Last night, we had an MS150 carb up dinner. The food was delicious and the energetic, positive atmosphere was contagious. I enjoyed my food, while I took in the brightly decorated room. Everyone was abuzz about what an awesome job out team coordinators are doing. The net result of their efforts is that we have far exceeded our team’s original fundraising goal, and we are continuing to raise more money for an organization dedicated to fighting MS. I love seeing our team’s name scroll by on the list of top fundraisers.
With all of my jitters about logistics worked out, the only thing that I had to do was focus on my mindset. I would like to say I that I went to bed last night with images of candy canes, sugar plums and crossing the finish line in Austin dancing through my head, but that would not be so. I did go to sleep feeling great about all of the cohesiveness and energy of my team. I feel a strong sense of reassurance, that if something should go wrong there will be someone to help me.
I got home today right as it started to pour down rain. I needed to oil my bike chain and air up the tires. I was spinning the pedals of my bike backwards and wiping down the chain as Weatherman had explained to do when I somehow let go of the cloth and got stuck between the chain and wheel that the chain goes on. My efforts to pull the cloth back out resulted in the chain jumping off the large wheel down to the smaller wheel. I could not get it back to the main wheel. I was afraid that I would not be able to do so once I started riding. It would be impossible to complete the ride in the lower gear. I sat on the floor of my garage and looked out at the buckets of rain falling from the sky. Taking the bike for a ride to test the gear shifting was simply not an option. I felt disaster looming in the pit of my stomach, but I stayed calm.
I called Mr. LSU, and explained my situation. He talked me through a way to move the chain back to the larger wheel without actually riding it. As far as I can tell without going for a ride, the chain on my bike is okay. For my next trick, I got out my really cool pink air pump, and let all the air out of my back tire. I first attempted this trick at a training ride a few weeks ago, and now I have perfected it. This time there wasn’t a tire expert to fix my mess. It took me a bit, but I finally got air back into the tire. More importantly, I figured out what I am doing wrong that is causing this to happen.
The rain has stopped outside, and the sun is still shining. I am calm and relaxed. I am not sure if I am ready for tomorrow, but my fear has passed, and I am finally looking forward to it. Writing my blog, I feel as if I am reading a book, and I can not wait to get to the chapter where I find out whether or not I make it to the finish line in Austin. After months of anticipation and preparation, I will be getting to that chapter very soon!