Long Weekends and Bike Riding

I consider myself very lucky these days to have long holiday weekends such as this one to do what I want to do.

This weekend so far I have done two bike rides, one 40 km with many hills and a longer on 80 km with less hills (still more than I thought there was going to be...). I have a lot of time to think about a lot of things when on a ride that long.

Todays ride a couple things really went through my head. The ride was a tough one today. The weather was changing, and there was a really bad head wind for a good portion of it. Head winds are very tough when you have not super strong legs like me (still rebuilding from surgery) they can wear you out so quickly. But at the same time, I was out. I was so appreciative of that. 

Many holiday weekends I had when going through cancer treatment involved on of two things. Either being too sick to leave the house and go anywhere, or being sick enough that I was admitted to the hospital and ended up staying there for several days. Both were miserable. Far worse than any pain or annoyance I get when I am out on the road biking.

I am happy to have these weekends. It motivates me more and more with my bike riding. This week, my cycling team passed $20000 raised for cancer research and I couldn't be more thrilled about it (www.conquercancer.ca/goto/eamonnc). I know this will help to bring some of these long weekends back to others, and I hope my fundraising continues to go well to help more people. I think it is amazing that I can get my long weekend back, raise money for cancer research and make a difference in peoples lives all by simply riding my bike.