Part Three: Toe Popsicles

After exiting the water, I made my way to the wetsuit strippers. I had my wetsuit off my upper body by the time I got to them. The wetsuit strippers are like machines. They shouted instructions at me: "Down on the ground! Lift up your butt! Butt down, legs up!" They were yelling instructions so quickly, I was just hoping that I was keeping up with how fast they were moving. In the end, the stripping was successful, they handed me my wetsuit and I was on my way up the helix.

The air temperature wasn't much warmer than what it was when we first got in the water, and the concrete on the helix was mighty cold. Dang! I should have worn socks! I made the chilly run up the helix and was soon into the much warmer ballroom to pick up my transition bag and then made my way into the changing area. Women were all over the place, scrambling to get their things organized and trying to pull dry clothes on over their wet bodies. I tried to dry off as much as I could, but I still had a bugger of a time getting my clothes on. I got them on correctly, for the most part, although I did try to put my bike shorts on backwards. Whoopsies! Note to self: the large part of the bike pad goes in the back...

I managed to pop off a snap on my race belt and had to scramble to find a safety pin. Thankfully, one of volunteers directed me to a very large bag of safety pins. I fixed my race belt and then I was out of the ballroom to be slathered with sunscreen. As soon as I exited the building, I saw my family waiting just outside the door. It was nice to see them before I headed out for the long ride. I waved to the camera and then I stopped to get some sunscreen, the only exposed flesh being my legs and neck. It was the quickest I have ever had sunscreen put on me!

I ran down the guantlet of bikes, and finally I made it to mine. The volunteer was having a horrible time figuring out which bike was mine for some reason. I don't know why it was so hard because there were only about 5 bikes left on the rack by the time I got there.

So, I tried to give him a little direction:

He finally chose the right bike and then I was off to the races.

The one thing I didn't pack in my transition bag and wish I had:

My poor toes were so cold, I thought they were never going to warm up. No worries, they finally warmed completely around mile 80. I did put socks in my T1 bag, so I put them on despite feeling more comfortable riding sockless on my training rides. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I made all day! I was making my way out to Verona when I caught up with Captain Cartwheel (she had an amazing swim!). It was really nice to see her since I didn't get to say a final Good Luck! before we set off in the water. She was looking good, and like most others, was just trying to get into the groove of things on the bike before we hit the hills in Verona. We had a quick conversation as I passed, and now I cannot remember what it was about. I didn't see her again until the run.

The trip to Verona was pretty uneventful until we were just about to enter the city and I saw a guy that had to pull over because he broke his chain. I felt so bad and really hoped that the tech vehicle would stop and they could help him. It would be awful to have your race end so early in the day because of something like that.

The first big hill on the course I got a major flashback of riding the course with The Captain in early August. It made me smile, but I tried not to daydream to much so I didn't swerve off the road. I have been known to do that from time to time...

On one of the first really crappy hills where we had to climb to the top of a hill, turn at an intersection and continue climbing, a spectator ran me up the hill yelling and cheering for me. He had some sort of affiliation with TNT and was yelling "GO TEAM!" which really helped to motivate me. He dropped off from cheering when I neared the top and then in true Ms. R fashion, I dropped my chain. OH HELL! It's going to be a long day if this keeps up! I tried to pedal it back onto the sprocket, but it wasn't going to give me an inch so I had to get off my bike and fix it. It only took a couple seconds to fix, but by the time I went to get back on my bike, there were so many other racers coming up the hill, I had to wait for an opening. As soon as I got back on my bike, I had a nice coast downhill until the next set of hills. See a pattern here..UP, down, UP, down, UP, UP, UP, down. It was seemingly endless.

I had to go to the bathroom so bad, but didn't want to pull over to the side of the road. I finally found a port-o-john at one of the water stops and took a seat. Ahhh, there's nothing much more relieving than popping a squat when you've had to go for quite awhile. Marathon Laura saw me stop at the potty and yelled, "What? No peeing on the bike today?!" Ah, no thank you. It's much too early in the race to be sitting in that for the next 80 miles.

I remember hoping that I would make it to Verona before I got passed by the leader, and then having a little bit of a party when I turned at the intersection to bike into the party at Verona and the lead car had not passed by yet. It was not a full minute later that I was passed by this nice looking vehicle and then by the Mac Attack at blazing speed (aka Chris McDonald):

So, I made my impromptu goal. I soon arrived at the party in Verona where I saw the entire Iron Cheer Crew. Down in the main crowd I was able to spot my brother and sister-in-law who managed to see me at the last second. Apparently, my parents were off somewhere doing something more important ::sigh:: and missed me entirely so they had to wait another 2 1/2 hours or so until I came through Verona again to see me.

In the mass of the Iron Cheer Crew, I didn't see either Safety Bob or Mr. Fury. They had talked about staking out a spot on the course elsewhere because they were going to ride on Safety Bob's motorcycle, but I didn't see them on the first loop. I started to worry a little because I am a notorious worrier when it comes to motorcycles, but I kept on chugging along and made my way out to Mt. Horeb. I was just riding along past a cow pasture, minding my own business when a woman started to pass me who quickly turned into Crazy Lady on the Bike. She seemed normal, until she started talking to the cows. Crazy Lady on the Bike was mooing and asking the cows how they were doing like they were actually going to answer her. Ok Crazy Lady on the Bike, whatever gets you through the day. And I thought I had problems...

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful until I got to the infamous Tour de France Hill and saw Safety Bob and Mr. Fury. YES! Finally, I thought I was NEVER going to see you guys! Mr. Fury ran beside me and asked me how I was doing. I replied with an assertive, "I'm so sick of these F#*%ING hills!" He, calm as always, said, "You're doing great babe, keep it up. You look so good!" We exchanged I love yous, blew him a kiss and then I was off to finish up the ride.

Seeing those two really gave me a boost and I felt like I was flying on my way back to Verona. When I got back to the part on the streets of Verona, I saw the Iron Cheer Crew, and I finally got to see my parents. I made sure the coast was clear and then pulled over to give my mom a hug. I tried to persuade my dad to give me a hug too but he was trying to take a picture. He finally got the perfect picture (which I'll post when I get a copy of it), and then he gave me a hug. I hopped back on my bike and saw my brother and sister-in-law in the crowd and pulled over far enough to give them high fives on my way out of town.

I made my way back to Madison smiling the entire time knowing I would soon be off my bike. I got a second wind as I biked through the Alliant Energy Center parking lot and rounded the corner to the path that lead straight back to Monona Terrace. It felt great to see the terrace and when I was pulling up to the helix, I heard Safety Bob screaming my name from the top. I looked up and saw him with his face hidden behind his camera which is how we often see him these days.

I made my way up the helix and saw the volunteers waiting at the top to take our bikes. I rode up to one of them and said, "You're going to have to hold tight because I don't think I can get off this thing alone." I gently lifted my leg off one side of my bike, and ran the most crooked line I possibly could have back to the ballroom to grab my T2 bag. I honestly don't think I could have passed a sobriety test with the wobbly line I ran toward the entrance of the terrace. I was looking forward to the run because that is my true love of the three. Finally home!