In addition to watching football, Reg also loved to watch bike racing, especially the Tour de France. Although I wouldn’t watch every race with him, I watched most of them. If I happened to be outside or in the other room while he watched, and a horrific crash occurred, he would call me into the room to see it. I always enjoyed watching the races, but he was much more into bike racing than I was.
Now, however, I watch almost all of the races. The interesting thing is I can’t even tell you at this point if I like bike racing or not. I think I do, but it’s so intrinsically linked to Reg that I wouldn’t even know how to figure out if I like it myself. Do I like bike racing, or do I just watch it because we always did? To me, it has become a blur between him and me. It definitely brings some consistency to my life though.
I even subscribe to Bicycling magazine. When I read the magazine, I think of all the bike rides he enjoyed and how he had once been a part of the cycling community. When an article discusses demanding rides with hill climbs, I have flashbacks to our discussions of his epic rides. I can see him sitting in the chair wearing his yellow jersey and black bike shorts, with his legs spread open feeling elated and completely exhausted from the ride. As I read the magazine, I remember all of this and more, and I feel connected to him. In fact, just today, I read an article about a man who rode from Oregon to Massachusetts as a tribute to his father, who had passed away two years earlier. He called that ride Leave It On The Road. As I read the article and saw the ride’s name, I immediately heard Reg say, “Leave it all on the road Kim,” which are the words he repeatedly used to describe his belief in giving a ride (or any athletic endeavor) all his strength and energy.
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