Tour De Cure Bike Race - Inspiration on the Trail

It was the perfect day! I got to include my family, raise money to help people, spend time with some dear friends, be active, be outside, eat really good food from Texas Roadhouse, and have a reflexologist work on my feet after the ride.

I’m happy to report that I didn’t require an ice bath after the 32 miles of biking. I’m sitting quite comfortably in my cubicle, actually.

 
The friends who invited me to join the Tour De Cure are Leslie and Jayson. They both participate in tri- and duathlons. Leslie is also a Boston marathoner, and Jayson is an avid cyclist. They have truly been my inspiration in being active, setting and achieving goals.
 

I started the ride with Jayson, who has taken on the role of ‘coach’ for me. He has a top of the line road bike. I have a mountain bike, fitted with hybrid tires. Big difference. He stuck with me for the first 5 miles, giving me some cycling basics like road etiquette, signals, etc.
 

When he was done educating me and warming up, he asked me if it was ok if he took off on his own. Before I could finish the word “Yes”, he was gone. I was all alone, and the last person on the route, which didn’t bother me, I enjoyed the solitude. Temporarily. I found my inner competitor telling me she really needs a road bike.
 

The next 27 miles were relatively uneventful. It started heating up outside, and I decided to push ahead to catch up with the girl in front of me. It’s the whole ‘misery loves company’ concept. Unfortunately, she started to overheat and had to drop out about 10 miles into the ride.
 

I was alone again, until mile 19, where I found someone to ride with. This was the one diabetic I met on the ride. After what seemed like an eternity on the saddle (13 miles through rural North Dakota), we finally hit the finish line with a very warm reception from the volunteers.
 

The participants were a very diverse group. I saw men who could have been mistaken for Lance Armstrong, a college student in jean shorts, an 11-year-old in a Harley Davidson t-shirt, and a 7-year-old in a Spongebob Squarepants cycling jersey.
 

The most amazing part, for me, was seeing that 11-year-old in the Harley Davidson t-shirt ride for her Dad, who lives with Type 2 Diabetes. She rode 12 miles, that’s about 6 more than she’s ever done before.
 

The sense of accomplishment was written all over her face, and mine, as well, because that girl is my daughter, Olive. I look forward to more family events. I think Olive has the potential to be a future adventure racer. To team up with her for one would be incredibly cool, but that’s a long ways off!

 
Since Olive is still a few years away from being able to participate in an Adventure Race, I am still looking for a partner. I think I may have found one.
 

I will know more next week. I hope it works out. I was looking around the sports store the other day. I spotted Camelbak Hydration Packs, and it rekindled my desire to complete an Adventure Race.
 

I found myself focusing on the word ‘camel’ and retracing my steps to how I got to this path in life. It’s not always been my nature to be so active and outdoorsy, which  I’ll elaborate on in my next post.
 

Adventure On!
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