One of the things we talk about in training is how important care for the caregiver is -- those of us who work in fields that are demanding of us on a psychological or emotional level can easily hit burn-out if we aren't finding wonderful ways of rejuvenation and renewal. I thought it would be fun to post a little about the greatest physical outlet I use - cycling. How surprising and delightful that my biking buddy ends up being a school counselor I met in the process of responding to the Nickel Mines shooting in October of 2006.

We met in October, were becoming fast friends, and she decided to join a gym in December, purchased a bike in April, and we did our first 204 mile bicycle event joining 8,998 other riders in the "Seattle-to-Portland" in July of '07. What a rush! It is just great fun to have bikers ahead of and behind you for as far as you can see. We loved it so much we signed up to do the MS fund raiser that goes from Cherry Hill NJ to Ocean City and back again. 175 miles of pure heaven.

What I love about riding with Linda is that we are almost one unit when we get into it. Heads down, shoulders rounded, one front tire just off the back of the other's, and we just zoom. Last summer we rode the MS fund raiser in memory of Linda's principal's father, who died of MS. If you know someone who has MS or would like to donate to our fund raising efforts, the web site for that ride is "City to Shore" MS ride, and it will let you look for a rider's page. Put in "Cheri Lovre" and you should find my page.