RESTON, VIRGINIA
Among other undesirable traits, I am a soccer referee. Some experienced referees realize there is no such thing as a perfectly called game despite the expectations of soccer parents. Nonetheless, we may tell someone we had a perfect game. No mistakes. Of course, we are referring only to a game that has been rained out or canceled.
Today I had a perfect ride. No stopping too quickly or touching wheels with another rider. No bonking near the end of the ride. Not even running a stop sign (not that I would ever do that). Perfect.
For the 13th straight weekend since my cancer surgery — I did not ride. However, I got closer. I made it to The Bike Lane in Reston. We had breakfast, then I got fitted for a Trek 5.2 Madonne for my trip to France.
There is a thrill in a group ride, but the camaraderie also brings out riders. I have been cleared to ride for some time, but the weather or my schedule never cooperated. Since early January, I have wanted to jump back into one of our group rides at The Bike Lane in Reston, but never could. Then last weekend we had two and a half feet of snow plus more on Tuesday.
Adam Lewandowski sent out his weekly broadcast message announcing that the group rides in Burke and Reston were canceled. Again. Then he invited our group to breakfast at Mon Ami in the Reston Town Center.
Maybe as much as I wanted to get out and ride, I wanted to get back in with our group. It’s part of the mental aspect of healing. When I’m on a bike, I feel normal, and when I’m around other cyclists, I can forget my cancer journey.
We didn’t have a large turnout today, which calls into question my theory that most of us ride just to eat. Still, getting back to The Bike Lane made it a perfect ride.
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