Longest bike ride to date

One of my awesome TIFL sisters planned a birthday weekend in Charleston. Of course the weekend included a race but as part of the marathon weekend, they have an after race bike ride. The bike ride has 20, 40 and 60 mile options. I opted for the 20 mile option. I still consider myself a newbie cyclist. We made a pit stop at performance bicycle on Friday and I walked around like a kid in a candy store. I need so many things for my bike. I know what my tax return or my STI aka bonus will be going towards just like it did last year when I bought my bike.

We get up Sunday and start preparing for the bike ride. I always ride with CamelBak. I pulled it out my backpack and realized the reservoir top was missing. That's not good. I fill the reservoir up but water splashes right out. I'm thinking yeah this might b my first ride without the CamelBak.

We load the bikes and our gear in the Jeep. We make a breakfast pit stop at Mickey D's. That egg white delight was delish.

We hit the road for Mt Pleasant. We miss out exit and then eventually get back on the correct route. Thanks GPS! We see a Charleston marathon truck at the entrance of our turn so we know we are at the right place. We see other cars with bikes so we really know we are at the right place. We had some location issues with Saturday's 5K.

After we park, we don't exactly know where to go for packet pickup. We assume it's in the building we see people walk to and from. SN: they need some signs. I pick up my packet and shirt. Bonus we got 2 shirts:1 for the 5K and 1 for the bike ride. As I'm waiting for Claudia and Sharon to get their packets, a lady walks up to me and ask "are you with Tri It For Life" I'm like yeah, she tells me she recognizes me from the pics on the Facebook page. It's Raini Binnicker Kimball from TIFL-Charlotte who we were told was in Charleston for the same races. Her and her husband are both doing the 40 mile ride.

We chit chat a bit. Then we both make a very necessary pit stop to the facilities. I head out to get ready for the ride. I've decided to forgo the CamelBak and tuck a bottle of water in my bag that's hitched to my bike. We take our bikes to the bike guy who's checking bikes. Bike is checked. 60 miles riders have taken off. 40 milers are lining up, that's Claudia and Sharon. Then they are off. Last but certainly not least is the 20 milers that includes me, the 2 BTA ATL peeps we had dinner with last night. I see the TIFL Charlotte sisters have arrived. They were working on real CP time. The announcer talks to us about the route, rest stop and SAG support. At about 9:01am we are off. Every time I get on a bike I start to not like how big my bum is because it's always sore one second after I get on the bike. I have my que sheet just in case I lose the group which I know I will.

We turn right out the school. We ride about 1.5 miles down and make a right on a main road that is pretty flat but there's a bridge waiting for us. I try to ride up the bridge but my body tells me "Nah you should just walk" that's exactly what I do because there's no shame in walking. One bridge down, who knows how many to go. Crossing this bridge reminds me of the bridge at OBX. At the bottom, turn right down another long road. I see a couple turn in front of me who I recognize are part of the bike ride. Then they make a left turn. I'm concerned that this is not the right turn. I pull off to confirm with my que sheet and this is not the turn. I keep going straight. I see a road marking that confirms I was right. I keep riding and then I ride upon 2 female cyclists who look like they are having issues. I ask if I can help even though I really can't. They are happy that I stopped. They have it covered. I keep on down the road. My next turn comes up and it passes right by a church. I start humming "I need thee oh I need thee. At this point my quads are talking back to me, my upper arms are tired, my right foot keeps falling asleep and I'm freezing. Did I mention my nose has been running since I first hit the bridge. I keep riding and then come to a stop and I see green flags with the words "RACE OPS" and I'm thinking it's the rest stop. I turn into the gas station. I'm so excited. One of the TIFL Charlotte chicks tells me I'm a little early for the rest stop. You're actually suppose to be at 11 miles when you get there. They did the same thing, hit the rest stop twice. I'm just glad for a break from the bike for a few minutes. I enjoy the rest stop for a few minutes. Hit the facilities and head back on the correct route, I make a wrong turn and don't see the marking on the road. I head back to the main road and make a left. I see the road markings. I pass fort Sumter site and turn through the neighborhoods and make it back to the rest stop officially at this point. The SAG guy ask if I need a lift back, I really want to tell him YES but I want to push on through. The couple who made that "turn" ride in, I ask them about that. They tell me they were on the scenic route. I think we have to go back towards the BRIDGE and the husband tells me no. I'm a little happy about that. The 3 of us head out and opt for sidewalks. There is a bridge but it's nothing like the first one. Did I mention there was some serious headwinds. Riding a bike plus strong headwinds = frozen Johanna. As I make it down the bridge I see a sign that says "welcome to mount pleasant" HALLEJUAH and thank you God we are back in the town we started in. I check my iPhone and it's in the single digits. I tell myself as soon as I hit 15 miles I'll connect it to the portable charger. I stop to do this and check my bag and you know what the charger and cable are not there. I realize they are in my gear bag which is in the jeep and the keys are with the owner on the 40 mile ride. I have no choice but to make it back because I can't call anyone and I don't know anyone's number by hard except the ride sag people on the que sheet. I'm on the final stretch headed to the school and I just break down and cry because I'm ready to get off the bike, I don't want to ride anymore, I don't want to do any races anymore. I'm just sore tired and hungry. I see the turn for the school, there's a guy waiting there. He ask "how many miles did you do" I reply 20 miles. He looks disappointed. I'm thinking to myself are you FU kidding me. I don't think about his reaction. I ride on to the parking lot. I disembark from the bike which takes 2 tries. I'm thinking I made it. I actually made it.19.1 mile bike ride is in the books.

