This was my very first bike event. I've been riding since mid-April and have been working hard at trying to be a bonafide cyclist. I've been concentrating mostly on triathlons this summer, but have fallen in love with cycling as well. I really enjoy riding and before this tour, had only ridden 29 miles as my longest ride. I signed up for this tour because one of the bike club members told me about it and it was close to home so I decided to try it. I really didn't know what to expect at all.

This was a small tour. I would say about 100 riders? The distances were 10 miles, 30 miles, 45 miles and 100k (60 miles). I chose the 45 mile route to challenge myself since this was my first tour.

We met up at the start and said hi to other Shreveport Bicycle Club (SBC) members. I was offered a SBC jersey to put on! That was so cool. It was very cold that morning...about 50 degrees. I had decided against putting on long pants and so only had my cycling shorts on and 3 layers for my top layer.

We got to the start and lined up according to distances and had a staggered start.

There were a few of us from the bike club that were doing the 45 mile distance. Ron said that he wanted to just have a nice recreational ride. No pressure. When we started, they were in the front and I found myself right behind them. Then as we wound around town, we hit some really rough roads and silly me, I had not tightened my bike cages down and one of my water bottles came loose and was stuck on my leg and about to fall off my bike. I grabbed it in time...it was the polar water bottle I had gotten at my last tri and I wasn't about to lose it. Not to mention I didn't want to have to stop to pick it up. Anyway, when that happened, I slowed down and fell behind. I ended up riding with John and Robin.

Here's the history. Robin and I had ridden before, when I was just started out. I had only been riding about 3 weeks I think. Anyway, she dusted me on that ride. We hadn't ridden together since. But I was still remembering that ride, so I hung with her for awhile. Well, I think I've improved a bit since then. I found myself in a paceline with them and we were lagging behind the other group. We hit a couple of hills and I found myself having to pass Robin. Finally, I just got up the courage to just pass her and keep on going. I wasn't trying to be mean, but I've been stuck in the back of a paceline before and because of my lack of confidence, stayed in the back and when the back of the paceline started to slow, I couldn't speed up even though I had the energy.

So I decided to do my own ride. I knew I could go faster and made the decision to catch up with the group that was in front of us. And I'm glad I did.

I caught up with Ron, Beverly (the president of our club), Mike and Robert. We formed a paceline and basically we spurred each other on.

It was so much fun! I kept up with the group and we took turns pulling. We hit a bunch of hills and I think I drove Mike nuts by asking, after each hill, if it was FireAnt hill.

FireAnt hill is supposedly the big hill that we would all curse. Well, we finally got to it and let me tell you, it was a mother! But I was able to make it up. Didn't have to get off. Granted I was going like 7 mph, but I didn't have to get off.

We also ran into several dogs while on the route. It was kinda fun though actually....no, not the being chased by dogs part. Fun in the sense that when we saw the dogs, we all yelled at them in unison and it was nice to know that others in the group were chasing off the dogs. I guess that's why it's nice to ride in a group instead of riding alone. Once, we had this huge chow mix that came tearing out from the property, we all started yelling at him and immediately, he turned tail and ran back to his house! It was hysterical! I let out a "whoop" after that. Then we had another instance where another dog came tearing out at us, we yelled at the dog, but when we saw a car approaching, it was cool that we signaled to the oncoming car not to hit the poor dog. See, we really love pooches even if they come tearing at us on our bikes.

I had a great time! I did get tired around mile 35 though. I started to lose a bit of steam and energy, but since I was riding in a group, the others encouraged me to keep going. The distance ended up being 41 instead of 45. But I wasn't really complaining when I saw the finish line.



Be more sure of myself and not be afraid to just ride my own ride. Check bike cages beforehand. Learn not to burn myself out. Ride smarter. Use the paceline. Learn now to use gears properly, especially on hills.

Came to the finishline, got my card and filled it out. Beverly was all excited, "I think you got first!". Really? We had known that there weren't too many women out in front of us, but I wasn't sure if we just didn't see them. Put up my bike and got my camera out to take pictures. Didn't stretch...I probably should have. There weren't too many snacks around. Lots of beer though, if you're into that.

And hey, I did win! First in AG for the 45 mile distance. Turned out there weren't too many women doing that distance, but hey, I did and I got a trophy! Actually, they're mailing it to me.


Need more time in the saddle, but overall I was very pleased with my performance. I had zero expectations for this race in terms of doing anything but finishing. I was looking forward to a good ride and completing my first tour and I did it! Getting hardware was just icing on the cake. The weather was COLD. But it helped. I didn't feel the saddle as much as usually do, but it was probably because my butt was frozen! I dressed as warmly as I thought I should and it was just right.


This was a great first tour. The group was large enough to feel like a crowd, but small enough not to be too intimidated by.

It was a great learning experience. I learned not to be too over confident, which I was after conquering FireAnt Hill. I need to learn to conserve my energy, ride smart and use the paceline. It was fun to use strategy in drafting behind other riders. Our group was passed by a group of women and basically we drafted behind them as a group and then made our move when we conserved our energy. It was cool, especially because I had the same mental strategy. Turned out they were doing the shorter distance. After we passed them, we knew that Bev and I were in the lead pack for the women for our distance. It was my Tour de France moment.

It's just nice to have a first bike event memory. Now I can enjoy the rest of my bike tours and just have fun.