So. The Tahoe ride.

We rode 72 miles around Lake Tahoe on Sunday. Needless to say, I was nervous. Weather.com said that in the morning when our ride started it would be a little over 40 degrees (wow). We started the morning off with arm warmers, leg warmers, a jacket and full-fingered gloves. By the first stop (after 13 miles and one of the big climbs) we were ready to strip it all off.

The first 10 miles were flat, and we were probably averaging 17 mph. Hardcore racer people still passed us, and they would comment on the little SpongeBob attached to my bike bag or on the AMGEN jacket I was wearing. Then the climb started, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It zigzagged up, and it was funny to see so many bikers going so slow. At one point a truck went by and there was a guy drafting the truck flying up the hill. Some ambulances passed us about 10 miles in because a lady broke her arm. Mel went into the sag wagon before the first hill because of her back, and we passed her on the way up the hill. At the first rest stop, there were a lot of people. We stayed there for awhile (that's probably how we got to the back of the pack) to relax, get some food, take off our extra clothes, and take pictures.

When we finally got going again, it was about 10 more miles before the next rest stop. It was fairly flat. At the next stop, I saw a little girl (probably 12 or so) who was doing the ride too. That amazed me. She had her little biking gear and muscular legs like she'd been riding for awhile. At that rest stop they had potatoes. Oh. At mile 16 I got stung by a bee. We were going downhill and a bee (wasp?) nearly flew into my mouth. For a split second it was stuck to my mouth until I spit/blew it off. Then, sting! and it was gone. I kept spitting because I felt some remnant in my mouth (a leg or something, gross, I know). And it stung. I've never gotten stung before, so I bit my lip to keep it from stinging and swelling. A couple minutes later when my dad and I pulled over, it was swollen. Mel gave me some medicine at the rest stop (I forget that they're doctors) and it was just sore for the rest of the day.

We kept going. Lunch was at 42 miles. It was a beach, and that's where we started to see the pattern of people leaving when we barely got to the rest stop. We had turkey sandwiches, peanut butter with bananas, powerbars, brownies, etc. It was pretty comforting that we were more than halfway done, except for the fact that there was a 7-mile climb looming ahead.

That climb took FOREVER. It wasn't steep, but it was annoying to be gradually climbing for so long. You'd wind around the corner and still be going uphill. On one of the stops during the hill, we met this group of ladies who made their own jerseys for this ride. They were so sweet! They kept taking a ton of pictures and laughing... since Papi had the same camera, he took pictures of them. They loved it. Then we saw them at every stop after that and we all yayed each other for finishing the next leg of it.

After the loooong climb we got to go downhill for 7 miles and then had rolling hills for the remaining 5 miles. The rolling hills were even hard. Finally we got to the end. (There was even an uphill to the finish line. That was cruel of them.)

THEN we had a pasta buffet. It was awesome. By that time most of the riders had made their rounds through the party because we were probably within the last 50 people. Once we ate, we were stuffed. So we went to the hotel room, watched TV and fell asleep. I was tempted when my dad suggested using a "Buy one get one free" Coldstone coupon, but once I was in bed, I couldn't get up.

It was hard. It was beautiful, but it was hard. I feel a little better about our ability for the CCC.