Day 21-30
Day 21
6.18.21 ● South Wabash to the mall ● 12.8 miles
I am trying to get my life back on track after a week of ER visits and the hospital. It is a weird time, balancing the tasks and emotions with what is going on in Mom’s life with the anticipation of the party/shower weekend. I feel off kilter. I come home from the hospital and even though there is so much that needs to be done the dock in my backyard is calling me. I haven’t stepped foot on it yet this year. I tell myself, just an hour, and then I can deal with tasks at hand. It’s a lovely hour, me lounging, Dave mowing. I soak in the sun and then get on with the to do list. And then Dave says, “I think we should ride.”
We just rode yesterday. He was hurting so I was not expecting this. But of course I want the forward momentum so I say yes. We decide that, given that it is already 6:00 and we haven’t eaten dinner, we will do a short ride. There have been several longer rides to offset this easy 13 mile ride.
Dave had looked at the weather forecast and it was pretty breezy for the week so he is thinking that if we go tonight we can avoid the wind later in the week. As soon as we get on the path, the trees tell us otherwise. We feel slammed by the wind the whole way to the mall. Surely this counts for some extra miles, right?
Once we start turning back I feel that shakiness and bleh feeling from a sugar dip. We have to stop so that I can eat a protein bar. Why is this ride so hard? I guess the wind, the lack of dinner, the long ride the day before. We both thought that this was going to be an easy out and back. But we are allowed the occasional hard ride even when we don’t expect it.
We get home and I am absolutely spent. We have a light dinner at 8:00 and after trying, but failing, to get some tasks done, I am in bed by 9:00 and asleep by 9:02. I tell myself it is because I know I have to get up at 5:15 to babysit that I am turning in so early, but I’m pretty sure I would have done it anyways. Is this how Dave feels after each ride? I still wonder if I am pushing too hard but then I remember that it was him who said, “I think we should ride.”
Day 22
6.28.23 ● Wabash Cannonball Loop ● 26.5 miles
Parents, family, friends, parties, heat, rain, wind, smoke. There was a lot I didn’t see coming when I thought we would easily be able to do 10 rides in June. But life has gotten in the way and we haven’t been on our bikes for 10 days. The last time was Father’s Day. Today, 10 days later, is our wedding anniversary.
“Where do you want to go?” I ask. “We’re doing the loop,” he replies. So much for easing back into the fray. We make our way out and into the beautiful early morning.
It’s a good ride. I wasn’t quite expecting that because of our 10 day break. But it is evident that both of us are getting stronger. It feels good. I remind myself that there are plenty of people who after 37 years of marriage could never be able to do this. And then there are others who would never choose to do this. I ride in gratitude for the morning, the sunshine, the bike path that lives outside our doorway, the husband by my side, the years leading up to this, and our 37th anniversary.
Day 23-26
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It’s almost a week before we are back on our bikes again. This is never going to work if we aren’t able to step it up. But it has been incredibly hot, I have been spending a lot of time troubleshooting at The Lakes where my dad is a resident and my mom is in rehab. Dave was out of town for a couple of days with work. Emotions are high and somewhat complicated on Dave’s side of the family because there is an upcoming sentencing trial for the drunk driver who killed his 19 year old nephew. Forest fire smoke has made the air quality poor enough to skip riding. Life is swirling around us at such a fast pace. I look back fondly on those first few rides when our biggest competing force was a patio of January sunshine. Now that we are home and fitting these rides into work and family I realize that this is a lot of unnecessary pressure that we are placing on ourselves. Yet, we pedal on.
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We wake up on a gloomy, overcast Saturday morning that beckons me to stay in my pajamas, brew my tea and wake up slowly. Life has felt like a lot lately. I didn’t sleep well. Concerns for my parents visited me as I tossed and turned. They found their way into my restless dreams.
