Six months after our return from the 3,115 – mile bike trip, I am repeatedly asked if I would do it again.

NO!  Biking across the USA is not an easy achievement. A year of my life was dedicated to training 6 hours a day, then riding the 3,000+ miles and then 4 months of recuperation and catch-up.

What were the best parts?

The two months my daughter and I spent together biking across the USA was not a vacation; it was a rigorous physical challenge as well as a test of managing stress, maximizing patience and pulling together as partners. We lived through a “rite of passage” in our relationship. We took care of each other on the road bicycling and in many other ways too. At times JC “mothered” me; bringing me ice packs and massaging my sore shoulder and insisting I eat more and sleep longer. I depended on her to map our directions, fix the computer, compress photos and lift anything heavy. We calmed each other in the face of potential tornadoes, heat stroke and semi-trucks blasting us off the road.

The mother/daughter hierarchy we knew at the beginning of the trip has been forever shattered. My role as mother has shifted from authority to partnership. We are equals and friends and I like it that way.

We both feel a great sense of accomplishment because, through the bike trip and donations of $1 a mile, we were able to raise $52 K – that’s right, $52,000 for Bone Health Awareness and research, donated to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Women who have osteopenia or osteoporosis (like me, my mother, and sisters) became friends as we pedaled, and via email.

What did I learn?

One, two or three women can make a difference, from a grass-roots level. Choose your “cause” and work with passion.

We can impact our bone health, learn how at the Osteoporosis website.