The End is Just the Beginning

Click Here to Donate to Kids With Cancer and Good Karma Will Be Yours!

This is the week I have both been dreading and anticipating all at the same time. As I write this, we have just returned from what will be our last training ride together--a nice 27 miles into a very brisk windy evening.  We pushed hard.  Katelyn dropped multiple times because of our speeds and I told her that I wanted it to be a tough last ride.  But when I think back to the beginning of her training, this is what she worked for; tonight was a graduation of sorts.  The next ride for her begins in Canada.

I have been thinking a bit about endings and beginnings.  Tomorrow night Katelyn is graduating (advancing) from the 8th grade into high school.  I always enjoy walking around the elementary schools (here the schools are K-8) and seeing how confident the 8th graders are as they "rule the school."  For them, their graduation is the end.  And yet I think of these same students in a couple months with their tails between their legs as they try and figure out what is going on in high school and start climbing the academic ladder from the bottom once again.

8th grade graduation tomorrow!

Wonder what she should do next?!?

What does that have to do with cycling?  I have learned that milestones are certainly important.  We all want to feel like we have achieved certain goals.  But there is always room to improve.  There will always be somebody faster or stronger or smarter on a bike and that is a good thing.  It makes us better when we know that regardless of how much we achieve,  we can always achieve some more with effort.

So with the official end of the training portion of our journey, the rest of the week looks like this:  Thursday is graduation, Friday the bikes get boxed up at the bike shop for the plane ride to Victoria,
Saturday will be the final gear walk through and packing, and Sunday we will go to church and relax.  Monday we will start our daily blog feeds from Canada and Tuesday we will pedal back onto US soil.

Great Cycle Challenge Tribute Day:  A billboard on Times Square!

A couple last notes:  first, while there are soooo many people that I would like to mention, I want to give a huge shout out to all of the people that have donated to our ride so far.  As of today, we are only $500 dollars shy of hitting $10,000 DOLLARS!!  We started with the ambition goal as a team to raise five thousand and we are so excited to see just how far we can go.  Helping kids with cancer is putting energy into my legs.  It sounds ridiculous but it makes me want to give my max effort.  

I wonder if anyone actually looked up at us!

So again, THANK YOU to those that have donated and those that are still thinking about it.  Also, we really appreciate everyone who shares the link on Facebook with their friends.  We have had some donations from some awesome people that way!  Lastly, we would love to hear from you all as we are on our ride.  If you would like to reach out and drop us a line, our email address is bikingthecoast@gmail.com.

Alright, that's it.  See you in Canada.

Team Cardozas Bike the Coast.  Hope you follow along!