Front page news
1/26/08
One of the challenges of this ride for me is the fundraising. Believing strongly in the causes that I’m collecting money for makes it possible for me to ask for money but it isn’t easy to ask! I’m so grateful when someone hearing of my ride asks me, how can I support you?
In order for people to know about my ride, I have to let the world know what I’m doing so I was thrilled that our local paper did a feature story on me in yesterday’s paper. I must say it’s very strange to see your own picture on the cover of the paper (especially knowing that many of them are going to end up in woodstoves all over Windham County!). Here’s the link to that story: www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_8084647
Yesterday I spoke with a woman who did this same trip last year and raised $50,000! She was so inspiring and full of all kinds of practical help in getting me ready for the tour. We talked for over an hour (she’s from Tennessee) and this morning I woke up with my brain going full speed with all the things I need to do in the next five weeks.
One of the things she stressed is the need to really train for this ride. The first week is very challenging going straight up into the mountains of California climbing almost 4000 feet in the first two days. There is also a 90 mile day in the first week. She said last year it was obvious who had trained and who had not at the beginning of the ride and those who had trained were feeling much better than those who hadn’t! I went outside to ride right after I hung up the phone. It was really cold and windy and there were patches of ice and snow on the side of the road which scared me at times. At the end of two hours my toes were freezing, even with heavy socks and neoprene booties on my feet, so I gave up at that point and came home to toast my feet by the fire. With fresh snow on the ground this morning, I’m headed down to Greenfield with my husband and a friend to try out the indoor computrainers that they train on. These machines simulate riding a course outside. Which is better - sweating inside or freezing outside?
