I woke up at 5:51 this morning and rode hundred miles. I didn’t mean to. I stayed up way to late. I didn’t eat right. I’m filled with excuses.
Not meaning to ride sounds odd and it is. The act of riding is intentional and the number of miles ridden can’t be an accident. Riding is a deliberate act requiring
the unending rotation of one’s legs.
It can hurt.
My intention was to ride 65 or 70 miles. My preparation matched that intention and my experience reflected my preparation. I ended up riding with another cyclist, Tony,
who I have a great deal of respect for and who is much stronger than I am. He intended on putting in 100 miles. I can’t resist miles on a bike and so I tagged along.
After riding around the Wellsville mountains and up through Sardine Canyon we made our way up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. It’s a beautiful and very popular local ride.
It’s uphill, devoid of cell service and almost always has a crazy head wind on the way down. It’s easy to feel like Superman on the way up only to burn up your legs
and pay the price on the way down. Once you are at the top you are committed. No cell means you can’t call for help.
Of course today I totally burned out at the top. Like a car running out of gas my legs stopped making revolutions.
That sucked.
Two things saved me. One was an emergency pack of Jelly Belly Sport Beans I keep in my saddle bag. That provided enough fuel to get me home.
The second and more important thing was a rider stronger than me who was willing to drag my sorry butt out of the canyon. Like so many other days
the head wind on the way down was unrelenting and it fell to Tony to lead all the way down while I languished in his draft.
You have to be greatful for people who lend a hand when you fall apart.
Riding 100 miles takes around 5 hours depending on how fast you go. Our moving time today was around 4 hours and 50 minutes. That’s a lot of time to stare at the road.
Your brain wanders a bit.
I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I did. I’m really grateful for each day that I have to wake up – someday that luxury will be gone.
Bear with me for a minute and indulge. 5 hours is a long time. I’ll try to compress it.
This last January I was invited to attend a marketing conference called Affiliate Summit. I’m a developer so that’s a strange experince. However, what I didn’t realize at the time
is that I would be introduced to a community of really incredible individuals. It starts with Wade Tonkin who is the affiliate manage for Fanatics. He’s about
as nice of a guy as you could meet. He noticed that I ride and made an introduction to Shawn Collins, the organizer of the conference.
It turns out Affiliate Summit runs a challenge where for every mile ridden they will donate $1 dollar to support Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Shawn and his team are awesome.
I wish more companies would follow their lead.
I have a cousin who is dealing with Breast Cancer right now and more family members than I want to count who have suffered or passed on because of various types of Cancer. When I wear
down or get tired I think of those who can’t just slow down to turn off the pain. Then I keep riding.
I’ve managed to ride several thousand miles. I realize that a few thousand dollars won’t solve the problems, but it something. It’s something I can do and it gives me a reason
outside of myself to get on a bike.
Next week I’m riding the MS 150. It’s an incredible experience to circle Cache Valley wtih several thousand other cyclists. It’s an event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research.
I have to be honest. I’m terrible at raising money, but this money matters. Luckily I have a great business partner and he agreed to have our company donate to meet the some of the goal.
A friend and my brother donated. I’ll just donate the rest.
If you want to join in here’s the link to donate.
I have a cousin with MS. I have a friend with a sister that has MS. My wife’s best friend’s mom died from MS.
It’s a terrible disease. It’s unfair. I had the luxury of waking up this morning and choosing whether or not I would get up, get on a bike and really hurt my legs.
With Cancer, MS and so many other diseases you don’t get to wake up in the morning and think to yourself, “I don’t want to have MS today,” and turn it off. They are terrible companions.