Reach the Beach 2014 - Team Awesome

This was our seventh Reach the Beach and I am pretty sure it was the best one yet.  Team Awesome brought friends and friends of friends from as far south as the SF Bay Area and as far north as Seattle.  We were ten strong, all finished the full "century", and together raised $2,324.05 for the American Lung Association - a team best and enough to put us in the top ten teams for total fundraising!

At the start

Despite a forecast threatening rain up until the morning of and sprinkles as we drove to the start we ended up with perfect riding weather.  It wasn't too hot, there was barely any wind and by the time we reached the coast we had abundant sunshine. We had our usual fluster of excitement and a later start than we hoped at the beginning, as well as a few nervous bladders and a bit of cramping muscles along the way.  Packets of mustard were a great proxy for energy goo (don't knock it 'til you've tried it), Stinger Waffles got us through the final miles (and one killer hill at mile 92) and at the end was beer, the beach, cupcakes & friends.

For me this year in particular was an amazing reminder of what we can do together.  As individuals we didn't raise that much money; together our fundraising makes an impact.  On my own I am relatively slow; when drafting in a pack I go 30% faster with less effort.  Slogging my way through even 10 training miles in the rain and wind crushes my soul a little bit; Monster Cookie with Christopher Love and Alicia was an adventure.


So thank you for the waffles, the beer, the donations, the training rides, the drafting, the 11th hour doggie help, the rides back from the beach and everyone who participated or contributed being just so dang enjoyable!

P.S. It wouldn't be an epic ride without some hi-jinx!  We had a drafting mishap that led to one Awesomeite getting personal with the pavement.  Luckily it was one of our Navy men who brushed it off before continuing the lead the pack.  He also ran a half marathon the next day.  I'm pretty sure I was more upset my the incident than he was.