Update to the Tale of Two Bikes...

When I last left you my bike was missing and I was headed out on a loaner bike for day two of the Challenge of the Centuries...  It turned out the whole weekend was going to be a series of odd incidents.

Just like the day before, on Sunday I got up bright and early at 4AM to meet BB for the bike ride.  From our meeting point, it was an a 70 mile trip to the ride start.  The drive passed quickly and we arrived at the ride start around 6:30.  We grabbed our registration receipts from the previous day and headed to check in.  At the registration table, we gave our sob story about the missing bike hoping that they would not make us pay for day two but let us use our registration from the previous day.  We had barely launched into the story when the man asks if the bike looks like "this one".  He motions over to the right and leaning up against the wall is my bike!  I gave a little shriek that was later described by the registration guy like "a kid at Christmas" and went over to investigate.  The handlebars were bent up, seat trashed and other little scuffs on the tri bars and pedals but the frame didn't seem bent or scratched up at all.

Now it is even more of a mystery.  We drove for 60 miles before stopping for gas at that station.  I suppose it could have fallen out of the rack.  It was my friend's car and a different rack so am not familiar with what properly locked down would look like.  I would think though that if we didn't hit a bump and had already driven 60 miles on the highway it would have fallen out long before then if that is what happened.  We had retraced our steps yesterday and the bike was not there.  So very strange.  Either way, the bike is back and what happened that morning will forever be a mystery....

On to the bike ride... Several guys from the bike shop were along for the ride today.  They were doing the full century as is their tradition and we took off about 30 minutes early to help avoid some of the heat.  The guys took off and we followed behind.  A few miles into the ride, we noticed one of the guys was no longer behind us.  The other guys stopped to wait for him as we kept on going knowing that they would have left us at some point anyhow since they were faster and we were doing the 62 miler.  We followed the markings on the road and kept pedaling.

As we got further and further along we kept wondering when the other cyclists were going to catch up with us.  Our speed usually keeps us in the middle of the pack so we knew the super speedy riders should be catching us any minute.  We laughed and set a goal of making it to the first rest stop without anyone catching us.  As we pulled off towards the first rest stop, BB's phone rang.  It was Bruce (one of the other riders).  He called to tell us that we had all started out on the route from yesterday instead of the route today.  (Basically, we should have turned left at the ride start and not right).  We decided since we were already 12 miles out we would just follow the ride from yesterday and make our own rest stops hoping there would at least be one convenience store along the way.  We pedaled on.

We arrived at the reservoir of the lake stopped briefly to take a few pictures and pedaled on.  BB was in the middle of a story about her hitchhiking in her youth when we came upon a locked gate across what was supposed to be our ride route.  Yesterday, they had ridden across the dam.  Today, the corps of engineers was not allowing access.

We turned around and headed back to the main road taking a right to head back towards town.  A few miles down the road, we stopped at a convenience store to get water and a bag of combos.  It was good that we stopped as that was the only store along the rest of the route.  (we did not bring fuel with us as it was a supported ride with SAG stops - but you only get the SAG stops if you follow the correct route - ha ha)  With the bag of combos in pocket and fresh water, we pedaled on eventually making it to the correct route.

We followed that route for a bit and then turned around at some point in order to end the ride at 62 miles.  About a mile from the car, there was a tiny country store where we stopped for a Diet Dr. Pepper which was just what we needed at that point.  That bag of combos wasn't really quite enough for a 4 hour Gilligan like tour.  The drinks were just enough to mentally revive us for the last mile or so back to the car.  Whew - we made it!  The craziest "group" ride for two ever.

Side note, I also got to meet KC for the first time which was quite exciting!  I talked to her briefly Saturday before I realized my bike was gone so it was good to see her again on Sunday.  Of course, I expected her to zoom past me early on (which she would have had I been on the right route.. LOL).