As for your boy Deano, well, he's just a beginner. Fortunately they have a beginner route for those of who are not quite at the level of Armstrong. It was just over 50 miles. I kept pace most of the way with a young lady soldier whom I kept just ahead of me. You say I'm a pervert, I say I was drafting off her wind. Her butt was kind of motivating though. Actually, she's in the army and took up cycling after tearing a tendon in her leg while running. She decided it would be cool to ride the event and see Orange Beach from the saddle. Poor girl was on a mountain bike. A Walmart brand MTB too. I have to give her major props, riding on that bike must have been hell. I was glad to have some company out there that wasn't interested in beating everyone else to the finish line and she proved a very interesting companion. Like an idiot, I forgot to grab her email so I will probably never have the oppurtunity to talk to her again.
Also met a racer from Germany. Seems he had been reading my blog over at the MS web site and was quite amused. He told me he was proud of the progress I was making and offered up some tips. He was a pretty cool guy! I think he made the 80 mile trip in just over 5 hours.
All in all, it was a fantastic ride; it really showed me where I was and how far I've yet to go in my riding. I'm planning on cranking out a metric century (62 mi) next October for the Make a Wish Foundation. I'll be purchasing a much better bike for that ride. If you see me out training give me a honk! By all means, if you want to join me, let me know!
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