Still Here, Still Kickin', Still Cyclin'

Whew! It's been 20 days since my last post, and an attempt to bring you up to speed on the ups and downs of the past three weeks would probably make you think that I am either mentally unstable. Heck, sometimes I think I'm mentally unstable!

Actually, there have been some very up "ups" and some very low "downs", but it all comes with the territory; the territory of being a first year teacher and a mom who is working full-time for the first time in 6 years - and getting an average of 6 hours of sleep each night. There have been a lot of tears on my part (which tend to come on at the height of exhaustion), but there have also been some wonderful highs - those moments where the reason I chose this profession becomes so clear to me. And sometimes, amidst all of the feelings of incompetency, I get a momentary sense that I am actually TEACHING.

Throughout all of this, I have continued to cycle, albeit intermittently. I do hate that I go 1-2 weeks between rides since school started, but the pinnacle of my cycling hobby to date was two weeks ago. That is when my sister Heather, our sister/friend Beth and I all rode in the Good Sam Bike Jam - a 45 mile charity ride around the Boulder/Lafayette area. Wow! I don't know if words can do justice to the experience. We started off just as the sun was climbing into the sky and turning from purple to pink. There was a very heavy fog, and the rolling foothills, dotted with cows and goats and so much beauty that reminds me of home (except there are mountains - instead of bluffs!). As we began I couldn't stop commenting on just how beautiful it was. The air actually tasted sweet from the fog and the fields ready for harvest. I so enjoyed it, that I almost didn't mind the first monster hill that we had to climb. Actually, I didn't really mind the hill at all, until I got to the top of it and realized that there was yet another hill beyond it. And yes, at the top of that 2nd hill I discovered that there was yet one more hill to crest. I made it without having to stop, but only barely.

The four hours of riding were a great time to catch up with my girls. We sang a few show tunes, and even practiced a fun group cycling maneuver that Beth taught us. That is, until we saw the next big hill - at which point I believe Beth screamed out, "Okay every man for himself!" and we quickly dispersed to pedal as hard and as fast as our little hineys could. I'm going to tell you right now that riding 45 miles is every bit as hard as I imagined it would be. I actually had a fear that I would throw up (the Kirby girls kind of have a legacy of throwing up during intense work-outs), but I didn't do that. There was one point (the second of 3 hills that really were noteworthy) where I actually would have gotten off of my bike and just walked, but I couldn't get my darn foot unclipped from my pedal!

As difficult as a 45 mile ride is, it is nothing for someone who is using the proper equipment (I was, thanks to the sponsorship of my sister, who has loaned me an entire setup). Poor Beth did not have her own bike on hand for the ride - it was still in Texas, where she had shipped it for her 100 MILE RIDE. She was so supportive of me doing my first ride, and so wanted to have that girl-time, that she borrowed my brother-in-law's ginormous mountain bike with gargantuan tires. This bike was not only large, but had possibly the world's hardest seat. I think it was actually made out of concrete. Beth rode 45 miles on that jumbo yellow bike - which we lovingly dubbed "The Yellow Sub". She is the only person I know who is not only tough enough to do it, but who can simultaneously ride like that and giggle for most of the way. One of the funniest moments was when Heather and I were synchronizing our odometers:

"I've got 22.1 miles!" Heather called out.

"I've got 23.3!" I called back

"I've got 6 leagues!" Beth chimed in as she blazed past us on her huge yellow contraption.

Yes, we had a great time. We laughed. I cried (I know. You're shocked). I did not throw up. I did not have to walk my bike. I did feel one of the greatest senses of accomplishment that I have ever felt. I am now officially addicted. I can't wait to do another big ride. Now, when I'm having the kind of day where I feel like I might not be up to the challenge of my job, I just think back to what I did two weeks ago. I will carry that feeling with me for a very long time.

You want to know my favorite part? That was when Beth, who was herself dying from such a long ride on such ill-fitting equipment, blazed past us and disappeared during the last 2 miles of the ride. Completing the ride with my sister, who had patiently and lovingly coaxed me up the last massive hill as I thought I couldn't go any further, was a joy. But, riding side-by-side past our lifelong friend, who had raced us to the end to stand there and cheer for us was...priceless.

"Yeah Kirby girls! Kirby girls rock!"

I love being a Kirby girl. I love feeling like I did something tough. I love that I did it with two people I love so much.