Since the late '80s, when I began riding an old Motobecane given to me by Sharon Popp, I've enjoyed cycling. I actually never owned a car until I turned 30, in 1994. I'd lived in two cities (Boston and San Francisco, and a small town (Marblehead), where a car never seemed neccessary. I walked everywhere and I had my bike!
Betty got me my first nice bike in 1991. It was a beautiful Bianchi Volpe, with a unique shifting system. I adored it. When my cousin, Pete, and I lived in an apartment in Boston in 1992, we were robbed of everything worth anything in our apartment - television, cd player, camera equipment, etc... but fortunately, to my relief, they didn't steal the bike!
I stopped riding when Mike and I got married and we started having a family. Kids, marriage, and a new house absorbed much of my time. It's been nice getting back on the bike again, (now a three-year old Specialized Allez).
I sometimes think of Sharon, (she passed away from cervical cancer many years ago), and how I used to struggle up the Lafayette Street hill on her old bike. That hill, coming into Marblehead on 114, is still tough (especially after a long ride), but I'm happy to say, two weeks from the PMC, it's no longer much of a struggle.
While the weather hasn't cooperated with my training this year, I actually feel stronger for this year's PMC than I have in the past. I'm feeling optimistic for this year's ride -- I only hope that the weather is nicer than it has been this entire summer.
Only two weeks left to go!
"Ride as much or as little or as long or as short as you feel, but RIDE" -- Eddy Merckx
