I could not sleep so I woke at 4:30 a.m. , showered and headed to the feed zone to snag a tent for the team. I thought I forgot to pack my mace so I ended up walking through the start/finish area as to avoid all the homeless people sleeping everywhere. Single woman, walking with a camera bag and backpack said "tourist" all the way. I sweated even more in the pre-dawn humidity. The walk took me twenty minutes. My legs are still throbbing and I did not race or even ride a bike today. Ugh. I dropped at least 5 lbs and that was after I ate dinner at 4:00 p.m. I just popped some of those pills Good Andy had in his hands and down a glass of water. My job was to manage the feed zone and I think we did pretty good, all things considered.We didn't have a big box cooler as I did not have room due to my commuting situation for the weekend and I ran out of time to buy a Styrofoam one. I forgot my 5 gallon jug of water at the yummy Fudge and Phluff lady's house and I was without a car to go get it. So I had to try to stay calm and improvise. The team car was being loaded from two hotels and they did not have time to run for the water jug, either. Thank goodness PCT came through with the water and ice so it all worked out. I snagged some chairs from the expo as the vendors had not dragged their hungover arses out to set up yet. (6:00 a.m. came pretty fast) I even borrowed a small lunch box cooler from a vendor so our team car had drink bottle supplies to feed the riders and themselves. I called Brad at 6:30 a.m. requesting a Styrofoam cooler from Whole Foods. He showed up with two of those portable freezer bags and I about had a cow. Earlier, one of the volunteers gave me a huge trash bag and I put two cases of water and a 40 lb. bag of ice in it with a towel over it as a make shift cooler as I waited for the "cooler" that never arrived.
PCT provided a hospitality tent for the teams' support and volunteers marshaling the feeding area. I was so grateful as that bagel was the only thing I ended up eating all day. Once the mayhem began, it was non-stop until 1:00 p.m.
