{The Ride}

Good evening all~
WooHoo....
I did the Apple Cider this morning and it was FABULOUS:)

I started the morning looking like this...

Dare I say excited to ride~

all full of excitement and anticipation~

Little did I know what the winds would have in store for me:)

There were so many riders everywhere that it was hard not to be inspired and happy!

Except you had to wait a long time to use tinkle town~My friend and I rode together for the first 50 miles...You remember her from last year:) The sag stops were wonderful and just full of happy riders ready for a little fueling. I ate more bananas than I knew what to do with....but they kept me going~
The ride was just wonderful! There were so many vineyards that I passed. The air just smelled of sweet grapes! Perfect since I was definitely looking forward to some vino after the ride!Me at the end. I don't think I could have been anymore proud of myself~All in all I did just over 76 miles....
in 5 hours and 20 minutes......burning a smooth 2500 calories!And that was with thigh burning hills the whole way after mile 26 and gail force winds. OK...they weren't gail force winds but they felt like it:)

I have to be honest that it's not the 100 miles that I really wanted but after last weeks 50 mile ride I knew I hadn't put in enough long rides to really be ready for 100. And that's ok!

People had asked me what I was doing this for...was I raising money for something....

NO....this was ALL for me. It was a very personal goal. Other goals are great too....but this was MY goal.

Six years ago this September my grandfather (who was the only father I had ever known) died suddenly and since then I really lost myself. I just didn't realize it until about 2 years ago. I realized that I was no longer doing all of the things that I really loved. Crafting, running, reading, just being happy. I really gained weight during this time and just didn't feel right with me. Two years ago I started on my journey to being happy again. I started crafting and began exercising again. BUT I still wasn't really happy with me. This year I decided to really get things in order ..... get healthy, become super active and be the person I know I always was and am. So I really started to focus on this ride and put all of my energy into it. This lead me into really thinking about what I was putting into my body and how that helped or hurt my riding. The more I learned and did, the better I felt and so the more I learned and did. It was really like a snowball effect for me:) I still have a ways to go.....but I know I am now on the right path again!! And that feels so good~ It has taken a long time and hope that anyone who has lost a loved one might give themselves a break for a little while.....but then realize that they can pick themselves up again....

Life does go on and it should:) Life is a journey and you never know where it's going to take you so as my friend says "buy the ticket and enjoy the ride."

Thanks for letting me share:)

So after all this riding, I cleaned up as best I could without a shower..... And ended up at The Stray Dog, where they still had the upstairs patio open!! YIPPEE~

I was tired and a little stinky but I didn't care.
I got my vino and pizza! Vegan, of course~

I also got to see how proud my honey was of me! Who knows maybe i'll inspire another rider. {hint hint, honey}

Just remember...no matter where life takes you, through all of the ups and downs, just remember it truly is a journey! There would be no ups if there weren't downs! So enjoy all that life has to offer and go out there and go after something that you really want! You won't be dissappointed...even if you don't meet your exact goal! Ok .... I am off to bed now! Have a super happy week:)