It’s been more than a year since I took the plunge and dragged Russ across counties to get to an open trail, and it was probably the best decision I’ve made during the pandemic (the ‘rona vaccine was not a decision, it was a given. I nearly died from a childhood disease).

Learning always follows important decisions. Here are some of the things I learned, or learned again after making this one.

• I should follow my own advice.
• I wasn’t doing fine in isolation. I/we needed to get out.
• I wasn’t doing fine with all the stress. I/we needed exercise, recreation and a goal that was bigger than us, better than the pandemic and a relief from world events.
• Losing weight while building stamina is way harder than it has ever been.
• It’s harder building up to do one or more centuries at 60 and 61 than it was 13+ years ago.
• It’s a good thing I didn’t get the video made and the project kick-started on my imagined time line. I wasn’t ready for the prime time phase. We weren’t ready.
• Russ really will have to take leave, not just for the demands of the project during the 62 rides, but before the century rides start so he can finish training up. His busy season at work is when the days are long and the riding is good.
• Russ is my ride partner and support. When I train without him, I ride without a partner. Training beyond what he can do creates layers of problems.
• It is really good that I did as much reading on Kickstarters, training, equipment and techniques as I did. It saved me a lot of heartache and will give me the best chance of a successful project.
• We’ll be spending 20 hours a week on the trail, but it’s not the bigger time commitment. We’ll spend more time producing rewards and running the Kickstarter.
• Sharing your joy on a scale this big is a job, and when you turn that into a job you lose some of the freedom and joy that you want to share.