On October 14, 2007, Elfida, Dora, Sam and I went to Eagle Pass to take part in the Dia dela Raza Bicycle race. I have done bike rides before but never an actual race. I wore my MP3 player, camelback, and carried my cell phone and external speakers. When we lined up for the start, I notice Dora was the only other one with headphones. Most riders only carried one bottle of water. These people were serious riders!
Sheriff Herrera started out the riders with the wave of his flag. We were off. It was a good size group. Lots of riders from Mexico, some from Laredo, Austin and San Antonio.
I started falling behind after about half a mile. I kept peddling faster but still couldn't do anything about falling behind. After about four miles I noticed I was in the middle chainring on the front! I shifted up but it was too late to catch up with the pack.
Sam and Dora stayed about midway in the pack. Dora and I had been riding during the summer, but after school started we couldn't ride in the early morning. I kind of slacked off on my riding and took up running for a while. Then yard work and home jobs took over my time and my work outs dwindled to one or two a week. Dora started riding with Sam in the afternoons and her conditioning showed in this 32 mile race.
Elfida was our photographer. Her she did what she has prohibited me from doing. Taking pictures while driving down the road. She did get a excellent photo of me moving down the road.
The turn around was suppose to be at 16 miles but my odometer read 18 by the time I got to it. Elfida said that the truck's odometer read 16.8 when she got there. Dora and same made it there way ahead of me.
Elfida was waiting for me. I had managed to pass two riders. I would catch up Ms. Compean and then she would leave me behind on the climbs. When we got to the turn around I left her behind. I think she stopped for a while.
At about 20 miles she caught up to me again and passed me up. I was never able to catch up to her again. Mr. Luna was the only other rider behind me. When I got to the finish line my legs were already hurting and I had to coast past the finish line. I didn't want to stop and put my foot down and find that my legs weren't working. Falling in front of everyone was something I wanted to avoid. I stopped about 100 yards past the finish line where Ms. Compean had stopped. I had spoken with her while we were riding so I took the time to introduce myself. Her husband was also riding but had finished with the main pack.
It felt real good to finish the race. The event was not very organized and they took too long to come up with the placings of the riders. We waited outside for about an hour before they had the list. I took this picture of Sam outside the Bowling alley where the race was started from.
Dora had to go and get the organizers to check their placings since they had given her first place medal to some one else. They had the right number and the right first name but still gave the medal to the wrong Dora. We enjoyed the ride and will make it back next year. I also found out that they hold a "Sizzler" bike ride in July. We hope to make that one too.
With the bike race behind me, I got back to Waco knowing that I had the Miracle Marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. I got back to running and this past Sunday I ran my nine mile run. This is the one that helps me prepare for the 13 mile run. Dora will run the first 13 miles and I will run the second 13 miles. We will run as the Almaguer Team.
Sheriff Herrera started out the riders with the wave of his flag. We were off. It was a good size group. Lots of riders from Mexico, some from Laredo, Austin and San Antonio.
I started falling behind after about half a mile. I kept peddling faster but still couldn't do anything about falling behind. After about four miles I noticed I was in the middle chainring on the front! I shifted up but it was too late to catch up with the pack.
Sam and Dora stayed about midway in the pack. Dora and I had been riding during the summer, but after school started we couldn't ride in the early morning. I kind of slacked off on my riding and took up running for a while. Then yard work and home jobs took over my time and my work outs dwindled to one or two a week. Dora started riding with Sam in the afternoons and her conditioning showed in this 32 mile race.
Elfida was our photographer. Her she did what she has prohibited me from doing. Taking pictures while driving down the road. She did get a excellent photo of me moving down the road.
The turn around was suppose to be at 16 miles but my odometer read 18 by the time I got to it. Elfida said that the truck's odometer read 16.8 when she got there. Dora and same made it there way ahead of me.
Elfida was waiting for me. I had managed to pass two riders. I would catch up Ms. Compean and then she would leave me behind on the climbs. When we got to the turn around I left her behind. I think she stopped for a while.
At about 20 miles she caught up to me again and passed me up. I was never able to catch up to her again. Mr. Luna was the only other rider behind me. When I got to the finish line my legs were already hurting and I had to coast past the finish line. I didn't want to stop and put my foot down and find that my legs weren't working. Falling in front of everyone was something I wanted to avoid. I stopped about 100 yards past the finish line where Ms. Compean had stopped. I had spoken with her while we were riding so I took the time to introduce myself. Her husband was also riding but had finished with the main pack.
It felt real good to finish the race. The event was not very organized and they took too long to come up with the placings of the riders. We waited outside for about an hour before they had the list. I took this picture of Sam outside the Bowling alley where the race was started from.
Dora had to go and get the organizers to check their placings since they had given her first place medal to some one else. They had the right number and the right first name but still gave the medal to the wrong Dora. We enjoyed the ride and will make it back next year. I also found out that they hold a "Sizzler" bike ride in July. We hope to make that one too.
With the bike race behind me, I got back to Waco knowing that I had the Miracle Marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. I got back to running and this past Sunday I ran my nine mile run. This is the one that helps me prepare for the 13 mile run. Dora will run the first 13 miles and I will run the second 13 miles. We will run as the Almaguer Team.
