the big day

Here we are 2 months after the ride and I finally sit down to recap the days events. It turned out to be a great day after some logistical headaches. All ended well. Here's the story...

Well the big day finally came for the half marathon. What a weekend! The Silver Strand half marathon is from point A to point B. An absolutely beautiful ride. The Pacific ocean on one side, the San Diego harbor on the other. The A to B type format presents some challenges to all the competitors. You either have to get dropped off at the start and have someone pick you up at the finish... or... park at the start (which they discourage) and get someone to bring you back after the event. They provide shuttles. This works pretty well. Well, it works okay if you're not also dragging a handcycle, wheelchair and crutches along, not to mention 3 people. =) It's a bit of a logistical struggle. We ended up driving 2 cars to the start line, leaving one there and my stepson brought the wheelchair and crutches to the finish. I had transferred to the handcycle by this point to do the 1/2 marathon. Then we need to get all the people and apparatus back to the start line where my car is.

The 1/2 marathon.

We got off to a late start. You see, there are about 30-40 port-a-potties for roughly 2000 people. The line wrapped around the little park where the start line is. I kept hearing announcements... "the challenged athletes start is 20 minutes away", the line was moving very slowly. "the challenged athletes start is 10 minutes away". At this point I went to the head of the line and people were gracious enough to let me in ahead of them. Now off to get in the handcycle and start. By the time I got in and strapped down the challenged athletes had left 5 or more minutes before. I rode up to the line and asked if I just go or do I have to cross the start line to trigger my "chip" on my shoe for timing. The announcer said no just go ahead and then turned and asked me my name. I told him and as I rode down the long street the race starts on I hear him say "Let's hear it for Doug, he slept through his alarm I guess" Never mind, we had arrived almost an hour before start time. Oh well, no worries. I like the extra attention.

I start down the street and take it a little easy. If you've kept up with this blog you read that the last few weeks of training I hadn't felt particularly strong. I just figured I'd see how it went. After a mile or so if I felt like I could maintain a pace of about 12-13 mph I would. It wasn't long before I was passing some of the other handcyclists. One by one I would catch them and go by, shouting at them "good job", "you look strong", "keep it up". The mile markers started to go by one after another. Now, just so you know, the roller bladders start first, then the challenged athletes, then the runners. As the mile markers went by and I was passing other handcycles I started to pass roller bladders. I kept thinking it was just a matter of time before the elite runners started to pass me. I'm feeling strong, so i started to push it a little, my confidence is building. Mile 6, mile 7, mile 8. Still no runners. Right around mile 10 the course heads into a neighborhood before entering a naval radar station. Still no runners. At about 10 1/2 miles I hear a voice over my shoulder, "lead runners coming through". It's an escort on a bike. As the runner comes up next to me I wonder how fast this guys going after running over 10 miles so I pick up my pace to match his. I look down at my speedometer and he's going 16 mph. Wow! A little bit later there's a short hill and as I slow another runner goes by me. We go out and do a loop and start heading back to the neighborhood before we get to the finish line along the beach in Imperial Beach. At this point a 3rd runner goes by me. We turn around at the loop and I know that small hill is ahead of us and this time going down I'll be able to make up some ground. Sure enough I catch up to and pass the 3rd runner who had passed me. I get out a little ahead of him, but he's going a little faster than me now that we're back on flat ground. As he comes up next to me I think to myself  let's see what kind of kick he has after running almost 13 miles. I pace him down the home stretch. He's going over 16 mph. Very impressive. I let him get in front of me, he's a competitor, I'm here mostly for recreation. I didn't want us getting tangled up coming to the finish line.

It's a great feeling. All these people are cheering you on as you come down this long street to the finish line. I finished feeling very strong. I was very happy and surprised and wished I had pushed myself harder. By my computer on the bike I completed the 13.1 miles in 1 hour, 15 minutes. ( I would learn later from official timing my time was 1:13:12. A personal best. )

I hear some voices giving me words of encouragement. It's some members of the Kiwanis Club of Rancho Cucamonga there to cheer me on. Rick and Sharron made the trip down from Rancho. Thanks so much for their support and all of the many contributors. The money goes into our general fund and will be used to help out kids and adults in our community.

Next I turned my attention to looking for Natalie, my daughter, to complete the 1/2 marathon running. At about 2 hrs 30 min, she crossed the finish line after struggling with a sore knee for the last 2-3 miles. It still was her personal best. I'm very proud of her.

Once again thanks for all your help and support.

Until next year... See ya out on the road. =)

That was a close one!

Have you ever had that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach? Sure you have. It's the feeling when you realize something you didn't want to be true. The realization that something is final, over, finished. Maybe when you get news you weren't expecting. We've all felt it and it was my turn to feel it a couple weeks ago. I went online to sign up for the Silver Strand Half Marathon and at first I didn't believe my eyes. I blinked, then looked again. I think I may have rubbed my eyes. Right next to every category in red letters were the words sold out. My heart sank and yes, I got that feeling in my stomach. I've been training for a couple months and countless people had made donations and were encouraging me.

