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| Ice Cream and Kit Kats. Riding with flashlights to the market |
30 Days of Biking sounded like a good idea in March -- when I was under the mistaken notion that Spring was around the corner and sunshine would be plentiful. Hahahaha... what a dummy. Can you say COLD?? FREEZING COLD?? Snow in April. Headwinds like you wouldn't believe. And of course, rain. Gah. On today's ride I broke the elastic that held my ponytail, (photo above), and the tab that tightens my cycling shoes! The elastic is cheap -- the shoes, not so much. They'll need to be replaced before I get back on the bike.
I'm also closing out the challenge with a sore throat, but I'm happy I stuck with it. I'm grateful to fellow friends and cyclists on Instagram who were a part of the challenge. Their photos and comments from around the world inspired me. My cycling friends on Strava were especially encouraging, giving me kudos for even the simplest ride. (Chris S. giving me kudos for a ten mile ride on a day he rode 100 miles made me smile.) My Vanderkitten teammies encouraged me when I'd start to fade, the NEBC gang got me excited about racing, and SpiderOne was behind me all the way, (especially Lila and Shayne); And Ethan, Chip and Will were along for the ride too. Awesome.
They weren't all long rides, (those will come later in the season), but somehow I still managed 100+ miles each week, 480 miles for the month, (or 780 kilometers, which sounds much more impressive). Not bad for April.
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| Pre-Marathon ride with Tim, Michael, and Kevin |
My favorite rides happened to be the shortest: The flashlight ride with the boys to the Beach Bluff Market for ice cream and Kit Kats was a trip; Trail riding with Chipper in the rain was a blast, too. (I loved exploring the trails with him!); And riding with Tim, Michael, and Kevin along the Charles River the day before the Boston marathon was the best. (Congrats to Kevin for placing second in the marathon handcycle division!)
Mission accomplished. In all, 230 bikes were donated to Free Bikes for Kidz through this endeavor, and I was a part of a community of joyful cyclists. Very cool. It was one crazy idea, but I'm glad I did it. Hopefully next year it will be a little warmer.
#30daysofbiking
