Countdown to Triathlon – 215 Days, 30.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 41 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

No matter how one may think himself accomplished, when he sets out to learn a new language, science, or the bicycle, he has entered a new realm as truly as if he were a child newly born into the world.  ~Frances Willard, How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle

The Journey - Installment Forty-One

By March, it became apparent that the June ride was looming in the very near future.  It was no longer a year away; an event which until now had no sense of urgency.    As much as I knew I should be riding longer distances and faster speeds each day, I seemed to pull back and my riding habits began to wane.  A trip had been planned to visit our son Hollen, his wife Morena and our newest grand baby that had been born on December 28^th.  At the last moment, Bob informed me that he could not get away from the office and that he would not be traveling with me.  I almost cancelled the trip, but at the very last minute decided to go forward with my plans. That decision turned out to be the right one, because in retrospect, if I had not gone to Hawaii and gotten training from my son, I would never have been able to complete even the first day of the bike ride.

Upon checking with bike shops in Hawaii, I found that the cost of renting a bicycle for two weeks was more than the cost of taking my own bike.  Besides, the bikes available to be rented in Hawaii would be too tall and I needed the training on my own bike.   Before leaving I had the bike partially torn down and crated for shipment to Hawaii.  I purchased clip-less pedals and biking shoes to take to Hawaii where I knew that Hollen could install them for me upon my arrival.

            The first couple of days were spent visiting with Hollen, Morena and the baby.  Hollen spent the afternoon of the second day putting my bike together and showing me how to change a tire, and other mechanical chores.  I really did try to listen, but I think that most of what Hollen tried to teach me about fixing flats and other mechanical problems probably were wasted on me.  Hollen and Morena presented me with a tool pouch for the bike along with a patching kit and a great fold-up tool which contains most of the tools I would need for emergency repairs.  It was a good idea, but I couldn’t imagine that I would actually do repairs myself.  Knowing my mechanical skills, it seemed unlikely.