Every conversation I have had with Rachel for the past few months has somehow circled back around to one thing. The Chafe 150. What a horrible name. One hundred and fifty miles of chaffing on the seat of a bike. That's what it says. Literally. Sounds fun, right? Well, I guess that to some people it does, because it was one of just 9 "Awesome Charity Rides" featured in Bicycling Magazine a few months ago. The ride is a fund raiser for autism awareness and treatment, and has seen a huge increase in popularity in recent years.
After deciding to do the ride, Rachel looked up the results from a couple of years ago, found the women's second place winner, and set that as her target time. Nine and a half hours.
That's a lot of chaffing if you ask me.
But she was all for it. Week after week, and month after month, she would go on training rides. Toward the end, she was spending enough time on her bike that it could have been a part-time job. Actually, she was riding more than she was working, so it really was like a part-time job.
A couple of weeks ago we drove the course. It was really long. It was also really pretty, winding its way up and down mountains in Idaho and Montana. But mostly, I just remember that it was really long.
A week before the event the weather forecasted harsh rain and wind for most of the ride. To say this was disheartening would be an understatement. Rather, I can attest that seeing that forecast pretty much ruined Rachel's day.
For the next week, Rachel put herself on a strict diet and sleep regimen. We also checked the weather forecast at least six times a day hoping for improvement. All the checking must have helped too, because on the day of, there wasn't much rain at all...just wind.
During the day, the kids and I took it easy for most of the time. We went fishing. We watched TV. We went swimming at the Kroc Center. Finally, when it was time, we drove up to the finish line to see if she would make her goal.
And she did. In spite of the wind, Rachel's official time was nine hours, twenty-six minutes, and five seconds.
BOOM!
My wife is pretty cool.
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| Just about to cross |
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| It was a good effort and it paid off. She is still hobbling around the house three days later. Well worth it though. |
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