A little help from our friends…

Disclaimer: This is a long one… but I had to share both parts with you…

Part 1:

Hooray for awesome hotel staff!

Our first night (Sunday) due to the good heart of the general manager at the Doubletree in Chattanooga, TN we were offered rooms at the employee rate of $29/night.  It may not seem like a big deal, but every $ we save on the overhead of this trip is another $ that goes to cancer research and survivor advocacy!

Today was no different… The Hampton Inn we found last night in Tupelo, MS was nice enough to offer us the federal rate but could not go any cheaper without a manager on site.  So, this morning after we’d already been charged $70/room, I spoke to the front desk receptionist, Bridgette and explained to her what we were doing and asked if there was any way to get a further discount.  She proceeded to call the general manager to ask if that would be possible.  30 minutes later we received a call to our room saying they had already adjusted our rooms down to the employee rate of $29/night.

TeamAwesome with the awesome Hampton Inn Tupelo staff

And tonight… we had a very good idea of where we’d end up, Natchez, MS… so who did we call? No… not ghostbusters, but the Hampton Inn.  I spoke to the manager, explained what we were doing and she didn’t hesitate to offer us rooms for the employee rate, $29/room.

I look at the generosity of these folks as a testament to the fact that cancer touches everyone, and if you’re just willing to ask, people want to be involved and help out in any way they can!  So thank you Bill Mish, Stephanie Browning (& Bridgette), and Janelle.  I’ve always been loyal to Hilton properties and this has only reaffirmed my reasons for sticking with them.

Part 2:

Hooray for awesome Team Awesome teammates!

First things first… today aside from riding the priority was laundry… Loren, Megan, & Jerry got up early and headed to the local laundromat to wash our stinky riding gear… It was not only nice to have clean clothes again… but riding in the van was no longer filled with the stench of dirty cyclists.  You three rock!

Our shift today ran from 6 pm to Midnight.  We had a smooth transition with the Polka-Dot team close to 6 pm… Transitions are such great times to catch up with the other teams and cheer them on… you cheer for them as they arrive and they do the same when you depart… and the Polka-Dot crew absolutely killed it today… riding more than a century during the “Happy Shift” (noon-6) which got our hopes up.  After all, Megan, Bo & I had never completed a full century.

We rolled out to cheers from Keith, Reuben, Rene and Dennis (towel boy), along with the entire Polka Dot crew and our support folks… it was exciting and I was more than pleased to be starting my first full shift!!  We headed off into Jackson, MS commuter traffic… Bob Kramer started out riding with us as well to help pull in the daylight… which turned out to be a great thing since in the first few miles… Jerry’s rear wheel went “soft”.  Bob took a look at it, pumped it with CO2 and we were off again… for another 1/2 mile when it decided to no longer hold air… aside: if you’ve read about the polka-dot outlaws you know that for this shift we couldn’t have a lead or follow vehicle… so no NASCAR wheel changes… and at times no radio and no other cars for miles around us.  Bob thankfully had another CO2 cartridge and Jerry had a spare tube… in less than 5 minutes he had the tube changed out… and we were off… for real this time!

This slow start was a bit of a downer for the group, along with the fact the support vehicles had to leap-frog us… our goal of hitting a century was in jeopardy.  Traffic was steady for the first hour or so but man… the Natchez Trace Parkway is smooth… clean… and has little wind.  Animals were everywhere… and when I say animals, I mean deer… lots and lots of deer.  We saw a few cross the road ahead of us… and it was at first kind of neat… then there were more deer… and then… out of no where, no more than 10 feet in front of Jonathan 1 deer jumped in front of him and crossed the road, then another!  I thought we were going to have a Matt Lauer moment on our hands.  Alas, Jonathan is a great rider and wasn’t phased… He just kept pulling.  Everyone kept pulling.  Which brings me to how awesome my teammates are.  They pulled me through this shift… without them I definitely would not have made it.  We paced it out on the road and I hugged wheels… pulling some… but really relying on my teammates for support and strength.  Negative thoughts would pop into my head regarding how I couldn’t keep up with them and wouldn’t make it… but Megan, Jonathan, Jerry, & Bo were there… when I was gapped, they’d slow up for me to catch onto someone’s wheel.  I thought of my list and why we were riding.  I thought of Scott Shuey’s bike on our support van and his rear light leading the way… and kept going.

Our goal was to make it over the Mississippi River into Louisiana to complete our full century… and with an hour to go we were getting close to the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway… our goal was in sight… it was as if we acquired new legs and everyone kicked it up a notch.  The mile markers on the Parkway continued to decrease until before we knew it we were exiting… 5 miles to go to the Mississippi River!  News was coming over the radio that we’d be transitioning before the river and we said no way!  We needed that extra push… a full century has been a goal for Bo & I for a long time and what better time, place, and cause to accomplish it… plus we knew we could do it with time to spare!

As we approached the river there was a huge parking lot and I thought some of my teammates we telling me to turn off… thinking that was the transition point I slowed up… only to hear, “No… go… sprint zone… go!!!” from my hubby.  So I took off and started climbing up to the bridge… I reached our support van and was yelling “Go! Go! Go!” as I was about to overtake them.  My legs were so exhausted but I looked up and could see the sign, “Louisiana”.  We did it… we made the state line… my teammates could have easily caught me… they could have jumped ahead and made it to the other side of the river while I was still making it to the top of the bridge, but they pushed me, they cheered me on… they were that extra strength in my legs pushing me to make it.  On the descent Bo joined me and we rode into the transition point with 101 miles behind us.  Our first century and we did it together with our Team Awesome on the Ride to Austin. Team Yellow was there cheering for us as we arrived. It was amazing and I know I was grinning from ear to ear.

So thank you to my awesome teammates.  Without your help and support, there’s no way I would have been able to complete this 6 hour shift, much less a full century!  I am truly blessed to be riding with each of you for this amazing cause!!