Cinderella 2009

Saturday, April 4

Mighty Me materialized today to make a guest appearance at her first Cinderella, a women only bike tour. Wearing a costume (fairy, Cinderella, tutus, boa feathers, wings, flowers, ribbons) is part of the fun; so, I did my part by decorating my helmet - clearly not a second career for me.




The tour began at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds. Our group shot off at 7:30am in 40 degree weather. Ooh, that was fun.... We were fortunate though to have only mild winds the entire time. The route included Livermore/Diablo/San Ramon/Danville/Amador Valleys.

Above is near the area where one decides to do the Classic or the Challenge. Mighty Me decided to join 3 other women to do the 85 mile route that includes Patterson Pass, Altamont Pass and 3665 feet of climbing.






Thanks to P for the photo of me before we descended Patterson Pass, the highlight of the tour.





The descent was fantastic and breathtaking. Biking 85 miles was a first for me.

Driving forces that kept me going:

1. My encouraging and funny cycling buddies
2. An overwhelming desire to sink my teeth into something meaty (never happened)
3. The shirtless runner at mile 72. A damn fine looking man
4. 4 gels, 8 bottles of water, and nibbles at the rest stops

Towards the end, I was with a bunch of strangers and they were nervous about having to bike past an on ramp to 580 so I took charge like Mother Goose protecting her young ones and ordered them into a single file and made traffic take notice of my little flock as we made our way.... one of the chickies said I was so brave. I kid you not. Sweet, eh.

Statistics:

85 miles
6 hrs. 38 min.
12.8 mph avg.