Doors, by Betsy

Ten years ago I was on the trip of a lifetime. This was not my dream trip. That is, it was not a trip I had dreamed of going on all my life. As I was approaching retirement several years earlier, I had dreamed of hiking the Colorado Trail. After all, I had helped build the trail as a volunteer on a couple of occasions when I had vacation time from work or a long weekend. Unfortunately I never could realize the trek of my dreams because of a condition in my spine which was causing pain when I was on my feet for long periods of time. The Colorado Trail Trek door was closed.

So one day I decided instead to take a cycling trip. The “Bike Trip Directors” website opened that door. It lead me to a group called Woman tours. Perfect, I thought.  The door to cycling had opened when I started participating in the MS 150 fund raising event years earlier. Now I wanted a trip that would take me to other places and for a longer stretch of time. Woman tours offered trips all over the U.S. and some in Europe and Asia. A simple trip in the U.S. was what I was looking for. This would open the door to something even bigger in the future maybe. 

So I laid the information and the maps out on the living room floor and called to my partner Gill to take a look with me. “Oh this week-long trip in the Mississippi Valley looks good. Or how ‘bout this one: 10 days on the Maryland coast, or the California coast.” So much to choose from. Gill is just shaking her head. “Look at this. Pacific to Atlantic two months across the southern tier of the U.S.”  “Well, yeah,” said I. “But I’m not ready for that. I need to take shorter trips first.”  Sometimes it takes someone who knows you very well--a loved one--to bring you down to Earth--to reality.  Her words were so true: “My Darling, you will be 70 years old this year. I think you need to do this cross-country trip NOW.”

The door thus opened to my trip of a lifetime, pedaling from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida.  Sixteen women over 55 cycling for 58 days through 7 states averaging 70 miles per day. We would have one day off per week for rest and laundry. Pay up front and your food and lodging is covered for the entire trip except for days off.

Our group of cyclists from this adventure has had a reunion every year except for one. This year we will celebrate our tenth anniversary in September near Cape Cod. Our friendships have grown over the years. The cycling trip opened the door to many more cycling trips as well as the friendships created on that trip.  Happily Gill is included in the group even though she did not cycle. When I chose to do this trip, she told me she would drop me off in San Diego and pick me up in St. Augustine. I should have known. There was no way she was going to miss out.  Drop me off and then drive home. No way! She never intended to do that. She followed us in the van and gave unofficial SAG support the entire way. Oh, she would disappear for a day or two on a side trip to some interesting site. But she always showed up again especially when needed; such as, the day we ran out of water and could find no source nor was there any sign of Bo-Peep, our official SAG. Or the day we were freezing cold from the rain.

I have just recently completed transcribing my journal from this trip which I dictated at the end of each day of riding. Here is a short excerpt from 10 years ago almost to the day.

May10 Live Oak to High Springs, Fla. Day 55

Last night we were in Live Oak and I didn’t get a chance to record. We had a 100 mile ride yesterday and it was quite amazing. I really didn’t feel very tired from it. It was a beautiful ride. We have had lovely rides in Florida and we have been lucky in that we haven’t had much rain. Today we had one of the best rides of all.  We stopped about 20 miles outside of the town of High Springs at High Springs State Park. We went into the park to one of the springs and all went swimming. Great fun! It was a welcome break. It was only a 58 mile ride so we had plenty of time to enjoy the cool water.

We are at the Cadillac--a 50’s motel. Gill has been quite active with the group the last few days sagging and helping the Kiwi’s with their filming. She’s enjoying that a great deal except she will be camping in the parking lot again tonight.

I can sense some strong feelings among the group about the tour coming to an end. Since there are just two days left.  Etc.

May 13 St. Augustine Day 58

Yesterday was our triumphal entry into St. Augustine. We met at the fire station after an easy ride from Palatka. We were escorted by two police cars and a motor cycle, sirens blaring. We dunked our tires into the Atlantic, true to tradition, then we all ran gleefully into the surf holding hands and screaming making quite a spectacle of ourselves. We played in the water and hung out on the beach for a while. Some family and friends were there with flowers and greetings of all kinds and it was a grand celebration.

I was quite emotional as we rode ceremoniously into St. Augustine. It was an honor to be leading the group along with Mary and Glenna as the oldest members. I was quite proud to be one of the six who pedaled every mile with no sagging. A lot of that is luck.

 A group picnic followed by teary goodbye’s ended the day. Many would be on their way home before breakfast tomorrow. Gill and I decided to stay for a couple more days.

I am having trouble focusing today since I am so used to focusing on push my pedals every day. I’m sure I will adjust to normal life quickly.

The fact that we have just pedaled across the country 3165 miles has not yet fully registered in my head. I expect it will sink in at some point or maybe not. It’s a bit overwhelming. No question about it . It was the trip of a lifetime and a most extraordinary experience with a most extraordinary group of people.

There is no doubt in my mind. A door was closed to me when I developed a condition in my spine. But, I believe when one door closes another one opens up. When the hiking door closed the biking door opened. That’s why I love revolving doors.

©  27 May 2015 

About the Author 

Betsy has been active in the GLBT community including PFLAG, the Denver women’s chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change).  She has been retired from the Human Services field for about 15 years.  Since her retirement, her major activities include tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a volunteer instructor with National Sports Center for the Disabled, and learning.  Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of marriage. She has a close relationship with her three children and enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren.  Betsy says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing her life with her partner of 25 years, Gillian Edwards.