Was there a favorite moment from the ride? Not sure if any particular one stands out. There were a lot of good stories. One of them includes me riding 25+ mph on day 1. Having tail wind helps… I drafted a group of girls. They were hard core in riding formation. It was hot – I will admit it. Even if they were batting for the other team. At the end of Day 1, I had covered 96 miles. And I got DQ.
Day 2, the hill day was kind of weird. It started out cold. Cold enough that it required arm and leg warmers to get me through the entire day. I was just breathless and too tired to raise my arms. I remembered getting to Pit 5 and they had Coke. I drank 2 small cups and I was pumped… Enough to conquer the next few hills and powering through each incline.
Day 3… I looked forward to getting some Caribou in the morning. I got some and had the energy that I needed for the day… I would add that the RRR would not be complete without a trip to water the corn fields… I only got to do it once – damn coffee went through me quick. Unlike last year, I was not 100% inspired after the pit stop. I stopped and had lunch with my team mates. We sat until we had to go again. Day 3 is also the day of the last big hill… This is when I met up with Jeff again. Smoker Jeff as I called him. Someone that I met a year ago and made a comment, “If you stopped smoking, you wouldn’t be struggling with this ride”. Well, he did. And he rode strong. He did the hill 3 times.
Day 4. Last year, when we rode through St Paul, I had thought to myself – we should really be carrying a message as we ride through here. I had made a flag before we left and we contemplated with “Spread the word, not the disease” like our team motto. Instead, we chose, “Fight AIDS”. Sweet and simple. I had the flag on my bike and rode the 46.9 miles from Northfield to St Paul with the flag tied to my bike. I got a few glances and stares as I rode through each town and I’m happy that I had managed to get my point across.
Fast forward to closing ceremony… Well, I was asked to say something about my experience and why I ride… I was given the word, “Discover” as another message during closing ceremony. I struggled with the right words but I only remembered, “This ride is about discovering yourself, your friends and your strengths”. It might not have come out in those exact words but that was the words that were in my head… Public speaking is still not my greatest strengths.
After doing this ride and having come so far, I would say that every day is a new experience and a new day to live. We have something new to look forward to, even if we are stuck in our daily routines. During this ride, I also got to learn about MS and what it does to you. I know the focus was AIDS but it’s also about learning about someone else’s struggle and doing what you can do fight it.
This morning, while I was getting my Monday coffee, I was reminded about how “Every little bit counts”. That’s really one of my lessons from the ride. Every little bit that I bring, even if I just make my minimum, will make a difference to someone else. I’ve “discovered” this as part of my experience.
