Longest Ride EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends!  We did it! Joleen and I actually got our butts out of bed Friday morning and conquered the race course (plus a few extra miles).

I will not go into full detail but here are highlights of the course:
1.  There are definitely some rough patches of road.  At times I felt like I was mountain biking. Miraculously, MJ did NOT get a flat?!  Neither did Joleen's bike, Newspaper.
2.  We ride a LONG time north on MacArthur.  I thought we rode to Kansas.  Turns out it was only 12 miles or so...
3.  Next, we ride a LONG time west on Waterloo Road.  I thought we drove to Clinton, OK.  Turns out it was only another 14 miles or so.  For some reason this stretch was a bit more enjoyable.  It's rural out this direction, less cars, farm animals, and nice scenery. 

We did ride past tornado damage from the Piedmont tornado.  Wow.  I have not seen this in person yet.  I really feel for everyone impacted by the powerful May 24th tornadoes.  There are still piles of debris and completely damaged houses.  I think a few people are straight up building a new house next door.  My thoughts are with them.  I think this will be striking for competitors visiting Oklahoma.

Damage from Piedmont tornado on May 24, 2011...not necessarily along Waterloo Road

4.  Thank GOD they will have water stops.  I ran out of water on the way back and with no where to stop, it was miserable!  Finally, I stalked a landscaper in a neighborhood off of Council Road for water.  He was very kind.
5.  Council Road has the bumpiest/roughest stretch of road by far.
6.  Hills are not bad.  There is an intimidating hill on Council road right before the Turnpike.  I just kept my cadence high and my resistance low and it went okay!
7.  There is a 7-11 on Council Rd and 122nd.  At mile 50 with empty water bottles and climbing temperatures, this was my savior.  Literally, I said out loud "I see the light!"  Joleen said she said "Seven fricking Eleven!"  Best tasting Gatorade I ever had in my life. (For real, raspberry melon is pretty good.  Then again, I would have drank blue green algae water at that point.)
8.  There is a small road we are supposed to turn on before the CVS on the corner of Council and Northwest Expressway.  Joleen and I did not recognize this until after we carried, yes *carried*, our bikes through the grassway between CVS and Britton road.  I was NOT about to get a thorn in my tire at mile 54!  Note to self, turn onto small road BEFORE CVS.  LOL.  Of course, on race day, it will be marked.
9. Traffic is scary, but again, on race day we will have traffic cops.  That will be nice!


Other highlights:
1.  I tried to put a Vitamin Water in the back pocket of my TNT jersey.  I found out it only holds for 10 miles.  A big bump sent it flying.  I mourned the loss for 2 miles then moved on.
2.  Immediately after the Vitamin Water incident, a very small black dog came running out of the front yard of a house along MacArthur.  Joleen flipped out, passed me and started sprinting.  I have never seen her cycle that fast!  I think I will have to sick a small dog on her for the Redman.

3.  Finally, being the classy gal I am, I flipped the bird at a big white pick up truck.  I am not proud of this, but let me explain.  As mentioned above, Council Road is a bit tricky.  It's very rough terrain so it's hard to stay on the right side of the road.  I couldn't get completely over and I guess there was an angry gas-guzzler behind me.  He honked at me and in my dehydrated cranky state of mind, I flipped him the bird.  It serves him right! Have respect for cyclists! I'm doing this for charity, man!

I tried "Honey Stinger Energy Chews" in cherry.  Basically they were fruit snacks/gummies and I will definitely use these on race day! Delish!  I also ate peanut butter crackers.  I've decided that the goo or gels do not work for me.  Gross! 

Team Jo & Em Fundraiser #3: Icing on the Cake!

Thanks for the free appetizers and gift certificate donation, Stella!

Charity Contributors!

We hosted our third fundraiser last Tuesday night at Stella in Oklahoma City.  Steve Blevins of Dallas, Texas basically coordinated the whole thing and Joleen and I showed up and smiled.  Thank you SO MUCH to Steve Blevins, Stella, and all the donors involved.  Although we did not have a stellar turn out at Stella, we managed to raise $695!

We have now surpassed our goal of $5,000!  Thank you to everyone who has supported our journey along the way!  Every dollar goes to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...so please keep donating!  We will accept donations up until race day...which is only 21 days away! AHHHHHHHH!

Thanks for reading and come back for more!  It's going to get intense these next couple of weeks!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!