Death Valley veterans said the weather this year was the best they’d ever seen. Moderate temperatures. Not much wind. We even had cloud cover for a while. If there was any day to ride Death Valley, this was it.
And even on the best day ever to ride Death Valley, it was still so hard. I thought about quitting many times.
But I kept thinking about all those evening and weekend hours I spent away from my family doing training rides, and how I suffered trying to keep up with the group or hit a mileage goal.
So I kept pushing. And pushing. And pushing.
8:31 hours later, I crossed the finish line having accomplished something pretty amazing.
It’s been an amazing journey that started nearly five months ago with Erik Douds talking me into this crazy adventure. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Today, I’m glad he did. It’s another great reminder that with time, determination, and great support (that’s you!) anything is possible.
I went through so many ups and downs along the way and came out proud of what I’ve done and learned. I’m better for it.
Thank you for all of your help along the way – I couldn’t have done it without you!
Speaking of help…
Riding for JDRF is a special experience. For sure. But there are steep fundraising minimums, which has been a barrier for me in the past.
I took a big risk this year, as did Erik, and we set a fundraising goal of $4000 each (the minimum to secure lodging).
We’ve made great strides, but we’re not quite there yet.
We need to raise another $2,685 before the end of the year or JDRF will charge us the difference.
I’m not sure how I feel about that…