Christmas in July

My new bike was delivered today: a shiny new Trek Madone 5.1. Full carbon frame, Shimano Ultegra components. And best of all, it's gray with PINK highlights. The only thing better would be gray with purple highlights. Guess I'll have to get a pink helmet and sunglasses to match the bike . . . .

It better ride like a dream. After a week of customization at the shop, an hour and a half of fitting, and more time to install a computer, it feels like I'm just paying other people to play with my toy.

I'll test it out tomorrow morning for a short ride before my early mediation. Maybe I'll even post a picture or two soon. Look out; I'm unleashing my inner bike geek.

Oops!

Note to self: get a bike computer with GPS for the new bike.

Sunday's scheduled training ride was 40 miles: a loop from Decatur to Dunwoody and back. Although I was up early, the morning was cool and overcast, so I wasn't in a hurry to get on the bike. First mistake. After screwing around on the Internet, having coffee, pumping up the tires, etc. when I started the ride it was 10 a.m., the clouds had dissipated, and it was getting hot fast.

The first 30 miles were great--I felt strong and rode fast. Well, fast for me, anyway. Riding a new route was interesting and I really enjoyed the first 1/2 of the ride. After a quick Smoothie King detour in Dunwoody I headed home feeling great. By the way, the problem with any long-ish ride is when you get to the middle and realize you have to do it again to get home . . . .

Somewhere between Chamblee and north Decatur I took a wrong turn. Instead of heading south on Shallowford Road I was on Chamblee-Tucker and going the wrong way fast. I cruised by Northlake Mall before being able to get back on track, but by this time it was early afternoon and traffic was heavy on my planned route home. I decided to detour through a neighborhood. Good idea, wrong neighborhood. Surely, I thought, one of these quiet streets will lead to a street I know and I'll be back on track. Note to self # 2: Despite best intentions, a full Cambelbak, a bottle of Gatorade, and a smoothie may not be enough to get you through a long ride. Especially if you're lost. Hill by hill, turn by turn, I kept riding, refusing to accept that I might be lost.

Now I know how it felt for Moses to wander in the desert for all those years. "No, Aaron, we're not quitting. I KNOW the promised land is just around the next corner. Ok, it's just over the next hill. Ok, maybe it's the next street. I can hear the traffic of the other tribes. It's gotta be here somewhere!"

Finally when I had nothing more to drink I gave up and called Vallerie to pick me up. I was so lost that even SHE couldn't find me; she drove around for a while before finding the right streets. I've never been so glad to see that VW wagon come driving up.

Later, at home, I used a mapping program to figure out how far I'd actually ridden. 40 miles. Exactly.

Changing the World

The exciting news from this week is that our fundraising efforts topped $10,000.00 this week. We've received more support than I ever thought possible. So many people are seeing our site and supporting this idea that I'm starting to actually believe we can do this!

I never really thought I could change the world. Now I've realized from this project that it is possible for one person to change the world, but you can't do it alone, no matter how inspired the idea. It takes an inspired idea, faith in your abilities, the willingness to work incredibly hard, and the support of family, friends, and strangers who buy into it.

Changing the world is like rolling a snowball. The person with the inspired idea starts it, and keeps it going, but everyone else takes a turn rolling it and keeping it going. Changing the world truly is a community effort. Thanks, everyone, for helping to roll the snowball.

Push the pedal down

Today I didn't feel like training. I'm tired and stressed and overwhelmed. There are clients to meet, phone calls to make, letters to write. I just don't have the energy for one more thing.

Most days I have unlimited excitement and energy for this project. Some days the sheer magnitude of what I've begun takes my breath away. Today is one of those days. I'm ordinary. Just another person on another day in another city. And a fat chick at that. What makes me think I have the physical strength to pedal 3,415 miles--through deserts, over mountains, in rain and snow, through cities and farmland? What makes me think I can ride 100 miles a day in all conditions? What makes me think that I can get enough people to open their hearts and their pocketbooks $100,000 worth?

Then I remember: Elyse doesn't have a choice in continuing her journey. I must continue mine. Some days the only thing I can do for her is to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing. So again today I get on my bike and ride.