Thank God for friends

   

  Preparing to ride in the Bike-To-The-Bay has been a true learning experience for me.  From discovering what kind of bike I need, what gadgets I need to get over the finish line safely and what my body needs to physically make the ride.

     In the process of training I learned that a flat tire is quite possible, wide tires are miserable, and hills along with wind can make my body feel like cement.  

     One very valuable discovery I made was that I am much stronger than I gave myself credit for and the harder I work at it the stronger I get.  As I've mentioned before, my strong leg is the leader and my crazy leg is the follower.  At the end of my ride I always coast into my driveway and then give my exhausted leg a chance to go back to normal.  Good strategy right!?

      But as time went on I also learned another important lesson, though my strong leg could go on for miles and miles, my weaker leg was useless on it's own.

     In the past I've been lucky and able to coast while crossing busy streets.  The timing has always been perfect.  On this last ride I wasn't as lucky.  As I was approaching a busy street I noticed a lot of traffic coming from both directions and I knew I would have to stop.  The cars were going 50 miles an hour so there was no darting out between them.

     Eventually I came to a complete stop and mind you, I had been riding my bike for almost twelve miles non-stop so my leg by this time was toast.

     Here was my dilemma... If I was to balance on the strong leg, my weak leg would take forever to pick up speed.  However, if I was to try to balance on the week leg I could come crashing down like a ton of bricks.  My decision was to balance on the strong, wait until there were no cars for about a million miles and push off with the weak leg, cross my fingers and hope for the best.

     Of course I made it across the street but not without breaking a sweat.  So now I have one more learning lesson to add to my list and that is... I may be strong willed and truly believe I've got this, but on the day of the ride I'll tell you this, I will not be riding alone:)

Have a great Day!

Christine:)