Postcard 032 - Going Farther, Together
This past weekend, I drove from Seattle to the Bay Area and back.
While I grew up doing road trips, and still very much enjoy them, 15+ hours in the car is not typically how I want to spend my day (or two). But it was worth it, since I was heading down to join friends in my (our?) fourth Tour De Cure fundraising ride put on by the American Diabetes Association. All in, the single day ride raised over $1.1M, thanks to many of you (and people like you) who contributed — seriously, thank you!
Road biking has mostly been a social activity for me. I’ve ridden bikes my whole life and love the feeling of being out on two wheels, but road biking in particular is something I best enjoy with others. I bought my first real road bike in 2013 after moving to SF and started riding with the friends who would largely define my time in San Francisco that following year. It wasn’t until I moved to Seattle last year that I realized just how much having a ride partner was a thing to help me get kitted up and out the door.
In past years, our group has opted for the century — the 100ish mile route, typically starting around Sonoma or Yountville, heading north, and looping back. That was still the plan this year, up until a few weeks ago, when my travel schedule and lack of consistency made me send out a text to check in how others were feeling about the 100 mile plan. Typically, by the time we ride in the tour, most of us have clocked 2500+ miles for the year. By Saturday I’d ridden something like 550 in 2022.
We agreed to opt into a shorter route, choosing something about half the length at around 60 miles. Having done a 40 mile training ride a few weeks earlier, I felt good about this decision, knowing that having familiar faces around me could more than make up the difference.
That couldn’t have been more true.
Our group this year included 8 people total — 5 of us who have ridden hundreds of miles together over the last 6-8 years and 3 new-to-me friends. We rented a house in Santa Rosa for the weekend, heading up in the late afternoon on Saturday to do some last minute art projects (our rattle can and stencil jerseys) and hang out a bit before the 4:30am wake up on Sunday.
I had the foresight to fill the Mr. Coffee the night before, so moments after I heard my alarm on Sunday, I pressed “brew” and was quickly rewarded with the necessary black gold for the day ahead. While the first 10-20 miles came easy and I almost considered turning off with the group of us doing the 100 mile route, by the time that turn had come at mile 34, I knew 60 was about where I’d tap out.
At every moment I seemed to feel fatigue, a joke, smile, or conversation would reroute my attention from my body to the group of us. Though it was clear I wouldn’t have been able to do 60 miles by myself (or at least not as easily), I was regularly reminded that I wasn’t alone — I was with friends and we could go farther, together.
Compared to past years, the entire event itself felt less of a ceremony, but on the drive home I wondered how much of that was the event versus my energy and focus being directed to the great group of people that we had together. Yes, we got together and rode bikes a decent distance, but the thing I’ll remember is less the ride and much more the weekend I spent with new friends I made and the dear friends I missed since moving.
That’s probably a good sign.