Making Connections...
It’s been a while… I haven’t posted much since the end of school – I’m happy to say that after my sister’s graduation and ensuing party, much of the busyness keeping me from posting was bike trip related!
I’ve done some training rides (you can look at them on my Strava account) and managed to push pretty fast, much faster than I was previously able. For example, our average speed during one of the latest Thursday night CIBA rides was over 17 mph – a real jump from the 13 or 14 mph I started out at in the beginning of the season. I can thank much of this to my tailored bike fit, encouraging fellow riders, and I’m pleased to say my own growing strength and confidence on the bike.
Beyond training, we’ve also moved forward quite a bit on the planning and connecting necessary to undertake this ride and raise some money to make a difference. I emailed Macalester College to let them know that I would be showing up sweaty and immensely proud of myself in the first week of August, and now I’m pretty sure there will at least be someone at the school for my triumphant arrival. I also reconnected with the Arthritis National Research Foundation, which continues to express great enthusiasm for the ride. Once again, the Arthritis Foundation is a fantastic organization and we’re really looking forward to hopefully contributing some funds and awareness for the group. If you're willing, please click over to my "Get Involved" page and consider making a donation -- 100% of what comes in will go to the Foundation, and there are a few other ways you can help there, too, if you're interested. Thank you.
Also, last night Dad and I stayed up doing battle with computer nonsense in order to install a subscribe function. We emerged victorious and you can now subscribe to my blog, which will email you whenever I post. I promise not to post too much or do terrible things with your information. (Frankly I’m not sure I’d even know how to do terrible things with anyone’s personal information.) Anyway, I’d love to see some new subscribers – it’s a much easier way to keep track of my journey without having to remember to go look it up all the time, and it makes such a difference to know that somebody's out there somewhere.
I’d like to throw out a thank you to all you folks who have kept up with me thus far without all the details of the website figured out, not to mention the good people who linked me on Facebook, you guys are the best!
Now, as for what’s coming up: Sunday, my family and I head up to Michigan for our summer vacation. We plan to spend a lot of time up there on our bikes, even the ever-fabulous Zoe.
Zoe and Dad in February 2014, celebrating her 1000 miles of cycling while aged 9.
She’s a gem. She also rode 1,000 miles on her bike last year (while she was 9) so she’s pretty kicka$$. (Am I allowed to say that?) Anyway, she’s one of the tougher ten-year-olds I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.
Thanks for reading! More updates to come.