The Big 5 dash oh yeah!

Summer rolls by a little too fast, faster than a manual red bicycle can keep up with! Every year, I embark on a bicycle goal of some sort. In 2025, my goal was to complete 40 individual rides and a distance of 50 consecutive miles in one ride. I wanted to dedicate that ride to my father, who not only was the person that sparked my interest in cycling, but was my caregiver for three years. Encouraging me to keep fighting through the bad days, desperately trying to find the good ones, it is the cornerstone of how Red Bicycle Books was founded and the special meaning it holds for me.

While biking 50 miles can be a difficult task for anyone to plan, train for, and make it happen, it’s even harder living with Lyme disease. In an unpredictable body, training can be a challenge. Symptoms present themselves without invitation like a merry-go-round, but determination and motivation remain constant.

This year, I had a later start to my training primarily due to the weather and symptoms taking a toll on me, but as the days pressed on, I stretched my legs and slowly started to track the miles biked while tallying the number of rides in my journal. Each day and ride, I felt stronger and ready to work on my goal—the big 5 dash 0.

As I was rounding out the 25-mile average mark in the middle of the summer, I decided I was going to attain this goal, so I set a day in mind to make it happen. I decided to turn on my bicycle mile tracking app pumped and ready to go as I headed out the door, but for some reason as I started cycling, something didn’t feel quite right. The sun began to hide behind the clouds and the air grew heavier. I felt defeated before I even started.  This made me realize that day was not going to be the 50-mile ride no matter how much I wanted it to be—for dad, for me. When I returned home and parked my bike, I could feel the disappointment and doubt settle in. Would I really be able to ride 50 miles? It seemed completely impossible years ago being bedridden when I could barely fold a piece of laundry at the corner of the bed, unsure if I would be able to get back on my bike at all.

I spent some time regrouping my thoughts remembering the first time I rode that bicycle after being bedridden for three years and what it felt like being on the other side of the bedroom window. I felt a sense of freedom, of living, of the smiles that formed effortlessly in that spontaneous moment and making the most of that beautiful day. I wanted to really feel that moment again because that would be a chapter in the book of my life story I know I would never forget. To take something completely devastating to live with and turn it into something good.

About two weeks later, I regained my courage, setting my mind in a positive direction remembering what I am really capable of and how I've survived through challenges no person should ever have to endure. If I could live confined to a bed for three years, I could ride that bike as far as I want to go. No limits. No constraints.

Physically, my legs were building quite a bit of muscle with each ride. It was the mind I had to spend a little time convincing that this was still a feasible goal. With the encouragement I received from my amazing husband who always lifts my spirit, I felt determined. Then something finally clicked for me. You know that feeling when it seems like everything just lines up perfectly and you are ready to take the leap? As if this moment in time has your name written on it and only for you to experience.

On August 16, 2025, I woke up early and peered out the window to see the sun rising. I ate a high-protein breakfast of a protein shake, scrambled eggs, and a piece of toast. I packed my bag with snacks, sunscreen, and ample hydration. I launched my bike tracking app on my phone and placed my headphones with a fully charged Ipod shuffle (yes I love my tiny device for what is considered dinosaur technology nowadays) to ride. I gave my husband a kiss and hug, and told him I would be back a little later.

I checked the weather. The day was bound to be a scorcher, but with the sun on my face, I started to pedal slow and steady. I didn’t have a strict route, I just wanted to ride without feeling like I was confined to a map to follow. Red bicycle and I wanted to be free and explore the world without a set pace and roll to our own beat.

As I began my usual trek in the nature trails, I smiled and waved at strangers who had their own fitness goals in mind. From running to walking or that of the two-wheeled type, like mine, I suppose that is what I enjoy the most about riding alongside nature—the peace it brings, of feeling a part of this beautiful world, and the smiling faces you get to see, even if it's only for a snapshot in time. And then there are the reminders of the occasional bumps in the road, like life, you feel temporarily shaken, but overall, you keep moving forward.