But I check the weather app and it states that rain won’t begin until after 10:00. It is 7:15. If we resist the pull of a lazy Saturday and scramble to get moving we can get one more ride in. And we really need it. We are still playing catch up. With me leaving for Chicago for 3 days next week, Dave having a meeting one night, and me working next Saturday morning, it looks as if we will only continue to fall behind in the upcoming week. 60 4 60 is pushing us to say yes when any other time it would have been so very easy to say no.
We are on our bikes by 8:00. We choose Delta and back because there is no wind and we should have just enough time to fit in this 26 mile ride before the rain comes. It is a quiet, cool morning. There are very few cars on the road at the beginning of the ride and once we find ourselves along the tree lined bike path in Oak Openings, the only people we see are a couple of early morning dog walkers. Beyond the park the trees open up to the vast openness that is the signature of the topography of where we live. The gray and white of clouds over farmer’s fields is its own kind of beauty.
We cruise in silence. Dave breaks in to tell me that we have hit 10 miles. Should we turn around or keep going? My take on the clouds is that they haven’t really changed. They are low and full but there is barely a breeze so the storm that is coming must not be coming our way. “Let’s go to the end,” I say. It is only about 3 more miles and I have a hard time not seeing the journey through to the end.
On this path the sign that the end is near is an idyllic covered bridge going over a creek named Bad Creek which I find amusing. I always think it is going to appear a little bit before it actually does. But there are other landmarks to pass first. The dairy farm, that cross-street in the middle of nowhere where I got a flat tire last year, the lumber yard, the horse boarding stable, the odd angled intersection. And then, yes, finally, the covered bridge. The foliage of some low hanging trees hides it from view until we are almost upon it. We get to the end, we stop to stretch and drink our water. We have gone 12.9 miles.
As we turn our bikes towards home I feel it. “Do you feel a drop of rain?” I nonchalantly ask. Within a minute or so those clouds that were just sitting up there while we were riding to our farthest point decided it was time to empty as we were riding home. “Maybe we should get our phones off our handlebars and into our bags just in case,” I state as I stop.
What we didn’t realize was that our bags aren’t long enough for our phones. We have nowhere to put them except for Dave’s bike shirt pockets. Why haven’t I thought to store protective ziplock bags in those bike bags that are too small to protect phones? And why do we have such small bike bags to begin with?
Rain starting when you are at the very furthest point from home can be a great motivator to turn up the speed. Rain continuing to come down harder is an even better motivator to keep that speed going. We sail through rain that becomes a steady drizzle. While on a bike, that rain seems as if it is a downpour. I take my glasses off thinking I will be able to see better only to find that the rain pelting my eyes hurts and I need to put them back on and deal with the limited vision. Pretty soon my socks are squishing with each revolution of the pedals and I look like a contestant in a wet tshirt contest gone horribly wrong.
But, in an odd sort of way this is fun. Riding in the rain makes me feel like a kid again. Being as practical minded as we both are we never would have planned this. Our intention was to beat the rain and get home right before the chance of it starting. But mother nature had something else in mind. I worry a bit about our phones but it seems as if the pockets they are tucked into are the driest part of Dave's shirt. I figure it is more likely than not that they will be fine. We pedal and pedal. We have no time for stopping, we have no idea if the rain will continue to get harder. It is us, our bikes, the path and the rain. We pull into our street, soaked, tired, but really no worse for the wear. Ride 24 will definitely be one of our more memorable rides.
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Church consumed me today, but in the very best kind of way. The call committee’s plea for a full church worked and when Dave and I pulled in at 8:55 we could barely find a parking space. Our videographer had much to work with for our new promotional video.
The video was supposed to be a way for us to market to potential pastors. After today there is a good possibility that that will not be necessary. We interviewed Pastor Steve Bond in person and all I can say is that maybe the Holy Spirit guides this process after all. We are being led to believe that this is one enthusiastic applicant. We are trying not to rejoice too prematurely, but this sure seems as if it’s going to finally be a win. And what a big win it would be. Out of everyone we interviewed during this long 2 ½ year process, he is clearly the best candidate.
