Team Good Wealth - team motto The Good Wealth is Health (with apologies to Emerson)
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This July, for 23 straight days I rode my bicycle and did not drink a beer or a coffee.
Why? I turned 60.
60 puts mortality front and center – any day is your last. That means you become careful about what you say and what you wear. You don’t want your last words to be some meaningless expletive filled diatribe nor arrive at the pearly gates in a t-shirt that says, “I’m with stupid.”
It also makes you a bit reckless, you want to do physically challenging – like ride 2158 miles over 23 days.
Why? ‘Cause that’s what the pros in the Tour de France do – those half my age.
At lunch last November a friend, Greg, noted he would be turning a nice round number this year and was thinking of doing something substantial…
Thus “DeTour de Maryland!” Ride the same miles (without the mountains) on the same day as the pros in the Tour de France. Tour slogan – “Riding bicycles in circles around Maryland.”
Training did not start well, a friend asked, “How are you going to do this?”
"One mile at a time." was all I could muster.
However, I had an ace up my sleeve – Greg is a ultra-long distance cyclist and he provided invaluable coaching and equipment tips. Of course, Greg because is a superior cyclist, our tour slogan evolved into “Mark chasing Greg around Maryland…”
So, what did I learn on DeTour de Maryland?
All our lives we tell our loved ones, “You can do whatever you want.” I showed my sons:
You can do much more than you think, you can be much more than you think. Don’t wait till age 60.
How about you? What did you try? Share a story!
Blog Desserts:
For past vacations see Appalachian Trail, C&O Canal, and Great Allegheny Passage.
