Goal #4 - Complete the 25 Mile Tour De Cure

5 months ago I discovered that I had Pre-Diabetes and decided to sign up for the 25 mile bike ride in Napa Valley to fight Diabetes. At the time, I had never even biked 10 miles before but decided to work towards this event. May seemed like a long time away.

I learned a lot about my bike in the process by watching YouTube videos of how to fix the brakes and the derailleur. I learned what a difference a new seat and road-like tires can do. I also found some awesome bike trails around the bay area in the past few months - Embarcadero to the Golden Gate bridge, Stevens Creek Trail, Los Gatos Creek Trail.

Then as luck would have it, last week, my bike got stolen from the SF Farmers Market. It was unexpected and unfortunate. Not wanting to miss out on my goal, I thought about buying a new bike. Luckily Gene and Mandy let me borrow their bike. Which actually turned out to be a good thing, since it was a lot lighter and had nicer road tires on them. I didn't have time to try it out all week and of course as a natural procrastinator, I only tried it on Saturday night at the hotel (the night before my event). Sure enough, the tires were flat and I had trouble pumping it. Once the tires were fixed, the brakes were touching the tires. Fixed that. Then the chain was bumping up against the gears. Fixed that too. (Thanks Mike/Winnie!)

This morning - we woke up at 7:30am in the hotel to the sound of pouring rain. Nope, I don't have a poncho. Do I have any clothes or gloves or hat that's waterproof? Nope. Did it stop me? Nope.

Yup, it was raining and me running through a steep puddle helped keep my socks and shoes nice and wet throughout the ride. But wow, everytime I looked up - Napa scenery was beautiful. The rolling hills, the quaint roads, I really wanted to pinch myself to make sure I was alive. I passed by all my old favourites (Cakebread, Silveroaks) and realize how beautiful things are without that usual layer of fogginess after a few rounds of wine tasting.

The entire ride was nice and flat and the rain eventually stopped an hour into the race. I even stopped for about 20 min at the mid point rest stop drinking my new favourite water (OWater) and munching on goodies. I tried to keep on pace with those that passed me but mostly it was a relaxing ride. The 21-22 miles was the toughest for me. I got in at 2 hours and 30 min. I think if I didn't enjoy the scenery or the rest stop as much, I could have easily gone under 2 hours.

Oh and I even raised over $500 thanks to your generous donations!! THANK YOU!!

Next year...50 or 100 miles? :)

This probably sounds like a cliche, but I have realized that whenever you have your heart set on something, you can remove any obstacle in your way. The hardest part for me is making the decision or setting the goal. Then after that, stop complaining, turn the negatives into positives and try your best. Things have a way of working out.