What do I do?

First I called and got a recording. I left a message and was going to have to wait until the next day. This was going to be a long 18 hours. Next I started looking online for another half marathon around the same time that could be a substitute. Long Beach looked good. I just kept thinking about having to figure out who gave what and having to try and refund all that money.

I called my daughter and gave her the news. I told her if we had to find a bike path somewhere we would ride the 13 miles and get it done.

Finally as all this was going through my head, I got a call the next day and the young lady could not have been nicer. Since the Silver Strand Half Marathon is also a fund raiser for The Challenged Athletes Foundation she explained they always hold back a few entries for just this kind of situation.

Whew!

So that feeling in the pit of my stomach is gone and all is well with the world again. Thanks again for all your support. I can't wait until November 15th!

See ya on the road...

Doug

Quick update

I haven't posted anything in weeks. I wanted to let you know I've still been training and the fund raising has been going well. I'm raffling off a bbq, stainless steel tool set, charcoal and a lighter donated by Home Depot in North Fontana. A dollar a peice or 6 for $5.00. Let me know if you want some. The drawing is on November 10th. Also, KFRG donated some gift certificates from Total Time, a watch shop. They're worth $100.00, I'm taking bids on them, make me an offer.

The training is getting better. I hit a stretch where I just didn't feel like I had any strength or stamina. I dropped down a couple gears and I feel much better. I'm going to see if I can slowly work back up over the next few days. 15 miles this sunday. Wish me luck.

Got the bike tuned up at Don's Bikes in Rialto, new front tire and a cable, lubed and adjusted, very smooth this morning. Can't wait for the time change so I'm not riding in the dark.

Thanks for reading!

See ya out on the road.

Doug

Have I been training?

That was the question I was asking myself out on the road this morning. I've been checking with my training mentors and they assure me everyone goes through it. I just didn't feel like I had any strength or wind today. Last week I felt like Superman.

I kept going though. I guess that's the important thing.

Looking forward to turning the corner and getting back on track. Thanks for listening to my whining. I'll stop now.

More donations are coming in. Thanks to Cindy at the Chino Kiwanis. Patti dropped a check in the mail. Ben with R.C. Kiwanis gave me a check as well. The donations are rolling in slowly and surely.

I have a BBQ set that was donated by The Home Depot in North Fontana (thanks Troy). We're doing a raffle to give it away. We'll do the drawing on November 10th. It's a dollar a ticket, 6 for $5.00.

Good luck...

See ya on the road!

Doug

Summer's Gone. Fall Into an Epic Challenge. | Active.com

Summer's Gone. Fall Into an Epic Challenge. | Active.com

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Doesn't take much to make me happy!

Oh my goodness! It was cold out today! Well, cold for riding with your bare face and hands exposed in the wind. I think it was about 50 degrees. How quick the weather changes. I think our highs today are supposed to be around 70, that's about what I was riding in at 6am about 4 or 5 days ago. Wow!.

So today after taking a couple warm up laps around the neighborhood I head out onto the big 4 lane street I ride up and down. It's a little over a mile from top to bottom. I just go up and down to get some miles in. Well today I turn the corner and there's the street sweeper. I was so excited. I'm sure about now you're thinking really? You're excited about the street sweeper? You have to understand the gutters are a filthy hazardous place to ride a bike. Let's see if I can remember a few things I've seen, and tried to dodge, as I ride up and down this hill. Trash, I guess that goes with out saying, (people throw a lot of trash out) a lot of vegetation from leaves to twigs to branches to little seeds that fall from the trees, accumulate and fly up in your face, there was even a log one day. Yep, a log. Batteries, nuts, bolts, pieces of metal, siding from a house, rocks, (of all sizes) broken glass ( a lot of broken glass) car parts (big and small) critters, (who didn't make it across the road) =(, wood, shoes, etc. It goes on and on.

That's why when I saw the street sweeper I knew that I would be riding in a clean gutter and wouldn't have to look for potential tire popping hazards. A nice smooth ride is what I got and it was beautiful.

Tomorrow it will be littered again, but today it was clean and sparkly.

See ya on the road.

Doug

Generosity

As you can imagine there are days when you don't want to get up before the sun to go out and ride. I love it once I'm out on the road, it's leaving those sheets that are just the right temperature that is the difficult part. But you know what keeps me motivated? It's the generosity of the people that are supporting me. The words of encouragement, the checks that are coming in, the donations, it all comes to me as I struggle to throw back those covers and strap on my helmut to go out and do the 4, 7 or 15 miles I have to do that day.

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

See ya on the road!

Doug