We stopped in Columbia and ate some lunch - pasta, of course. Here's a pic of ornery Troy stuffing his face with pasta
Make note of the KU visor Troy is sporting - oh yes, he's a big fan, and will have all eyes on tomorrow night's game, even with a marathon looming on Sunday! Now, that's a fan! We wolfed down some food and hit the road again, St. Louis bound. We were on a bit of a time crunch, as we were meeting Troy's buddy, Mike, at the bike shop for some work on his bike. The day got a bit hectic from here - we made it to the bike shop just a bit before 3, and they started messing with bottle cages, wheels, aero bars, etc. I looked at fuel belts, as I kinda needed something to carry my Hammer fuel on the run (look for another entry in a few days on some products I've been using that I think have been very helpful). Once they got the guys at the shop rolling on what needed to be done on the bike, Mike, Troy and I headed to the Marathon expo to pick up our packets. The expo was at the Hyatt downtown St. Louis - talk about a crock! We took a ticket and parked in their garage, assuming that like many other host hotels, they would validate for people picking up packets - nope, they would not. That's really ridiculous! And, unfortunately, it's only the beginning of my negative experience in the downtown St. Louis area on this marathon weekend.
We picked up our packets and looked around the expo a little bit. Reality was setting in now - this would be a heavy weekend of training for sure! Troy and Mike went back to the bike shop, and I set out to find the Hilton at the Ballpark. This was funny...it's my own fault for not looking at things more carefully, but I bet I drove past the hotel a handful of times before finally choosing the right streets (that were "one way" in the proper direction) that got me to the front of the hotel. I never could spot their parking garage entrance. Come to find out, that's because it's down the street from the hotel. Ahhh. I was a bit frazzled when I pulled up. I was trying to check in, get my bike and all my gear into the hotel, and park my car down the street. My mom and her friends, Johnette and Dixie, were sitting in the lobby playing Farkel when I raced in. That was a huge help, 'cause they watched all my stuff while I checked in and parked the car!
I basically just dumped my gear upstairs in the room, and came back downstairs to say a proper hello to the ladies. Johnette and Dixie are long-time family friends. They are from Florida, and still attend the church I grew up in. They both worked in our school office too, and Dixie was my cheerleading coach back in the day! So, there are many memories with these gals, and they have been good friends of my mother for a long, long time. So, I sat in the lobby and chatted with them for a bit. Troy called an hour or so later, and was on his way downtown to pick me up for dinner. We met his friend, Tim, at an Italian place, a little bit out of the city. I think it was about 6:30 by this time, and we were starving. I was also exhausted and couldn't stop yawning. We drank water while waiting for a table, and were just about to order an appetizer at the bar, when they seated us - wahoo! Food, at last. Well, the whole dinner took us about 3 hours! What? I wanted to have all my stuff set out and ready to go for the big ride in the morning. I also wanted to get to bed early, since I was up at 4:30 this morning. Don't get me wrong, it was nice meeting Tim, and the three of us had a good time chatting, and the food was GREAT, but I was ready for bed. Finally we were done and heading back to the hotel. Poor Troy still had to drive back to Mike's house after dropping me off - oh, and let's not forget to mention that there was a Cardinals game and we were trying to beat all the exit traffic from that. When we got to the hotel, I ran upstairs and got my bike - Troy was kind enough to take it with him, so I didn't have to haul it to the car in the morning...huge relief for me. So, with directions in hand for tomorrow's meeting place, I bid a good night to Troy and headed to my room.
I called Terry to make sure he had everything he needed - mind you, it's about 10:30 pm at this point. Poor Terry was almost asleep, as he needed to get up at 4:30. He drove to Columbia today, and stayed with his brother-in-law, and will meet us for the ride tomorrow morning. Terry said he was all set with directions, so I'd see him in the a.m.
I quickly set out all my gear and crawled into bed. It's an early start tomorrow, but I'm hoping for good weather and a great ride!
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