Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy
It’s now July and TdP training season is under way. This means I’ve made the mental shift from being a runner who rides a bike sometimes, to a cyclist who sometimes runs. This past week I was on vacation so it was easy to find time to ride and I managed to ride about 100 miles on the bike- or just enough to make all of me a little sore, in a good way. I rode twice with my dad. MY DAD IS RIDING THE TOUR DE PINK THIS YEAR! I’m so excited. This is a big deal.
Before our first ride - my dad has a pink bike!
OK I’m not gonna lie – I was nervous about us riding together because we have very different training styles (he knows what he is doing and I don’t) I’m sure he thought I would be too slow or would stop mid-ride to pick flowers or something. I assumed he wouldn’t notice me picking flowers because he’d have zoomed way ahead and would just be a dot up ahead in the distance. What ended up happening is that we rode together perfectly well – he was pleasantly surprised I wasn’t too slow; I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to ride with him. It also wasn’t lost on me that we were riding down at the Jersey shore, which is where he had an awful accident years ago and was hit by a motorcycle going 60+ mph while he was on his bike. He says he’s ridden since then, I can’t picture it. I certainly don’t remember him riding at the shore after that. He looked cautious but comfortable on our ride. He taught me how to draft behind him (wow that makes a difference). I hope to teach him the importance of pre-ride sunscreen application by the time training is over.
Marietta, PA
By Friday I was back from the shore and squeezed in a 27 mile ride from Three Mile Island down to McCleary’s in Marietta, PA and back. That’s a favorite ride of mine – rolling hills, farms, the river, the town of Marietta, plus the nuclear power plant which is at least makes for an interesting view.
OK that’s my update. I’m starting fundraising this week, training is on track, and my ride is 82 days away!
