Reminders

Today was the kick off and orientation for my ride from Fargo, ND to Bar Harbor, ME.  This year's ride will look a little different from last year because:

1. I am no longer a multi-day touring virgin, having last year's ride under my belt (No pun intended.ok, maybe it was)
2. I will be riding much slower; I have been coached to keep my heart rate under 124 bpm to build cardio endurance so I can become a stronger rider.
3. I am going as a support driver, meaning every fourth day I will drive the SAG wagon, (not to be confused with the paddy wagon)   I addition to being support for the other riders, I also have to do dishes....this is sorta akin to not having enough money to pay the dinner bill..... I got a substantial discount for doing these duties

 With the extra duties, I may find it challenging to blog, but I will do my best to keep you entertained and amused as I pedal through the bread basket of America, sail through the steel belt, past Niagara Falls and into New England, where I will gorge on lobster.  This will be like a roving geography lesson!

Getting ready and the days leading up to this trip have left me wondering if my angels aren't watching over me and trying to send me a message.  On a training ride a few weeks earlier, I was about to tackle a big...big hill, and just as it started getting really tough, and my heart was thumping out of my chest, my pedals froze.  Unclipping quickly to keep from tipping over, I thought I had dropped my chain.  That was my first lucky break--being able to dismount before falling;  my second break wasn't so lucky as my chain had actually broken.  So that ended the ride for me.....can't ride with a broken chain.  Darn--I so wanted to climb that really, really big hill....that really BIG hill....

Not long after that, I rolled out for a ride, only to get a flat a few miles out.  Then last Sunday, I was out on a Chick Clique ride, and could not get my shoe to unclip from the pedal.  I finally yanked it off and came to a skidding halt, narrowly missing a nasty spill.  Removing my shoe, I discovered two of the four screws that hold the clip on had fallen out, and the remaining screws were barely still threaded. Examining my other shoe, I discovered that those screws were extremely loose also.  I stole from one shoe to fix the other, and went on my way.  Another accident averted, but unsettling enough to make me wonder about the rash of mishaps.

Yesterday I arrived in Fargo, and planned to join the local bike group for the Ride of Silence, then their regular bike ride.  I picked up my helmet to put it on, and it fell apart.  It literally fell apart. The cage, or the part that cradles my head, disintegrated in my hands.  Had I worn that helmet and been in a crash, it would not have protected my head, and I kinda like my noggin. (How did noggin ever become a synonym for head?  Things that make you go 'hmmm')

 I bought a new helmet, and rode with the group.  I was the only woman to continue with them after the Ride of Silence, and they did their best to shake me off the back.....and they did.  I couldn't hang with them, and got pathetically lost as I rode back to the hotel alone. (I think the ladies on this tour should be very worried about me being their SAG....I do seem to have a tendency to get lost.)

So, with all these odd mishaps occurring, do you think someone is watching over me?   I feel as though I am and it serves to remind me that life is fragile.  I will be careful.