It wasn't a ride for the faint of heart. Bill, Heather, and I rode 34.78 miles for ALS and Dar's Team Saturday. Waking to a temperature of 35 degrees and snow on the rooftops, well... it was not the day we had envisioned when we signed up for the ALS Bike Trek. Knowing the ride does not cancel for weather we proceeded to "layer up." We also knew whatever challenges were ahead were nothing compared to what ALS patients and caregivers face every day. The ride was grueling. We started into the face of a fierce north wind and quickly discovered it was going to be a hilly ride. Cold temperatures, spitting rain/sleet mixture and a challenging course were not going to discourage us. God sent us encouragement through Dar's favorite animal.
The ride was through the country, the rolling hillsides of Washington County were beautiful. We passed spacious farms with horses -- many farms, with many horses. The first group of horses were running excited together through the field. It was a marvelous sight; they seemed to be excited for Dar and there to spur us on. We felt each horse was encouraging us on for Dar and we heard "Go Dar's Team" every time we saw a horse. Heather commented she could feel mom's spirit out there on the road with us.
I remember being about 31 miles into the 28 mile ride (yes mathematicians, I see the the numbers do not compute) biking up yet another hill when I didn't think I could do one more and seeing a horse silhouette on a mailbox....
We love you mom!
Thank you Judy for the pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment