Eastern Shore of Maryland Tour

Harriet Tubman would be proud. She'd be proud to know that her birthplace is commemorated today with a plaque. That her former home is the destination of a ride on our Maryland tour. And that we were all honored to be in her midst.

We say we have extraordinary tours for extraordinary women. No one is more extraordinary than she.

The Maryland Tour of Blackwater kicked off our season of shorter tours this spring. And it couldn't have been nicer. Stunning weather (once the thunderstorm on the first evening passed over,) some beautifully flat roads to bicycle, and a great bunch of women.

You'd never know that most of them called themselves beginners. Tracy (second from right,) who had just lost 50 pounds from cycling, was always out front. Claudia (far right,) who called herself only a hiker, was always with her. I could barely keep up with them. We had lots of personal bests on this tour. Who knew they'd all go home admitting they easily biked 20 miles before lunch on the last day.

And then there's Debby (far left,) who doesn't even own a bike. She just registered for our 2007 Cross Country Tour. "I'm hooked!" she said. Now she's bike-shopping.

Yes, it was a wonderful tour. I'm only sorry it ended.

Laraine

It has taken me a few weeks to be able to write about Laraine Lagattolla.

I lost a dear friend on our Cross Country Southern Tier tour last month. A 52 year-old man was pulling out of a parking lot, in a hurry to get home from work, and hit her. He never saw her. She was alone at the time, about 200 yards from our hotel in Cleveland, TX, more than halfway through the two-month tour. She died instantly.

Laraine was a wonderful person – I knew her from the Finger Lakes tour she did last year with us. I helped convince her that she could do the cross country tour. Her friends tell me that she’d wanted to do it for years. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone but the driver could have done to prevent the accident.

I rejoined the Southern Tier tour when I heard the awful news and I grieved with the women who had become very close to Laraine during the tour. They tell me she was having a wonderful tour, and had had a great day. Most of her last day, she’d been riding with another woman, and the two of them had saved a puppy trying to cross the road. They’d gone door-to-door until they found the puppy’s owner – in effect, they’d saved the puppy’s life.

I left the tour to attend Laraine’s funeral and meet her family and many long-time friends and co-workers. My heart goes out to all of them for their terrible loss.

At WomanTours, we pride ourselves in helping women be all they can be. We challenge each other and support each other to become stronger -- both physically and emotionally -- than we’ve ever been before. So it makes no sense to me why someone would be taken from us so unfairly. There are times on a bike when I feel unbeatable, free, youthful and exuberant. Certainly there were times on the cross country tour that Laraine felt invincible -- here she is proudly cresting a hill in New Mexico.

But times like these remind me how fleeting our lives are, and how we have to cherish every moment by doing the things we love to do. There is no better time than now and no better way to honor Laraine’s life than to get back on my bike. As painful as that has been in the past few weeks, I ride in memory of Laraine. I will never forget her.

Office Cats

If they're not chasing the resident office mouse or sleeping in the swatch of sunlight streaming across the carpet, they're watching over me. Making sure I answer all the emails, update the website correctly, and pay the bills on-time. Pumpkin and Audrey -- they're the best bosses a woman could have.

Thinking back on the Cross Country Southern Tier Tour

I was out on a short bicycle ride today thinking back on the Cross Country tour and the ride I had last week with Barb Jarmosky. The road was smoothly paved and completely flat. The day was cool and the sky was clear. Best of all, we had a strong tailwind and we found ourselves flying through the miles effortlessly.

I turned to Barb and said, “Everyone should feel this.” When she replied, “Yeah, there’d be peace on earth,” I knew we were feeling the same thing.

If they could all feel as we felt -- the sheer joy of riding a bike at 20 mph with the wind at their backs -- they’d all forget their anger, their hatred, their sorrow. They’d forget their road rage and put down their arms. They’d be thankful for every moment of living and of loving.

If only we could put everyone on a bike, on a quiet road somewhere in California, in spring, with a tailwind, the world would be a much better place.

On the Road with the Cross Country Southern Tier Tour

Just got back from the beginning of our cross country tour. You never know what you'll see up ahead on a tour like this. Barb and I nearly tripped over our bikes to stop at this avocado stand. We tried hard to think of things we could do with 15 avocados. At a price like this, how could anyone pass them up?


And here is Johanna before the aptly named Chocolate Mountains. We feared the road would never turn and we'd have to go directly over them. She was getting ready.

I'm back home now and the women have all crossed California into Arizona by now. One time zone down -- two more to go. I miss them - and the road - already.

Dipping

The Southern Tier Cross Country Tour started with our first ride out of San Diego today. We always start together, ride to Dog Beach together and dip our tires in the Pacific Ocean together. Here we are waiting to leave the hotel....



And waiting to hike to Dog Beach....



And hiking to Dog Beach....



And finally dipping at Dog Beach... with the dogs!



There are 25 of us, ranging in age from 39 to 72. The average is 60. Pretty awesome!

On the Road in Arizona

We had a big group on our Arizona tour last week and I was there to guide it. I'm not in the photo because I had to shoot it. Why am I always the one to miss out? This photo was taken in Gloria's new living room. Gloria (bottom row, far left,) is the founder of WomanTours. She just designed and built herself a beautiful contemporary southwestern home south of Tucson and we all had dinner there one night during the tour. Chef extraordinaire Claudia (top row, right) cooked us a feast of sauteed shrimp in a white wine sauce, pork with braised apples and raisins, steamed broccoli, potato latkes and a ginger cabbage cole slaw. None of us went hungry!

We got to experience Arizona during the longest drought in history. There were no wildflowers in bloom, but the blue skies and warm weather were perfect for many of us northeasterners. We had a wonderful tour and many of them have taken advantage of our 10% discount for 2 tours in a year and registered for another tour this year. Looks like a lot of us will be together again on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi this fall! More sunny skies and great food....