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2008 Tour de Cure |
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Written by Joel Liefke
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Thursday, 29 May 2008 |
Ride: 2008 Tour de Cure
Location: Redmond, WA
Date: 5/17/08
What a wonderful day for a ride, ok, it was a tad hot, but all in all a great ride for a great cause. This year I managed to secure $1,000 in donations for the Tour de Cure, down from years past, I blame the economy. This is my favorite “organized ride” to do during the year as it supports a great cause that is near and dear as I have friends and a mother-in-law who are dealing with this and I do not envy anyone who has to go through this.
As has happened in years past, Greg LeMond has shown up for this ride and as usual he rides the 45 miler just like myself, yeah I know I should’ve done the century, but I had 2 tons of sod to lay that afternoon so needed to conserve energy, anyway back to LeMond. In years past he’s pretty much ridden away from everyone, but not this year….my goal…beat Greg LeMond!
9am, we head out with the temperatures in the upper 70s, so starting to get warm for my liking. First half of the ride is always sketchy, but I had my new 2008 Major Jake supe’d up and ready to roll. I also had on my new Panaracer Stradius Pro tires, which I have to admit, seem to be doing quite well! Anyway back to the ride, the first part is slow rolling so my good buddy Phil and I decide to hang just off the back of Mr. LeMond. As we got to the 20 mile marker there are more hills and uncharacteristic of a Tour champ, Greg was lacking on the hills to say the least!
At about the ½ way point, we hit the 1st major stop and I decided to take a water bottle change and head back out. The second half of the ride tends to be more hilly and I decided to hammer as I love hills, I know I’m sick. After about 2 hours of riding, I hit the finish line, 1st 45 mile finisher, and yes…I beat Greg LeMond. Now I know what you all are thinking, this is a ride not a race and I agree….I’m just saying, if I can beat a Tour champ, I’m saying Bikeman.com for the 2009 TdF!!!!
Anyway, back to reality…a great ride, temperatures in the 90s by the end of the ride…fun ride, great times, now off to sod the backyard…shoot! Thanks to everyone who donated and supported this ride, I owe you all big time!
Joel Liefke
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