Cycling is one of my new favorite activities. I ride a handcycle, which has 3 wheels and a recumbent seat, and is powered by my ever-more-powerful arms. I don’t have my own bike, though I aspire to soon; I borrow one from the Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports. I ride with them every Saturday morning and usually do a loop from their boathouse on West River Drive, over to Kelly Drive, and back.  That’s me below on my favorite bike on the Strawberry Mansion Bridge.

Last Saturday I followed the women I usually ride with (much more experienced cyclists than myself) on a little detour they call the Chuckie Trail. I have no idea what it’s actually called, but it’s a scenic path that follows the Schuylkill River from West River Drive down to about Locust St. With that addition to my usual loop, I tied my Ride of Silence ride for my longest ride to date: 12 miles. And I completed it much more easily than the Ride of Silence just a few weeks ago.

So there I was the other night, feeling quite pleased with my accomplishment, when I got an email from one of my aforementioned riding buddies: Join me at Philadelphia Marathon. My first thought: That’s crazy. My second thought: Maybe I could actually do this. My thoughts now: Bring it ON! Since then I’ve been poring over anything I can find about handcycle marathon racing- there aren’t a lot of resources out there- and even just marathons in general. I have a lot to consider- how I’ll go about training, what bike I’ll ride- and I’m sure more questions will arise, but right now I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of this new challenge.