Red Ribbon Ride - Day 4

Route -Northfield to the State Capitol in St. Paul

Distance = 45.69 miles
Time = 3.31.00
Average speed = 13.0 mph
Maximum speed = 30.5 mph
Odometer = 3392.7 miles

Took me awhile to get to sleep. But once I did, it was solid! Five in the morning still came too early for me! I was very stiff and thought today might actually be miserable even though it was shorter. I got a little better as I started walking around. I was also worried about forgetting something since I didn’t have to account for everything like when I was camping.

Lorrie dropped me off at the middle school around 5:30am. Plenty of time. By the time I’d found a table to sit at and got my food, the rest of my teammates started making their way in. As soon as Kelli set down her water bottles, I realized I didn’t have mine. Oops! Need those! So I called Lorrie and she had put them in the refrigerator for me last night. Sweet! Out of sight out of mind though. Especially for me that early in the morning! I made her cup of coffee to take with her. I’m guessing it was Peace Coffee since they sponsored us. But I don’t know for sure and Lorrie said it was AWFUL. We all took our time eating and then when we got ready to go out, John said a prayer while we all held hands. A nice way to start the day. Should have been doing that all along I suppose.

After preparing our bikes (tire pressure, etc.), getting a couple photos, and lollygagging a little, we set off. The route took us through downtown Northfield so I led the way. That was pretty fun. Northfield is such a cycling friendly place, I thought there would be more people out. Maybe they were all out riding! Anyway, it was still nice. We turned right on Highway 3 from 2^nd Street where there’s a slight incline. I heard all kinds of moaning and groaning with that good morning incline! (= We proceeded on to Farmington where there was the first pit stop. I was feeling pretty good by that time. Seems like I generally start feeling stronger as I ride more rather than more tired. The rest of the ride was mainly Kelli and me up and down the rolling hills through Farmington, Apple Valley, and Eagen. There was a Twins Pit Stop (2) that was SO cute! We stayed there for quite awhile. They all had their Twins uniforms on, there was a beer vender (fake beer), Twins cutouts for us to pose in, and they would every so often play a little game in the grass behind them with a whiffle ball and one of those huge plastic kids’ bats. Cute! We were taking our time for the most part because at the end of the ride would be the holding area where we would have to wait for everyone to finish and until about 1pm before the closing ceremony. Felt like we were at Pit Stop 3 forever! Lots of people came and left. But there were only about 7 miles through St. Paul left to the finish. Jean showed up with her new team, Mrs. Peterson’s Peeps, so I asked if we could wait for her and all ride in together. So we did. Along with Mrs. Peterson’s Peeps. It was a long “peloton” with lots of cheering and chattering. A funny thing happened though, remember that guy who “stopped short” that caused an accident with Lorrie and another guy on A Day on the Ride? Well, he showed up in front of me… I was leading the big bunch. I tried to slow down to let him go but he just slowed with us. I purposefully missed a light so he would go through it. But he stopped. Kelli and I passed him at one point, but he came right up to the front. Normally I wouldn’t care. I would just follow him. But he wasn’t pointing out pot holes or grates in the road, which are dangerous. He’s dangerous! I told Kelli why I was riding so inconsistently and she said, “Good plan!” Apparently he had caused an accident on one of her group rides as well. Scary! I kept him far enough ahead that I could see what was in the road and could send the message back through the two teams. At stop lights we did cheers. I’m sure the people in those neighborhoods thought we were crazy if they didn’t know what was going on. (= Heading up to the holding area, Rand showed up next to me and tried to race as we’d done the 2^nd day. I beat him to the top but then missed the entrance to the park. lol Dorks!

In the holding area were lunch and a massage. That was all I cared about! Lunch was a pretty good sandwich and pasta. And I got the last cookie from the “Cookie Waiter” from the previous pit stop. I didn’t want one back then because I didn’t know what kind of ride the next 7 miles would be. My patience paid off! (= I got a great 10 minute massage in which the knot on my left shoulder blade was highlighted. Ouch! She made a funny comment at some point to another of the massage therapists. I had sunscreen and sweat all over me so it was easy for her to do the massage. She said to her co-worker, “Hey, she came pre-lubricated!” which, after some of the other comments from the weekend, made a few people laugh. Definitely one for Adam’s quote book! Then we waited. And waited. Thankfully there was shade in the area so we weren’t all burning up. Once they had us line up we were a little more in the sun and we had to wait awhile there too. I think we were waiting for the crew to walk down to their waiting area before we went to the font of the capitol. Eventually we were freed. It was a very very slow ride down a pretty steep hill. Didn’t seem like anyone fell or crashed into each other. Good thing! When we got to the sidewalk coming up to the Capitol, we could start hearing the cheering. That was very cool! There were so many people there! I saw Lorrie right away with the camera trying to get every moment. They split us into two sides so she had to wait and see which side we went to. Poor thing. But it worked out. After we were all lined up with our bikes in front of the stage, the crew walked down in a space left for them in the middle of the two sides of cyclists. Seeing the crew come in is always emotional for me… and others. They have spent the past four days taking care of nearly our every need. I never saw anyone angry or frustrated… just smiles. They are an amazing bunch of people! More so, I think, than the cyclists. We just ride. Well, we do ride far so I guess I should give us some credit too! Heheh! Anyway, we splashed them with water from our water bottles as a salute. The program was pretty quick. Thankfully since it was very hot and very sunny. This is terrible but I have no idea who the people were that spoke, aside from Teresa, the ride director. The first was a woman who is a politician and then someone who I guess is a radio personality and a local comedian. I’ll go to the ride website later and see if I can find out who they were and do an addendum. lol Lots of cheering and photos followed. Jean’s partner Rose was there with some of their friends from church and a few signs. Lorrie had her sign with her as well.

It was nice having someone there for me this time. All through the ride actually, not just at the end. I remember how I felt at the end of the AIDS/LifeCycle ride in LA with no one there cheering for me, feeling like there wasn’t anyone who was excited to have me back after a week. I would say maybe Emma was glad but she’d spent her week with Emily and Ila so she might not have been quite ready for me to be back yet! lol Anyway, that was a very nice feeling! I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a supportive girlfriend and that I get to ride my bike as much as I want. Incredible!

I don’t plan on doing much more riding this summer as I have a licensing exam to prepare for. I made that decision before the RRR because I felt like the training or even the pressure to train was taking me away from studying. So, no more rides until I take the exam. Back to running for awhile.

Also, if you sponsored me financially for this ride or encouraged me along the way… I want to THANK YOU VERY MUCH! The support means everything to me!!

To see all the photos Lorrie and I took, go to my gallery at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/jenniferphd/main/red_ribbon_ride