Last year after hearing the Jim Thorpers talk about the Tour de Shore while she was working on the deck at Molly Maguire's Pub and Steakhouse, Stacie Slizofski of Jim Thorpe knew she wanted to do it. However, between last year and the ride this past weekend, something came up.

As Slizofski stood with her bike at the start of the 29th annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore, she was just over eight months pregnant."I've always been into fitness and have competed in many different events including CrossFit, Spartan races, Tough Mudders and even the General Clinton canoe regatta (a 70-mile canoe race down the Susquehanna from Cooperstown to Baimbridge New York)," Slizofski said. "The doctor cleared us to ride a few days before the Tour de Shore, and I'm happy to say we had an excellent post-race checkup since."Slizofski said that she's always up for a challenge but she had never done a bike ride like this."I was both nervous and excited," Slizofski said. "I tried to get out on my bike at least three to four times a week building up miles as the weeks went by. Even if I wasn't able to get on my bike I tried to get out and exercise in some way. A week before the ride I ran in the Ludlow Park 5K in Summit Hill."There were three things Slizofski didn't want to happen during the ride."First and foremost, I did not want to go into early labor. As a joke, I made a comment to a co-worker that if he came out during the race he would be grounded. Thank goodness that was not the case." Slizofski said. "I was sure to be very cautious along the ride and aware of how we were both feeling. We would've stopped immediately if I feel anything was wrong. We made sure to stay well-hydrated and keep a nice easy pace. My two other fears were crashing and getting a flat tire. Everyone along the route was super helpful in pointing out hazards along the way."We could not have asked for a better day. I really enjoyed every part of the ride from the excitement and adrenaline in the beginning, each stop along the way and the amazing encouragement and cheers from our team and others at the finish."Slizofski hopes her schedule works out better in 2017 and she gets to train with fellow Jim Thorpers."I can't wait for next year. I definitely plan on participating again." Slizofski said. "Hopefully we can raise even more money for our fallen officers."Another first-time rider took a different route to competing in the Tour de Shore this year.Lisa Wildoner of Nesquehoning wanted to join boyfriend Doug Makofka of Jim Thorpe on this year's ride, but their skill levels were not the same."I didn't want to hold Doug back. He's a great rider and I'm not," Wildoner said.So in May they decided that they would make the ride on a tandem bike Makofka bought years back."We did quite a bit of training on the tandem bike. It takes a lot of coordination and communication to ride a tandem bike," Wildoner said.Last year Makofka was near the front of the Jim Thorpers group at the finish line. This year his pace on the tandem bike was slower."Last year I was riding with people that were fairly fast, which was fun, but you're always concentrating at staying safe at a good pace," he said. "This year we got to talk with other riders and even stopped at all of the rest areas."Wildoner said that they are looking forward to doing the ride again next year, and are even looking for other rides to do before that.