Day One ... or is it?

I love riding my bike, I always have.  Like so many kids, it was my freedom - the wings on which I could fly.  My bike and I were able to go places that my mother wouldn't drop everything and take me to do.  Also, like so many others, once I had my driver's license I rode less and less and less until it wasn't a part of who I was any more.

Although I never lost that love of my bike, it never was fully who I was anymore but something I couldn't leave in the past.  So a few years ago, I bought Bikey the idea was to ride around town - going to farmer's market, the library, the pool and such.

When I began working at a nearby elementary school, I began riding to work when I was able and the kids came to identify me and my bike around town.  A couple of kids even used to "reserve" my space for me on the bike rack outside the main doors of the school.

Then came the appeal from a childhood friend.  She was recruiting riders to join her for the JDRF fundraising ride in La Crosse, WI.  Her daughter, who is the same age as my Pi guy, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) the same year my son was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome.  Pi "outgrew" his kidney issues, her daughter will never "outgrow" diabetes.  With another friend living with T1D as an adult, students, children of friends and more and more people I knew touched by this disease, I figured it was time for me to step up and help.

So today was the first day of training for my JDRF century ride - 11 easy miles to get used to riding long distances in a stretch, something I haven't done in 35 or so years.  Bikey and I chose to go an easy bike route through parts of Boston and Cambridge, taking advantage of the spring weather.  At the end of my ride, I stopped at my local bike shop to have Bikey tuned up for the season - an annual event for me.  I know that he really isn't equipped as a road bike, and I am a little concerned about that overall but for now, I will train on him until I decide what to do about the whole road bike thing.

Next up, another 11-15 mile ride and then a 20 mile ride before the week is over.