July 4th Extravaganza

This morning my Dad, Andrew and I woke up at o'dark thirty to run the Peachtree Road Race. It's the largest 10k in the country with 55,000 participants.

We jumped on Marta and rode down to the start at Lenox Mall. We sent in previous race times so Andrew was in time group 1A and my Dad and I were in time group 2. It was much better than last year when we were in time group 9 and didn't start until after 8:30. We started off a few minutes after 7:30 am.


The race goes south on Peachtree street through Buckhead. Its pretty much downhill for the first 3 miles. Then you hit Cardiac Hill in front of Piedmont Hospital.

Once you get up that hill, you run right past the building I work in. My Mom decided to come watch this year and she set up camp there. It was nice to hear people cheering for you as you run by.


A little past that you get a nice view of the Hotlanta skyline. Before you know it, you are turning onto 10th Street. New this year, thanks to the drought, the finish line was moved from Piedmont Park to the Atlanta Civic Center. So you have to take the next right onto Juniper. Unfortunately, the race course immediately goes uphill again. Then shortly after that you see the finish line!


We all made it! The race is a lot of fun and it helps you not feel guilty while indulging in Independence Day treats!

Smoked beer can chicken - Yum Yum!

68 Miles on a Bike = Sore Butt

First real post! Yesterday I rode in the Atlanta running of the Tour de Cure, a bicycle ride fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association. You could choose to ride 100 km, 50 km, 25 km, or an 8 mile fun ride. I chose to ride the 100 km (62.1 miles) route with a team from work. Our team raised over $10,000 in support of the ADA. Many thanks to those who supported me! The group of guys I ride with weekly participated in the 50k and had a blast as well.



The first 10 miles were ridden Tour de France style with a huge peloton of probably 60-70 riders. The draft is pretty surreal with that many people and we averaged close to 27 mph. At one point the people in front slowed to navigate a turn, the whole group compressed, and two guys touched wheels with one wrecking pretty hard. Luckily he didn't suffer any major injuries. This happened a few riders behind me and a few riders in front of my boss. We both commented later in the day that we had experienced our own personal Tour de France moment of chaos.

Shortly after the wreck we reached a four lane highway and figured we had missed a turn some ways back. This resulted in a six mile detour, so at the end of the day we totaled 68.3 miles instead of 62.1.

The remaining miles were fairly uneventful. My boss and I rode together for the rest of the day, stopping periodically at the provided rest stops (port-a-potties, water, powerade, fruit). A friend of Logan's mom even found me on the course and we chatted for a few miles.




Logan played the part of support car driver and photographer extroidinaire. She hung around the start finish/area with our friends and took pictures of their husbands who rode the 50k.

Once they were done she drove the car out and took pictures of my boss and I on the course. Most of the pictures are her work.



The next bike challenge is the Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride, a two day 150-mile fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society - Georgia chapter. Maybe I'll be used to the bike seat by then.

Complete photo album:

080518 Tour De Cure

~Andrew