Double Dollars – Double Ride

Summing up last week in a word, "Fantastic"!  Super intense at work with a couple very long days tossed in for good measure, but Wednesday, one of those long days, is a day I will not soon forget.

Wednesday morning, after discussing a few potential projects with my boss, our conversation turned to the Tour du Burundi.  He and I don't speak of it often, but this morning was different, and I raised the issue of employer matching funds raised by employees for charitable events.  Had heard that other divisions do such things but hadn't seen it in our division.

After a brief conversation he approved matching funds but wanted to cap it and asked what I intended to raise.  I told him $15,000.  He then approved matching funds up to $10,000!  I almost starting crying but thought he would fire me for doing so and then there would be no matching funds so I kept the tears to myself.

That two minute conversation instantly doubled what has already been contributed to date, $2,175, and it means that every dollar donated going forward is two dollars donated!  I've reset my goal from $15,000 to $20,000 because of my employer's generosity.  So cool!

Leaving the office that day, again long and intense, as I stepped out the front door, before me was the moon in my absolute favorite phase, a crescent moon with just the smallest bit of moon visible.  This night, however, as I looked west, the moon was positioned as if it looked like a smile.  Instantly I felt like God was smiling down on me, hugging me after a long day, and saying, "You're doing great raising money for my kids in Burundi".  It felt great!!  Mind you, God smiles down on me all the time, whether raising money for His kids or when I choose paths that are not His plan.  It's called unconditional love and I'm so grateful He feels that way about me.  By the way, He has that same love for you too, no matter your past or where you fall on the faith spectrum.  Unconditional is, after all, unconditional.

So with that encouragement I set my sights for the weekend rides.  This is the first weekend of riding outside two consecutive days, something I've never attempted, so I was really curious how this would play out.  Set out Saturday morning for Redwood Road (50 miles) and met up with a group of women training for the Cinderella Ride which is a women's only ride.  I often thought there should be a men’s only Prince Charming ride but can't imagine the cast of characters that would take part in that event so maybe that's not such a good idea.

I started riding with one of the trainers in the group, a man, who seemed fairly intense, when we were passed by another rider who said nothing when approaching from behind.  The safe thing to do is to call out, "On your left” (or right) when passing.  The three of us found ourselves at a stop light.  Me on the left, the unsafe passer in the middle, and the intense trainer dude on the right.  Me?  I'm quiet and just happy to hit a red light to grab some water and catch my breath.  My new found trainer buddy decides to take it upon himself to tell the unsafe passer guy just exactly how unsafe he was.

Needless to say it was not a cordial conversation and me, ever the peacemaker, decided to tap the unsafe passer on the right shoulder and once I got his attention I said, "I still love you".  He didn't take my comment in the caring manner in which it was given.  I think I tried to follow it up with a second inane comment when he cut me off and said he really couldn't hear me because his ear buds were in.  That's unsafe as well but who am I to bring up more of this guy’s poor judgment during a 30 second red-light?  So, I asked, "What are you listening to?".  "Music" came the reply.  Now I'm no sales person but I got the sense this was not the time to ask him if he wanted to donate to the Tour du Burundi.  The light turned green and off he went and I spent the next 15 minutes of the ride pondering the question of why I spoke up in the first place.  Hey, you gotta find something to occupy your time on these longer rides.

With that drama behind me I settled into a great ride.  On rides like Redwood I have my set resting places and one of them is after descending Redwood there is a stop sign where Pinehurst meets Redwood.  Continue on Redwood and in a couple miles you're on Skyline Boulevard which offers great vistas of the Bay.  Take a sharp right on Pinehurst, an uphill climb, and you've made the turn towards home.  Today my path was Pinehurst but regardless of which road I take I always rest where Pinehurst meets Redwood.

I felt so good as I approached Pinehurst this strange thought came into my head, "What if I don't rest.  What if I turn right and climb Pinehurst?". I have to say, this is just weird.  Might it be that I'm getting in better shape?  So turn right I did without the traditional rest and the Pinehurst climb was, well, easy.  You have to understand these are not typical Burundi Dave bicycle ride experiences.

Another oddity now occurring is how I feel on descents.  Not being as top-heavy as I once was I can approach downhill turns with more speed.  Now I'm not like many cyclists who fly downhill like a friggin' dart but I am going faster because I feel so much more in control of my bike.  Clearly my center of gravity is lower and it's yet another blessing as a result of training for the ride.

So with riding day 1 in the books, I saddle up for a 40 miler on Sunday, the Windmill ride (see an earlier post which explains the Windmill ride).  My biggest concern, quite frankly, how's it going to feel sitting on a bike seat after Redwood the previous day?  I won't go into details but let's just say there were no issues.  Two great things about this ride:  the hills are a bright green as you can see in these pictures, and; the Windmill ride being relatively flat, I decided to push my pace to find out what I had left in the tank. Turns out I averaged 17 mph, a 1 mph improvement from the same ride 6 weeks ago.  Suh-weet!!

The Tour du Burundi is now just two months away and everything is progressing nicely!  Oh and quickly, I have lost another 8+ pounds over the past few weeks bringing my cumulative total lost to 85 pounds, just 15 from my goal.

So like I said, a fantastic week!  Haven’t decided where I am riding this weekend but the weather forecast…spectacular, so I have many options!!

Thanks for being a part of all this.