Last summer when I was biking cross-country with Fuller Center Bike Adventures, I was in 
a bike shop in Bloomington, Illinois. (Shout out to Bloomington Cycle and Fitness). As Caryn (the owner) introduced me to some of the women in the shop, and they exclaimed over my adventure, it occurred to me that for the first time, I had bike shop cred!
I had always seen the people come into my local bike shop who have done extraordinary things, and marveled at their prowess, but I had never thought of myself as having anything to add to the conversation. Halfway into the trip, I already had something to say!
I completed the trip and settled back into life back home. Whenever I was at my local bike shop (Shout out to Green Lizard Cycling, Coffee & Beer), Beth (the owner) would tell people that I had ridden across the country. It made me feel extraordinary and I enjoyed a wee bit of local fame.
But last week I had the pleasure of riding with the woman who set the record last summer for oldest female to cross the US by bicycle! Lynn Salvo was 67 when she did it last summer. Hers was an amazing personal journey AND Lynn is delightful and fun to ride with. Just being with her lifted me up and humbled me at the same time.
Then Lynn introduced me (via email) to a woman named Lou Cooper who is 72 and wanted to ride cross country this summer. I told her about FCBA and she check it out…and KABOOM! Lou has signed up to ride from San Francisco to Savannah this summer with Fuller Center Bike Adventure.
This means I will have NO “I’m old and don’t feel like it” excuses this summer. Not even in the mountains.
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I will be doing a number of rides this year, including the first half of the Fuller Center Bike Adventure Cross Country ride. I will go from San Francisco to Santa Fe. My hope is to blog about it more consistently than we did last summer.
But before I get going to San Francisco, I’ll be riding in just a few weeks in Big Bend National Park with Adventure Cycling. I’ll be home for a few days and will then leave for Nashville to ride with Fuller Center’s Natchez Trace spring ride. These two April rides should prepare me for the summer ride.
I plan to blog each ride, with photos, as wi-fi permits. Stay tuned!
kbikeva 