Bike familiarization

Finally, a look at the bike course! I was pretty nervous after we rode it in the bus yesterday, so I was ready to get out and ride it for myself.

We decided to just do half of the loop since the roads were only closed for 1.5 hours and we didn't want to overdo it. 

We walked from the Team USA hotel to the venue because we wanted to start cold out of transition just like it will be on Sunday. We kind of felt like celebrities with everyone cheering and taking pictures - the highlight of my day might have been going by these kids cheering "Jiayou!"

I did the ride with 2 other Team USA ladies, Jeannette and Mary.

Immediately as you leave transition, you go up a short but very steep hill, so we wanted to be sure we could do it. And we did!

We took our time on the beautiful (but hilly and techinal) first 5 miles, taking pictures along the way.

See? I told you it was technical!

Then we turned left to cut off the other (slightly easier) loop of the course so we'd have time to go up this hill, the one we'd been dreading...

It was really hard, but definitely manageable. Maybe not too much worse than Paris Mountain, except that it will be at mile 20, mile 43, and mile 67...

I was really relieved to know that it wasn't any worse than it is! And the descent was scary but also manageable. 

After that we had a few scary intersection because the roads were reopened before we finished and a tunnel (well-lit so not too bad) before the end. Oh, and one more steep hill!

When we got back to transition, we jumped in the water to see how it felt without a wetsuit (cold!), practied running to transition, and took a few more pictures. 

Now we have a team meeting and the Opening Ceremony is tomorrow!