And the Heavens Opened

When we signed up for the 100 Miles of Nowhere, it was to ride for our dear friend Pip Taylor who at the time was battling Colon Cancer. The idea was to pay the fee, which ultimately will help many children whose parents have been affected by cancer, in Pip's honor. We discussed the possibility of routes and decided that this year we needed to ride close to home. We rode our bikes. Then we rode our bikes some more. We have both ridden 100 miles before. It has been a couple of years for Brett, but I have ridden that distance at least once a year for the past three years with several almost-as-long distances in between.

During one training ride for Brett we got word that Pip had lost her battle to the wretched cancer that plagued her. Brett rode 86 miles that day. It was the longest solo distance he had ever done and to make him even more of a rock star, he climbed almost 6,000 ft. My love for him increased tenfold. He rode for Pip.

On May 19th our focus changed. We would still ride, but we would now be riding in her memory. Riding in memory of someone somewhat sucks. Knowing that they have moved on from this life is touching, and painful on many levels. Although, it allows a great personal dialog for the 5-6 hours you are in the saddle. Quitting is not an option.

We adorned our bikes with Pip's name

The original 100MoN ride was on June 2nd. I had already signed up for an all-women ride on that day so we had to push our ride back a week. The beauty of this for us, or me rather, was that one week later was my sister's birthday. My sister is in heaven with Pip.

Friday June 8th was spent preparing for the day to come. We mapped the route so we would know about how many laps we would need to ride and Brett swept part of the course so we wouldn't eat the pavement on the gravel.

We set our alarms for 5:00am. We needed to start early because we had a wedding to attend at 3pm. We had to be finished in enough time to be home, showered, and on the road to the wedding. Brett was the pit crew. He got all of the bike stuff together and I got breakfast started along with getting our final snacks put in the cooler for our rest stops at the park near our home.

Brett stepped outside the door and to our amazement there was NO wind. We live in a windy city. We have wind from 10pm to 10am nearly every day. This type of wind is great if you need clear air, but not so great if you are going to be riding against it. We didn't want to waste any time getting on the road.

Ready to ride

Ready to ride too...

By 6am we were riding. We decided that we would ride what we could together and then Brett would pull ahead and I would do what I could on my own. We rode lap after lap after lap. I lost track of how many times Brett lapped me. One particular time I was riding along and he came up behind me and started singing at the top of his lungs. It scared the crap out of me and I may or may not have given him the bird. Needless to say the following times he lapped me, he softly said "Hello Love." Much better.

About 65 miles into our riding we stopped for a pit stop at our house that was about 1/8th of a mile away from our loop. We both knew that we couldn't stop for too long because the muscles in our legs would begin to tighten.

Our kids were great! They came to the park and made sure that we had full water bottles, sandwiches, and snacks. Ryan told us that he wanted our ride to be like the pros so we should just toss the water bottles and when we came back by he would have a full bottle for us. A friend and her kids cheered us on as well toward the end.

Brett finished his ride in 5 hrs 23 minutes. I finished in 5 hrs 57 minutes. I could not hold back the tears. I was overwhelmed with love and honor. We rode 100 miles for Pip on my sister's birthday, and that is when the heavens opened.

100 miles - FINISHED

The beauty of this ride is that you win your category no matter what because you make it up yourself. I won the "Fit-fat....I lost track...of how many times my husband lapped me - riding on the wings of Pip" division. Brett won the "I only hit the damn dang pot hole 6 times out of 46" division.

Why I ride

Recently I have been reading excerpts of people who ride their bikes and why they ride. The stories have inspired me to write a little blurb as to why I ride.

When I was in the 4th grade, we moved into our new house. It was an exciting time for me. I finally got my own room. No more sharing. The first Christmas in our new home is one of the very few Christmases that I actually remember as a child. Santa did not disappoint this young lady. There in front of my eyes was my very own bicycle, complete with front brakes, and no banana seat. I don't know how long I rode that bike. At the time, my classroom was in a trailer that was just south of the school playground. Surrounding the trailers were trees, if I remember correctly they were Aspen trees, or some of the like. I would ride my bike to school, infrequently I might add, and lock my bike to the tree. As beautiful as my bike was, I only remember riding it a handful of times. I was too lazy to do any more and my mom usually drove us the less than half mile to school. We were spoiled.

Fast forward to 1997, the year I got married, and I would have my first mountain bike -- a Gary Fisher that cost a whopping $500. I could probably count on my one hand how many times I actually rode my new bike. I was 19 years old, married, and still lazy. My husband would ride his bike to college and I would drive our car to work. After work I would lay on the couch and nap. For whatever reason I was no longer able to keep my eyes open.

We moved a couple of times during the time that my husband went to college. Each time we took our bikes with us, and they sat and collected dust. After we had two children, we purchased a bike trailer and I dusted off the old Gary Fisher and pulled my little kids around town. This too was done infrequently.

When my daughter was almost a year old and my post-pardom depression was finally being treated, I was invited to do a triathlon with my neighbor. At the time I was running with her and she thought it might be fun to try a swim/bike/run event. I agreed, that it did sound like fun, and I signed up with her. 

From January to June I taught myself how to swim, rode my bike infrequently...again...and continued to run 3 miles 3x a week. I remember the first time I decided that I was going to ride 12 miles. I had strapped my kids into the trailer and began my ride. About half way into my ride, it began to pour down rain. My babies were crying, I was miserable, and I called my husband to come and get us. He thought I was crazy to even attempt riding 12 whole miles.

One week before my first triathlon, I rode my mountain bike with my training partner and a few other people from the neighborhood. They all had road bikes and I didn't believe that my bike made me slower until that day. It was a miserable realization to me that no matter how hard I pedaled, I was not going to keep up with the roadies. The following week I borrowed a road bike from the local bike shop. Eight months later, I bought my first road bike - a Trek Pilot 2.1 WSD for $849. 

I began riding more often and even rode a century on that bike. On October 9, 2009 my Pilot was put to rest after being hit by a car. Bikes don't ride very well when the front tire meets the back tire.

I now own a Fezzari CR3 road bike. She is beautiful, and light. She rides smoothly and she takes me to far and away places. 

My bike allows me to leave my troubles on the road. From mini rides around the neighborhood with the kids, to 75-mile rides through beautiful canyons, my bike keeps me grounded.

This weekend I am riding 100 miles to help beat cancer. I am riding for Pip, who lost her battle with cancer just two short weeks ago. I am riding to make a difference in a life.

That is why I ride.