Thank you very much!
Thank you all very much for your generosity! This was a great year for us! As of this writing, I finished in 12th position for top fundraiser at the 2009 event. For more than a month I moved in and out the top ten several times. I am astounded at the generosity of my friends, family and coworkers. I think I became a little bit caught up in the idea of staying in the top ten, so I want to apologize to anyone I offended with my repeated emails. Read on for my ride report.
Rain
The ride itself was not exactly what I expected due to lots of rain, but I did manage to finish the ride with all the kids aboard as planned. We left the house around 7:15 in the morning and drove through the rain about an hour north to Napa. Remember that in years past I have ridden in the 50 and 100 mile rides, and because of the earlier start arrived at the staging area before 7:00 am. This year we arrived after 8:00 and had to park considerably farther away from the registration area. We were parked in a a wet field on the lower slopes of the Yountville Veterans Home. The "lower slopes" part of that description will become an important adjective later in this story.
We had decided on the ride up to Napa that I would start by myself and maybe if it wasn't too bad Larissa would meet me 5 or 10 miles from the finish, and the kids could ride back in with me. So I left the kids in the car and buttoned up (in what turned out to be an excellent choice of gear) for the ride up the hill to the start.
Wistful kids, left behind
Red Rider
This year the ADA provided red jerseys for riders with diabetes, so here I am sporting mine over the top of my excellent breathable waterproof REI jacket. I will note that riding in the rain sucks, but if you absolutely have to do it (and I DID have to do because you PAID me to), riding in the rain in the front position on a tandem mountain bike is really not that bad.
The biggest issue with riding a bike in the rain is all the water thrown off the tires. If you don't have fenders, the water off the front tires soaks your feet in maybe fourteen seconds, and the water from the rear tire soaks your seat and back (twenty seconds). If you are on a tandem, the rear wheel is so far away there are zero problems from rear tire spray (again, assuming you are sitting in the front).
I still had the spray from the front tire, but you can see that the oversize tubing on the cannondale mountain bike frame is fatter than the width of the tires, so the spray wasn't as bad as it would be on a road bike. In any event, my bike shoes were little bath tubs of water before I even finished registering, but I am able to suck up a certain amount of adversity. To be completely honest, I would have quickly put on a fender if I had one, but overcoming some adversity is good for your character.
The ride
The ride itself wasn't bad. Even riding in the rain you can get into a zone where you just push the pedals and the miles clock up. It was fun to kid with the other riders about what happened to my missing "stoker" (the person in back on a tandem). I saw lots of folks out there, so my assessment is that not many people decided to stay at home because of the rain (the official notice is that around 1500 people showed up and rode). After about an hour the rain was getting much lighter and the sun was starting to show, so I pulled over and called Larissa to schedule delivery of my cargo.
Meanwhile, back in the parking lot
The reason those kids are having so much fun is that the van is stuck up to the axles in mud. As a kid, that has got to be fun. As a parent, and as the owner of the vehicle in the mud whose axles are no longer clean, it is not nearly as amusing. Below is a picture after the tow truck managed to get the van mostly out of trouble.
The tow truck, stuck
If you have really good eyes, you can see the cable around the tree being used to get the tow truck un-stuck. Right after he got us out, he got himself in. We were not the only ones who lined his pockets that day.
Back to our story
So when I made it back to the parking area I hooked up the extended bike and picked up the kids. We were still one mile from the finish, and we enjoyed a triumphant ride. Lots of comments, cowbells, and shouting because it was the longest bike, and, after all, it is pretty damn cool!
We enjoyed a nice lunch and a short break and then headed back home.
Return trip
Thanks again and thoughts for next year
I wanted to thank everyone again for their generosity. As of this writing we raised $3935 for the cure to diabetes. In 2008 we raised $3975, so we are again within spitting distance of $4000. I think next year that will be my goal, and I hope to be telling you all a story about how my family and I rode together.
YOU FOLKS ROCK!
Thanks again and warmest possible regards,
The Washbournes
No comments:
Post a Comment