Little Red Riding Hood-2008

Well, here is the story of Saturday. I'm able to think about it now. My body has pretty well recovered, although I haven't been back on my bike yet. That will happen soon enough.

Below is a photo of our group. Pretty impressive numbers considering last year there were only four of us. We had all levels of skill and ability and age and size and it was great. We all started out together with the understanding that everyone would find their pace and go for it.

Last year 1600 women registered for this ride. This year 2400 women registered. I don't think that was the actual riding number because the weather was pretty un-cooperative. But it was a pretty huge crowd. It took quite a few minutes of riding for the crowd to string out along the road so that it wasn't a huge traffic jam. But it is inspiring to see SO many women riders!

Doug was a volunteer again this year to drive a SAG wagon. This year each official vehicle had a HAM radio operator ride along, so Chris was riding with Doug. Abbie also came because I wanted her to see what this is all about and get her motivated to do this with me in another two years. She and I will do the 35 mile route.

Doug and Chris actually kept pretty busy fixing bikes and taking women in who needed to stop for various reasons. Doug told me that I'm so fortunate to have such a good bike in such good working order. He said there were bikes on the road that shouldn't have been there...

It was pretty chilly in the morning when we started, and we had a bit of a wind, and depending on where you were on the course there were clouds and sprinkles and more wind. The course was changed this year from last year so I wasn't sure how it would go. I'm glad that I didn't know because there was a hill going into Preston, Idaho that had I known about, it would have been a deal-breaker for the 102 mile ride. It was a hill about a mile long that had a passing lane for the vehicles, it was that long and steep! Oh my goodness! It was much harder than I wanted to do, but there really wasn't much of a choice! And remember, I know that "you can granny up ANY hill", and so I did and I was grateful for the hill training I've been doing.

After the hill we really got rained on, and then hailed on, and the wind, oh, the wind. You talk to anyone who rode on Saturday and they'll talk about the wind. It was never to our advantage. That sound nuts, but we rode such a stretched out course that the wind shifted around, so when we thought we'd be getting a tail wind we didn't! The wind was brutal. But after my ride to Vernal on Memorial Day, I knew that I could do wind, even when I was tired. So I did.

At the lunch stop in Lewiston, Junghe was getting very chilled and needed to get moving. Her husband, also a cyclist, had come with his gear and so he rode her to Newton, where his car was, so she could put her cold weather gear back on. Candy couldn't go any father and her husband came and got her. I was feeling like I didn't really want to ride alone and actually I didn't want to ride anymore! I didn't have anything to prove. Doug and Abbie came to the Lewiston stop and it was raining and I said I thought I might be done. It was between 60-70 miles at this point. I figured that was a good enough ride...

...but there was a sweet little girl who said to me, "Mom, I really want you to finish. You can do it, I know you can."

So I did.

I took off from Lewiston alone. I had my ipod with me so I turned on the tunes and took off (once the rain slowed down). The ride from Lewiston to Trenton was amazing! I was actually so glad to be riding this part alone because I didn't have to talk to anyone or worry about anyone else. It was almost a spiritual experience for me. (I don't mean for that to sound corny.) It was so beautiful on those back roads and I actually felt pretty good after the lunch break. My heart was so full of gratitude for how beautiful this earth is and how amazing our bodies are and that was a time when I thought, "THIS is why I'm riding." I saw two hawks on this stretch of road, and the flowers were absolutely beautiful and the whole countryside was wonderful. This really is a beautiful course, but often I don't take time to see it in more than quick glimpses.

Well, it was good I had that experience to fill me up because there was yet another hill to climb. Not like the Preston hill, but I dreaded this hill last year and hoped it wouldn't be there this time. I learned that this is called "Skull Hill". Doug said that a woman came up this hill and said to him, at the top, "I have a whole new vocabulary of cuss words now." I understand that. And Doug and Abbie were there to cheer me to the top of that d___ hill, as I called it. You could compare that moment to being in transition during childbirth when all sort of words might slip out that you don't really mean to say, but do...

I stopped at the top of this hill, Doug gave me a quick massage, and I took off. Meanwhile, Chris took a look at what was getting me moving...

...and I really didn't want to get caught in that!

In Newton I hooked up with a woman who lost her riding partner because of a bad knee and she and I rode the remaining 28 (or 34??) miles together, which was such a good thing. We talked and encouraged one another and took turns drafting each other and we got one another back to Wellsville, and that was such a great feeling.

And so ends the ride. It was harder this year. But I learned that I do have more strength that I thought I had. Doing something like this is powerful medicine. So much of this is a mental thing, and the strength that I talk about having is physical to a degree, but mostly it is knowing just how deep I am able to reach inside myself and pull out the emotional and mental and spiritual strength to get me up the next hill.

I love the lessons my bike teaches me.