Goals are a funny thing. For me, they usually start out as an instantaneous thought, then, it grows slowly, and, suddenly, consumes me.
That’s all that Bike and Build was in the beginning. An instantaneous thought. I spent the majority of my life with my head in the water while staring at a black line and going back and forth in a pool. After that chapter in my life ended I figured I would get on the tiny old bike I had from 7th grade and just ride. I rode my bike and I liked it. I liked it a lot. I even loved the headwinds. Well, at first any way.
In the first 4 years I spent at the University of Arkansas I probably got to see and explore what felt like 3 square miles of land. In my last 6 months or so, I saw more of Northwest Arkansas than I thought even existed. I love getting to experience the country in such an intimate way. Which is why an instantaneous thought became a such a radical goal.
Everything that has happened in my life has led me to this point. Every dream, every thought, every goal. If my parents had never put me in sports when I was just 3 or 4 years old I never would have met the Bugnitz family. I played soccer with them until about 5th grade. However, they were the first ones to really expose me to the sport of swimming.
I remember the exact moment when I decided to join a swim team. I had spent the night at the Bugnitz’s home on a Friday and went with them to Saturday morning practice at what was once the East Memphis “Y”. They looked like they were having so much fun, and I wanted to be a part of that too.
The timing of that happening couldn’t have been more perfect either. Not too long before that I had completed all the levels of Rob Snowberger’s Pool School, which was located at Wimbeldon, but now they are out at St. George’s High School. He had offered me a spot on his swim team, the Wimbeldon Makos, and so I decided to accept. Thankfully, my parents fully supported me and let me take part. It probably also had to do with the fact that my new friend, Jessie Cash, decided to join the team too.
As I progressed in my swimming I constantly made new goals. At first they were small. They were to simply learn a new stroke or to finish a race that was longer than a 25. Then they became things like get a triple winner award at a MSC meet, which never happened because I still can’t legally (or quickly for that matter) swim a single stroke of breastroke. So, I moved on to more attainable goals like getting my first A time, which due to a wager with my dad he had to shave his mustache off for that one! So, everyone, you’re welcome.
Then, my coach, Ember Figgins, got her first relay of 10 & under girls to qualify for Southeastern Short Course Championships. I was ecstatic to be a part of those 4 girls. I even remember the race that qualified me to go to the meet. It was a small meet at Wimbeldon. It was just another moment that passed as quickly as it had come. I had finally reached a big goal of mine. The best part about it…Denise hadn’t qualified yet. And in case you don’t know, Denise is my older sister, and we are EXTREMELY competitive with one another. But, if you saw the aftermath of her CrossFit experience a few weeks ago you would already know that about us.
Southeasterns also came and went quickly and quietly. I had reached a certain level and became somewhat content. I think it was then that I started to rest on my laurels. When instead it should have just inspired me to do greater things. Don’t get me wrong though, I still had plenty of goals. I just lacked the desire to push myself. I became more of a class clown than the class nerd when I showed up at practice.
Looking back, I know I would have gotten a lot further if I hadn’t taken that attitude, but I also know I probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did. I would have burned out. I would have quit. There will always be that small thought in the back of my mind that haunts me though. What if I tried harder for all that time? But then I snap back to reality and realize I would have absolutely hated it if I didn’t have the attitude I did. Happiness above all else.
There were plenty of times in high school where I didn’t make the “Q” times I wanted to make. There were far too many times that I was put on a “C” or “D” relay, but I never quit. Swimming gave me that never give up mentality.
As I watched my sister win state twice in Cross Country and then win again in track I, naturally, was jealous. I wished I could have been as good as she was, but I wasn’t and I had nobody to blame but myself. I knew I could have worked harder, but I didn’t. So, when she signed to run at Arkansas I had a new goal. Whether I realized it at that moment my new goal was to swim at Arkansas. I didn’t care if I was as fast as anyone else on that team. I just wanted to be a part of it. I wanted a taste of all the success my sister had garnered, and I knew that was exactly how to do it. So, I did it, even if that meant being a walk-on for 4 straight years.
I will quickly admit those were 4 of the toughest years of my life, but they had a huge part in shaping who I am today. The athletic department always had a focus on community service. As athletes in a state with no professional teams, we were the professional athletes of Arkansas. We were treated with great respect, and were given a lot of advantages many other students didn’t have. So, we were expected to return the favor to our community.
There were many volunteer opportunities provided to us, but non stuck out to me quite like SALSC did. Jeff Janssen’s Leadership Academy has a group that every year raises money for third world countries. After a year of fund raising Jeff leads a group of athletes to the selected country for that year and they spend about 10 days building a school there.
As one of two Arkansas SALSC representatives, and a senior, I was devastated when I was told that our athletic department had decided to wait until the next year to really get involved with the program.
Within a few months of receiving that news I would finish swimming and soon thereafter I would graduate from college. It seemed like everything that made up who I was as a person was ending. Where was I to go from there?
So, when swimming ended I sat on my couch and watched a lot of TV. Then, one day I was finally bored and I got on my bike. What felt like hours of riding up and down hills and throughout the entire state of Arkansas ended up being only 30 minutes and 8 miles. I found my new sport. Within a few days of starting to ride I sent an overly excited text to an old swimming friend, Tricia, about wanting to ride with her when we both got home for the summer. Thankfully, she replied with an equally eager text. So, we rode almost every day over the summer. And of course we constantly made new goals.
We started out riding the Shelby Farms Green Line, but quickly got bored. It was too much like swimming. We would ride out and ride back. It felt like one REEEALLY long 50. Well, I guess more like a regular 100 in a long course pool. I believe long course pools were invented by the devil. So, we started to ride all over Germantown, Arlington, and East Memphis. We finally decided to ride to Shelby Forest and back from her house and back, which would be 50 miles on the nose. So we did it, well, for the most part any way.
Then, summer came as summer came to a close I had an instantaneous thought. “What if I rode across the country? How cool would that be? Nah, that’s insane. That’d be impossible.” But, look at me now.
All of those people that have been there along the way have been apart of my journey with Bike and Build. Whether they have been a sponsor, a training buddy, or a cheerleader, I couldn’t have done it without a single one of them.
Then, today as I watched a short video about a man’s bike ride around the world a new thought instantaneously crossed my mind. Whatever goal comes next for me, I know it will be a big one. It seems as if each one gets a little bigger than the last. Maybe it will be just to get a big girl job or maybe it will be to bike around the world.
ginaBARGIACHI 