We set off on the course that had been mapped out for us. This year that meant the first stop was Body Central up on Oracle/Magee. We took 1st up to Ina and then over to Oracle. I amazingly got up the hills without feeling like I was going to die, in fact in many places I was spinning pretty happily. Damn training. Our little group passed Elaine & Co heading south on Oracle and they were yelling something about no cookies. Since we weren't far away, we continued on to discover that there was no one at the Body Central stand. No cars, no people, no clue. I pedaled up hills for cookies damnit! We headed down Oracle to hit the next stand at River (Children's Park). Now, we weren't moving nearly as slow as last year, certainly not super quick paced as this is a fun, social ride and there were tons of people still behind us. We got to the Oracle/River stand and they had run out of cookies. This running out of cookies became a common theme. So now quite hungry as I should have consumed many cookies by now, we set off towards Stone and the next stand. On the way down Stone I get splattered with something wet. I look up and discover the rows of birds sitting on the power lines. Seriously? A bird pissed on me? This may not be a good day.
The stand at Stone had cookies, they were running out quickly, but cookies were had and they were quite tasty for having waited as long as I did. We headed off towards downtown and the Roller Derby stand. Those girls are awesome! They knew how to have fun and someone can bake! Their cookies were probably the best and the brownies were phenom. From the Roller Derby girls we headed towards the UofA mall to visit the TTG tent. Even our tent was running low on cookies and had to make an emergency Safeway run for more. I stocked up and we headed east to visit the women's rugby team. Got my milk shot and played a hand of blackjack (I won!) and we were back on the road towards Craycroft.
The next stop had cool cookies shaped like bikes and fresh lemonade. Plus if you bought $3 in cookies you could spin the wheel and some volunteers would do some funny gags - sing like opera singers, make animal sounds, etc. From there we headed up Craycroft until Anne got a flat. Seems I'm always around for her flats. She got it fixed (while Erik and I watched...such good friends) and by then another group of TTGs had joined us and we decided to head back to the start, making a quick stop at another stand on the way. When we got to McCormick park, we discovered the stand already packed up and unwilling to dish out any cookies. So sadly we headed back to the start/finish in hopes that unlike last year, the finish line would still be standing! With great luck it was, but the TriSports booth was already packed up. We all got our cookie medals and then someone mentioned a stop we had missed that was just down the river path.
So a few of us set off for the elusive stand and were pleased to discover that they were still open and still had tasty cookies. We then headed back and crossed the finish line a second time. To make up for last year of course! A couple of us packed up and then headed off to Brushfire BBQ for some well deserved lunch. Even though this race lacked some organization this year (stands not showing up, running out of cookies) it's still a favorite ride and I'll be back next year!
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