Exercise and Fitness Forum

Pedal Power - The Journey of Success

by Ginger Barkley with Cheryl Basore

I recently completed an 80-mile bike ride in ?Bike to the Bay? event benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. A little over two years and 124 pounds ago this adventure never could have taken place. This was a personal goal I had set for myself, and although it took me nine and a half hours, I crossed the finish line victoriously!

At 8 o?clock Saturday morning I arrived at the starting line in Dover, Delaware. Mother Nature decided to offer her encouragement by showering me with rain before I even crossed the starting line. Then, just five miles into the wet ride my tire went flat. I sat soaking up the rain for about an hour as the repair van assisted the 30 other riders who requested assistance before me. I figured it was going to be quite some time, so I called my husband and sent him in search of a tube for my tire. Meanwhile, another rider stopped and patched my tube. My delight was short-lived, as the tube popped again as he was carrying my tire back to my bike. Totally drenched and disappointed, I was ready to just give up and head for home. My husband arrived on the scene and replaced the ill-fated tube again while I sat in his truck. When he climbed back in, he expected me to jump out and get back on my bike. Instead, I told him that I was done and wanted to go home. He replied, ?I did not come out here in the rain to change your tube so you could turn around and go home!? I felt compelled, so I got out of the truck, clambered onto the seat and watched his brake lights fade into the distance. 

I had no other choice other than to pedal away. The rain still came down, allowing me just enough of a glimpse through my rain-covered sunglasses to stay on the road. I passed the first rest stop, knowing I had two teammates waiting for me at the following stop. Once I arrived at the stop where my teammates waited, I fueled up on bananas and oranges. Needing to stretch, I stepped off my bike and walked around feeling and listening to the ?squish, squish? of my shoes and socks. Fruit eaten and legs stretched, I continued the ride.

As I rode through the many towns and over the variety of back roads, it seemed at times as if I was no longer in Delaware. Once I reached the 20-mile mark the infamous headwinds began, adding to the effect of the continuing rainfall. Even pedaling furiously seemed futile at times; it was as if I was making no progress at all. The 30- and 40-mile marks allowed me to get a quick bite to eat??quick? is the key word here. I had been advised not to hang out for any amount of time at the rest stops at this point. I was told to get there, do my business and then resume the ride. Otherwise, I was warned, as soon as my muscles tensed up, I would not want to get back on the bike. I had not ridden that far to retreat! So onward I pedaled? and pedaled? and pedaled. The muscles in my legs were tightening up and my butt had no feeling left in it except for pain!

The 50- and 60-mile marks brought a reprieve from the rain, but the powerful wind persisted. The last two rest stops revealed a massive turnout from the local communities. There, laid out on tables in front of my eyes, was every pie, cake, cookie and candy that I had banished from my diet and pushed to the back of my mind.

One of the wonderful things about the ride was that everyone involved was so friendly and offered a lot of encouragement. A phrase I think I heard about a thousand times from other riders was ?to your left,? as other bikers whizzed by the left side of my body. It was mystifying at times; I saw the same riders passing me five to six times during the ride when I don?t remember passing any of them.

The finish line was a welcome culmination to an adventurous day. People waited in the rain to cheer and encourage us as we crossed the finish line at the Rusty Rudder. I crossed the line at 5:40 that evening to the welcoming arms of my own private cheering section, consisting of my husband, my boss and his family and other State Farm employees. For just a moment I felt like Lance Armstrong. I climbed off my bike and my legs turned to jelly. I swayed one way and my bike swayed the other. My body was telling me to go home but there was a dinner provided for the riders and their families. I decided that I was there, I had finished the ride and I was going to go to the dinner! Yet another challenge presented itself when I had to rise from the chair I had been sitting in for an hour at the dinner. With some help from my husband, my mission was accomplished!