Nanci, how was the brevet?

[Lise]

Eagerly awaiting ride report, when you've rested up, snuggled the birds, etc. Lise

[Nanci]

It was so fun and easy! I want to do another next week!

Bwwwaaaahaaaaahaaaaahaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

It's going to take a couple days to get the mental energy required for a report. I still barely have the energy to eat. But, luckily, I do have the energy for Bald Eagle watching at work!!!

I'm still mulling the whole thing over. It was a big deal that I never thought would be possible, and I just ended up there through tiny steps, and now I sort of feel like, how is this meaningful, who can even understand the depth of it, but also, at the time, all I had to do was just keep going...

Nanci

[Surlygirl]

Girl, you rock. Can't wait to read about your ride.

[Lise]

Aaaaah! You had me going there for a minute!

Rest up. Ponder. We'll wait. L.

[jobob]

I'm watching this space. (tapping foot)

Only kidding, Nanci ! Take your time. Rest up.

The important thing is to know that you survived, which apparently you have.

Way to go !

[Nanci]

I feel like, ok, if _I_ can do it, age 47, grandmother, 30# (or more!!) overweight, never been an athlete, then _anyone_ can. Just wait till you see the pic I took of myself at 300 miles, you'll see what I mean. So, then, if it's such a big deal to me, such a _huge_ thing, so unimaginable in January when I was looking on the RUSA website for the definition of brevet and so unfamiliar with metric conversions that I needed a calculator to figure out how far 600k _was_, and then thinking, that's impossible, those people must be crazy! then finding out there were people who are finishing what took me 37 hours in less than 24, and people who have done this distance, not to mention twice this distance, for years and years and years in a row...But then, it's really _not_ impossible, just hard, really all you have to do is show up and don't quit-and I'm not ready, right now, for the next step, but it's out there, somewhere, looming. I just have to live by the words of my literary hero, Mike Magnuson, I guess : "You can't stop participating in a sport because there are professional-level people who can obliterate you at it. A sport is about a lifestyle, about health and fitness and happiness, and you want to try hard, of course, you want to do your best, but you'll have to accept that other people's best will frequently be better than yours." It's like an onion, you keep peeling back the layers: Century, that's the first big one, then 200k, 300k, Double Century, (the first time I passed 200 miles I was so distracted by pain I just really didn't care- at least I took the time to commemorate 300 miles with a photo) 400k, 600k, Furnace Creek 508, 1000k, BMB, PBP, RAAM- where does it end? Is there an end?

Nanci

[Lise]

The end, if there is one, is where you say it is. I think of it more as a container. How do you want to contain it? Focus it? You'll know it when you see it, and probably not before. Who knew your container would be so big, so expansive and amazing?

I think my container is a 1/2 IM, my goal for next year. Who knew I'd ever even do a triathlon, or, having done one, that I'd ever do another? Maybe I'll fill that container and reach for more.

You've pulled in more than you ever dreamed. Rest up. Good work. L.

[maillotpois]

I don't think there's an end. Once you do RAAM, then you have to do it backward to get home....

You so rock. And your email was perfect - you're a complete wing nut and I am, too, so it was just what I needed to hear. I'll be bugging you some more for sure.

[Robbin_G]

It's like an onion, you keep peeling back the layers: Century, that's the first big one, then 200k, 300k, Double Century, (the first time I passed 200 miles I was so distracted by pain I just really didn't care- at least I took the time to commemorate 300 miles with a photo) 400k, 600k, Furnace Creek 508, 1000k, BMB, PBP, RAAM- where does it end? Is there an end?

Nanci

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

[Brandi]

Picture's! I wanna see the picture's! I am throwing a fit here if you can't tell. My day started out with no coffee and rescuing my cat off a neighbors roof in the rain. For the 2nd time.

[Waverly]

Ok I am a bit behind. What kind of ride was it Nanci? It sounds like a very, very long ride. Was it a race? Anyway kudos to you my longest ride so far was a metric century.

Jessica

[Nanci]

I'm writing the report right now, I swear! It was just _so_ _long_!

Waverly, there's this thing called a "brevet" which means "certificate" in French, which also is used to name the ride. So it is an organized ride with checkpoints each of which has a time frame that you have to check in at- you can't be early or late, and then there are also secret "controls" or checkpoints. The rides are not races. Results are recorded in Paris after the brevet card is turned in and verified, with the riders listed in alphabetical order. There are a series of rides of increasing distances about a month apart, starting with 200k, then 300k, then 400k, then 600k, with an ever-increasing time limit for the rides. If a rider completes all four of the series in one year, she receives the Super Randonneur Award, as well as qualifies for the 1200k distance. This race is held in Paris every four years, and on the other three years goes from Boston to Montreal and back to Boston. There are also other 1000k and 1200k rides in other parts of the country.

For more information, see http://www.rusa.org

I didn't set out to do the whole series- After doing a couple Centuries in the fall, I just wanted to try the 200k in January, and that went ok, so I did the 300k in February, and that went really well, so I did the 400k in March, and then I was hooked. I'm not a super athlete- I'm 47, 30# overweight, this is my first year of road biking- I'm living proof that _anyone_ can do this if they have their heart set on it.

Nanci

[Lise]

Nanci,

I'm amazed that you can even type. I, too, did the conversion, and figured out that you rode from Chicago to Minneapolis, essentially. Good Grief. That's long in a car. While I'm eagerly awaiting the report, I can wait. What an amazing accomplishment. Lise