So, I was in a pretty fine mood when I got home at 4:00, but also really ready to hop on my bike after being at church for 8 hours. Dave agreed and off we went on a beautifully mild afternoon.
But… it was one of those days when one of us sailed and the other struggled. I’m sure I was simply pumped up from the excitement of my day. Dave on the other hand perhaps was still recovering from our big rainstorm ride the day before. He was slow, he was silent, he was struggling. I tried to be patient and I hated that I was irritated. I try to channel those days that I was the one slowing us down and I was the one dealing with pain. By the end of our ride he said that the last part he felt dizzy. Hopefully nothing more than a late afternoon sugar crash.
The first chance we will have to ride again will be Thursday. It’s probably a good thing that we will have a 4 day reprieve.
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The smoke that blew into the area is starting to clear. It’s hazy, but the air quality rating is back in the favorable range. It’s been eight days since our last ride. My visit to Chicago, busy mornings, rain, smoke have all kept us from riding over the course of a week.
We are getting a late start which means we will be chasing daylight. A quick out and back and if we have time a couple of loops around Blue Creek.
We do have time. We’ve not done Blue Creek yet this year. It’s improved a lot since the metroparks took it over. It's lovely, even on a hazy evening. We pass a lone couple walking and as we whiz by I realize that they are people we knew long ago. I want to stop, to connect with another time, but we are too far beyond and it would be silly to turn our bikes around, especially if I was wrong and it wasn’t really them. The second time around the loop again we end up approaching them again. We stop. “Jo! I thought that was you!” Dave and Jo worked together years ago.. Jo’s daughter was in my Daisy Scout Troop.
After we catch up on our children, the conversation turns to people Dave and Jo worked with. Jo is in the know. She has kept up with people so much more than Dave has. She rattles off so many names who were once a part of the landscape of Dave’ life. This person retired, that person has grandchildren, this person is still fighting cancer….wait….this person was Dave’s secretary. His reliable right hand for all those years. She’s been fighting lung cancer for 2.5 years and we didn’t even know. Life sure changes. Despite our best intentions, people fade away from our thoughts and before you know it, you are no longer in touch.
It’s almost dark. We ride home, both thinking about how unfair it is that she is fighting cancer and we are out riding our bikes on a beautiful evening.
Day 27
7.19.23 ● Side Cut + River Trail ● 20.5 miles
Why is it that some of these rides are harder than others? It’s a beautiful night for a ride and yet we just aren’t jiving. I am irritated at a slow pace, Dave is irritated that I want to add the River Trail. When I first thought up 60 4 60 I, of course, was picturing all the good bits of it. But of course there are going to be those days when we just aren’t in sync. Today was one of them. Sometimes the ride is just about chasing the number.
Day 28
7.21.23 ● Fulton County/Blue Creek Metropark/ Stitt Road and back ● 20.2 miles
I don’t want to ride. I’d been up since 5:30 am, babysat Nathan and Cody most of the day, worried about my mom, tried to get some wedding inquiries made. On this beautiful July night I can so easily slip into complacency and sit on my new patio. Dave is the one that brings it up. “We should go. The weather is perfect today and even better tomorrow morning.” “Fine”, I say, “let’s go in the morning.” It took me about 5 minutes to change my mind. If we go tonight and then again in the morning we are that much closer to 30. 30 by the end of July gives us 3 months for 30 more. I realize I can’t let this opportunity go, even when I want to let it go.
We hop on the bikes. It is a gorgeous late afternoon. Big puffy clouds seem to hang on the bright blue sky. The trees are so full, the flowers along the path bring random beauty to our route.
We choose to go to Fulton Co and back and then do the Blue Creek loop twice. That will get us just under 20 and hopefully not zap our energy for tomorrow’s loop ride. It’s an easy ride. Both of us seem to have bodies that are working with us instead of against us today. Why are some days just easier?
