He Made It!!

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy Us in Athens

So yesterday was a big big day for the Williams' family....

RON MADE THE PARALYMPIC TEAM!!!

He has been nervous for weeks, not sleeping well, not riding at his best, but training like his life depended on it! And yesterday, all his preparation paid off! He flew out to Denver midweek (and lost his bikes along the way--- THANK YOU to the angel at the Denver airport who rescued them at the last second from making an additional flight to who-knows-where) to compete in the Paralympic trials. This was his last chance; he had to not only beat his time standard to make the team, but he had to do it by a greater margin than all the other guys. 20-ish cyclists of various "disability" categories all racing for 3 more spots. Ron had to race a 10 mile time trial... a gut-wrenching puke-inducing torture fest where it's just him and his bike. Finishing in 18 minutes and 50 seconds, he not only beat his time standard, but he beat all the rest of the competitors.... meaning, we're going to Beijing baby!! In addition, that means that Ron is the US Paralympic Cycling National Champion!

http://paralympics.usoc.org/news/article/2016

I am so so so proud of him... with so few spots, we were both really worried, and I did not want him to be heartbroken. So, we will enjoy the next few days, then for Ron, it will be training training training for the big show! And for me? Planning another trip, I guess!

Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things. ~ William Golding