A Life Well-Lived, A Legacy Well-Planned

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This morning, a quote struck a chord with me: “be a creator, not a consumer.”

I’ll admit, I’ve been consuming way too much social media since Tuesday’s election, and honestly, it’s left me feeling queasy. So today, I’m choosing to take a step back and focus on creating something meaningful.

Losing the use of my body and losing my independence made me pause and rethink basically, everything.

I want to talk about something we often avoid—death. Not the easiest topic, I know, but it’s an essential one. Two years ago, I had a near-death experience that changed my outlook forever. I was in a car-bike collision in June 2022, and as it unfolded, I thought it was the end. I had just a few seconds to process what was about to happen prior to impact, and believed it was lights-out for me. By some miracle (and maybe a bit of bike handling skill), I avoided a direct head-on impact. Though I was seriously injured, I survived, and that experience shook me to the core.

While healing, I had a lot of time to think about life, purpose, and what I wanted to leave behind. Facing my own mortality pushed me to get my affairs in order—something I’d been putting off. Setting up a trust was hard, both financially and emotionally, but I realized it wasn’t just about me. It was for my loved ones, so that when my time comes, they’re spared from unnecessary complications. It also lets me decide how my life’s work will be used, instead of leaving it to chance.

“If you’re going to live, leave behind a legacy. Make an impact on the world that can never be erased.”
— Maya Angelou

When you set up a trust or plan your estate, you see your “stuff” differently. Our estate represents all those hours and years we spend working to earn money, which then translates into our homes, cars, and all the little (or big) things we buy. The process made me ask questions I’d never really considered: “Who will want my things when I’m gone?” and, “Do I even need all of this stuff?” It became clear that I’d rather focus on experiences and using my resources to make a difference.

If setting up a trust feels daunting, there’s an easier place to start: designating beneficiaries on your bank, stock, and retirement accounts. It’s an easy process that can have a powerful impact and allows you to build a legacy without any immediate financial cost. For instance, I have a passion for cycling and supporting safer roads, so I chose to name People for Bikes (PFB) as a beneficiary on some accounts. At my passing, my work will continue to make a difference by supporting safer cycling—something that brings me comfort and a sense of purpose.

Setting up a beneficiary designation is simple. Log into your financial account, search “designate beneficiary,” and follow the prompts. You can even specify the percentage or amount each person or organization will receive. It only takes a few minutes, and you can change it as life evolves.

Here are the steps I followed:

Step one: search for “designate beneficiary” on your financial institution’s website.

Step 2: add beneficiaries, like People for Bikes

Step 3: decide an amount or % percentage for each beneficiary, and then click save- -you’re done, it’s that easy!

Of course, a will or trust offers more comprehensive protection, and I highly recommend consulting an estate attorney when you’re ready. Yes, it has upfront costs, but it’s a small investment in protecting what you’ve built for those you love.

Going through this process may stir up emotions, and that’s normal—it’s human. When you’re done, take a moment to celebrate. Go for a bike ride, knowing that your years of work will have a lasting impact and create something meaningful for future generations. Now that feels like a legacy worth leaving behind.

Safer cycling for EVERYONE, please and thanks. Bikes make us better. Photo credit: J.Rojas, Arbor Drive.

Sincerely,
Megan

NOT SPONSORED, but anytime I write about my trust people often ask me where to go to get one set up – I will simply tell you that I worked with Tim Schafer and his amazing legal team at Schafer Thomas Maez in Broomfield CO and highly recommend them.  I currently work with Clinton Carlisle as I update my estate and make edits, etc.  He is awesome! https://stmlawfirm.com/  

We Broke The World Record !

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The Longest Static Cycling Class Guinness World Record is Now 28 Hours!

Ryan Avery, Breaking History at L, and Michael, Guinness WR official, R

Forgive me if this blog post is a bit rambling, semi-intelligible, and with random gushes of emotions (tears on the keyboard causing inherent typos) … we are fresh off the finish of our 28-hour-long cycling class which culminated yesterday (Dec 2) midday. From there, it’s been a haze. How in the world did it get to be Dec 3? We essentially stepped into a time warp and are just now re-acclimating to planet Earth. Brain cells are sluggish and the body is …well. It’s about like you’d imagine after pedaling around 90-100rpm for 28 hours. (That’s 151,200 pedal revolutions if you’re counting!).

Yes- the riders’ bodies are all wrecked today. 25 of us pedaled for 28 hours on spin bikes and today we take stock of the carnage... It pales in comparison to the feels of SUCCESS, FINISHING, NOT GIVING UP, TEAMWORK, the amazing support from our VILLAGE, the love from FAMILY AND FRIENDS, and the overwhelming emotion of achievement.

WE were ALL scared of this goal. We were ALL scared of its unknowns.

FINAL MILEAGE CHART

None of us had ever been on a spin bike more than a few hours.

Most of us had never ridden a regular bike for even half of that time.

