I have been home now since last evening and it was brought to my attention this afternoon that I haven't posted since last Friday so I wanted to make a moment to share what's been happening.
Saturday was our ride from Latham, New York to Brattleboro, VT. The route started with a detour in Latham to avoid construction but I think the real purpose was to make sure that we climbed every possible hill in the city. We weren't even out of the city limits before I thought I was going to lose my breakfast! I sent Team Turtle on ahead because it was immediately clear that I was going to need my own time and space to deal with all the steep climbs of the day.
The weather Saturday was extremely humid and combined with the steep climbs in Vermont it made for a great test of my new belief system. I'm not proud of how I reacted every moment of every day and there were times on those climbs in Vermont when I was quite surly. Kathy the guide passed me during the 10 mile long climb and shouted "You can do this!" I yelled back "I know I can, but why would I want to!?!"
Good question. I thought about that and about how cranky I was being and it occurred to me that if you want to do something bigger than yourself you have to have a reason why that is beyond yourself. I hunkered down, set my gaze forward and kept pedaling.
By the end of the day I had done over 5,000 ft of climbing in extreme heat and humidity, I was rained on, hailed on, hungry, hypothermic, exhausted and exhilarated. I will always remember this as a day that I truly lived. Experin
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