Just keep swimming

At least that's how it felt yesterday but instead of swimming we pedaled. Yesterday we participated in the Ride for Heart and what a time we had. Before we headed out, Lucas had to be roused from his sleep, so to get him going, Isabel told him that we would be riding for grandma. He took this to mean that he was going to see her so he raced down the stairs, convinced that she was in the car waiting for us. I started crying at that, even though he hasn't seen her in over 7 months and he's not even three he still remembers her.




We started our day bright and early as the ride started at 8:15 am. We all had our tshirts with mom's picture on it, even Lucas. Shawn had a rider ask him what happened, who it was etc. Turns out his own father-in-law was still in the hospital as a result of a stroke. We weren't the only ones who were riding for someone.

The ride itself was perfect. The weather was great, it wasn't hot the way it was on Saturday and the rain held off until late afternoon. Riding on the highway without threat of being mowed down is very exhilarating. I'm a very slow rider, I don't like going to fast because I'm always scared of falling and breaking something (I'm really getting old). Even though Shawn is an avid biker he stayed beside me during the whole thing, I know I really held him back but I love him so much for sticking beside me. There are three hills that I've never been able to conquer in the past but this year I beat my Goliath! I can't remember who it was but somebody told me to only look a little bit ahead not at the end of the hill. That advise along with Shawn's guidance about my gears allowed me to conquer those hills. I also kept hearing my mom telling me "Of course you can do it. Who say's you can't." Just like she always use to.

Isabel, Mark and Lucas reached the finished line before we did but they waited for us so we could all cross it together. I crossed the finish line crying and crying. Crying because we finished in one piece, crying because of mom, crying because of the love I felt for my family. I've never been prouder of any of them. We even had a "Go Team" rah, rah moment after we finished.








Now it would be nice to finish our story there but unfortunately it is not to be. In order to get to the ride, we had to mount a bike rack onto the back of the car. Not a problem, we've done it before and there's never been a problem...until yesterday. As we were coming home, I closed my eyes to get some rest when all of a sudden I heard a huge thud and Shawn yelled out "Oh sh*t". The clips on the bike rack broke and for about 5-10 seconds we were dragging our bikes on the highway going 100 km/hr! We were in the worst spot too, right where the highway goes from being six lanes to four and we sere in the median there. So we're stranded with all these cars and trucks passing by and we're trying to get our bikes into the trunk/backseat. Luckily, Isabel and Mark passed by and were able to help us. Their bike rack was able to hold three bikes so they took mine and we were able to dismantle Shawn's enough to get it into the car. Needless to say, we got off the highway as soon as we were able to.

Luckily as well, nobody was tailgating us and the bikes stayed attached to the car, it could've been a whole lot worse. I think I know who our guardian angel was.