Hello everyone! It's me Barbara. How did you react when you found out that the 2009 Ride to Empower was a 100 mile destination bike ride? If you reacted by thinking, "Wow, I would love to try and ride 100 miles",then this post is not addressed to you. I want to get the attention of those of you who thought,"There's no way I could ride 100 miles". I feel it's important to address this topic for two main reasons. First, people may decide not to sign up because they are too psyched out by the mention of 100 miles. Second, there's a good chance that those of you who are overly concerned about the 100 miles and do sign up may not have as much fun as you should because you are too stressed out about trying to ride 100 miles. The reason why I mention the latter is because I saw this happen first hand at the 2008 Ride to Empower in Solvang. I saw some women put a lot of pressure on themselves to ride 100 miles, and if they rode less than expected, they got pretty upset with themselves.
Attention everyone!I The main purpose of the Ride is to raise money for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength. This is such a worthy organization in so many the ways. Let us not forget that what we are trying to do is help those who are dealing with breast cancer. There are many different ways to raise money such as walking or running. How cool is it that the 2009 Ride to Empower is so originally different. Not only does it focus on biking but you get to take a vacation in Las Vegas. But whether it's walking, running or biking the common denominator is that all of these events are raising money for a good cause. So, it's time to try something that is a little out of the ordinary and still serves a worthwhile purpose.
I want to make clear that you can ride as many miles as you want. You do not have to ride 100 miles! However, I understand that we all have a competitive side and sometimes that makes it hard to do less than others. In order to help you put less pressure on yourself about riding 100 miles, I want to make an analogy to breast cancer. When people are diagnosed with breast cancer what they experience and the decisions they make are personal to them. Everyone's journey with breast cancer is unique to them. You can listen to the choices made by other survivors, but ultimately you have to make decisions that are best suited for you. For example, even though I had decided not to have reconstructive surgery after my mastectomy, I still found it hard when other women talked about how happy they were with their reconstructive surgery. I must admit it was a difficult time for me, and second guessing myself made it harder. At some point, I knew that I had to stay focused on what worked best for me irregardless of what anyone else had decided in this regard. It's hard to stay true to oneself and not have doubts when others do it differently. So, whether it has to do with making serious decisions about breast cancer,or less serious ones having to do with riding 100 miles, I urge you to listen to your inner voice. Rather than not participating in the Ride because you are afraid of not being able to ride 100 miles, make the decision to participate knowing that it's okay to ride less than 100 miles.
Some of you may be thinking, " If riding 100 miles is not so important, then why did you ride 100 miles?" I promise I will address that more in my next post. For now, I will end by saying that riding the 100 miles is not what I treasure the most about the 2008 Ride to Empower. I had so many wonderful experiences, especially those I shared with the other people who attended the event. For example, I formed a friendship with the woman I rode with during the Ride, and that friendship has continued. Those types of experiences are the ones I treasure the most. Take a chance.. you never know what wonderful experiences will come your way!
