Mars And Venus Go For A Bike Ride

In 2002, my wife Reina and I decided to do the MS150 Bay To Bay Bike Tour to help provide funds to find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. It was a two-day event. There was sixty miles of riding the first day; an overnight in a hotel; a party at the overnight site; and forty more miles of riding the second day. The ride down the Southern California coast was beautiful. The event was very organized and well supported. We had a great time. She’s smiling in the picture, right?

So a year goes by, and I say to Reina, “Remember that Bay To Bay Bike Tour? Let’s do that again this year!”

Reina says, “Oh, no way! You go ahead and do it if you want to.”

So I’m kind of mystified. I thought we’d had a great time. (See last sentence of first paragraph.)

So I say, “It was a fantastic ride, the blue skies and the blue water”

And she says, “It was dreadful, the hot sun and the wind.”

“The quaint little beach towns along the coast.”

“The traffic, the noise, the commotion.”

“The excitement of doing a mass cycling event.”

“The crowds, the congestion.”

“It was a pretty flat easy ride?”

“There were LOTS of hills.”

By now I’m totally puzzled.  A year has gone by since we had done the ride, and I realize for the first time that we were on two completely different rides. Riding beside each other the whole way, but having two totally different experiences. 

“You go ahead and do the ride, Ron.  I’d rather just go for a ride with you by ourselves sometime.”

“Okay . . . I guess.”

So I decide I’m going to step it up a notch and do my first century ride as part of this event. You see, the first day, they’ve mapped out an optional ride that’s over a hundred miles and then you do forty some miles the second day. 150 miles total riding for the weekend. Doing a century ride on a bike is like doing a marathon as a runner. It’s just one of those landmark things in life to try to accomplish. 

I train like crazy and I’m ready to do this ride. I had studied the route, and I knew there were some real hills in the second part, but I figure I can handle it. I get to the optional Century Course turnoff point before noon and off I go on this inland adventure with a big grin on my face.

Well, I’m here to tell you God put a lot of hills in that part of the country. I struggle through the miles sixty to eighty, but by about mile eighty-five, I’m dying. Other much more experienced riders are telling me how this is one of the most difficult century rides on the West Coast. Now they tell me. At that time I didn’t have my whizbang red road bike. I had a hybrid that was a fine bike, but not the easiest one to take on the task of riding something this challenging. Lots of riders are going by me much faster and I don’t know if it’s me or my bike that is the problem. I want to blame the bike, but I think it’s probably really me. Exhaustion overcomes my body. I’ve ‘hit the wall’ as they say. I take a break and call Reina.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” I pant into the phone. 

“So it’s really tough, huh?”

“Yeah. This is really hard.”

“You don’t have to do the whole ride, you know. You can wait for a SAG wagon to come pick you up.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to do the whole ride. I’m going to keep going. I just may be a little later getting to the hotel to meet you. I just wanted you to know.”

“All right. You do what you think is best. Be safe. Make wise choices. I love you.”

“Okay. I love you, too.” Then for added affect I reiterate, “This is really hard.”

So I get off the phone start riding again and a couple of minutes later the phone rings. I see its Reina calling, so I press answer as I’m riding along.”

She says two words . . . “Try childbirth!” . . . and she hangs up.

I’m killing myself out here and she plays the ‘childbirth card’! I chuckle for a couple of miles and with a much lighter spirit I finish the whole ride.

I’ve done many Century rides over the years since. I still chuckle around mile 85 each time when I think about Reina’s childbirth comment on my first Century. But the bigger lesson I learned was how two people can be in the same place at the same time doing the same thing and have two totally different experiences. Good to know.