First TRI of 2015

FOMO fear of missing out. I truly have that :-). If one of my TIFL sisters post in our Facebook group about any type of race, tri or any event that is going on. I always feel that i should particiapte. If not for the health benefits alone. If there is BLING involved I am definitely in. I saw a post about Lifetime Indoor TRI and everyone was signing up, of course I signed up as well. Cost was $25 and you get a shirt. Not bad at all. The other 2 triathlons I have done cost around $80-90. This was a huge drop in price. The indoor TRI was January 4, 2015, 1st Sunday of the new year. About a few days before the TRI, emails were sent out confirming your wave number and start. I hadn't gotten any email. I was starting to worry that maybe I didn't register. I went to the registration page and was in the process of registering when I clicked on my account and saw the receipt for my registration, mystery solved. 1 of my TIFL sisters saw my name in her wave so she knew i was registered. I was still dealing with cold that I had been self-medicating with for a few weeks. I knew the TRI was going to be a semi-struggle because I haven't done any real form of exercise or training and my body was recovering from the cold.

Saturday night I started getting my gear together. Since this was an indoor TRI i didn't need my bike or bucket, woo hoo!! I have a new swim bag that I was going to use. I pretty much had all my gear together and headed to bed. I woke up Sunday morning excited and nervous. I headed to Lifetime Fitness-Cary. I was there about 9:50am. As I am heading into the gym, I hear someone call my name. It's one of TIFL/Fit-Tastic/Galloway buddies Claudia. She tells me "i knew i recognized that car with all those bumper stickers"
My car could never be the getaway car because it is not inconspicuous at all lol.

We head into the gym. The lady at the front desk tells us to head down the hall to the TRI check-in desk. I pick up my race bib, swim cap and race shirt. We head to the lockers. We run into other TIFL sisters who are already there. A few of us are members of another TRI group, Black Triathlete Association. We take a few group pics with our new BTA shirts.

It's about time for me to get ready to swim. I head out to the pool. Sharon Johnson tells me "Jo you should go for the lane by the door so when you're done you are right by the steps". Good advice. Tina Alexander and I are in lane 1. At 10:40 we start our 10 minutes in the pool. I don't know what it is about the pool. Everytime I get in, i am in love and i also feel like i have totally forgotten how to swim. Note to self: you need more pool time. I could tell i wa struggling because every time i would breath when i went under the water it felt like i couldn't breath. At one point, I just kept my head above water and just swam. It was kinda of nerve wracking because i kept an eye on the clock so when it got close to 10 minutes i made it to the end of the lane and just waited until the counter was done because i was so done.

Swim is done, i have 10 miuntes to transition from swim to cycle. Let's call this event #2, changing out of a wet sports bra to a dry sports bra. I truly believed the right girl felt like it was dislocated during this process. I head to the cycle studio. This is event #3, locker room is on the 1st floor, cycle studio is on the 3rd floor. I'm about done done when i get into the cycle studio. They have already started. I'm OK with that. One of the Lifetime trainers helps me get set up on the bike and get my feet in the clips. Lawd have mercy, my right foot is not working with me or the Lifetime trainer, takes us several tries to get it in there. I'm on the spin bike for the very first time. I wish it was over before it started. I pedal through the longest 28 minutes of my life. When we count down to 0 i was never so happy in my ENTIRE life. I shall call getting off the spin bike event #4, one leg was off and the other leg was still on. I am my very own comedy show and didn't even know it. I'm off the bike and headed to the cardio area for the final event, 20 minute run on the treadmill. My body is so sore from the bike, climbing down the steps is a real task. I meander my way over to the treadmill. We line up by race number. since I'm 81, i'm in position #1. I tune my iphone to DJ Kool genius playlist and i'm off. At this point i am not concerned about running, i am just trying to get the feeling back into my arse and my feet. Slow and steady on the treadmill grooving to the music. This was my FAV event of the entire TRI. When the 20 minutes is over, I have completed my first TRI of 2015 and my first indoor TRI. I am a TRIATHLETE.