So, it’s the Wednesday after the Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge, and I’m spending some quality time at home with a tissue box — not for tears of joy or otherwise, but for the cold that I came down with the day before the ride.
Tommie and I packed up our Mini Countryman on Saturday and headed out with our bikes to go ride 100 miles for Livestrong the next morning. I was a little concerned about my head cold, but figured that if I could ride the 70-miler last year on only one hour of sleep, I’d be fine to complete the full century with a cold — as long as I got some rest.
Like last year we booked a room at the Normandy Farm Hotel across from the starting line, but this time I was smart. I got us a room in one of the outer guest houses so that if there were another wedding in the building we wouldn’t hear the noise and could get some sleep.
At 10 p.m. we turned on some Law and Order and crawled into bed. At 11 the party started. There are four units in our guest house, and what sounded like a college dorm party was happening in the unit next to ours. Around midnight the party ended (after I walked around and saw beer cans everywhere and smelled cigarette smoke from the non-smoking room), and so I went to sleep.
Maybe 40 minutes later the party started back up again, but this time it sounded like it was just getting started. I won’t bore you with the details of the numerous calls to the front desk, the various visits by security, the promises to call the police, the discussions about moving us into a new room at 2 a.m., or the wedding party best man who apologized to me profusely.
Next morning: Tommie and I only got a couple of hours of sleep, I still had a head cold, and we headed out at 6:15 a.m. ready to ride in the FREEZING COLD summer morning.
In regards to the ride, the thing that Tommie and I prepared most for was the climb to Landis Store — a mile-long uphill climb. I got a bit nervous when I started up the climb (the signs that read “It’s one mile, and it’s ALL uphill” didn’t help) but about a third of the way up I found my rhythm and I was breathing easy. My legs burned a bit, but other than that it was really not so bad.
That was around mile 56. I lasted another 14 miles, and then I bonked. I actually bonked 13 miles later but Tommie pushed me to get to 70. Two hours of sleep + head cold = me not being able to ride 100 hilly miles.
Feeling so proud of myself for making Landis Store my bitch, I was not upset that I had to call it quits at 70 miles. Tom continued on by bike, and I hitched a ride with a SAG van.
While driving back to the finish line I asked the guys in the van if they knew whether Lance Armstrong rode. He had welcomed everyone at the start and said something about planning to ride the 100 miles, but he was really hungover after a crazy night. I hadn’t seen him on the course and wondered if he rode at all.
One guy responded, “Yeah. He only rode 45 miles though. Apparently he hooked up with some bridal party and drank with them all night.”
I laughed out loud. “Lance was partying with a bridal party all night?”
“Yeah, he said he saw there was a wedding at the hotel and asked to meet the bride and groom.”
So, there you have it. We’re pretty confident (given that Lance was staying at our hotel and there was only one bridal party) that Lance was at the party that kept us up all night. He may even be the reason the party started back up after it broke up the first time.
Let me tell you, if the security guards would have just said that Lance was in there, Tommie and I would have joined the party instead of begging them to let us sleep.
In the end, I did not ride the full century, but I did climb up to Landis Store like it was nothing, and I did get to cheer Tommie in through the finish line — which was amazing. And, I got a great story out of the deal.
Thanks once again to everyone for helping us raise more than $6,000 to pick a fight with cancer.
Live strong!
And, eff you, Cancer!
Ha, if it were Lance, that’d be seriously amusing. I’ve heard he knows how to party, too.
I have yet to ride the Landis climb since historically I’ve done the 70 mile loop twice (and the 48 once). I’m not sure if I’ll be back next year since there’s a ride up here that same weekend I want to do, but one of these days I’ll seriously tackle the 100 mile loop.
Sorry I didn’t say hi, there were a ton of people on the road. The first 10 miles were blistering at a 20mph pace and I was either catching up to some of my teammates or trying to avoid Doug on the beach cruiser
You did way more riding on two hours of sleep than I would’ve been able to do, and with a cold!
I think we’re gonna take a break from the ride next year too. We’d like to find something new maybe in southern virginia.
The funny thing about Landis Store is that it wasn’t the climb up to it that was so bad. We knew about it and had prepared for it. But, after the rest stop, when you’re feeling so proud of yourself for climbing up there, you turn left and are immediately faced with another big hill. The whole next segment is hilly.
The 100 is an insane ride. One day I’ll figure out a way to sleep a full night before that ride and tackle the full course. Two years in a row of not sleeping, I think the answer is to get a room anywhere but Normandy Farm. That place is like a college dorm.
Let me know if you ever come down to the DC area to ride. Would love to join you.
BTW – What was the story with Doug and the bike? We passed them on the road and laughed, but I didn’t realize who it was. It’s hysterical! Was it a gift?
Not sure on the story. I saw a pic of the bike from a friend the day before, but didn’t know who would ride it (I thought Lance would).
I do know when I passed him I asked him if he needed a draft, then took off
I love the DC area, and I need to get down there at some point. We only hit up so many museums when we were down there in ’10.
Also, there’s a few hotels nearby that are worth checking out. The first year I did the ride, Team Fatty rode in from the hotel to the school.
Yeah, we’ll have to look into that. Definitely taking next year off, but I plan on completing that century one day…
Nice. I totally did not recognize him behind the wicker basket and flowers. So funny.