A year ago my brother challenged me to ride a bike across Nebraska. Mind you, I hadn't ridden a bike since Junior High nor did I own a bike. So I purchased a bike and started training.
To begin I could only make it about 8 miles with a hill that beat me everytime. It became my nemesis hill. I started to increase my mileage and some hills, thanks to my trainer(Travis, my brother). He coached me thru my gears to get up the hills. Thank you! Yet still I could barely make it up Nemesis Hill. Then winter came. So I had to switch to indoor training on a recumbent bike. Big difference! Spring came and I was able to return outside. I found my legs to be much stronger! Yet Nemesis Hill still about beat me everytime. I would mutter "you can do this, you can do this over and over until I made it up the hill, then I shouted I did IT!!!! Travis took me on a 40 mile ride about a month before BRAN was to begin. It included some big hills. Made everyone! But he really wanted to make it a 60 mile ride. The wind was blowing really hard and 40 was all I could do!
BRAN came with the first day being 80 miles long with a hill that had to be 10 miles long. I thought that if I could make that day I could make the whole week. I made 65 miles that day, farther than I'd ever gone! Including the 10 mile hill that I pedalled the whole way up!
We battled rainy weather, winds, and hills the whole week. But on the flip side, we had the most beautiful scenery throughout the sandhills of Nebraska. I developed "saddle sores" three days into the trip, so I could only ride about 30 miles for a few days. (That was very frustrating!) But, I was able to finish the last day.
The total mileage for the ride was 496 miles. I did 300+ miles on account of the "saddle sores"! I loved every minute of it! I felt so empowered! There were times that I was tired and sore, but all in all I'm glad I did it! There was a point in all the training that I didn't think I could do it. I was so nervous that first day! I am proud that I accepted his challenge because it gave me something to work towards. When we cycled into the SAC museum the last day it was amazing! To know that I was part of something that not everyone could do, but that I did it! I finished! Now I'm hooked and ready for the next cycling trip! Thanks Travis for the challenge! Thanks everyone for cheering me on!
P.S. I beat Nemesis Hill, it's nothing now I can sail up it with no problem!
