TRAINING LOG

Location: Healdsburg, Geyserville

Distance: 55 miles

Song: Life is a Highway (Soundtrack from Cars), by Rascall Flats. Gilly sings this and sounds like a country singer, I love it.

Thoughts: Quaint, charming little town with full of stores and restaurants and art galleries. This is probably my second favorite ride. Lots of rolling hills, and beautiful wine country scenery. After a four-mile climb up Pine Flat Road (which definitely ain't), it overlooks the valley filled with endless rows of vineyards. I didn't realize there were so many varied, independent wineries. Everyone's always wanting to stop to 'sample' the wares.

Hot one today, 95 degrees of dry heat, over 100 on the asphalt, like a giant blowdryer shadowing you all day. A few on the team had symptoms of dehyrdation and heat exhaustion. I drank about 5 water bottles of gatorade over the almost four hours that we were on the road and didn't even need to use the bathroom which means I was sweating it all out.

Even so, the last 10 miles of the ride had less to do with strength, but more about will and heart. Just brutal conditions. When you're hot and fatigued you need to dig down and ask yourself what your 'why' is, why are you training, why are you out there. You then begin to focus on that 'why' while the miles beginning to slowly disappear and you find a reservoir of strength that you didn't know you had.

For many, the face of a loved one comes to mind, or their memory. For others it's the commitment to the Cause, or a new vow to be healthy, or a promise to yourself to finish an unheard of challenge, or even laying on a beach in Hawaii, drinking out of a coconut after the Century Ride.

One of my 'whys' is on my handlebar, a pink Barbie bandaid that my daughter gave me after I crashed on a ride. I look and touch that touchstone many times on many different rides. I guess we all have 'whys' in our lives, someone or something that keeps us going, keeps us living strong, keeps us hopeful and joyful, that make our lives memorable, worth living, worth the struggle. With it, we tap deep emotional reserves that propel us forward.

What's your 'why' in life?

And the reward for me on this particular ride was an ice cold beer, waiting all those hours, hiding in an Igloo cooler, nestled comfortably on a bed of ice. It's the simple things in life, yes?

Godspeed,

-R

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