Tour de Pink: Saturday, Oct. 13

Day 2 was another incredible day!  We started at Manhattan Beach and finished at Laguna Beach/Dana Point.  In between we hit Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach.

 How could this not get you going in the morning!  Our number one fans, Urijah and Laura, were there to see us off.

We got to start and end each day with awesome food.  The rest stops in between were always amply supplied as well, everything from bananas with nutella to PBJ sandwiches.

  
 We sported our Texas jerseys on Day 2.


 Each day a board was posted in the lobby with a map of our route, including an elevation chart.


One of my favorite parts of the each day was at the very beginning when our entire group flooded the streets of California together.  The total number of riders in the Tour was somewhere around 110-120.

Stephanie showing off the frog.  There were only 2 other riders besides our team from Texas.  Many times we were referred to as simply "Texas" or "Texas girls", and even "Guacamole" or "Nacho."  Hey, if the shoe fits...

 I would name this beach, but I get 'em all confused.  Rest stop number one is on the left, by the bend in the road.

Our awesome fans were awaiting our arrival.

 Go Nachos!
 
Urijah and his clapper.  He wore it out cheering!  "Uh-oh."

 Headed out again.

 This was a cool pic Laura took from her car of Janet and I. 

 Fixin' a flat.  Although we did have scenic views for the majority of the way, our route took a few roads inland where we got a taste of the interior culture and probably picked up some road debris.

 Cleopatra's shady gift shop (in more ways than one) was the safest place for us to stop and get the bike back in business.  Thanks to one of the six "pro" guys who was there to help us out. 

 Lunch rest stop.  We were in and out pretty quick at this stop since we were already past the cut-off time.   Fairly soon after we headed out, trying to make up some lost time, we had a second flat tire.  Again, the pros bailed us out.  A 17 year-old named Justin rolled up, helped change the tire, and then rode with us the rest of the way.  He was quite the gentleman.

 At the third rest stop, even though we were over an hour behind the cut-off time, we kept the SAG wagon at bay and made it in.  Here a USA cycling coach, "D" met up with our group and escorted us in.  Janet and Justin are at the tent refueling.

 There was an 8 mile optional climb (4 miles up, 4 miles back down) that I got to take toward the end.  One of the pro guys led me up and back down.  It was cool getting to tackle a long climb since Texas doesn't offer much in the way of climbing.  The picture above is the view from the top.

 The SAG wagon followed us on the climb.  During the entire tour, it was volunteers like these guys (and the rest stop volunteers, and the YSC volunteers) who made much of this event possible.

  I snapped a picture at the top of the hill before the rapid descent began.  I watched how Brian the pro descended and tried to copy his form.  (Hands in middle of handle bars, arms in and elbows down, as aerodynamic as possible).  At one point, I hit my max speed ever on a bike, 43.1 mph.  I felt like I was on a roller coaster, and then said a prayer for God to hold my bike upright when my front tire started shaking a little bit.  I said another one when I took a corner without using the brakes.  It was a very gradual corner, but at nearly 40 mph on skinny tires, I knew I was a minor error away from disaster.  Luckily, I made it down safe.  Brian headed to the last rest stop to help sweep and I took the final 15 miles solo into Laguna Beach. 

Any rider who wasn't in by 5:00 would get picked up by the SAG van.  I finished over the time by a couple of minutes.  Stephanie, Shawna, and Janet had finished on their bikes as well with Coach D and Justin before the cut-off time. 

The last stretch to the hotel was on a busy street of rolling hills.  Most of the way the shoulder had cars parallel parked.  This meant that as we were riding, sometimes downhill at fast speeds, we had parked cars on our right and fast moving cars on our immediate left with very little room for maneuvering in between.  Stephanie and Shawna both nearly brushed shoulders with a bus, and Shawna had a close call with a parked car that opened it's driver side door right in her path.  We were all talking later that this Tour is definitely the real deal when it comes to being a cyclist out there on the open roads.  Besides a few falls out of the entire group of Tour de Pinkers, everyone made it safely through.

 Additional pics from Day 2: