RATW - Recap

3,000 miles.
7 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes, 5 seconds.
92,694 calories burned.
$5,300 raised so far.

It was a long, long week. Riding for 3 hours a day was the easy part. The rest of my week entailed getting up at 3:50 am each morning and working from 9:30-8:15ish every day. I even decided to throw a half marathon into the mix. I was fatigued and dragging for 7 full days, but I wouldn't change it if I could.

The ride was quite surreal at times. After the first 20 minutes or so of riding, Shane would be sleeping soundly as I pedaled away on the computrainer. Each day, I watched the city wake up from behind a glass window. It was as if the outside world was the store window display I was looking at, rather than the opposite. Watching the city wake up was a really cool experience. People walked by. Some were curious, some gave thumbs up or waved. Others stood and watched a little too long--creepy. Then there were the people who had to be stereotypical New Yorkers. They walked by and didn't acknowledge that anything was even going on.

Saturday was probably my favorite of the days, simply because of the craziness of it all. I had an adjusted shift from 4-7 am, rode 56 miles, jumped on a train, and went to run the Brooklyn Half. The running felt way too easy. I cruised through to a 1:36:xx finish without really even trying too hard. I thought sunday would be rough, but I knocked out 54 miles without much trouble. Monday started out rough, but ended up being my best day of riding. Tuesday, I was rewarded with a day of soft-pedaling. I only had to hold about 14.5 mile per hour pace, which resulted in an easy 37 mile day.

The finale was pretty low-key, yet very fitting. JC finished up to a smattering of cheers and applause from a small crowd of customers, fellow riders, a few friends, and store employees. The group of riders posed for pictures both inside and outside of the store, and surprisingly, we were able to amass all 8 riders in the middle of a work day.

It was pretty amazing that we pulled this off over the course of a week without any major injuries and not a single person showing up late for their shift. I'd like to thank each and every person who came by and supported not just me, but any rider. The gatorade, mt. dews, food, gels and such were great, but the important part was your physical presence. It was an amazing pick-me-up, especially for those of us who rode through the night and early morning.

Thanks to JC and Shane for organizing and overseeing the event. I know you guys were running on fumes. Thanks to my teammates who pedaled the other 21 hours of the day. Thanks to all for the donations. And most of all, thanks to JC for inviting me to be a part of the team.