So my crazy marathon odeal....
Things started out just fine. I woke up at 4:30 am to get to the starting line. Quarter of the way there I forgot my helmet, but no biggie, we went back home to get it (which ended up being a good thing). We got there just in time for me to hop in my bike, do the necessary adjustments, and head to the starting line. We lined up 5 mins before all the runners to make sure we didn't run them over at the start. There was a gospel choir singing to help inspire and wake us up, then it was 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! And we're off! Things started smoothly. The crew I trained with made sure to tell us to take the first turn cautiously because it can be tricky...so I did! The next couple miles went right along, until! I headed down 21st S. towards 23rd E. 21st South is a major hill which I was coasting down maybe 30 or 40 mph....scary I know. What I didn't realize was that I had to make a sharp turn at the end of the hill. Now the handcycles don't turn very easily, so when I started to turn I ended up riding on 2 wheels, basically close to tipping over and sliding the rest of the way down the hill. So i correct it and start riding on the other 2 wheels. I finally get back to the center, but I'm still going too fast and I still need a lot of room to turn. Basically I couldn't stop and I ended up running straight into the curb in front of me, which popped the tire and bent my rim badly. This was in the first 3 miles of the race too! At this point Brian Sweeney was calling me to wish me luck on the Marathon...a couple hours too late, but I guess it's the thought that counts (haha, Brian). 
So I called one of the therapist guys who was riding on a bike to make sure the cycling team was alright, and he came down and pulled me off the curb and onto the grass. At this point I was crying because my Marathon hopes were pretty much dashed and I felt like I was letting everyone down. My Dad was called and he came up to get me back into my wheelchair and take the busted bike. He was with his buddy Steve Johnston, who is the father of one of my good friends as well. So we get into the car and start driving around, calling bike shops frantically to see if they will be able to fix my wheel. Yet, it is 7:30-8 am in the morning and not shops are open. The other problem is that the wheel/rim I need is 23" which isn't a standard bike rim and usually someone in my postition would have to custom order it from a shop that has these wheels in store. Anyways, we end up driving up into the Avenues where Steve lived because there's a bike shop down the road from him and he knows the owner. So we called up Tim from Wild Rose bike shops and he had just got up for the day. So he came down to see what he could do. Miraculously he had a very thin mountain bike tire that was the perfect size to fix my problem. So 2 hours after my crash I was back on course. My Dad and Steve dropped my off at the exact location that I crashed...but at this point the roads were open to traffic and there were cars everywhere. My Dad and Steve (i'm gonna call them the pit crew from now on) followed behind me with the hazard blinkers to make sure cars didn't run me over, and we started following the Marathon course. At this time also we called up the therapist guy, Rob, 
to meet back up with me and ride along side. I figured that if we rode fast enough I would be able to catch up to the straglers and hit the course where it would still be closed. I ended up riding on the side of the road and in the gravel and dirt for about half of the marathon course, but that was the sacrifice I was willing to make in order to just FINISH the marathon. I passed by the road where the Hoffmires live and wasn't too surprised to see they weren't there, although they would've been there to see me if I hadn't crashed. At this point also the wind was terrible and I was going very slow. I was able to start catching up to the clean up crew picking up the porta-potties and water stations, and an official car saw us and radio-inned my race number to tell the crews to wait for me. Slowly yet surely I was able to catch up to the last runners on Van Winkle, and by that time I had caught up to the road closures. Some of the guys that I had trained with were saying the Van Winkle is about where they hit the wall of energy and it felt like they couldn't do anymore. For me at that point, it boosted my energy because I knew that I would be able to finish. Rob, the therapist riding with me, told me I was going about 20 mph on Van Winkle. Slowly and surely I weaved in and out of the runners and ended up finishing. My time was about 4 hours 45 mins, which included the race for a new tire. Because I was the only women handcyclist, I won my division and won $500 because of it. Next year I plan on not crashing and figure I can shave 2 and 1/2 hours off my time, which will feel pretty sweet. At the end of the race I had my whole team waiting for me and cheering me to the finish. I also had a bunch of friends who supported me as well. It was a wild ride, and I apologize for those of you who didn't see me, but I promise next time I will be more cautious. Here's some pics of the wild adventure!!!
So I called one of the therapist guys who was riding on a bike to make sure the cycling team was alright, and he came down and pulled me off the curb and onto the grass. At this point I was crying because my Marathon hopes were pretty much dashed and I felt like I was letting everyone down. My Dad was called and he came up to get me back into my wheelchair and take the busted bike. He was with his buddy Steve Johnston, who is the father of one of my good friends as well. So we get into the car and start driving around, calling bike shops frantically to see if they will be able to fix my wheel. Yet, it is 7:30-8 am in the morning and not shops are open. The other problem is that the wheel/rim I need is 23" which isn't a standard bike rim and usually someone in my postition would have to custom order it from a shop that has these wheels in store. Anyways, we end up driving up into the Avenues where Steve lived because there's a bike shop down the road from him and he knows the owner. So we called up Tim from Wild Rose bike shops and he had just got up for the day. So he came down to see what he could do. Miraculously he had a very thin mountain bike tire that was the perfect size to fix my problem. So 2 hours after my crash I was back on course. My Dad and Steve dropped my off at the exact location that I crashed...but at this point the roads were open to traffic and there were cars everywhere. My Dad and Steve (i'm gonna call them the pit crew from now on) followed behind me with the hazard blinkers to make sure cars didn't run me over, and we started following the Marathon course. At this time also we called up the therapist guy, Rob, 
to meet back up with me and ride along side. I figured that if we rode fast enough I would be able to catch up to the straglers and hit the course where it would still be closed. I ended up riding on the side of the road and in the gravel and dirt for about half of the marathon course, but that was the sacrifice I was willing to make in order to just FINISH the marathon. I passed by the road where the Hoffmires live and wasn't too surprised to see they weren't there, although they would've been there to see me if I hadn't crashed. At this point also the wind was terrible and I was going very slow. I was able to start catching up to the clean up crew picking up the porta-potties and water stations, and an official car saw us and radio-inned my race number to tell the crews to wait for me. Slowly yet surely I was able to catch up to the last runners on Van Winkle, and by that time I had caught up to the road closures. Some of the guys that I had trained with were saying the Van Winkle is about where they hit the wall of energy and it felt like they couldn't do anymore. For me at that point, it boosted my energy because I knew that I would be able to finish. Rob, the therapist riding with me, told me I was going about 20 mph on Van Winkle. Slowly and surely I weaved in and out of the runners and ended up finishing. My time was about 4 hours 45 mins, which included the race for a new tire. Because I was the only women handcyclist, I won my division and won $500 because of it. Next year I plan on not crashing and figure I can shave 2 and 1/2 hours off my time, which will feel pretty sweet. At the end of the race I had my whole team waiting for me and cheering me to the finish. I also had a bunch of friends who supported me as well. It was a wild ride, and I apologize for those of you who didn't see me, but I promise next time I will be more cautious. Here's some pics of the wild adventure!!!
