Tour de Cure

Team Rev Century Special Forces

4:20 a.m. July 5th arrived. My alarm went off. I shook off a few cobwebs. Grabbed a bowl of Life cereal. Made a quick trip to 7-11 for a Monster, Double Gulp and ice for the He’Brews. Next stop was Lo’s. BTW. Sorry Lo for forgetting to strap down your rear wheel.  It was time for the Tour de Cure. Lo and I wound our way up 367 towards Grafton.  Susan Kloha caught our wheel at about 270 and held on the rest of the way. We pulled into the parking lot and parked across from a couple of tri-atheletes. How did I know? I just knew. I have been beaten by enough of them in tt’s and road races that I can almost smell them.
I have a lot of friends who are tri’s. Please do not take this personally! I am just a little bitter because they tend to rain on my racing parade rather frequently.
Lo and I could tell that they were the type that hates to lose. Our mission was set. Beat these gals.
Anyway…Lo, Susan, and myself hooked up with Janet, Dess, Doug, and Ed to form a real century wrecking crew.
The conditions were ideal..cloudy with minimal winds. The scenery was beautiful except for the numerous dead racoons along the way. Must have been a rough night to be a racoon. I think I counted about 6 dead ones along the way. Anyway….We gobbled up the first 70 miles or so with impressive proficiency. We kept a 19-20 mph pace. Miles 70 through 100 became more difficult as the wind picked up and the course became hillier.  Our pace dipped to about 16-17 mph. Our only downfall was that our bladders were not synchronized. At the beginning of the ride we vowed that we would only stop a couple of times. That did not pan out so we wound up making more potty stops than anticipated. “The Triatheletes” did not. Not sure if they had “Go Girls” or what but they just never stopped. They became our “rabbits”. Yeah we had to pee more than they did but da*n it we were faster!
I have to admit that passing them became a little bit of a fixation for me and I am grateful that the rest of our group followed suit. We would pass them on the road. They would pass us when we stopped at the rest stops but the crucial time came in the last 15 miles.
By God. We HAD TO FINISH BEFORE THEM.
Lo was seeing double….Susan’s knee was bothering her… but we reeled them in like a bass on the line.
Then WOOSH! We blasted by them and descended through Elash with blistering speed. It was a real rush. We could tell that they were p*ssed and that made it all the more fun.
The ride was over moments after that. While the race against the tri’s was a real motivator, it should not overshadow the spirit of Team Rev that permeated the race.
I believe Ana did 50. Way to go man! Maro I believe did the 50 as well and raised a sick amount of money for this VERY WORTHY cause.
Mary K and Cheryl pushed themselves to new limits on their bikes. Mary went 77 miles. Cheryl 50. Nice job ladies!

Dessa was her usual “machine-like” self out there. Making the hammering look easy and doing it with a smile.

We celebrated Janet’s 55th birthday with some brews and cookie cake. 55 and riding like she’s 25! Janet is amazing!

All of the Team Rev ladies really pushed their riding to the next level today. The energy was truly impressive.

After the race, I could see the respect that Team Rev/J&J  has gained from the other big Tour de Cure teams like Gold’s Gym and Gus’ Gang.  We have become a major player in this event. It felt good to see the respect we were given.

A tremendous amount of credit has to be given to Cheryl. She took the bull by the horns on this event and made it a real success. For God’s sake Team Rev raised over $13,000 dollars. THAT IS HUGE. We should all be very proud.
Thanks to everyone who came out and rode.
Thanks to Johnson & Johnson for being a great partner.
Thanks to all of the friends, family etc who donated to the cause.
Tour de Cure is a very gleaming feather in the cap of Team Rev.
Here’s to everyone who has helped fluff that feather!

I have a very personal vendetta against diabetes. It took my Mom’s life in 2003. It is a cruel disease that needs to be erradicated. I can’t tell you how gratified I am to see us all out there hammering for a cure to this vile disease. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Rev on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BR

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