Today started slowly and painfully for many of us. Personally, during the first half mile of the day, I was unsure that I was going to be able to last all day because of the pain in my knees. However, we pushed through the pain and loosened up. The weather was relatively nice today and we had a slight tailwind to help us along.
We rode for about 20 miles through a town and down some country roads. Then we hit a bike trail and we were cruising. The tail wind and the smooth surface helped us reach high speeds with little effort. We rode this trail all the way to lunch at mile 28.
TEAM!
LUNCH
MOM AND DAD, the two that make it all work.
We stopped for a quick bite and were off again. Shortly after lunch the trail ended and we missed a turn...we got lost for about a half hour. When we finally found our way back, we were cruising again at high speeds.
The day dragged on toward the end and the knees began to stiffen and the pain returned but we struggled through to the end.
I am so proud to have finished the ride today because I really did not think it was possible when I began.
We had one last team dinner at an Outback Steakhouse restaurant. The food was fabulous and we shared a few stories from the road, people talked about their favorite parts of the ride and we had a lot of fun remembering what happened over the past few days.
Tomorrow is the final day of Ride Ataxia 3. We only have about 30 miles and we are due to arrive at the National Ataxia Foundation Conference at 2pm. It will be a day of triumph!