We start around the Blue Creek loop and realize that there is a race. We pass a couple of water stations but there are no runners to be found. As we turn towards town we see tents and a blow up finish line. Yup there’s definitely something going on. We hear that the race is starting at 6:00 and see that that is a mere 7 minutes away. No second loop today!
We contemplate just going home and accepting the shorter ride. But then I mention Stitt Rd.. Going to Stitt and back should get us the mileage we need. This part of the path is the hardest. At 1.7 miles between crossroads it often feels unending. But yes, twice in a row should do it. We actually keep a nice pace the whole time. Why am I not more tired? I ate more protein today, maybe that’s it. We turn into our street. 28.
Goals
When we ride to Delta there is an incredibly tidy little house along the way. It sits by itself in the middle of big fields and an even bigger sky. Often when riding through rural areas the homes are rundown and tired so this one stands out to me. Everything about it is inviting. It’s not grand, it's just a small, unassuming prairie style house but I whiz past it and am intrigued. I picture an older woman, (is that my age now, I wonder?), sweeping the stoop daily. Her husband is very tuned into the settings on the lawn mower because the grass is immaculate. The landscaping is modest, but well-kept. The windows I am certain are sparkling clean.
My home is bigger and grander. It has always, in the 30 years I have lived there, been a work in progress. I have never felt that I can keep up, manage it on my own, get it to where I am perfectly content with it. There is always something waiting to be addressed.
I pass by this home and wonder what it must be like to live in such a well kept setting. There is always something in the way of me doing the deep clean, the purging, the making everything just so. It’s something I simply have never been able to manage. Yet this house, I’m certain of it, has a place for everything and everything in its place. It must be peaceful to come home to a home that feels so calm.
This house is almost to the end of the trail. Soon after we pass by it a cyclist flies by us. Everything about him is as impressive as the tidy house. Strong, confident, lean, muscular. With his long legs and lanky height he is made for the bike. We end up at the turnaround point while he is still there and we chat. We compliment him on his speed. He says with a sigh that he’s almost 47. We say try 60 on for size. We hop back on our bikes and head toward home. Soon he is zipping past us. Dave goodheartedly says, “show off” and he laughs and says, “You all keep a good pace.” We know he is throwing us a morsel of kindness. We continue on and watch his bike and then his bike light get further and further ahead of us and then disappear all together.
I wonder what it must be like to be the person who looks like she is a cyclist. Or the person who keeps such an immaculate house. I would like to try both of those on for size, but it seems as if they just aren’t me. Everything about me from my beautiful but slightly cluttered house to my slightly overweight body that for some reason is gaining instead of losing weight during our 60 4 60 summer screams to me that I am trying but just haven’t found the secret to success yet.
I suppose it makes me more relatable. I wear my struggles to be my best self on the outside for everyone to see. My home is always just a bit too cluttered, my body is just a bit too curvy. I am above all an example of perseverance in the face of imperfection.
Day 29
7.22.23 ● to Delta ● 25.85 miles
Day 30
7.24.23 ● Fulton County + Blue Creek X2 ● 17.8 miles
Today marks halfway to our goal. It seems as if it should have been more celebratory. But it is hot. The air is thick. We didn’t quite make it to 20 miles, but the sun was setting and there have been plenty of times when we rode several miles over 20. We give ourselves grace.
I shower and sit and turn to writing this. Let’s make this celebratory. I tally up the number of miles thus far. 625.21. I find a website that tells me which cities are about 600 miles from our home outside Toledo, OH. Montreal, Newport, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Little Rock, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis. All of these are under 600 except Newport. Minneapolis is the closest at 545. Wow. We have ridden enough miles to get us to places that are a plane ride away. Ok. I will be proud of this accomplishment and revel in the wonder of how many miles that really is. Hooray for us and here’s to 30 more!