Michael Jackson

This past year I have been training for Sea to Sea 2017.  My favourite long ride is to my brother and sister in law's place out in the country just SE of Abbotsford. About a 90 klm round trip. I get to their place, take off my helmet and gloves, lay them by my bike, and then grab a lounger by their pool and pull sandwiches and Cliff bars from my jersey pockets and munch away until they're all gone. My brother once asked me if I was a squirrel.  I usually sit there too long because when it's time to go, it's as if rigor mortis has set into my legs. They don't want to go. At all.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my bike to head home and noticed one of my gloves was gone. The left one to be exact. I can only imagine it was Shadow, their dog who would do such a thing.  A quick walk about search was not successful.  I was a little frosted, but had to go, so I did, with only one glove. Yup, one glove, just like Michael Jackson.  But not by choice. Not like MJ. This was not a fashion statement. These are the gloves that I biked across the continent with in 2008 and have been with me on every ride since.  Bummer!

The next day it occurred to me that one of the reasons I ride, and certainly the reason that Sea to Sea exists, is to help alleviate poverty through out the world. The people that benefit are people that have likely never owned a pair of cycling gloves let alone all of the other things we enjoy and perhaps take for granted. So thanks Shadow, for helping  me to remember what this is all about in the first place.