It was a hard night and the first time she consitered quiting but she gutted it out.
Her knee is swollen and she can hardly walk because of saddle sores but she's still smiling.
Friday, August 24, 2007
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It was a hard night and the first time she consitered quiting but she gutted it out.
Back in Paris...
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my cell phone ran out of juice so I had to wait until we got back to the hotel and got some sleep.
Becky is till out there riding! She missed one time cut off but they told her she could keep going so we don't know if she's going to be officially cut because of that or if it's okay. I guess we'll see when she arrives in Paris but either way she will have ridden 750 miles!!! She's amazing... and a bit delirious right now too. She's not riding alone, it's just a battle against the clock now. They had some time to make up.
The weather has been miserable, wet and cold almost the whole time. I think we've seen the sun for a total of 5 hours in the last 90 hours.
The DNF (do not finish) rate it SO high. As of 2 nights ago 1,000 of the 5,000 riders had quit and that was before 2 more nights of rain.
Verson is about to finish any min! We've been providing some support for him when we see him. He's going to be hurting for a while, this is just so bad. At some point yesterday he looked at me and said, "you know I don't think the body is meant to do this." I made some kind of "no shit" comment. I didn't have to try this to know that!
Yesterday in the car was a bit more cramped because we had Marlene's bike but it was more entertaining because we had Marlene. At one of the checkpoints when we knew we had hours to wait we found some wine and food and broke into it in the car. As we were sipping our 3 euro bottle of wine from little plastic cups one of the officials directing traffic looked at us and shook his finger as if to say, "that's bad" We were caught red handed. Oops! Then we offered him some and he immediately gave up his job directing cars, bikes, and pedestrians to join us... and then one of his comrades joined us too. They spoke little English but it was easy to understand what they were saying. They had been working for hours and hadn't slept much. We made quite the scene with all the people standing around, it was fun.
Later as I was walking up into the control to find Becky I saw our new friends again. One of them, Joseph, offered me his arm and then paraded me around showing me off to all of his friends. It was clearly the highlight of his day and it was hysterical, he was like a giddy school boy who just got a date with the most popular girl. They bought Marlene and I drinks and we sat around and chatted a bit. Me speaking little French, them speaking little English but I followed most of the conversation and the language barrier wasn't much of a barrier.
Now there's just to get these riders finished and rested. We didn't get much sleep over the last few days. We took turns driving and sleeping in the car. All of us got a bit cranky at some point but we handled it well. It's going to take us a few days to recover.
I think it's time for another nap.
-Sheryl
Marlene is doing great, and she feels good about her decision:
I guess a little chocolate is good for the soul.
Becky is till out there riding! She missed one time cut off but they told her she could keep going so we don't know if she's going to be officially cut because of that or if it's okay. I guess we'll see when she arrives in Paris but either way she will have ridden 750 miles!!! She's amazing... and a bit delirious right now too. She's not riding alone, it's just a battle against the clock now. They had some time to make up.
The weather has been miserable, wet and cold almost the whole time. I think we've seen the sun for a total of 5 hours in the last 90 hours.
The DNF (do not finish) rate it SO high. As of 2 nights ago 1,000 of the 5,000 riders had quit and that was before 2 more nights of rain.
Verson is about to finish any min! We've been providing some support for him when we see him. He's going to be hurting for a while, this is just so bad. At some point yesterday he looked at me and said, "you know I don't think the body is meant to do this." I made some kind of "no shit" comment. I didn't have to try this to know that!
Yesterday in the car was a bit more cramped because we had Marlene's bike but it was more entertaining because we had Marlene. At one of the checkpoints when we knew we had hours to wait we found some wine and food and broke into it in the car. As we were sipping our 3 euro bottle of wine from little plastic cups one of the officials directing traffic looked at us and shook his finger as if to say, "that's bad" We were caught red handed. Oops! Then we offered him some and he immediately gave up his job directing cars, bikes, and pedestrians to join us... and then one of his comrades joined us too. They spoke little English but it was easy to understand what they were saying. They had been working for hours and hadn't slept much. We made quite the scene with all the people standing around, it was fun.Later as I was walking up into the control to find Becky I saw our new friends again. One of them, Joseph, offered me his arm and then paraded me around showing me off to all of his friends. It was clearly the highlight of his day and it was hysterical, he was like a giddy school boy who just got a date with the most popular girl. They bought Marlene and I drinks and we sat around and chatted a bit. Me speaking little French, them speaking little English but I followed most of the conversation and the language barrier wasn't much of a barrier.
Now there's just to get these riders finished and rested. We didn't get much sleep over the last few days. We took turns driving and sleeping in the car. All of us got a bit cranky at some point but we handled it well. It's going to take us a few days to recover.
I think it's time for another nap.
-Sheryl
Marlene is doing great, and she feels good about her decision:
I guess a little chocolate is good for the soul.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
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Becky is doing great.
Her knees hurt a bit. It's raining again and very cold. 20 percent of the people have quit and there's still a long way to go.
This is so stupid.
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I'm so proud of her for deciding to stop suffering. She warn't having any fun and now that she's dropped out she's much happier.
I only know a few people that are physically stronger than her and it takes a different kind of strength to do what she did. She's the strongest person i know. Marlene rode 364.5 K in 23 hours. She
was riding well, passing people on climbs and enjoying the descents, it just wast fun.
And I can't even tell you how many people are praying for some big mechanical failure just so they have an excuse to quit. The
DNF rate is going to be huge.
We all slept some last night. There were 5 of us piled in the tinest hotel room ever but we made it work.
Marlene is staying there, a bit sore but not so miserable or cranky anymore, while Jonathan and i continue to chase Becky to Brest... In the rain.
Becky is a bit delirious but still riding strong. She's still remarkably up beat and i have yet to here her complain about anything. I'm completly amazed, especially considering that all i want to do is whine and i'm not even on a bike. I'm holding up fine though. Becky's biggest challenge now is the clock. The bad weather has slowed everyone up.
As Verson was putting on his wet cycling clothes this morning he smiled and said, 'I think I'll ride to Brest and back today.' he's remarkably chipper too.
Today starts the real climbing and we're praying for good weather. The wind is strong but if the rain will hold off it will make a big difference. Almost half way there.
For those of you who know my frend Beth, she had the baby on the 2øth at 6:43 pm! Kate weighs 7 lbs.
Mum and baby are both healthy.
Welcome to the world little one, you have no idea how excited I am to meet you!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Welcome baby Kate! (One of my best friends Beth, just had her baby. http://noseinear.blogspot.com) Kate Reyburn Henkelmen was born yesterd
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The good news:
Every one is still pedaling. The sun is finally starting to come out. The forcast in Brest looks good. The French people have all been wonderful.
The bad news:
Last night was miserable, fucking miserable. I wanted to quit because of how wet and cold i was, it was horific. And tonight is forcasted to be the same. And they're only 1/2 way through the first third of this thing.
Other news:
The rain slowed everyone down so our girls are chasing the clock, i think they'll be fine though.
Jonathan and i are doing ok now. We've had a nap and gotten out our wet clothes.
-s
Monday, August 20, 2007
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