Sore buns, but happy heart!

Well, I made my television debut yesterday and I think it went well! The interviewer, Tim, was very easy going and I hardly even realized that we were being taped until it was all over. There was no calling out "lights, cameras, action" to warn me...it just started as an easy conversation with the microphone suddenly pointed at me. Probably my most notable quote that they extracted and used from my interview (they cut and spliced three individual interviews together) was when Tim asked me what my expectations were from doing the cycle challenge, to which I answered, "sore buns". Probably not the answer he was looking for, but I couldn't help myself...it just came out!

This morning was our time to ride. Rich and I shared one bike for two hours, switching every half hour, while our son-in-law, Matt, brought in his own bike to ride on a trainer and rode for an hour and a half. We were entertained and kept pumped up by a live band made up of teachers from West Ottawa called Staff Infection, who volunteered their time and played all the hits from our era and more. The time passed quickly because of them, and I can't really complain of having sore buns! The room was full of 50+ bikes, not including bikes that were brought in and put on trainers by individuals, and it was an amazing sight to see. Having never done a bike-athon, I didn't know what to expect...how are all the bikes lined up...where does everyone fit when not riding...where do the supporters go?

We were lucky and were in the front row, so we had space in front of us to pull up a couple of chairs to sit on when not riding. The group next to us sat on the floor and played Uno while waiting their turns. But if you weren't in the front, there was only enough room for the rider and maybe one other person, but you wouldn't want to stand there for long because everyone was so close together. So when you're assigned a time slot, that's really your own solo time to ride. A time to just pedal hard and enjoy the view! Volunteers continually walked through the room with trays full of goodies...slices of bananas and bagels, cookies, energy bars, snack mix...and there was also water and Gatorade available. All you really had to do was show up and pedal...the organizers and volunteers thought of everything else.

All in all, it has been a wonderful first experience for me...I plan on participating again next year. And, as always, events such as this touch my heart...with gratitude for my own happy ending, and for the hope that is inspired by the efforts of so many wonderful people working together. Thank you, everyone.