Katie, Cindy and I rode with Cisco in the truck to the end and waited for the team. At 1:30 we lined up two by two and rode through main street as one team. TEAM LIVESTRONG! 85 strong. It was great to hear people cheer for us and yell "go Livestrong"!
We are 85 different individuals with different personalities and backgrounds ... but we all have one thing in common, "we hate cancer", and with that we are one team.
We all went to the Mississippi River to dip our tire in. It's tradition for all the ragbrai riders to do this.
I'm so proud of my ride. I rode a total of 338 miles. I NEVER believed I could do it, but I did. One thing is for certain, I couldn't have rode what I did without finding Cindy and Katie. They were my angels. We had so much laughter that it out weighed any pain and suffering that happened out on the road.
Back at camp there were a lot of great people I met, and got to know better. Tony, Theresa, Barb, Chad, Cindy T, Marty, Jen, Linda, Susan, Robert, Kim and Shari are just a few of the many. They are individuals from all over the US. Some newbies and some have biked RAGBRAI for 8 years. Each person has their own story as to why they ride and had good life stories that brought laughter. We embraced our jerseys which honored Laurie Masterson with her quote "don't postpone joy". She was a fighter and embrace joy to the end.
I can't believe the week is over. On day 3 I thought it would never end, but today I feel stronger physically and mentally!
I had so many doubts about my ability to ever do anything like this. At times I wanted to quit and yet made it through. I was way, way, way outside my comfort zone with this adventure and it scared me ... But I did it.
I tried and that's what matters. After all
life is short - you have to embrace it.
So when all signs point you in a direction, you need to pay attention and do something about it. Don't just let life happen, grab it by the reigns and truly LIVE it. I am grateful for this journey and know I learned many lessons from it, including that Iowa farmer families are some of the kindest people in the world!
One last thought. I had two right knee surgeries in 2013. The second was an allograft of bone and cartilage. It means I was given a donors bone and cartilage to replace parts of my knee. Without a donor I could not have done this ride. Instead I did it pain free! So if you are a donor, thank you! If you are not, please sign up to be a donor... I am grateful that my donor did!
Thanks for following my journey!
I'm excited to get home to a big salad, my bed and of course Sophie!
I did it!!
KK
PS. A big shout out to Cindy Graf for sharing her photos with me - it was nice to share picture taking with someone 😊
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