The Tour de Okinawa

Well we did it! We rode our bikes for about 7 hours and covered nearly 110 miles with some amazingly huge hills! Here’s is the break down of our Tour de Okinawa experience:

The Prep: Tom is a very talented rider and is in incredible shape right now due to his diligent marathon schedule so his training included a few long rides and biking to work on occasion. I on the other hand, had a lot of work to do to be ready for such a trek and have focused all of my workouts on biking. I would get up at 5am and ride in the dark, I would ride longer distances when the girls were at preschool and on Saturdays. I started going to spin classes as the weather got worse and just really put a lot of time into it. I went on a few 45 mile rides all alone because there was no one to go with and I needed to get it done. All along I kept worrying that I wouldn’t be fast enough (they ask that you be able to maintain an average of at least 15) or that I wouldn’t be strong enough to handle all the hills. I started doing hill workouts where I would just go up and down and up and down the biggest hills I could find. But I still didn’t know if it would be enough and started looking for someone who wanted to take my spot. Thankfully, in the end I decided I would just give it a try.

The Tour: We had great friends take the kids Friday night so we were able to go to bed and then get up at 4:30 and head up to Nago. As we got close we started seeing some people riding to the starting line and we both started to get nervous. The weather had been beautiful the entire week but of course it started to get windy and was sprinkling as we approached. Nonetheless we got our bikes ready and headed to the starting line. There were several different rides going on at the same time but we fortunately found the correct start and at 7:00 the gun went off. It was a little crazy as the crowd thinned but eventually we fell in line and started riding through the city. They didn’t close the streets so we were still subject to cars and traffic lights (it wasn’t a race so it didn’t really matter.) Tom and I were riding together for the first 6-7 miles but then he decided to race ahead to catch his friends and I didn’t want to wear myself out so we separated.

The first 35 miles: The beginning of the ride wound through the city and then out along the coast. It sprinkled a bit and was windy but the terrain was pretty flat. It was hard to navigate around people and I kept finding myself just riding leisurely behind someone unable to pass but wanting to go faster. In the end, it was probably good I didn’t push so hard and still maintained a good pace (averaged nearly 17). The first break was at 35 miles and Tom and his friends were waiting for me. We enjoyed some fruit and Okinawa donuts. So, This is Tom, the first 35 miles was pretty cake. There was this one guy that while we were going up this small hill, he was pushing his wife/girlfriend up the hill. Tracey was around them longer and said that he would occasionally flip from one side to the other so that he was using different arms. Uh, I wanted to say, thats not going to work.....There are much bigger hills than that. I just ended up hooking up with a big group of people until I was able to catch up with the rest of the group. It was windy, but bearable. No rain at that point. We passed a lot of the sites in Okinawa...it is a tour after-all.

The next 22 miles: After a short rest we mounted up and rode all together out along the coast. It was beautiful but raining pretty hard so it was hard to really appreciate the view. However, it was still fun and I was keeping up the the gang no problem so I felt really great and was having a good time. At 50 miles we had a short stop before climbing the first hill. Tom took off flying and all the rest of us made our way up the hill to the lunch stop at 57 miles. So I was glad that we stopped because it gave us a chance to bring Tracey along with us. I was really happy to see her come into that rest stop. I just kept holding my breath that her knee was going to hold out. We stopped at 50 but I was ready to get to the hill. We started the hill in a really long tunnel and I told Tracey I was just going to take off. I had done this hill before a year ago and I felt awesome. It is about a 2-3 mile climb where you go up about 650 feet. Not a huge climb but you get the altitude pretty quick. I was feeling so strong, passing people left and right. It was very motivating. The music was awesome.

Lunch was great. The best curry I’ve ever had in my life...only problem is we were all soaked and freezing! So we didn’t linger to long before mounting up again. Tom was feeling fantastic and itching to go fast so he flew out of there to enjoy a solo journey the rest of the way. He had three friends riding so I sort of stuck with them on and off for the rest of the ride. Curry=Good, but I was cold. I just wanted to get started again. It was about to start raining

Another 22 miles: Mentally I broken the ride into two completely separate rides. The before lunch leisure and the after lunch torture. I had one down and was ready for the agony. Truly I had heard nothing except that there were so many hills you wanted to die and just when you didn’t think there could be another hill there would be 6 or 7 more... I was not looking forward to it and yet I was.... could I actually do it? When I told people I was going to ride the Tour de Okinawa they all seemed surprised and would talk about hard they heard it was. So it was my moment of truth. Thankfully my super fantastic amazing husband ordered me a new sprocket cluster for my back gear... I don’t know all the technical details but I do know it was designed to make it easier to climb hills because I drop into a lower gear. So I had done all my training on a gear that only went to 23 and now I had a 27.... it arrived a few days before the ride so I had never used it but soon found myself wanting to kiss it! I powered up the hills, passing people!!! I was the girl who got left behind on all the group rides and always went home frustrated so I started riding alone... and now I was actually passing people! I even passed two of the guys I had ridden with before! I began to believe that all my training was actually going to pay off and that I was going to be able to do it!!! So, I just took off on my own after lunch. I needed to just be pushing myself and I was not sure how Tracey was going to do, or the other guys. I am glad we were able to get the sprocket on and it is something I will look into in the future as we get more serious with biking. It can totally change your ability to complete a ride. I felt great though. I stopped once for a banana but I did not wait up. It was pouring and I felt great. The music was awesome.

