Jun 7, 2007 - Bicycle Ride Reviews    Comments Off on Tour de Cure 2007 is over!

Tour de Cure 2007 is over!

Wow!  How much fun can you really have in two days?  This may be one of the best rides I’ve done in a long time.  Yes, you can still support me!

Improvements over 2006:

  • Start and finish in Murfreesboro downtown square!
  • We finished at St Mary’s again – yaaa! 
  • Finish line meal of steak, baked potato, corn, watermelon.  Mmmm…
  • Well-organized Harpeth Bike Club “medical supplies” party!
  • Great bands at George Dickel and St Mary’s!
  • Though I didn’t do it, 40 and 70 mile Saturday same-day routes!

 Read more for details!
 

Ride Day 1 – Usual route, 75 miles, Dickel for lunch, climb up Monteagle to St Mary’s.  This year, I climbed Roark’s Cove Road without stopping to catch my breath.  Seriously, I have a 34/25 low gear, and there’s some really steep stuff!   Weather was great – overcast, and a few light showers kept us cool.  But, the light rain did cause some problems from wet shorts! 

Speaking of weather, we rode with weatherman Jeff Ray from WKRN.  He seems like a nice guy.  The longest ride he’s ridden was something like 30 miles prior to the TdC, therefore he SAG’ed up the mountain climb.  I never saw him at the end of day 2.  I wonder how he did?  He had lots of nice things to say about the HBC and how much fun it is to paceline!

At the finish, the room assignments were very organized.  There was plenty of salad, spaghetti and dessert.  Caroline (a HBC member) got Happy Birthday sung at least 25 times.  It got to be a joke.  Larae finally got her tent out of the box, with her brand new sleeping bag, and camped.  While away, someone “tossed her tent”.  I swear it wasn’t me!

Check the pictures – you’ll see how beautiful it is up at St Mary’s.  It’s always cool up there, and the sunsets are spectacular! 

Ride Day 2 – As usual, the mountain descent was awesome!  You don’t drop below 35mph for what seems like 10 minutes.  The curves are smooth and fast – nothing real dangerous other than road debris or other riders!  The HBC group always gets to the front so we can descend without running over brake riders!  Riding the brakes can be very dangerous on a descent with other people!

Most of day 2 was spent in big pacelines.  The Murfreesboro Bike Club seemed to be riding about the same pace as us, so we constantly leapfrogged each other.  I think we spent more time at the rest stops, so we seemed to keep passing them.  The HBC group more or less stayed together until about Bell Buckle.  After the traditional ice cream (yes, you missed it) and singing Happy Birthday to Caroline again, Les, Larae, Phil and Connie broke out leaving Bell Buckle.  I thought, I didn’t really want to ride fast, and I didn’t want to ride slow, so I ended up riding between Bell Buckle and the last rest stop by myself.  I finally caught the breakaway at the last stop and jumped on.

 Leaving the last rest stop with Les & Co., things got a little crazy.  There are lots of turns, which we took at 25mph in tight paceline formation.  Pretty fun, but also pretty exhausting.  There’s nothing like being #2 in the line behind Les, when he announces he’s taking that next hill at 18mph.  I held him on that one, but finally pulled out and got dropped.  Ugh.  Thank goodness because we hit the “headwind from hell”!  I’m gonna throw a milkshake at Jeff Jay next time I see him! 

The return route into Murfreesboro was a scenic route in front of the college, past Wal Mart (which sucked) and through some very pretty historical neighborhoods.  Downtown, Donna was waiting with the other greeters and the air horn.  Man, did that ice-soaked rag on my neck feel good.  Steak, baked potato, corn on the cob and watermelon awaited us at the finish.  Too bad I’m trying not to eat beef, but I ate it anyways.  Of course, when Caroline arrived, we all sang Happy Birthday, even though we had already sung it 19 times, and Saturday was actually her birthday!

Long story short, 2007 was one of the greatest TdC’s I’ve ever ridden.  If you haven’t ridden it, or were turned off from disorganization in 2006, it’s fixed and better than ever.  The only thing they’re missing is MORE RIDERS!  $150 is the minimum funds required, which is CHEAP for an overnight ride.  The accommodations and attractions are all located at St Mary’s, so there’s no bus riding around like the Jack and Back.  Come out and give it a shot in 2008.

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