*Caleche
As I mentioned previously, I do a lot of BWB (a.k.a, biking with Bill). Bill’s riding the Pan-Mass Challenge in 66 days. While trying to do his own training, he’s also trying to help Lindsey, a high school freshman and cancer survivor (five years now!), train for the Pan-Mass 40-mile ride.
Given that Lindsey is only 15 and just started cycling a month ago, I think she’s pretty gutsy to attempt a 40-mile ride in only 66 days. But, I know challenges aren’t new to Lindsey. When most kids were learning how to ride a bike, she was fighting cancer, so when Bill asked me if I wanted to meet him and Lindsey for a ride, I knew I had to meet this super girl.
Our plan was to meet on the rail trail at 3pm. Feeling like I had organized and cleaned out one too many drawers today, I was eager to get out. When I knew that Nathan could get Iz off the bus, I headed out to the rail trail.
I rode up to Pepperell and back with my iPod. Some days, riding on the trail with just my iPod is like consuming a double stuf Oreo cookie with a cup of tea. It’s what I really need to console me even though I know there are plenty of others around who could.
Of course, as usual, I was a tad late. When I got to the end of the trail, I saw Bill and Lindsey waiting. Bill introduced us, and then we were off.
As we biked down the trail, Bill said that he told Lindsey that she should observe what I do. I said, “I hope that doesn’t mean off the rail trail, too!” Bill laughed and said, “For today, it’s just on the bike.”
Well, I feared that Lindsey might be too good an observer. Would I want to be responsible if she picked up any of my bad habits? I could see it now; in a week, I’d hear the “Brrrrrring, Brrrring” of my phone, and it would be Lindsey’s Mom asking me why her daughter had given up rat terriers for cats, was devoted to Law & Order, and wanted to get a Hello Kitty tattoo!
As we cycled down the trail, Bill gave Lindsey tons of encouragement and every once in a while he added in a cycling tip or two. At one point, he prefaced a tip by saying, “If you decide to keep cycling...”, and when he finished, I blurted out, “You know, I only started cycling because of a man!”
My romance with cycling (24 years now) unfortunately lasted longer than my romance with Quinn, who got me cycling. Quinn was totally into cycling when I met him; and, I totally loved Quinn. So, what was I to do, but become one of the boys and cycle too?!
I remember buying my first bike ($600) with my Digital Equipment Corporation stock options. The employee stock option purchase program was so wonderful then, as was the price of Digital stock, that I only had to sell about 15 shares to buy my bike. It was a cherry red Bianchi. I didn’t tell Quinn this, but I thought it was totally crazy to spend $600 (1986) on a bike when my first car two years earlier only cost me $1500, but like I said, I loved him.
I wasn’t riding more than a month or two when Quinn proposed we do the Mass Getaway. Like the Pan-Mass ride, it benefited a charity. The ride no longer exists as we did it, but I think we biked 150 miles in two days.
When I first started riding, I was still living with my parents. I used to get up at 6am and ride a 15 mile loop. Back then, 15 miles felt like 150 to me.
Then, I wondered how I would survive the Mass Getaway with Quinn; however, like all girls who are in love, I knew love would see me through. Okay, I knew it wasn’t love; it was going to be sheer will and athletic determination, because I really wanted to impress him!
After completing the ride, we arrived back at Quinn’s apartment. When I began to undress, I noticed many raw sores on the inside of both my thighs. I collapsed into bed, and then Quinn called my Mom to let her know that I was oka…had survived.
When I first met Quinn, my Mom told me how much she liked him, because I had finally met someone who would “play” with me. After Quinn’s call that evening, I knew my Mom thought Quinn was still a match for my boundless energy. But, I think she also began to wonder after that 150 mile two-day ride if Quinn might also be trying to kill me as well!
When riding back down the rail trail with Bill and Lindsey this afternoon, I heard Bill say, “See how smooth she is.” I turned back and said, “Are you talking about me?” which I tried to say doing my best Robert De Niro impersonation . He said to Lindsey, “She has good cadence.”
Just then, I was reminded of when I first began cycling with the Fabulous and Fifty-Plus Cycling Dudes, Ltd. Bob had commented that I was a spinner like Lance Armstrong. Of course, I never ever thought about how I rode, I just rode. Upon this reflection, Bill said, “You’re a spinner. Bob’s a masher. I’m somewhere in between spinning and mashing. And, I think Lindsey’s a spinner.”
Bill went on to say that Lance, whose cycling gait I had, copied his gait from Miguel Indurain. I said to Bill, “Well, it only makes sense. When I was in the Tour de France that time I pretended to be a man (read “National Velvet” or “Victor Victoria”), I biked with Miguel and learned from him." I’m pretty sure that Bill rolled his eyes and laughed then.
This is the funny thing about cycling for me; I just do it. I don’t sweat the cadence or changing tires; perhaps, this is why I’m a natural cyclist because I’m now not a natural blonde. God gives and he takes away!
When Bill, Lindsey, and I arrived in the parking lot, Lindsey said, “Did I tell you what happened to me the other day?” Like a true cyclist, she began to tell cycling war stories. She told us about a motorist who had waved her across a crosswalk and then proceeded to attempt to drive through her; then she told us about the little kid who pulled out in front of her on the rail trail making his Mom almost swerve into her.
Oh, Lindsey, my little cycling Grasshopper! I said, “You need to read my rail trail story.” Then Bill and I offered advice. We noted that there were the cyclists who obeyed the rules of the road like most motorists; then there were the cyclists, especially those on the rail trail, whose cadence definitely spun round to a different drummer, a drummer who had no knowledge of the rules of the road!
Once we arrived back at the rail trail parking lot, Bill loaded up his and Lindsey’s bike onto his truck. Lindsey said to me, “Can I ask you a question?” I thought it might be “So, how was it riding with Miguel Indurain back in the 80s?”
Instead, she asked, “Why do you your shoes have those things?” I asked, “What things?” I looked down and noticed she was referring to the bumps on the soles of my shoes, which I just noticed.
Before I could answer, Bill said, “Those are mountain bike shoes.” I had the shoes for 9 months now, and I was totally unaware that they were mountain biking shoes. The only thing I knew was that they were black and men’s shoes (due to my size 11 feet); and I so wished they were like Lindsey’s in that moment - white with robin’s egg blue piping around them.
Anyway, in the end, it turned out to be a short but nice ride. Well, it was short for Bill and me. I can only imagine how long it was for Lindsey given she was still new to it all.
A short while ago, Bill was concerned about Lindsey being able to make the 40 mile ride. I told Bill then that I’d ride with Lindsey, albeit illegally, if he felt she needed the support. When I rode the Mass Getaway, I had Quinn, blisters aside; when Lindsey rode the PMC, I hoped that she would have the support she needed as well and no blisters, and if she fell for some reason, I hoped that she'd be able to fall on me. ♥
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