When I think of my Camino companions, I am reminded of the saying, people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. The Camino was the end of a journey that began almost two years before.
I had just ended a two-year relationship with a man who, among other things, sparked my interest in cycling. So much so that I had signed up for a 109-mile charity ride in Tucson, Arizona which I did complete in November, 2006.
That man, Mark, and I split up over the Fourth of July weekend that year. I guess I knew it was coming because I already began to look for opportunities to ride with others rather than ride alone. I discovered the Outdoor Club, which offered cycling among its many other adventures. It was on one of their evening rides that I first met Joe. Though he is about ten years younger than I, we hit it off and quickly became e-mail pals who rode together with the club. Joe was a good buddy and it really was great to have a guy friend who was just that, a friend. I met Karin on another Outdoor Club ride shortly after though at the time, we really only knew each other marginally.
It was also in the Summer of 2006, I answered an ad in our town’s local newsletter from a woman who wanted to start up a new team for the MS 150 City to Shore ride. This is a totally fun charity ride that leaves from Cherry Hill, New Jersey and ends up 75 or so miles later in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was at that group's first gathering that I met Cathryn, Rich and Viv. It was Rich who set up that first hike that got the whole Camino thing started.
As our little cycling club entered its second year, I invited Joe and Karin to join. Joe had wanted to try the MS150 and I knew Karin had done the ride on her own in past years. Both quickly became avid and active members. At that point, I had stopped riding with Outdoor Club and dedicated myself to the new club, the Pine Barrens Pedalers.
As the year 2007 moved on, Karin's husband Ray joined the club and as the season progressed, we all began to hang out a little more. By the time we decided to organize an "Oktoberfest" celebration for the cycling club, we had become personal friends, not just cycling friends.
As the weather began to get a little too chilly to ride, Joe kept mentioning how he wanted to start hiking. He got in touch with Rich, who has been an outdoorsman his entire life. Rich and his wife Viv do it all, cycling, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, skiiing. So with Joe's urging, Rich set up the hike in Hamburg, Pennsylvania for an early start on Sunday morning.
I had no interest in hiking at the time and wasn't even in on any of the e-mails setting it up. The Saturday before, it was cold, cloudy and windy and I had an urge to go to the main shop of the great German butcher where we had gotten some of our Oktoberfest feast. I gave Joe a call to see if he wanted to tag along and the two of us headed out to Rieker’s in Northeast Philadelphia to stock up on some of the best wurst and other German delicacies this side of the Atlantic. On the way over, Joe mentioned the hike set up for the following day and said Karin and Ray and some others were going. My first reaction was hiking? No way! I told Joe I really needed to help Cathryn get ready for the club party. But on the drive home, I had a change of heart. It just seemed too tempting. I had to go. Was it something about that article in Der Spiegel, was it a subtle call to Camino?
Whatever it was, I got up long before dawn and at 7 a.m., was knocking on the door at Karin & Ray's house in Roebling to carpool up to the mountain where I took the first step on the path that ultimately led to Camino.
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