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| (Notice! Severe Lack of Official Cycling Roads!) |
I haven't really been posting on my non-ride days during this journey mainly because I've been using those days to try and recover from some of the long rides I've been putting in. In the last two weeks I've done way too many 100+ rides and my body has started rebelling. I wake up in the morning and everything just hurts. Not a sharp, jabbing "I WILL hurt you if you get on that bike" but rather a dull, throbbing "You ARE going to get on that bike but I'm going to make it hell for you" kind of pain. Its all centered in my lower back and legs and it just serves to remind me that 3700 miles is a long way to go.
All this is just to say that I have a lot of partial and half finished blogs that I WILL at some point complete and post - most likely next week. But for now I wanted to just give a synopsis of the last few days and share my fears about tomorrow.
The last few days have been glorious and brutal at the same time. Some VERY long days in the saddle but it has all been in the name of trying to finish this quest in the time allotted. We need to get home. I can see in myself how I have become short tempered and prone to bouts of despondency, mostly off of the bike. While on the bike all I can do is keep pedaling and pedaling. There is no more zip left in my legs for climbing because they just ache all the time. It seems every since the day of climbs from Damascus to Floyd my legs have just never recovered. I somehow managed to get up the wall from Vesuvius - mainly because I had the images of my Sunrise Leadership/CIT and Staff in my head to give me strength. But every since then I just can't power climb like I used to. My body is just worn out.
But what really has had me irritable and sleepless for the last few nights is the prospect of riding 2/3 of the length of New Jersey in a single day. At 6:00 tomorrow morning I will roll out from my sister's house in Swedesboro, NJ with the goal of reaching Fort Lee before it gets too dark for me to see anything!
Now I've ridden blind before (one of my yet to be completed blog entries talks about how I had to find my way to Fredericksburg) but never to this extent and for this long of a ride. There was the section from Cameron, AZ to Four Corners where I was off the map but then once we hit Colorado I was good. Now I'm trusting to the interpretations of Google Maps, the New Jersey DOT map and dumb luck to get me through some of the most congested roadways in the country if not the world.
I'm very nervous. I've made it 3500 miles thus far unscathed (well, except for the accident I had where Sarah knocked me off my bike at 18 mph - again, part of another blog that has yet to be completed) and I would love to finish my last 200 miles that way. I'm scheduled to be the guest weather person on WPIX Channel 11 News on Friday morning where I'll get to talk about Sunrise and the incredible work they've done there - I just hope I don't do it in a cast!
So, this is not a pity party for Connor - it's basically a plea to all of you out there who have been following my journey please say a prayer, offer sacrifices, send positive energy, chant a mantra - whatever it is that you do in your own spiritual practice - that I will make it safe and unharmed over the 130 miles I must travel tomorrow. If you tune in to Channel 11 on Friday at 8:45 in the morning and you see me there, you'll know your prayers were answered!
And if you haven't responded yet to our invitation to join us at Sunrise Day Camp between 12:00 and 2:00 on Friday (yes, after the broadcast) consider this another invite - please join us to celebrate a safe return and hopefully making a difference for the kids of Sunrise!!!!!
And one last piece of news that I would like to share. Throughout this ride I have ridden for various Sunrise groups and for some individuals, including Elijah Dalton, the young man I met in Virginia. However, tomorrow I will be riding for one very special young lady. Talia is a young girl whose face has stuck with me throughout the years. She is always bubbly and vivacious and always willing to embrace life. She has been battling cancer since she was seven years old and although she had been winning her battle, I just found out that her cancer has come back rather aggressively. She is an amazing young lady and tomorrow I will be riding for her. Every turn of my pedals, every hill I have to go up, every scary descent and every mile I pound out will be in the hopes that she gets better - in the hopes that someone will read this post and donate so that children like Talia can have the joy of Sunrise Day Camp - in the hopes that together we can make a difference in their lives.
But for now I'm going to go for a ride with my son William. Every since he wasn't able to do the extra four miles that Sarah and James did on the Mount Vernon Trail he has been upset that he wouldn't be able to finish his 100 miles. So he and I are going to ride to Grandma and Grandpa Connor's new house here in Swedesboro, NJ and make sure that he gets his extra four miles to make him even with James. He's a trooper and he wants to do his part for Sunrise. With inspiration like that, maybe I CAN make it to Ft. Lee tomorrow after all - just remind myself that William would never want me to give up.
There is no daily report since I didn't really ride today but since this is New Jersey, I'm sure I'll have lots tomorrow!!!!!
Stay well and I will (hopefully) update more from the road!!!!!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
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