I really LOVED the idea of this adventure, but was seriously intimidated by the distance. That's 22 miles round trip! About 2 hours pedaling on a bike. In the dark.
Sure, I liked to ride, and I could probably handle the cardio side of things, but I wondered if I were physically capable of riding my bike for 2 whole hours. Could it actually be fun for me?
I wanted to see.
So, I contacted 2 local friends with any interest in cycling and begged them to do this with me. One was able to make it at the last moment. Whee!
We met up at the park with over 100 other cyclists. I did not expect that many people. It was quite the sight! There was a whole range of ages, body sizes, bike types, and gear/clothing. Suddenly, 22 miles didn't seem like such a big deal. Maybe it would be okay.
My friend ended up with 2 flat tires just before the ride even began. She had no replacement tubes, so she called her husband to pick her up :( We were both very sad about it. I decided to brave it "alone" in this massive group of cycling enthusiasts. My friend's support had pulled me out the door and up to the starting line. That's what I needed most.
And then they said, "Go!"
This giant river of people and wheels just hit the road. What a sight. Most people were taking it at a leisurely pace and chatting with friends. I went at the pace I enjoyed best, which was a little faster. The temperature was perfect. The sunset was great. Everyone was in a good mood and having fun. I was paranoid that I'd pop a tire or skid on gravel or suddenly run out of energy and have to call Bobby to rescue me. None of that happened.
When I got to the Sidney Dairy Barn, there was already a line of 20-30 people waiting. I parked my bike next to three people I had been following for the last few miles. They were talkative, friendly, and they biked at a pace very similar to my natural pace. A conversation started. They were very welcoming and it was shockingly easy for me to be my comfortable self. They invited me to bike back with them and we talked and laughed all 11 miles.
We also ate a lot of flying bugs. Blech.
Anyway, when we were back at the park, we exchanged contact information. They invited me to ride with them in a few weeks at the Prairie Cycle Club Tour in Mahomet. That event has several distances (10-100 miles) but these three are planning on biking the 48-miler.
48 miles?! More than DOUBLE the longest biking distance I've EVER attempted in my life?! A distance that would take me 45 minutes to drive in my car?! We're talking a bike ride that is easily 5 hours long. That's CRAZY!
And yet, I just biked 22 miles alright.
My new friend said the course is broken up with snack stops and rest points. It's not a 5-hour death ride.
But what if my bottom can't take anymore after 2 hours? or 3? or 4?
So, I'm thinking about the 28-mile ride instead. With the staggered start times, we will probably finish within 30 minutes of each other and can have lunch together afterwards. I haven't made my mind up to ride, yet, but it sounds like fun. And I like the idea of not doing it alone :(
This is an interesting phase in my life right now. I'm exploring personal interests that don't overlap much with each other or my current life: farming, cycling/running. It feels a little disjointed and clunky. Almost like I'm living 3 lives at once. Three identities: LDS mother of four, farmer, cycling/running enthusiast. There's no reason these three identities can't co-exist, but there's no overlap right now. Zero. No one in one sphere understands my life in the other two spheres. Not really, anyway. And it's a bit taxing. I wonder how sustainable it is to have three completely separate lives at once.
I'm wondering if this is actually pretty common and I'm only stumbling upon it now.
Why haven't I experienced this before? Hm. Let me think.
As a kid, I had two spheres: church and school. Church kids still knew what school life was like, even if my friend circles didn't overlap. And when I moved to Utah, even the school kids knew somewhat what church life was like, even if they weren't LDS.
Same thing in college at the University of Utah.
In grad school, I had two spheres: grad school and LDS woman. Even if my female LDS friends weren't in grad school at the time, their spouses were, so there was some overlap there. The grad school folks didn't get my church life. It didn't bother me, though.
As a mother of young children, I had only one sphere: LDS mother of young children. And I pretty much only hung out with young mothers, LDS or otherwise. Not on purpose, really, but our needs were similar enough that we spent time in many of the same places doing many of the same things.
Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing (not the first time for me *ahem*). Why do I feel the need to merge my social spheres better? I don't know. Gotta think about this some more.
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| James points the phone at me and says, "Smile!" |
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