I know I've been pretty heavy on life changing Pinterest quotes lately, but I have another one:
I really love this quote. The whole talk by President Monson is quite fabulous (find it here). President Monson's message about enjoying the present has been driven home to me as I work in the ER and see that we really never know (to use a Grandma Peggy euphemism) when we will be called home to our eternal reward. Do more of what makes you happy TODAY. Where am I going with this?
I bought a bike.
I first decided I wanted a racing road bike 4.5 years ago when we were living in Monterey. I had been going to spin classes and many of my friends out there were road bikers. So I set up a little savings account and started stashing away money from my birthday and Christmas and work. Soon I had enough for the bike, but I couldn't do it. I really wanted one, but I was so worried that I would regret spending the money and wished I had saved it for something else - that I should save it for a more special occasion.
Enter Robyn. Her husband is on deployment with Dan and I basically think she is the coolest. Even though she has a six month old, her husband is deployed, and her family all lives in Florida - she's thrown herself wholeheartedly into training for Ironman triathalons. Watching her complete her first Ironman in an amazing time in St. George basically totally inspired me. If I keep waiting for a special occasion I'll be waiting my whole life. She got me to sign up for a fun race with her while she was here and after she left I finally went and bought my bike!
The day my bike came in was the day I left for Texas to go see Dan. So by the time I got home I had 3 weeks between getting my bike and the 100 mile race I had signed up for. I was a bit nervous. But the time came and I headed up to SLC. Being that I am now a full fledged St. Georgian, I only brought warm weather clothing. We showed up to the start line and it was 45 degrees with a cold wind and a hint of rain. So we quickly bought matching windbreakers :)
We decided to ride the first 60 miles with a triathlon team that Robyn worked out with when she first moved to Utah. They were so sweet and supportive - they even put our names on the team poster! It was so refreshing to be around happy, positive, women who were more focused on what their bodies could do (bike) then what they're bodies looked like (non of them were 100 lb perfectly hard bodied gym rats!) Seriously awesome.
What was not awesome? The weather! It got colder. And windier. To the point it was dangerous - 27 mph wind gusts while riding next to a highway of cars? No thanks! So we bailed with her 60 mile friends. I didn't ride my first 100 miles or century as its called, but I had a blast.
The Goldilocks ride we did was so well organized. It was decorated darling and was a really supportive all women's ride. Too bad about the weather - it had so much potential.
When we got back to her house we had a total "Can we do this without men?" moment. My car battery was dead, and neither of us had ever used jumper cables... But one youtube video later, my car was back to life and no one was electrocuted. We got this.
When I got back to STG I tried to find a women's cycling group down here and was totally disappointed when I found nothing. It seemed like there were hundreds of groups at Goldilocks in SLC. The I realized I already have my own awesome cycling group: my dad. Though he may not want to get screen printed pink jerseys with me, he's done all my training rides with me and is endlessly entertaining. We even signed up to do a race together in a few weeks at the infamous Parowan Gap.
Dan is doing well "in country". I'm already plotting how to get him to get into biking when he returns. I'm essentially a born again biking missionary - I think everyone should have a bike. It's so fun. Its great exercise. And its way more fun than running. Seriously. Don't wait for a special occasion.
Go buy a bike. Now.
