Half way there!.... kinda...

Yesterday I did the bike course for Vineman 70.3.  It was a great day, with nearly perfect weather and I had the company of one of my favorite riding buddies - Kelsey!! For those that don't know, I did Vineman 70.3 last year and absolutely loved the race! The full Vineman bike course is the same, but two loops of 56 miles instead of one (thus, we did half the race this weekend, except for the swimming and running parts, but whatever). I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to the course so last year I probably did 6-8 training rides on the actual course, but this was my first time up there since July 2011. There are 2 major hills and the second one, at mile 45 (out of 56 total), is kind of a bitch. But yesterday both hills seemed so much easier than I remember. I think this whole training thing might be working!


It helps that the course is really scenic. I tried to get a bunch of pictures of the landscape so you can get an idea for what it's like.

There were a lot of vineyards...

.....and a one-lane bridge...

... palm trees (in vineyards)...

....a couple of cemeteries.....

.....more vineyards.... 

... some tree-lined streets...

....more vineyards...

and more vineyards...

  

 

 

Succulents! 

Happy cows

Ostriches! (emus??..I don't know the difference)

Sheep!

And last, but not least - A pink fire truck!

All-in-all we rode 55 miles in 3hr 41min (waaayyy faster than our previous training rides-go us!) and then I ran an insignificant 0.75 miles and met Kels at the local McDonald's for the best diet coke I've ever had. It was really hot and sunny and I finished my electrolyte drinks around mile 45 so I was crazy thirsty!!


This conversation occurred around mile 50:
Me: I would pay $50 right now for an extra large fountain diet coke.
Kelsey: I don't think you should do that. We're pretty close.
Me: Well, if we get to McDonald's and they run out of diet coke and there's only one left and a bidding war starts, I'm willing to pay a lot.


Luckily, it didn't come to that. 


And now it's 9:30 pm and I have to get ready for bed so I can get up at 5am to have time to drink a cup of coffee and eat a banana before running 13 miles before work. Reminds me of something.....