Tour de Caffeine

Okay, I promise - soon there will be no more cycling posts. But this is a good one!

This past weekend the group organized the 2nd Annual Tour de Caffeine.

The ride started at the official cafe - The Chocolate Theatre Cafe. The ride was organized to go from town to town stopping at local coffee shops to fuel the next leg. You can't see it very well, but inside this tiny cafe is crammed about 35 cyclists trying to put their orders in.

Everyone was issued a scorecard to keep track of their consumption. You received points for calories or caffeine depending on size and strength. They also brought a scale along and you had to weigh in before and after the competition. Of course there were prizes for the most weight gained. Points were also taken away for offenses such as decaf coffee, anything herbal and most importantly - trips to the loo. (My apologies for the poor quality but I only had so much patience with scanning, transfering to paint, enhancing, etc).

Somehow, I ended up leading after the Prologue. I was given the coveted green jersey and it was mine to lose on the way into Marlow for the next stop.

In Marlow, we had a group photo with the jersey leaders in the front.

Stephen showing off the Combined Points Leader for most Calories AND Caffeine.

Tom won the hill climb challenge and therefore got to wear the Polka Dot jersey whereas German Tom sported the black Caffeine Leader at this stage.

Next it was off to Henley where the clouds rolled in and the air turned a little cool. I like this picture of Joe and the 500 year old church in the background.

Everyone was excited to see Howard as apparently this was the first time he was spotted on a group ride since his cycling attire was in style.


And lastly, German Tom says something witty while I nurse my water bottle. I unceremoniously lost the green jersey after almost tossing my hard earned calories all over the hill climb and removing myself from the remainder of the competition. Note to self: Hard cycling not a good idea after dark/white chocolate mousse cake, chocolate chip cookies and a hot chocolate. My poor tummy......