The rest stop at 80 miles: I stopped to refuel and met up with the other guys. While we stopped the rain changed from a drizzle to a torrential down pour. I was so cold I couldn’t stop shivering long enough to even open my snack. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was to step out from under the tent into that down pour. I really questioned the wisdom of doing it... but I was feeling great (minus the freezing part) and knew I could finish the ride if I just tried. So once we realized it wasn’t going to let up we just mounted our bikes at set off. I did not stop at 80, I broke at 84, but then went on until I was done with the race.


The next 20 miles are a blur of rain, wind and hills and more hills and more hills. The hills were huge and just kept coming. We went up one hill that last for 4 miles and went up 800 feet. The others weren’t much better. It was raining so hard there was a constant stream coming off the front of my helmet. When we were near the coast the wind would blind me. Luckily, on the up hills I could see enough to watch the river of water running down the hills and over flowing the huge gutters on the sides. Coming down the huge hills was so precarious I don’t know how to describe it. I was mostly just terrified and constantly chanting “I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids” in hopes of living to see them again. The speed made the wind and water so bad I could hardly see and my breaks were so wet I kept them on constantly but couldn’t actually stop. It was only the fact that I could see riders in front of me surviving that kept me going. I figured that if they could do it I could do it... and thankfully we all survived. I went slow, only about 21 mph down the hills, but it felt so fast in those conditions. Tom is more experienced, more gutsy and just plain crazy and was still flying down at 30 mph. I am thankful he survived! He said that several times he realized that he couldn’t stop or control anything and just had to hope that there were no cars coming as he tried to make it around the bends in the road.

MILE 100: What a glorious moment!!!! I kept rubbing the rain off my odometer so I could see it and tell how close I was getting to 100 miles. Finally, while going down a hill and singing “Livin on a Prayer” at the top of my lungs I watched it change over to 100. That song was then stuck in my head all day....it was fantastic to know I was so close!!! By then the riders were all scattered along the road and I don’t think anyone could hear my singing over the wind and the rain. Even if they could, I didn’t care at that point! I was a little out of my mind, a combo of adrenaline, terror, excitement and hypothermia all at once left me talking to the wind, yelling at the rain, singing to myself and mistaking the trees for people.... Going over 100 was a pretty cool experience, although, I really wanted to remember what song was on but I forgot already, bummer.


The last 10 miles: At mile 103 there was another rest stop but I decided to pass it by knowing that I would only start freezing if I stopped and I was feeling so good I knew I could make it the last 10 miles. I nearly missed the turn off because there was split where the riders on the two day tour went one way and the “century” riders went another. It’s tough because all the signs are in a Japanese and there was a man with a large megaphone but I could’t understand him so I just flew on past and then back tracked and asked which way to go and was pointed in a different direction than I had been going. Tom said he did the same thing, skipped the stop and nearly missed the turn. Luckily we both found it and shortly there after found ourselves climbing an endless hill. It was never ending and I kept thinking “Don’t you dare call this a century ride! If you’re going to give me a 3 mile, steep hill from mile 104 to 107 then you had better not call it a mere 100 mile ride!!!” I actually managed a few “kills” up the last hill and was so enthused at the fact that I was going to finish and I wasn’t the last one of our group! Coming down the last hill truly was insane. The wind and rain were blinding as we crossed over these amazing bridges back down into the city. I bet the view was phenomenal but couldn’t open my eyes wide enough or take my eyes off the road long enough to take it in. And then suddenly I was back in Nago. There was traffic every where and I didn’t know where to go. I finally spotted another rider and followed him to the finish line (thank goodness he could read all the Japanese signs.) As I approached I saw Tom standing in the rain at the corner and I got so excited!!! I had done it! I had actually done it! He said he was surprised and excited to see me so soon as well! Ok, the last hill was nuts, really steep as you can see on the Garmin thing. But, once I got to the top it was all downhill into Nago. It was a great feeling. It was a very poor ending, there was a scooter staff guy that was guiding me into the city. It was not a race but in my wild imaginations I thought I may be one of the first to finish and I was expecting a heroes welcome. No such luck, we ran into traffic, I went up the left side of the traffic and ended up falling over on a grate. It was not my brightest moment. I felt like a fool. But, I was trying to figure out where the finish was and failed. I passed a few barricades and ended up at the start line that said START/FINISH. Well, it was not the finish, and nobody was cheering. Here I felt like I had really accomplished something and nobody around me even understood me or cared. Oh well, I cared. Eventually I made it over to the car to change out of my wet clothing. It was an amazing feeling to see Tracey come around the corner not too long after I made it there. And she was not dejected. She was full of energy. It was a great way to finish.

The Finish: So we both made it, felt great, jumped in the car, tried to warm up, drove home, picked up the kids, ordered pizza and went to bed!!!

Seriously, look at those hills!
Tom's Stats: GPS not on at the beginning so you can't see the total elevation gain.
Tracey's Stats: forgot to start it a few times, hence the shorter mileage