Digging Deep

Okay, it's almost show time. The PMC is just 34 hours away.  I'm trying to stay calm and just breathe.

I know - well, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure - that I won't have another freak bike accident sending me face first into the pavement like I did in March.  But the impending weekend just stirs it all up again for me.

That pavement hurt.  My face, though relatively unchanged to most people (or so they say) is still in the midst of healing.  To me, my face isn't what it was, but I'm still staying hopeful as I wait to  see what the next several months will bring.

Am I ready - both physically and mentally -  to ride the 163 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown this weekend?  Yes, I think I'm ready.  I'm not in perfect form, but I'm in good enough form and I will do just fine.  Not an easy admission from a lifelong perfectionist, but it is what it is.  I'll do just fine.

I'm thankful to the PMC for getting me back out on my bike after my accident.  It's been my primary driver and reason for riding the last several months.  My participation last year taught me that not much can compete with the high of riding the PMC.  The cause, the crowds along the route, the camaraderie on the road, and the knowledge that for two full days, I'm part of something big, part of the solution.  It's almost overwhelming.

We ride the PMC for a higher purpose:  To help fund life saving cancer treatment. I've tried to keep that in the front of my mind as I faced the fear of getting back on my bike to train.  The day of my accident, I was lucky in that what happened to me could be fixed.  I ride the PMC with the hope and the goal that those with cancer can also be fixed.

So as the weekend approaches, I'm trying to dig deep and just breathe.  The reward of participation will make it all worth it.