One Upped by Ryan

So, Monday I did a little walk and thought I was big stuff. I did have a lot of fun with a lot of friends, and I should cut myself some slack. Even though several grannies finished ahead of me, I think there were a few coma patients behind me, so I wasn't absolutely last. In reality, I do happen to be about 6 months pregnant, so just doing it was a good thing. I'm debating whether I'll train to run rather than walk it next year. I've never run before, and when I've tried to, I didn't like it. But I see how rewarding it can be to these nut cases who are really doing it, so maybe. Anyway, I digress before I've even really begun here.
Many of you may know that we've been talking about buying a nice bike for Ryan because he wants to ride the annual Seattle to Portland (STP) bike ride in July. You can read about it here:
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/index.cfm
We decided that he should get ready by riding often, but he doesn't have lots of extra time, so this morning's activities are hopefully our solution to that.
Sunday we borrowed a bike from a friend, and Monday Ryan took it out for a little 12 mile spin to see how he liked it. I think he may be in love actually. Oh, except for the resulting pain, which we're assured will go away as he rides more. Anyway, our ultimate goal here in prep for next July, is that he will ride the bike (once he owns one) to and from work daily. He works about 8 miles from home, so if he's doing that and a few longer rides here and there, we think he'll be good to go for the big ride. We're only borrowing the bike for the week, so he was hoping to do a trial run or two to work this week, but the weather has not been good. Still, last night as I drifted off to sleep, he was ironing and packing his work clothes into a waterproof bag. He was really planning on doing it even though the forecast for today is dreadful. He crawled into bed a little after midnight, set the alarm for some too early time, and went to sleep.
Alex got in bed with us around 3:30, and noone slept well after that. When the alarm went off at 5 something, Ryan hit snooze a couple times and then got up and left the room. I kind of thought he was irritated over sharing the bed with a greedy 4 year old and had gone to sleep another hour on the couch. I scooted into his space and went back to sleep myself with more room. About an hour later, his "just in case I change my mind" alarm went off, and I got up to make sure he was getting ready to get a shower and be on his way. But as it turns out, he's gone, his car is here, and the bike is gone. Okay, fine. I looked out the window, hoping the rain hadn't started yet, but it looked as though it had already been raining for a while. I decided I'd settle in the living room with the phone and watch the news. I happened to check the caller ID, and he had called about 5 minutes before I got out of bed. My first thought was that he changed his mind or slipped down on the road and was waiting, wet and miserable, somewhere for me to wake up and call him back and come drive him to work. I called him back, but there was no answer. I left a message and then checked my voicemail. He had left a message, and he was already there, at 6:21. He must have been in the shower when I called him back, so I'll have to check with him in a little while to see how it went.
I'm so excited he's doing this. We're a little worried about the winter and how he'll do this in really bad weather. We kind of hope to get rid of his car and be a one car, one bike family in the near future, but maybe we'll keep the car as insurance against the elements for the winter.
For now, I find his timing suspect. I can't just have a week to feel proud of myself. Nope. He's got to go and show me up by becoming a bike commuter, and do it his first day in the rain. I guess now all there is left is to actually purchase a bike. Have I mentioned my tendency to be cheap? This is not the part I'm looking forward to!
Good job, Ryan!