Biking Makes Me Strong!

A little over a month ago, Crusty Bill and I embarked on a new adventure: the Tri-State Tour. Ride through 3 states (IN, IL and WI) in one day. We'd once done a metric century, or 62 miles - through hills! - so I was confident we could do this.

As the ride got closer, I started to calculate the mileage. Umm, this was going to be a little more than 62 miles. But it's flat. We'll be fine. The night before the ride, Crusty Bill brought up the mileage and that he thought it was over 62 miles... we agreed that yeah, we'd be fine.

The day of the ride turned out to be great weather for biking - not too hot, not too cool, a nice cloud layer so it wasn't too sunny. There were eventually a few brief sprinkles here and there but it stayed dry most of the day.

We started in Hammond, IN and rode up along Lake Michigan past Chicago. The ride was really well organized, with a stop roughly every 20 miles to fuel up on food, refill water, and use restrooms. We rode pretty much in the middle of the pack, usually above the expected speed by a bit with occasional "woooohoooo!" sprints. At the 3rd stop, I checked my computer: 58 miles. And one stop to go (although the last 2 were fairly close together). Yeah, this is more than 62 miles!

Then a funny thing happened: we both started talking about a century. There was a 20 mile optional loop at the end that brought the total mileage up to 80, and as we talked, we agreed that we probably could do it. We felt good. We felt strong.

And in the end, we did it! We rode 102 miles, from Hammond IN to Kenosha WI. It took 7.5 hours of riding (plus stops) but it was awesome. Yes, I had sores on the top of my thigh from my bike shorts rubbing (note to self, more butt'r next time!) and my hands had sore spots but I RODE 100+ MILES! And I felt good. And very hungry. And very strong, knowing I could do this thing that several years ago - several days ago! - I had thought I could not do.

Does biking make me strong, or does it help me realize my inner strength? I'm not really sure. But I am aware of my tough inner core as I zip alongside Chicago traffic or pedal through subfreezing air. Accomplishing a century made me realize how much I can really do, how far I can push myself. I don't feel invincible - that would be a mistake - but I do feel more conscious of an inner strength, and whether it came from the biking or my awareness came from the biking, I am grateful. I now know I am capable of more than I realize.