The day went very well...we started off in some huge hills with a few fast descents...wheee! I made us keep a slow pace...choosing to try and finish instead of burning out, and we skipped the first few rest stops. Riding through Lake Wales & Winter Haven was easier than I thought. Though there were big hills, they were very similar to the North Suncoast and because it was so early, there were really no cars on the road. Most of the route was farmland with lots and lots of Orange Groves (now I know why they call it Citrus Tour!), but we had to cross some major intersections along the way....very weird for me to cross on a bike. I almost had a little mishap at one spot....assuming the car would bear left and being WRONG. Thankfully, the car was paying attention. I didn't realize what a close call it had been until some of my teammates told me I was very lucky.


We had planned to stop for 'lunch' at mile 25, but that stop wasn't lunch, so we had to stop again about mile 38 or so. That was the last rest stop we made. I turned into a major pig and ate 4 peanut butter & honey sandwiches and too many bananas. I blame it all on being sick! Mike exercised a lot of self-control and ate just what he needed. Good for him! I had carried my digital camera in one of my jersey pockets and played team photographer....getting pics on the road and at the rest stops. I felt great about catching back up to the rest of the team...even though I know its because we skipped most of the rest stops.


It was a good thing I didn't know how hilly the course was before hand. I got so distracted with all the climbs, we are at 50 miles before I started feeling any effort at all. The 800 mg Motrin I took at mile 25 had really kicked in and my fever was gone. There was a lot of anticipation of what we'd see as we got close to Orlando....would we see familiar things? After the 64 mile mark, we were celebrating Mike's longest ride...and that kept us going all the way to Poinciana. That road was a BITCH. Frankly, bicycles don't belong there....and though there were police at the intersections, there were not enough....they really should have merged traffic into one lane there. There was a bike lane, but the a-holes driving by were flipping us off, opening their car doors to try and hit us as they drove past--it was miserable and commanded ALL of our attention. This was also the longest stretch of road we were on for the day.

Mile 75 came and went, and we rode past the Ditka resort where we had stayed for our first Disney Marathon. Compared to that day, we felt GREAT! When we arrived (mile 78 on the Garmin), Mike wanted to go back out and do 2 more miles to bring us to 80...I was OK with that, but suggested we do that on day 2 instead.

We arrived to a colleague snapping photos, welcoming us to the red carpet and into a a giant tent. We wheeled our bikes to a 'transition area' and found some food at our company's tables. I went and collected my massage, then it was a loooong walk to pick up our luggage and try and find the registration desk to get our room keys and find our room. I kept joking that we must have ridden to Vegas, cuz the high-rollers table is around here somewhere! It took about an hour to check in and find our room, then it was a search for the pool!


Good cause and GREAT time. I'd do this one every year if it didn't conflict with Saint Anthony's.