Another Epic Day on the Bike!
 

A fun day doing something really different on a bike! I took the opportunity to be a “bike lead” for the Wilmington, NC marathon. I got to meet several other cyclists in the NC coastal area who just enjoy riding. The event itself is extremely well organized with a huge army of volunteers taking care of the hundreds of runners.

I was one of the leads who got to ride just ahead of the first place full marathon runners. Incredibly, the first place female ran alongside the first place male. They both finished the 26.2 miles in an amazingly fast time of 2hr 36 mins. Seeing elite athletes perform up close, hearing them communicating and pushing each other towards the end was a terrific experience. There were good crowds even in damp conditions along the route. They were enthusiastically cheering “Ann Marie” all along the route.

I also got to see two friends along the route as they turned in magnificent runs. They used a different coach for this event and both were rewarded with great results.

The last part of the day’s adventure was finding my way back to near the start line via bike negotiating Wilmington’s city streets. Google Maps bailed me out once again!! All in all just another interesting very day on the bike.


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LOL ... i did sweep on a five-K walk-run ... the challenge was rising slower than the slowest walkers. You had a much better experience.

TY for the pics, too.

jppe How very cool! Thanks for sharing!

You didn't wear a pink tutu? Seriously, looks like you had a blast.

Thsi one is priceless:

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"After the divorce, all I had left was my bicycle and she wanted that, too."

Perfect "Caption this photo" candidate.

There was a water stop about 50 yards back from this photo. The fella (Hugh) slowed down a little to grab a drink and chug it. He caught back up with Ann Marie in no time.

Beth was wearing the pink tutu and was just a hoot to ride with. She was very experienced and knew the route which made my job easie peesie. I was calling out the distance the runners were behind us to help her gauge her speed. It worked just perfectly. There was only one time when Hugh caught up to my rear wheel……it was in a really sharp hairpin turn where I was taking it very cautiously with the wet roads.

What a great “job” for the day…