Walking the Ridgepole of the Roof

OK...so my mother wasn't quite so thrilled with the last blog and gave me a LAUNDRY LIST of the things that I SHOULD blog about...SO, here goes...I had made only two New Years Resolutions this year. The first was to go skydiving. Check. The second was that I wanted to complete a Century Race. (for those of you not quite sure what exactly that is....that is a 100 mile bike race, on a bike that you pedal, with no motor, and its done in a single day/afternoon) Well it just so happens that in Norwalk, California, a small town about 40 miles south of Los Angeles was holding a community outreach support something or other century race. So I sent them my money (yes you actually PAY THEM so that YOU can ride 100 miles on thier roads) September 20 was the the set aside day.

I trained as much as I could through the summer but when the temperature goes over 110 degrees before 10am...its really hard to find the motivation to get up and ride great distances at 4am. But I did the best I could.................and then school started. WRENCH in my training! I figured since I already spent the money, and TOLD everyone that I was going to finish the race I had better WOman up and go through with it. How hard could it really be, right? So a friend of mine said that one week before the day if I could ride 60 miles I would be able to finish the whole 100. Up until this point (the WEEK before the ride) the furthest distance I had gone was about 45 miles.

Well, since mum had made other travel plans for that weekend(no feeling bad mother)...I enlisted the moral support of my super-est cousin...NICOLE!! (of course I had to bribe her with a trip to Disneyland)

The big day arrived, and my super-est cousin Nicole dropped me off at 6am and stayed with me until the whistle blew and we were OFF! Surprisingly enough, for the first 50 miles I stayed with the first 15 people (all of which were men) out of 200+ riders. Woohoo!!!

yeah...no.

By mile 60 I pulled off for the rest stop and I thought my legs were painted on. Not a lot of pain, mainly because I couldn't FEEL ANYTHING. Mind over matter...soldier on. But at this point I was nearing the coast by Manhattan Beach and the the wind was picking up....A LOT. Mile 70...I pulled off to the side of the path and made "the call". Bawling like a baby I said that I couldn't go any further...my lungs felt like they were going to implode, every muscle was screaming and my legs felt like they were filled with lead. My mother told me how proud she was of me...that I didn't need to prove anything to anyone and I didn't have to finish. Well this was my moment to walk the ridgepole of Moody's roof...everyone knew I was there for the 100 miles.

It was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but knowing I had conquered and finished compares to NOTHING :)

And of course the following day I was good on my promise...the Happiest Place on Earth was calling to my super-est cousin and I......where all your dreams come true.

DISNEYLAND!!!

UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR!