The Sunday adventure-ride really started on Friday. I was in Orono in the morning and figured that one more good training ride would help me on Sunday so I took my bike and planned to do a loop from the University, up Rt. 2 to Old Town, over Stillwater Ave to the Black Bear Inn, thru the industrial park to Bennoch Rd and then to down-town Orono and back to the University. Note to self: don’t try to ride thru the business area on Stillwater Ave again… not worth the traffic aggravation. I had heard tales from Aaron in the past about biking in Colorado and Oregon, seeing others on bike rides and just joining up. I figured that was part of his biking culture… when people ride, others just join up. Soooo, as I biked on the Bennoch Road and saw two people from my generation loading their bikes onto a car I figured the right thing to do was to stop and chat… and besides I needed to catch my breath from the hill I had been climbing. Glad I stopped. Learned about places to bike near Old Town as well as the Downeast Sunrise trail and biking in Washington State. Also found some people who enjoy getting out and riding during the day. I guess there is a universal biking culture!
Sunday’s ride was good. (You didn’t really expect me to say it was horrible, did you!?) An all woman ride organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, one had to choose 5, 15, 25, or 50 mile trips. I chose 25, Freeport to Brunswick and back again. At the start I was confident I could do the full trip. I had called the Coalition Office the week before and been told that the ride followed rural roads with gentle rolling hills… It was only 25 miles. I should have skyped the Coalition and been able to see the person I was talking to. Her definition of gentle rolling hills and mine differ by about 45 degrees (and perhaps 25 years!). Oh well, it was just an opportunity to prove to myself I could do more than I thought I could. Somewhere between the first “What were you thinking when you signed up for this” and the realization that I was over halfway through the ride, the rhythm of my ride kicked in. I found a mental space where I was totally present in the movement of my legs, up and down, rolling, seeing the fields and woods, and feeling the wind thru my helmet. It was an interesting juxtaposition of a solo ride happening in community, pleasant to share the struggle on steep hills with others, huffing and puffing along, pleasant also to set my own pace. Coming down out of the Brunswick High School rest stop to ride along the water’s edge was a real treat. It is interesting that the trip odometer on my bike lost its importance around mile 5 and then didn’t seem relevant again until mile 22. At that point someone put big bumps in the road and my legs didn’t really want to work quite so hard. The countdown of the miles from there to 25 seemed forever… Well as a matter of fact it was. The 25 mile ride turned out to be 27 miles. Somewhere in the last couple of miles my friend, Phyllis Havens (from Women With Wings) and I caught up together and powered the last few miles with a song from our group, adapted to the occasion… ‘The Goddess is in me, I did not falter in my journey….’ And so on.
We finished the ride in 2 ½ hours, punctuated the end with shouts and joy, and added one more check mark to the bucket list of life!
Sunday’s ride was good. (You didn’t really expect me to say it was horrible, did you!?) An all woman ride organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, one had to choose 5, 15, 25, or 50 mile trips. I chose 25, Freeport to Brunswick and back again. At the start I was confident I could do the full trip. I had called the Coalition Office the week before and been told that the ride followed rural roads with gentle rolling hills… It was only 25 miles. I should have skyped the Coalition and been able to see the person I was talking to. Her definition of gentle rolling hills and mine differ by about 45 degrees (and perhaps 25 years!). Oh well, it was just an opportunity to prove to myself I could do more than I thought I could. Somewhere between the first “What were you thinking when you signed up for this” and the realization that I was over halfway through the ride, the rhythm of my ride kicked in. I found a mental space where I was totally present in the movement of my legs, up and down, rolling, seeing the fields and woods, and feeling the wind thru my helmet. It was an interesting juxtaposition of a solo ride happening in community, pleasant to share the struggle on steep hills with others, huffing and puffing along, pleasant also to set my own pace. Coming down out of the Brunswick High School rest stop to ride along the water’s edge was a real treat. It is interesting that the trip odometer on my bike lost its importance around mile 5 and then didn’t seem relevant again until mile 22. At that point someone put big bumps in the road and my legs didn’t really want to work quite so hard. The countdown of the miles from there to 25 seemed forever… Well as a matter of fact it was. The 25 mile ride turned out to be 27 miles. Somewhere in the last couple of miles my friend, Phyllis Havens (from Women With Wings) and I caught up together and powered the last few miles with a song from our group, adapted to the occasion… ‘The Goddess is in me, I did not falter in my journey….’ And so on.
We finished the ride in 2 ½ hours, punctuated the end with shouts and joy, and added one more check mark to the bucket list of life!
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