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.JPG "IMG_3646 (Small).JPG")
| Total images: 40 | Last update: 3/6/07 4:32 PM | Generated by JAlbum 7.0 & Chameleon | Help |
I rode for Denny today- Posted by Tom in Cycling I got just over 100km in today since I had the chance to use the break in the weather. By the looks of the weather forecast, I'll still get right up to 300km in this week. 100km today, tomorrow is a 90km day, and then Sunday will be a 120km day. Lots of riding for me, but I need to round out the distance or I'll start getting antsy. Now on to the story.... I rode pretty hard today, and actually had to ride in the small ring for a good stretch of flat thanks to a 15-20kt head wind. As I type, the winds remain out of the west at 11-15kts. As I was passing about the 15km mark, I was debating whether or not to take the entire coast road for the full 100km, or if I should just say screw it in the wind and do a 50km day. You already know how it panned out. Here's why. About four years ago, when my wife and I moved to San Diego, I met and got to know her Uncle. This guy is amazing. He's done just about every type of adventure sport there is and has run both a whitewater rafting business and a Grand Canyon/Sonoran Desert guide business. He's a professional photographer and has been a college professor in that field of study. You might even say he's the one that got me into road cycling. I hadn't been on a road bike in years, but we rode the MS150 with my wife's aunt and uncle on a tandem and I knew right then I was hooked. It was almost another two years before I bought the Roubaix I ride now, but the plan was formulating then. Aside from all the things he's done for himself in his life, he's been a giver the whole time. That's not to say he's just a philanthropist who doles out money to every charity that comes around. He gives to people what they need. Most of the time, it's support, a smile, or in my case - it was just taking me along for the ride. He came along at the perfect time for me. He loves my kids, loves my family. His almost incessant calm became an attribute I've watched with intense study, because there are so few people who have it. Not only does he have it, I think he patented it. It's amazing - and I think for his wife - almost infuriating at times. By the way he has treated our family, you'd assume we were related by more than just a couple of wedding bands from our wives. Last year, the giant of the man stumbled. He had a stroke that came out of nowhere. This isn't a guy who lived a lifestyle that would've predicted it. It just happened. It's not fair that it happened. For months, I think I've been in disbelief that it happened. Worst of all, I'm on the other side of the world and can't do much to return help in any way. Nearly nine months later, recuperation has been slow, and the man whose incessant calm was rivaled by none has seen the worst of days. So, why all this story? Because at 20km into a ride that was expecting to last almost 3 more hours, I wanted to call it quits. There was no prize at the end of today's ride. It wasn't a race, and the only other rider I saw on the road today was going the other way (with that awesome tailwind I so wanted to turn around and grab). No one else would have cared if I'd turned around today. Heck, no one would have cared if I hadn't gotten on the bike at all. But at 20km into the ride, it occurred to me there was something I could do for Denny. 6000 miles away, and there was in fact something I could do. I could just keep riding into the wind. I could drop it in a lower gear, start grinding out a cadence and keep going. Keep going Denny. The ride won't always have a tailwind. In fact, the wind might turn around on you and you'll never get a tailwind. Even if you have to use a lower gear, it's about grinding it out. The best thing about it? At the end of the day, you see your wife and she asks, "So how was your ride?" I rode for Denny.