We have been back in the States for about 5 weeks and some time has passed since my somewhat mournful blog that my distance cycling days may be over.  As time passes, fortunately, uncomfortable memories fade (for example, many women have more than one child!) and the rosy glow of fond memories begins to take over.  Yes, it is true.  I am contemplating another distance bicycle tour!

Happily, this is not just the fuzzy recall of an aging cyclist.  Since we have been home, I have continued to find that not only do I still love to ride my bicycle, but my woozy head  is at its best while moving forward through space on two wheels.  And lest you think  that this thing with cycling is a recent development, here is a photo of the gang at the bike shop where I worked in 1977.  Yes, this has been going on for a long time.

Not only has it been going on for a long time, but it is a passion that appears to have a genetic component.  The photos below are of my son Aaron, daughter-in-law Christine and my two grandchildren, Gideon 3 and Lily 1 at the onset of our family biking trip in July.

A couple of weeks after our return from Europe, we all headed out on Redspoke, a fundraising ride across Washington State sponsored by the Redmond Washington Rotary Club.  Jim and I have done this ride several times before and found it to be a challenging but beautiful ride with fantastic support from service clubs in small communities across the state.  Sadly, this is to be the final ride after 31 years as these types of rides are not attracting enough riders anymore.  We wanted to support this final effort as well as ride it one more time.  Aaron and Christine have ridden it as well, and as they now have two small children, the decision was made to make it a family trip with one of the adults rotating into a sag driver/child care provider role for approximately half of each day.  Bold move!

 

 

 

We had a fabulous trip.  Great weather, wonderful riding, and the kiddos had a marvelous time playing in the parks at the rest stops along the way (with only a few meltdowns, the right of any toddler).  The ride involved very little wooziness for me, reinforcing my idea that if I can avoid jetlag, and major traffic situations, I can still ride long distances, mountain passes, and some bumpy roads!!!

So we are beginning to look ahead to another tour next summer.  We are thinking of a ride through Canada and the western US, perhaps using our sprinter van as a support wagon or riding once again with TDA global cycling.   Will let you know what we come up with and hopefully you will be interested once again in joining us on the ride.

 

In the meantime, Eastern Washington is beautiful at this time of year with waving golden fields of grain and the occasional unusual farm.

Good bye for now.  See you down the road