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"This is going to be life-changing" Sunday, August 21, 2011 No offense to Austin, but let's face it, at 2,782 feet of climbing compared with Philadelphia's 4,263, last year's LiveStrong experience in Texas was definitely Team Flatty. 
Due to an excellent late afternoon visit with college friends to watch the Independence spank the magicJack in WPS playoff
action at PPL Park (right),
I failed to attend the Team Fatty Philadelphia dinner on Saturday evening.
To make up for that transgression, I arrived at LiveStrong "central"
(Montgomery County Community College)
early Sunday morning to make the short 3.7 mile ride down to Team Fatty "central"
(Hyatt Summerfield Suites, the site of later greatness)
to join the Team's caravan to the start.
I met Philly Jen (Team Captain, on her Bike Friday that she ended up powering 45 miles!), Bruce, Dave, Aaron (you have to LOVE the expression on his face at right),
and Shawn for the ride back to MCCC.
Once there, we queued up in the start chute with other Team members
(Jenny Hoops, Doug, Joel, Maggie, Jennie, Ashley, Paul, Irene, Carl, and a handful of other names I failed get--my apologies for any
errors, corrections welcome) and surveyed the scene.
I headed out at 7:55am. What would have been a leisurely 3 hours to make the cutoff
(a bit less than 11 mph) became a more aggressive 15+ mph pace over a fairly hilly course
(official map |
mapmyride version |
cue sheet).
In the large group of riders making up my wave, I lost track of the other Fatties whom I knew were
planning on the 100-mile route and pushed ahead by myself.
In the interest of time and with full water bottles (note to self: the coconut water experiment is officially OVER) and plenty of food, I decided to skip rest stops #1 (which turned out not to be part of the 100-mile route), #2, and #3. Forty five minutes into the ride (mile 11 or so), the threat of heavy rain became a reality. It was warm enough that I opted not to stop and don my rain jacket (as several riders pulled over to do)--that decision was rewarded five minutes later as the pelting downpour stopped as quickly as it had started. I crossed the Dairy Lane cutoff at 9:55am (with a mere 5 minutes to spare) and rolled 2 more miles to rest stop #4 where I connected up with Doug. After a quick defueling and refueling, we headed out together, but his pace proved faster than mine and he pulled ahead. Somewhere before rest stop #5, I found myself riding with a guy named Steve wearing an orange jersey and from the Philadelphia area. We rode together to the rest stop where we connected with another guy named Steve, also wearing an orange jersey, and also from the Philadelphia area. Pleased that this convergence made my remembering names fairly straightforward, the three of us headed out. For a relatively flat 5 mile or so stretch around mile 50, we found ourselves part of a paceline of 8-10 riders. Our average speed of 20+ mph was helped considerably by a rider with aerobars who in true time trial/triathlon fashion apparently felt uncomfortable riding out of the wind. He paid for his long pull, though, when the road turned markedly up at the bottom of "Landis Hill" (with an 8%+ grade, no doubt a cousin to B2B's Leviathan). 
Steve2
and I slogged our way up, putting some distance between our paceline companions and us in the process and passing more than a few
riders who had elected to dismount and walk.
Rest stop #6 at the top was a welcome reward, even if the stop's hot dogs weren't (hot dogs? really?).
As we exited the rest stop, signs promised 9 miles of downhill until the next stop.
The signs lied. Almost immediately, we found ourselves climbing with cold legs, albeit not for long. That effort over, the terrain did in fact turn decidedly down at times, including a stretch where my top speed of 45.8 mph might have been higher had I not been forced to take care passing other riders. 
Water bottles full, we skipped rest stop #7 and continued on.
A bit farther along, though, with our legs getting heavy, we opted for a lengthier than usual break at rest stop #3.
It's worth a shout-out here to the ride's incredible volunteers.
Police officers, fire fighters, and others did an amazing job at busy road crossings--I don't think I had to stop for cross traffic more than once the entire ride.
And the teams at the rest stops were equally phenomenal, often going so far as to pour Gatorade or water rather than allow us the exertion of serving ourselves.
Rest stop #3 was no different in this excellence, but it offered a plus beyond that of the others.
As I pulled into the stop, I heard a cry of "Hey, Fatty" and wheeled my bike around in the direction of the sound. Normally, those might be fighting words, but not when Fat Cyclists (www.fatcyclist.com) are in the house. Ashley and Jennie greeted me and we chatted for a bit. And in the process, I managed to mooch the best freebie of the ride. More on that to follow. Despite bright sunshine, thunder began to boom in the not too distant distance. We set out again fully expecting to get wet. And wet came, just not for us. More on that too to follow. A route as hilly as LiveStrong Philly is not all that conducive to pacelines. Another did come together in the flattish stretch somewhere after mile 80. We weren't planning to stop at rest stop #2 on the left side of the road, so we hugged the right shoulder so as not to interfere with slowing riders. I was on the front of the line and noticed Jennie in her pink Team Fatty kit signaling turning her bright orange cylcocross bike (70 miles on a cross bike!) in to the stop. Just as we passed her on her right, and still at speed, course marshalls instructed us that all riders were being pulled off the course. After some sharper braking than I would have liked, we pulled in to learn that thunder and lightning at the finish was the reason. The unplanned stop turned out to be worth it, as it was stocked with pizza! Including pepperoni! When I saw another rider holding a slice, I couldn't help but remark, "This is going to be life-changing." While that exclamation could arguably have been called hyperbole (since my slice wasn't accompanied by a soda), the snack was nonetheless outstanding and perfect fuel for the final 10 miles. After about 15 minutes with the bad weather at the finish having disappated, we were allowed back on the course. As Steve pulled alongside, I noticed a darker than normal beverage filling his water bottle. "Coke," he said, "There was a whole tub of it." Sigh. We made our way back to the Morris Road straightaway and powered up the long gentle grade to the finish. We took the right turn into MCCC and quickly found ourselves in the finishing chute and across the line. I slowed to a stop and checked my bike computer.
I then pulled out my list of cancer fighters, gave it a quick scan, and thought about them for a moment.
The efforts of 5,100 riders, walkers, and runners (there'd been a 5k/10k on Saturday)
and 600 volunteers were on their behalf and countless others like them.
LiveStrong indeed. 
I put my bike in my minivan and made my way back to the finish line.
I snapped a few shots of Ashley and Jennie crossing the line and we chatted for a bit to confirm a key bit of logistics.
Over the course of the day, I spent 5 minutes in the rain early and perhaps 5 minutes in sprinkles later in the day. The finish area hadn't been so fortunate--the thunder and lightning had forced the closure and take-down of the celebration village. A small tent had been set up to serve a quick meal to finishing riders, and I helped myself before making my way back to the minivan. Just as I got in, the skies opened up and the rain came down hard as it would for the next hour-plus. I headed over to the Team Fatty Hyatt arriving around 4pm. Team Fatty had plans for a 6pm gathering at P.J. Whelihan's and I was still fairly unpresentable. I waited out the rain a bit, then met up with Jennie as pre-arranged ... and availed myself of the shower in her room. It's hard to beat a shower after a long bike ride, and this one was no exception.  While beer, margaritas, and numerous high calorie entrees were consumed,
none were done so with the enthusiasm generated for one particular dessert.
Comments were made to the effect that few words more erotic than those at right have ever been written.
In that vein, more than one order of Molten Chocolate Cake was quickly disrobed.
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