We really did attempt to follow Dad's instructions/rules for the Tour:
"Riding Saturday from Linky Stone at 8AM sharp"
However, I underestimated (greatly) how much time is required to get ourselves up and dressed, Max up and dressed and fed, bike tires inflated, bike hitch/carrier installed on car, gear/bikes loaded on car. But, just like you can't have a Tour de France without Lance Armstrong, you cannot have a Tour de Greenville without the Ludwigs. And therefore, the rest of the crew eagerly awaited our arrival and we were off to the races at 8:33 (sharp). Wait, Lance Armstrong didn't race in the Tour de France this year you say? Oops.
The weather at the start of the race was slightly sketchy: drizzle and clouds, but cool and comfortable. (That reminds me of a great joke. Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? Answer at the end of the post. That's how I get you to read the whole entry.)
So, Team Ludwig got off to a great start. Max and Chris were really pulling the team, however, as I found myself struggling after about a mile. Note to self: to be a serious biker, you really need to stick to a light breakfast. Oatmeal is not light. I really wasn't sure if I would be able to make it - I was feeling incredibly nauseous. But since my team wasn't even in my sights, I kept on trucking.
Just when I thought I could actually complete the first leg of this race, I hit "THE DETOUR." Now, I guess by definition a detour is longer than the original route..but HOLY COW that was the detour from hell. Ok, first you have to pedal up a 90 degree incline, then once you tackle that you need to ride through heavy traffic until you reach your next obstacle, which is about half a mile of off-road pedaling through wet grass while attempting not to hit any dips which will throw you into oncoming (heavy) traffic. I MAY have let an inappropriate word (or two) fly. Which is actually a miracle in itself considering that I couldn't catch my breath.
Eventually I did make it to Travelers Rest for our pit stop. I was definitely pulling up the rear. Even Sam was smack-talking me when I finally dragged in. Oh well, a poor showing for this member of Team Ludwig. At least Max got a good nap in.
Here he is testing out a cap for our potential future team uniforms:
He also made sure to re-balance his electrolytes after the rough ride:
And then, for motivation, Uncle Paul showed Max how he would be carried around town if he won the Tour de Greenville. It really gave Max the fire to fight for victory.
So after my protein bar and rest, I was ready to tackle leg #2 of Tour de Greenville, "the return to Greenville." My motto for this leg was "slow and steady wins the race"...but let's face it, that's not really true unless you are taking part in one of those competitions where you get a trophy just for participating. Ok, so I guess my motto really was "I'll get there when I get there" with a little dash of "detours are for dummies." Yep, no detours on the return trip - we were really living on the edge by driving around the road blocks and directly through the "construction zone". And when it really got tough, I was promised ice cream if I would just finish. Suddenly I got my second wind.
Oh, I forgot! There was one detour...mandated by the rules committee.
It's all fun and games until somebody loses a finger.
Yay, we finally made it back to Greenville...and we were rewarded...not with a medal, but this was much better!
I'm pretty sure I turned in my personal worst performance....but Team Ludwig can't fire me, so all's well that ends well :)
OH, and the answer to the joke from above...as if you didn't know it:
For Drizzle!
ba-dum-dum
1 comment:
Your best ever!
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