AM I READY FOR THIS? Thoughts from a middle aged athlete

The great TRANSAM ride is upon us, at long last. Indeed it has commenced. Vanna, our SAG wagon, is on historic Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico. (I know this, as she has a GPS tracking device hidden within her). She is towing Bendi, our trailer, full of our bikes and gear. Carl and I will rendezvous with Vanna, Bendi and their chaperones, Bill and Holly Burgess, in San Diego this weekend. The wheels are literally in motion.
I feel like an athlete sitting in the locker room just before taking the field for the biggest game of his life, facing a protagonist he’s never met. That means I am a jumbled mix of excited and apprehensive. Am I really ready? Have I prepared enough, have I prepared properly? Will the “game” go the way I’ve played it in my head on my long training rides this summer? WILL I ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DO THIS?
Certainly Carl and I have prepared diligently for over two years. We have circumnavigated Lake Champlain. We have ridden the coast roads from Charleston, SC to Nags Head NC. We have pedaled to the point (and back), done the Sweet Corn Ride, metric centuries in the metro parks and most recently, I’ve logged over 160 miles on a rail trail that runs from Pittsburgh to Washington. This year, according to my GPS, I’ve pedaled over 2000 miles, posting an elevation gain of 64, 850 feet. I’ve spent over 160 hours in the saddle and I’ve burned 140,000 calories. (Thank the Lord the GPS doesn’t track how many calories I’ve consumed). I guess I’m as ready as I can be.
Yet middle age is a fickle companion. That worries me. One day I feel like a spring chicken and the next like a dead duck. Just getting out of bed I risk pulling a muscle. I used to trust my body; now when I look in the mirror I view it with suspicion. The spirit is ready and willing, the mind is focused. But will the flesh prove weak?
Well there is only one way to find out. On Monday, October 4th we start the ride. If we falter, we have Vanna. She’s not called a SAG wagon for nothing. But I don’t believe we’ll need Vanna and the Burgesses other than to provide us snacks water and encouraging words.
I am loading road songs onto my IPOD for the trip. One country song by Toby Keith has become my theme song. The chorus goes,
“I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once, as I ever was.”
Amen to that!