heather ride like that. I would have been a proud Hubby.
Well about me now... I felt great on the 3 bears... and even pig farm climb wasn't too bad (another climb after the 3 bears, feels like a wall.. crazy) even though pig farm had some riders walking up the hill... So When we coasted in (in first place by the way) I had no idea what Heather's status was. After a few phone calls by our teammates I found out Heather was on the road. Few minutes later I see this cute girl come flying in the parking lot hooting and hollering with one hand in the air and one foot. I was like who is this girl. Then I saw it was LiL Lance celebrating her victory pumping a fist in the air.

I was amazed at her performance, and very thankful to Richard for going above and beyond getting Heather back on the road.
While Heather and Blue were at the bike shop she found a Lance Armstrong lunch box..I so want it...it was for sale to the right person.. I guess that meant we couldn't afford it... lol
On Sunday we took a nice 10 mile recovery ride with the family. It was nice, my 13 year old is a strong rider and says he wants a road bike :)