Bike to Breathe Day 6 – CT or BUST!

I woke up today knowing we had a long day of riding ahead of us, but it was so beautiful out that the challenge seemed completely doable. The only real difference between today and previous rides is that there was a bit of a chill in the air, so I layered up with two pairs of pants and a vest.

We went right back to the ECG trail. Em and I had great time conquering the first 20 or so miles and along the way, we rode through a part of trail called the Trestle trail Greenway. It was absolutely stunning and before we knew it, we hit the 4th state of our journey – Connecticut.

Now that we're more than half way through this ride, we're in quite the groove and enjoying ourselves immensely. I guess so much so that I didn't realize my lack of water consumption and at about mile 39, I had to stop, get myself hydrated and back on track. Being dehydrated, whether you have CF or not is not good at all – cramps and fatigue will set in fairly quickly.

We made a couple of stops and one of them was at an ice cream place called Jem's in South Windsor, CT. The ice cream was cold, but the reception was very warm and we actually were joined by the owner, Jem as well as some really great locals who wanted to hear about what we were doing. This was a cool and serendipitous stop for us as our two person biking team felt connected to it: Jerry + Em = Jem.

Anyway, during today's travels we also met a young girl with CF who gifted us with artwork she created. Meeting kids in general is fantastic, but especially the kids with CF – they never cease to inspire me. I was blown away by the time and energy she put into this piece of art and it reminded me that sore legs, some dehydration and tough moments, make this all worth it.

Overall, I feel like every day we ride only gets getting better and better. We all finally wound this one down with a nice, low key dinner. And, then it was time for me to take care of my legs and get some more hydration in. The good news is tomorrow we'll have fewer miles to travel, and once again, it's looking like blue skies ahead!