Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa July 24-30, 2016 http://www.ragbrai.org/ Long-time, loyal Crest Ink readers may recall that I previously wrote an arti- cle regarding my RAGBRAI experience. Hard to believe, I wrote that article nine years ago! My 2007 Crest Ink article recounted my week long 500 mile journey across Iowa, via bicycle with 10,000 other riders. We start at, or near, the Missouri River on Sunday and end by dipping our front tire into the Mis- sissippi River on Saturday. For reasons that are hard to explain, I have continued that trans-Iowa trek every year since, logging over 4,600 miles on RAGBRAI alone. Starting in 2011, my wife, Lisa joined me in this endeavor. I had given her a road bike for Christmas and she was eager to go, but concerned about the rigors of the trip. She logged 1,000 training miles that year, before our de- parture, and did a fantastic job completing the challenge that year and in the two years to follow. In 2014, everything changed. The New Year began with Lisa’s diagnosis of breast cancer. If you think riding hundreds of mile on a bicycle is tough, try dealing with cancer (many of you know, all too well). While treatments are never easy, we certainly realize that good physical fitness is always helpful when going through any health challenge.
by Jeff Friday
Certainly riding a few thousand miles in the three years, leading up to this crisis, had significant value. While life has no on-going guarantees, we credit cycling, strong support from Crest Foods, excellent medical care and especially the hand of God, for her recovery. Her physician reports that her cancer is in complete remission. Lisa was unable to ride in 2014, although she did drive our support vehicle during the week of RAGBRAI. Normally, we have taken a tent and camped along the way. During the 2014 trip, Lisa and I received invitations into the homes of several gracious Iowans, offering overnight accommodations. With the dawning of 2015, I challenged Lisa to a “RAGBRAI Comeback Tour”. She agreed and again met the challenge to ride 1,000 training miles a few days before departing for RAGBRAI in July 2015. While the tough- est part of chemotherapy had wrapped up the year before, full recovery takes much longer. Additionally, there were on-going treatments and surgery during the first half of 2015. It was a tough but fulfilling trip. Once again, cycling helped in the recovery process. We are now looking forward, and training, for the 2016 ride. This will be my tenth and Lisa’s fifth trip. We are still at loss to explain why… It is hot. It is humid. There are hills (those who think Iowa is flat have never biked across the state). There are headwinds. (Those are the “4-Hs of RAGBRAI”, by the way.) Not to mention, it will likely rain, with severe thunderstorms and sometimes with the threat of a tornado. However, this I know: It’s great to be alive, healthy, strong enough to ride, and enjoy everything that God gives!
20 Crest Ink July, August & September 2016
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