I was that guy who finished dead last. You were right, I was indeed totally cooked. However, I was not trying to be anti-social. I just don’t have any experience with finish-line adulation or celebrity protocol. I simply thought that just like in the Tour de Frog you rode past everyone at the finish line and then your team support staff runs over and gathers you up quickly and ushers you into the post race cool-down trailers for clean-up and any last minute blood testing. So I rode through the shower of rose petals (which was awesome!) and then looked around for my team support personnel and then realized that I had come all the way from Seattle alone–and that I didn’t even have a team! It is a good thing that the LIVESTRONG organization thought to provide some very nice people that were there to offer me water and a towel a place to collapse if I had needed one. Two of the sag wagon volunteers even gave me a ride back to my motel in Dripping Springs.

I not only rode the entire 90 mile route in record time (longest-ever elapsed time is also a record, right?), but I already had 3 miles in by the time I got to the starting line that morning by riding there from my motel.

It was a great experience, and though I was not an official Team Fatty member, I did donate to Team Fatty’s during your Philadelphia fund raising. For Austin I dedicated my fundraising and my ride to my cousin Mary Medved who passed away from ovarian cancer on July 5th of this year.

I hope to have the chance to meet you in person sometime. Maybe Seattle 2010?

One of the benefits to changing my mind was that I was at the rest stop where everyone came back together right when Lance and his group came zooming by. It was exciting, until I realized that they’d done about 70 miles in the time I’d done 40…)

By far the highlight of the ride, though was feeling the love of the Fatties at the start…just hanging out waiting to begin. It was absolutely great. And then having the man himself greet me at the finish was more than I’d hoped for.

This was by far the best feeling I’ve ever gotten from something so innately simple as pedaling my bike. The event was wonderful. The team was beyond wonderful. I cannot wait for my 2010 jersey to show up and to start planning for next year’s trip!

I was on a rental bike this weekend and it took a while for me to locate where it was in all the starting-line hubbub. By the time I got fitted and dialed in, the last of the 10-mile riders were pulling away.

“You’re riding today? Well then hurry up and get in front of the F150 [truck],” one of the course volunteers said. I was literally THE last person out of the chute, barely squeezing past volunteers as they pulled the orange metal gates together to close the starting hatch. Otherwise, I would have caught up with Armstrong & Co., I swear.

The “crabon fibre” rental bike, complete with relief-inducing compact double crank, was fantastic — thank you, Bicycle Sport Shop of Austin. (Just don’t tell my road bike at home, okay?)

And now I know one more road call to add to the usual cries of “car up,” “car back,” and so on: “Cattle guard!!!”

Glad you had a fun time Fatty.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Well done.