Bald Eagles and Grasshoppers

Last week, I learned some things about myself that I applied this week. FREQUENT FOOD. I also started realizing that how training goes has a lot to do with what is going on in the mind. When I got tired and wanted to take a break coming up the backside of Hilltop, I started thinking about Phyllis and how Leukemia won in her situation. I immediately got angry was able to put that energy towards pedaling and being stubborn about making it up the hill without stopping.

This week, I had a different experience during my 55 mile ride…

It was a gorgeous ride from Eagle, through Middleton, down the old Emmett Highway, into Emmett, up the climb at Old Freeze Out Rd, onto Hwy 16 back to Eagle. Beautiful Fields, mostly flat (with the exception of Old Freeze Out and Hwy 16), low traffic areas, etc. When we got into Emmett, we took a side road that had a set of railroad tracks and a lot of trees. It felt nice and lush and cool. I heard a screech and started looking around, spotting a bird on top of a pole in a nest. As I watched a little longer, I noticed that it was a Bald Eagle. When I pointed it out, Cheri saw another Eagle sitting in a tree just a little way off, watching. It seemed as though they were talking to each other. AMAZING!

Another set of railroad tracks and we were ready for a break. We stopped at a gas station to top off our water bottles, and fuel up. Cheri started talking about eating and drinking anything that she could put into her mouth for the next part of the ride. Up to this point, we had a pretty flat ride, except for the fabulous decline that we got to go down. (Which reminds me, Cheri took off down this hill, Brad following and I brought up the rear. As I started down the hill, I heard a “POP!” I thought I had somehow dropped something or that maybe a tire had popped. I started looking around quickly and found that everything was all right. (Brad was thinking the same thing.) All of a sudden, we were passed by to motorcyclists, one of which was backfiring all the way down the hill.) Back to our rest break-as Cheri was talking about needing to fuel up for the climbing portion of our ride, I started to get a little nervous, and told her so. She looked at me and said that she was talking the hill down. Some comfort that was. We started out again and as we got closer to the hill (Old Freeze Out Road) Brad started telling me tricks about getting up this hill. I followed him very closely for awhile, and got the feel for it, then he took off. I kept going and saying to myself, “relax the shoulders, relax the arms, relax the hands, heels down.” Every time I would do that, I could feel energy and power for doing more of the hill. I thought about stopping, but then kept thinking, “I really don’t need to stop. Keep going. Yes, I’m tired, but I can do this.” All of a sudden, I see Brad heading back towards me and he said that I had one more corner and a small climb and I was at the top. WOHOOOO! Let me tell you, that was the longest small climb I’ve done so far. I got to the top and waited for Brad and Cheri to join me. When she got to the top, Cheri kept going. This next portion was on Hwy 16 for about 10 miles.

Going down Hwy 16, as we were being hit with grasshoppers, I realized that we were going to pass a friend’s house, a friend who I am riding in honor of. By this time I was getting tired, but we were maintaining about 15-18mph pace. I looked up and saw my friend out working in the yard and yelled “hi” to him. He looked up and took a minute, but saw us, waved and yelled “hi” back. The amazing experience about this was that one little interaction brought determination for the remainder of Saturday’s ride. It brought home, once again the reason that I have taken this whole endeavor on.

55 miles, 3 hours 55 minutes. 13.9 mph Average Speed. 31.5 mph Max Speed Total Miles on my bike: 374.2.