It’s finally here. Saturday is the day of the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which Pat is riding in.
Her training this year has been less intense than last year’s. She has not accumulated longer rides in the numbers she did last year, but at the same time, she is in better shape. She can go out and ride almost 20 miles without a strain, and a year ago at this time, it wouldn’t have happened.
Last year, whether she would complete the ride was an open question. But she did. This year, she’s confident she’ll finish, and is hoping to do it in a better time than last year.
Today, I picked up her bike at the LBS. They did a pre-ride tuneup, and installed a new, taller stem to get her more upright. With any luck, she’ll be able to do a short practice ride today, to get a feel for the new riding position. Tonight, we’re off to the pre-ride carb-loading spaghetti dinner. Tomorrow, a friend will pick her up at 6 a.m. for the ride out to the start. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll head out to the ride site to catch her at the finish.
Pat, good luck tomorrow with the ride.