This one’s personal for me. It might be for you too. If you’ve ever lost someone close. If bikes have ever been a part of your recovery from anything. If not, it’s still a beautifully made video that tells a beautiful, tragic love story. I think it will resonate with everyone.
Salsa Cycles released this video a couple of weeks ago but I only heard about it today. Today, May 11, I usually do a 49.75 km ride I call Almost 50. It’s to honour my youngest sister, Susan, who died of cancer on this day in 2015. She was almost 50. I had mapped out this ride, a ride that would be exactly her age in kilometres, and rode it every year since. Last year I started to wonder if I should still be doing it, why am I still doing it, what is the meaning? I wondered if I would ride in 2020.
It snowed today and it has for the last few days. Strange weather for May 11. Not inviting to ride in. And, with the covid-19 lockdown, I find myself really busy working on websites for clients. I realized I’m not going to make a decision about the ride. It’s being made for me. Then I saw Choosing to Live in my Facebook feed.
It was a cathartic seven and a half minutes. This is what my ride is all about. Remembering. Honouring. And processing the grief that never really leaves; it just becomes easier to bear. I might ride Almost 50 next year but now I know I don’t have to. Because, really, there’s not a day goes by…