As the sun continued to climb to bake the air, my playlist rotated between fast, slow, and chill tunes that increased or decreased my stride with the beat of the bass. I cruised through the trails and then decided to explore neighborhoods touring up and down each of the streets. From homes with pretty landscaping, to towering trees that provided brief shade umbrellas (thank goodness!) to discovering some parks I didn’t know existed, it was turning out to be a pleasurable ride.

As I paused for a sunscreen application, snack, and protein shake by a tiny hidden gem of a baseball park, I checked my app. I was closing near the 31-mile mark which made me nervous and a little excited at the same time. Nervous because I still had some doubt cloud my head and excited that this could be the day. As the morning shifted into the early afternoon, the day was continuing to get toastier. I felt myself grow tired in my legs, but I felt an instant boost of energy after my snacks kicked in. Go, go, trail mix!

I rode down a few blocks admiring the people as they enjoyed a fun and competitive softball game with cheering fans surrounded by children playing on swings at the park off to the side. I even biked around in circles in a few parking lots as if I was designing my own invisible course track with some people probably wondering what this woman was doing not knowing I was on a mission. I had a goal to achieve and it certainly was a big one.

At the 40-mile mark, I felt myself pull back a little. I was sweaty, my legs felt like rocks, and I felt a slight burn of my skin. Pulling out the sunscreen for another application, I checked my phone again noticing I was on the cusp of achieving last year's goal on July 8, 2024 at 40.82 miles. I felt myself start to wane. Dehydration started to kick in and the sun wasn’t holding back any punches. My back was starting to stiffen with pain from leaning over gripping the handlebars for so many hours. And then I thought about how many times I had my life taken away from me for three long years and that I was going to prove to myself that I could make it happen. I had to prove to myself that sometimes the best things we can achieve in life are the acts of overcoming the most challenging obstacles that present themselves out of nowhere. And finally, I got my stamina back. I felt the athlete in me take hold as if nothing could stop these powerful thick legs. Red bicycle and I, we’ve got this!

On August 16, 2025 at 2:09pm I said remove im from impossible and just leave possible. Red bicycle and I rode not 50, but 51.585 miles in roughly 6 hours shy of a minute, and we did it together.

I remember my last victory lap circling around a grammar school parking lot listening to Ratt’s “Dead Reckoning” as the 50-mile mark came on my screen. And then I realized I had to get home which added the half mile. When I arrived home, I told my husband I finally finished what I set out to do. He congratulated me with the sweaty, sunscreen mess I had become in desperate need of a shower.

I then called my dad when I got home to tell him about the victory. I could tell by the sound of his voice on the phone, he was proud. He asked me where my journey took me which got both of us excited about next year to ride together, well, maybe not 50 miles, but certainly a leisurely stroll throughout the neighborhood would be nice!

A few months later after finishing the ride, I came up with this acrostic:

G reat

O bstacles

A chieve

L asting

S uccess

At the time I write this post, I have one more bike ride to finish to achieve my 40 individual rides to close the 2025 biking season for me. I reflect about what this experience taught me:

1.)   While my past was extremely difficult, I ended up pushing myself to great lengths to remember what I am capable of when you are the author of your own life story. The legacy you leave behind can happen in any term of measurement from seconds to a mile, or 50 for that matter. It also taught me many times, you have to be your own cheerleader particularly when you have to handle a complicated illness that not many people relate to or understand, and that is probably what I enjoy about cycling is the solitude and clarity it brings to my mind.

2.)   The cliché mind over matter is actually true. It doesn’t matter to me what I’m going to have to fight in life including Lyme disease, I will stay strong. I will overcome the odds.

This ride is proof that I have biked more on my bicycle sick than when I was well before my life changed forever, which tells me the only obstacles I put in my mind are the invisible hurdles that can be overcome with the motivation and determination I set forward.

Today, I invite you to explore your potential and how far you can go in life to achieve your goals and dreams. Whether it’s 20 miles, 30 miles, the possibilities are endless. And if it’s the 50, oh yeah, remember, you’ve got this!

Cheering for you.

-Victoria