Well, I made it back in one piece, but it was a little iffy for a bit. On Sunday morning I strained my hamstring slightly while doing some household chores just an hour and a half before leaving by car for Rochester. After all of that great training (886 miles) I injured myself and was wondering how it would affect me, and even made me question whether I could or should try to make the ride.
Fortunately, I iced it down right away and took an Aleve, and was able to continue icing during the car trip. After registering I iced it again, but it still hurt. Even so I decided to ride anyway and be very careful during the first day, making sure I applied ice at each rest stop. It didn't get any worse that first day so I felt hopeful I could make it all five days. I iced it throughout Tuesday as well, and it began to feel better. By Wednesday I was feeling nearly normal, but I continued to apply ice as a precaution. Thursday I felt great, and completed the ride without further physical problems.
As far as TRAM itself I had a great time. There were slightly more than 800 people who registered for the ride, but only 730 who actually made the trip (altogether we generated more than $650,000 in donations). I think this was due to the fact that this particular route was very challenging. There were some huge hills to climb and I think this caused some people to back out. I was very pleased that even with those hills I didn't once get off my bike, unlike many other riders who had to dismount and walk part way up. In fact, by the end of TRAM I found I actually started looking forward to hills.
We only had one day where we had to ride in the rain, and that was for only 15 - 20 minutes. I was glad to have a raincoat this year, unlike last year when I had to ride 4 1/2 hours in a steady downpour. After pitching our tent following the 4th day's ride it rained pretty hard for a couple of hours, but I was safely under a canopy at our campsite. After it stopped the sun came out and we had a great night of entertainment.
The last day was the first day all week where we had sunshine throughout most of the day, which made that day very enjoyable. Fortunately, the last day had some spectacular scenery as well, unlike the first 3 days, and some very good roads. That was my main disappointment during the week; the first two days had us on some roads that weren't ideal for bicycling - rough and with no shoulders. That combined with an unfavorable wind made those first two days a bit difficult, but our campgrounds each of those days was very nice, as were all of the campgrounds.
Last year my friend and I were given some grief about Brett Favre being a Viking (we are from Wisconsin and are big Packers fans) and they were gloating about how close they came to making it to the Super Bowl. My friend made the comment to me that if the Packers would win the Super Bowl the next year we should wear Packers jerseys during TRAM, and wouldn't you know it, the Packers did win! So, 7 miles from the finish line we stopped and put on our jerseys and rode in all our glory to the finish line (the last two links are photos show up in those jerseys - I'm wearing #92, Reggie White's old number, and Chuck is wearing #12, Aaron Rogers' number). We were wondering what the reaction would be, and surprisingly we got a lot of cheers, which felt real good.
The below links are photos taken by a professional photographer. Each day a photo was taken of every rider, and these can be purchased by anyone. The great thing about buying any photo is that a portion of the proceeds will go to the MS Society. The two with asterisks are the best shots - they were taken near the top of a very long and steep hill as I was pedaling while standing up. I'll add some of my own photos later.
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/gr ... 825_25_6_5 - I'm the second from the front, in the blue jersey
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/gr ... 771_25_6_8 - The yellow "Golden Gears Club" jersey is given to those who raise more than $1000
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/gr ... 01_25_6_12 - Feeling strong!
* http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/gr ... 29_25_6_20 - Climbing a tough tough hill. The black thing below my left eye is my review mirror
* http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/gr ... 30_25_6_20 - Because of fog I had to peer over my glasses so I could see.
Finish line:
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/fi ... 16_25_6_30 - Wearing Packers jersey; revenge is sweet! I'm on the left.
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/fi ... 17_25_6_30
Not sure how to rotate this (edit - after posting it rotated but screwed up the dimensions)
At the finish line after 300 miles riding.
