Because I know you're all just waiting with bated breath for this update.
Well, the ride was Saturday, and I must say I was well-prepared because 50 miles was a breeze! Or at least would have been if there hadn’t been torrential downpours for nearly the entire ride. That was really disappointing, especially since they ended up cancelling the 25-mile ride, so out of several family members who participated I was the only one who ended up even being able to ride. I felt awful for the others. The other major setback was that I got lost! Idiot me, going off by myself and following the wrong arrows. That was really stressful.
But when I think back, other than getting lost I really had a great time. I raised a decent amount of money and had a lot of fun meeting people and chatting about their experiences with biking and with Alzheimer’s. And I enjoyed every minute of the actual riding, despite the rain, because it was all new territory and it was all so exciting to know that there were lots of people supporting me. At any tough spots along the route I would just think of my grandpa and what he had to go through, and I would climb every hill with the intention of helping to make sure that at some point in the (hopefully near) future, millions of families could be prevented this suffering.
I’m definitely doing it again next year - apparently the last time they had rain was eight years ago, so with that kind of record we’ll hopefully have good weather until 2015. I’m going to stay in shape all year (that’s the goal anyway) so that next summer I won’t be completely starting over training-wise, and if I don’t stay on campus over the summer I’m going to try for the 100-mile ride. (Though I won’t complain if I have to wait a few more years before building up to that one.)
I'm eating stale chocolate chip cookies right now. And they're amazing.
But when I think back, other than getting lost I really had a great time. I raised a decent amount of money and had a lot of fun meeting people and chatting about their experiences with biking and with Alzheimer’s. And I enjoyed every minute of the actual riding, despite the rain, because it was all new territory and it was all so exciting to know that there were lots of people supporting me. At any tough spots along the route I would just think of my grandpa and what he had to go through, and I would climb every hill with the intention of helping to make sure that at some point in the (hopefully near) future, millions of families could be prevented this suffering.
I’m definitely doing it again next year - apparently the last time they had rain was eight years ago, so with that kind of record we’ll hopefully have good weather until 2015. I’m going to stay in shape all year (that’s the goal anyway) so that next summer I won’t be completely starting over training-wise, and if I don’t stay on campus over the summer I’m going to try for the 100-mile ride. (Though I won’t complain if I have to wait a few more years before building up to that one.)
I'm eating stale chocolate chip cookies right now. And they're amazing.