The trio of Blaine, the Diesel and myself conversed on Friday afternoon and determined that 5 am was a good departure time. Their bikes were loaded and we quickly loaded Mulan on the rack and were off for a one day training adventure in Augusta, Ga. The plan was to look at the swim and run courses and ride the bike course. As day-break came is was overcast with a 40% chance of rain.
We stopped at a Waffle House in which I put 3 eggs, 3 glasses of water, 2 cups of decaf coffee, and a pecan waffle with butter and syrup in the tank. Blaine had the same but two eggs with wheat toast and the Diesel had hash browns instead of waffle. She took a quarter of Blaine's. With tanks full we pressed on to Augusta.
Arrived at T1 and view river. Lazy, smooth and very dark in color. Run course thru town is shaded by a canopy of old oak trees and flat. It's a double looper and good for the spectators.
Decided not to unload at T1 to keep people honest. Drove down road about a mile and parked at gas station. Good thing......bathrooms. A necessity for myself race or training day. My body does not discriminate.
Unloaded bikes, pump tires, filled bento boxes, grabbed fluids and loaded, stuffed GU's in shirt back pockets, put on helmets/glasses and looked at map. Off we went without a care in the world.
Maps are a great thing, especially those with street names and numbers on them. It is even better when the roads have street names and numbers on them in which some of them did not. Thus the 56 mile ride ended up being a 65 mile ride.
Not all can be blamed on the roads and maps. The map reader (me) can take a lot of the blame. First make map bigger to read easier. Second, time spent in the car should have been with familarizing mself with turns and street names and numbers. Highlight route, especially quick changes.
The course was hilly and Mulan and myself were full of energy. I am sure that Blaine and Julie got tired of hearing my voice. But I was so excited to be out with them.
