Endurance

So my weekend consisted of biking 85 km, then turning around and doing it again the next day. Before, during and after, there was also getting up really early, fixing a flat tire on the road, drinking some beer on the beach, getting hit on by a drunk guy in a viking hat, consuming a huge number of calories (and gallons of Gatorade) sleeping (poorly) on the top bunk of a squeaky bunkbed in a barracks, getting up really early again, eating excellent pancakes, and triumphantly riding back into town to legions of fans, yelling just for me. Ok, maybe not that last part, but I pretended it was true. It's a good motivator.

I rode in the MS Bike Tour. I have never participated in a cycling event, so this was new. I have also never done that many hours of strenuous activity in a row, so I was nervous. I joined a team with some people from work. We had sharp-looking jerseys. Mostly, I had trained alone, because it was difficult to meet up with my teammates to train, so prior to Saturday, I had never ridden in a group. It was a great group. We rode at a very comfortable pace, the weather was beautiful (eventually), and it was great fun. Exhausting, but fun. And a good cause.

The Tour was very well organized, with 750 riders and hundreds of volunteers, providing food and directions. The six or eight rest stops were well-stocked with snacks, drinks, port-a-potties, and first-aid support. Even my flat tire towards the end of the first day was looked after in style by a cute bike jockey with a car full of tools and a gift for patching.

I was surprised to find I wasn't terribly sore on Sunday morning, but as soon as I sat on my bike again, I understood what everyone else had been talking about (an old guy in the hot tub had warned me to approach my bike seat very cautiously Sunday morning). Those two little bones at the bottom of my butt, the ones that you sit on... they felt like someone was tapping on them with a little tiny hammer.

I learned a lot of things from my first cycling event.

I found out that cycling is easier than running and just as satisfying.
I learned that riding with a team is way more fun than riding alone.
I learned that drafting another cyclist actually works to reduce wind resistance and energy consumption. Plus you get to chat.
I learned that when you are in the lead, you can't go faster than everyone else wants to go (sorry about that, guys).
I learned that the two smallest fingers on each hand go numb when I ride for more than an hour or two.
I came to appreciate, again, the motivation factor of crowds, supporters, teammates, people with common interests, and really cool jerseys.
I learned that I want to try riding a road bike instead of a mountain bike.
I learned that I am not the biggest cycling geek out there, and not the biggest nerd, either.
I now have an even greater fear of a career-ending injury. What if I could never ride/run again? That would suck beyond belief.
I learned I can do it, even with minimal training and no experience.

I want to thank my family, for giving me the support that allowed me to train, to be away overnight, and so that my children didn't need to miss birthday parties so that their father could come and see me cross the line.

I need to thank the people who donated the the MS Society and pledged their support, trusting I would actually be fit enough to achieve my goal of completing the tour. You were all very generous, and I more than made my goal.

I want to thank my team for allowing me to be part of their group, and to celebrate in their trials and tribulations. And for helping me get to the finish line in good enough shape that I have actually booked a hotel room for next year's ride already. I am proud of all of them and thankful that they roped me into it. I'm already looking for another ride, and I can still barely sit down.

For the geeks among us, here are the screen shots of the information I downloaded from my GPS speed/distance tracker. I stopped the timer at each rest stop, and each shot shows a graph of our speed, a map, and the info on the average speed, the distance, the date and time. Yes, I am a geek. Just not the biggest one. Others have cooler gear, like stuff with heart monitors. But I am not jealous.

Day 1 total time and distance
Day 2 total time and distance

If you want to look at each leg of the race, here's a link to the full set of screen shots from the monitor. Of interest is Day 2 Rest 3, when you can see how nicely we were trucking along, until we turned the corner into the wind. My personal favourites are Day1 Rest 5 when you can see where I had to stop for the flat, and then Day 1 Rest 6 where I booted it at 30 km per hour to catch up with my friend and teammate, Nadine, so we could keep each other company to the finish.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I will probably do it next year, God willing. Now, I must continue my multi-day recovery plan, and head for bed. Thanks if you made it this far.

Conclusion

So I thought Iwould let you know how the rest of the anniversary went.

Trevor (eventually) chose the Xbox, after many hours of dithering, and telling me he chose the barbecue. I was disappointed because it was the Xbox I had actually bought, but peer pressure eventually forced him to admit that it was truly what he wanted. It is now networked and does stuff. Apparently all it's missing is a 37" LCD screen to watch the stuff on.

Our evening was wonderful. The limo ride was fun. I kept watching the people through the one-way glass and could tell they were wondering who was in the huge silver stretch Cadillac. We took the kids some clothes (they were at Gramma's for a sleepover) and they got a ride around the block, which was pretty impressive to them.

Dinner was quite spectacular. We sat in an outside-but-enclosed area and listened to a big band play live music down below. The food and service were outstanding and we drank quite a lot, not having to drive. The weather was perfect, and I had the next day off work, so I didn't care about the time.

All in all it was a most memorable anniversary. So I guess it's time to start working on the next ten years.

Gift

So today is the reveal (that word is not a verb, my apologies to grammar purists), the day we find out if I know Trevor as well as he knows me.

But first, I should let you know what else he has done. Ten years-less-two-days was cocktails (ok, single-malt scotch) at one of our city's most elegant restaurants. We sat in the lounge with our inferiority complexes (our Mazda 3 parked between a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin)and eavesdropped on two real estate agents negotiating, no, colluding, to drive up the price of someone's house. Today, ten-years-less-one-day, he gave me a pair of earrings which were designed by the same person, in the same style, as our wedding rings. Absolutely perfect.

So I am really hoping that my gift to Trevor is as meaningful as his have been. I want it to show him that I listen to him, that I appreciate and understand his habits, his hobbies, his preferences. The things he wants. The things he likes.

There were a number of criteria I considered when choosing. On the personal side, I wanted it to be something he would enjoy, something to have fun with. Something he could be creative with. Something that would impress his friends. Something that would remind him of me everytime he looked at it (Okay, that's a stretch, but it's our anniversary. It had to be a little romantic).

Representing the family side of our marriage, I wanted it to be something we could all enjoy and benefit from. Something that would enhance quality family time together.

Representing the practical end of things, it had to be something that would last and be used for a long time. Something he has been wanting but would not likely buy himself.

So considering all those things, there were two stand-out ideas which met all my criteria. Here they are: Choice 1 and Choice 2.

Both are practical (either by feeding us or entertaining us), would improve family interaction (either by drawing us together to eat, or to blow up bad guys...oops, I mean, snuggle and watch a movie together), and somehow conform to Trevor's idea of fun (cooking or computers). With choice one, there could be constructing, tweaking, and experimenting. With choice two, there is pure fun, but also major potential for geek fun, too, which would appeal to his single most enduring personal interest.

My problem was which to choose. So in the end, I did the only thing I could do to make sure this was the perfect gift for Trevor. I am giving him the choice.

So, Trev, which of those two items would you like best? Which would be the most fun and the least likely that you would buy yourself? Which will you pick? Will it be the one which is slightly more practical (and which we actually kind of need), or will you make the purely frivolous, completely geeky and true-to-character (that is a compliment, by the way) choice?

I think I know the answer. In fact, I am so confident that I know the answer that I am in posession of the one that I believe you will choose. Tell me, and I will find out, once and for all, how well I know you. If I was wrong, I will return the one I bought, and buy the other, tomorrow. No complaints.

So, tell me. How'd I do? Do I love you as much as you love me?