So triathlon season is pretty much here… finally! There have been a few hard-core cyclists that have been out on the bike for weeks already… but I’m a bit of a fair weather cyclist… so our Sunday ride was my first of the season. Actually on Saturday I put the pedals on my bike on Saturday, wiped off the cob-webs (literally), got rid of the gels taped to the top bar and pumped up the tires… as I hadn’t been on my bike, quite literally, since Ironman Canada… 20 months ago!
Margaret, the President of the Tri Club of Burlington called Joanne to say they were going out for a nice, light ride… the first ride of the year… perfect… just what I needed to get me back on the bike.
But it wasn’t to get me back on the bike… it was to get Darla back on the bike!!! Now you may not remember, but Darla, a dedicated LOSTie and fantastic person, was training for her first Ironman in Florida, ironically just a few weeks after our Ironman Canada race in 2011. But tragedy struck. During the race… she was hit by a car. Really badly. I won’t list all the injuries, but it was life threatening to say the least… but fortunately she made it through
the life threatening part… and started a very, very long and unpredictable recovery. In fact, the last time I saw Darla was when she came out to the LOST Polar Bear dip… 16 months ago. She was very proud then, because she could walk, just barely, and with double canes and only for a few minutes… but it was so great to see her up and out of the hospital after so many months.
So to say this was a special ride was a bit of an understatement. We went 24k, climbed a few good hills (Snake Road) and Darla was awesome. She was understandably nervous and was worried she would be slowing us down… she didn’t. Well, not me at least. She did really well. You wouldn’t have known she had had such a horrible accident at all.
I find people toss around the word “inspirational” too much these days… not every race that everyone does is inspirational… but let me tell you… Darla and her amazing comeback… that is inspirational. Makes me want to get out on the bike more too.
Thanks Darla. See you soon… out for a LOST swim too!
Cheers,
Rob
