Emotions

Yesterday was our 14th edition of the km Ride to finish. Things have really come a long way from our first edition in 2004 when only 12 riders showed up to yesterday’s new record of 200 riders. Personally I would like to thank all of the people who showed up. Every person has their own reasons to be out riding even though for our team Ride to Finish 200km is a ride that we do almost every Friday night during the year, I don’t want to minimize the effort and concentration it takes to stay on your bike for 200km. A lot of people who were there yesterday there are a few of their stories you should know and all of them are so humble that you may have rode with them and you didn’t know. These ladies are people that live’s a ride like they live their lives. With the now famous phrase in Italian started by Manuel “non mollare” which means in Italian Don’t give up. With my good friend from high school in Penn Hills  Paul took it one step further and came up with”non molare ride to finish” Don’t give up and ride to the finish. We have all been in a situation of difficulty during our lives and I have never come across a phrase that best suits the frame of mind we should confront the our challenges. Don’t give up , ride to finish, make it to the finish, think about those moments in your lives, win or lose I am sure some emotion you can still feel today.  Yes “non mollare ride to finish” that is what it is all about living it, not giving up , making to the finish and loving that emotion  the whole way , winning or losing but finishing.

Carla , Carla is girl I have know since I have been in Italy she was the catcher for the Italian National Team fast pitch softball team. I have been trying to get Carla to come and do our ride for a year or so. Yesterday I was at the start of the ride an hour before the start and who comes rolling into the parking lot Carla. I didn’t want to make her nervous she came alone , her good friend Sara was suppose to come with her but she had to stay home to stay with a family member so Carla was on her own. I know Carla so I didn’t have any doubt she would finish being an ex catcher like me, she is tough and her husband Livio who dropped her off is cancer survivor , Carla has been through a lot ,seeing her and her husband Livio at the start with the non mollare shirts made me feel very proud. 

Another special lady is Cinzia, I have know this girl since 2010 when we were doing the Sicilia no stop 1000km. Cinzia and I have a joke between us , she is always asking me Tony when are we going to ride together, she rides a tandem. I say “Cinzia your blind I got ms, just imagine if my legs stop working and you can’t see, God know where we will end up?” ,we both laugh. Cinzia was at the ride yesterday she comes every year, she also teaches high school here in Italy.  What else can I write about a girl like her. Proud and emotional , the non mollare ride to finish lives in her heart and the way she lives her life. 

Then there is also Teresa who always rides our 200k and 300km Teresa like Cinzia is blind and rides a tandem. What touched me the most about Teresa is 2 years ago during our 300km the last 100km we got hit with a major rain storm, since Teresa was about 2 hours behind I was worried she might need some help because when the storm hit she was still up in the mountains. Sure enough later that evening Cinzia came into to the finish with her lights on  with a big smile on her face, proud and emotional. Nothing more needs to be said, she has the “non mollare ride to finish spirit” Cinzia has it in her heart and lives it.