We rushed towards something that scared us a lot - and we said “HELL YES, LET’S DO THIS!”

“I will tell you one of the best feelings in the world is to take an idea and make it real, with real people, for a real cause! The thing that surprised me the most was every single one of us finished and we all had things that we had to push past and get through! Every single one of us in the room were tested at some point throughout the 28 hours which made the attempt and the record all that much better! I am proud of the leadership Megan showed, I am proud of every single person in that room, and I am thankful for every volunteer who showed up and made this world record happen! There was a six hour stretch where I was in so much pain I thought my knee had a knife in it and I didn’t know how I was going to get through the ride. With the help and support and love from everyone in the room I can say with complete certainty that was the reason why I kept peddling! Keep dreaming BIG, doing BIG, and of course... keep Breaking History!”

— Ryan Avery, Rider, World Record Holder, & Host of Breaking History

“Surprised: everyone finished. Highlight: the actual structure of “classes” and how quickly the instructor was able to change to avoid injuries. Lowlight: the entire class starting to bonk at the same was alarming but it only(thankfully) lasted 15 min on the minimum. Advise: don’t tread lightly into over12 hr anything endurance without a structured plan and allow time to train your body. Lastly: do not do these 12+ hr endurance adventures without a true friend; that endearment goes a long way when one truly gets in a bind. Love is the most powerful endorphin we can tap into; I say use it!!!”

— Cheryl Gaiser, Rider & World Record Holder


Images by Natalie Starr:

“Are there words to describe how we all feel right now? I’m not sure there are ... To take on a GIANT goal with so many unknowns (that candidly scared me a LOT), to add a lot of public attention and press and buildup to it, (thereby risking a giant public failure if we weren’t successful), to ask 100 people (riders and volunteers) to donate their time and energy to this big thing with no guarantee of success, to pair it with a really important cause that means the world to me and to the most important people in my life, and to put it all out there and risk it all in such a big, public, insane way…. Well.
Let’s just say my word right now is jubilant!”
— — Megan Hottman, Instructor, World Record Holder & The Cyclist Lawyer

My pre - and post - event photos:

Just because the event is over, doesn’t mean our fundraising is! We are still going for our $100,000 goal and our fundraising site will be up into January. Please consider donating to our effort:

http://peopleforbikes.org/breaking-history

“Knowing that this WR attempt was going to be quite the feat, I spent a lot of time riding my bike in preparation. I felt ready to reach deep into the tank, but I was not prepared for how big a role my fellow riders would play in my success. While I was the only one that could physically turn my pedals, I was floored at how quickly our group came together and truly became family after 28 hours of cycling together.”
— Thomas Stott, Owner, Elevation Running, World Record Holder
“Mantra’s.....I loved that we had them up on the mirror, mine was “trust your journey”. A tie for me is “passion is contagious”. I think we proved both of those over the 28 hours. You believed in us and we believed in you on the journey we where all about to go on together for 28 hours as a team, there was much energy, passion and quite frankly love in that space the there was no doubt we where going to finish the journey together. We were all feeding off each others’ passion to raise money, make cycling safer and set a Guinness World Record. I made some amazing new friends, Tim, Heather and I-Ling, among others. It reminded me that I needed to get out of my comfort zone more often socially. I loved seeing everyones’ family members come in to see them, hi five, hugs etc. So good. We did something incredible for the greater good and the best part is we where all really giving without expectation ...... sure we were going to set a world record, but it was all bigger than that.....and we knew it. I teared up several times in the early morning hours thinking about what we where doing and what it was all for and meant.......
For me the Hardest part was 1:30am, I was having some GI issues similar to you I imagine, I managed them with some Waterloo as well as Chicken and Stars Soup, one of my go to endurance event foods, Favorite Songs .....I love the Remix stuff, Armin remix of Jump and Faithless, can’t get no sleep.......and the Cyndi Lauper Time after Time Remix, to be honest :)
Thanks again for everything, life changing event and that is an understatement.”
— — Andrew Christman, Owner, Pedal, World Record Holder
“I want to share how impressed I was with this event and team. My words feel so inadequate. Megan and Ryan, I love the planning side of big events as well as the execution. I thought that you were just phenomenal in both. To everyone else, never having met a single one of you beforehand, I am humbled by the camaraderie and teamwork displayed. The encouragement and pats on the back- both literal AND figurative- before, during, and after the ride blew me away. Thank you. I was there to represent SRAM, but if that’s true, it was simply the most incredible business trip of my career! It was way more.”
— — Dave Schweikert, SRAM, World Record holder
“When I arrived for my volunteer shift on Monday morning, I really wasn’t expecting to see all 25 riders still on their bikes, but not one rider had dropped out! Amazing...since they had already been riding for 24 hours and were still going strong. I think this was a result of great leadership, athleticism, positive attitudes, willpower, teamwork, and camaraderie. It was very exciting to watch and awesome to see the team break the world record. Congratulations!”
— — Maureen Massidda, World Record Volunteer
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