Ride for the Roses 


100 Miles Ridden, $2500 Raised 

After months of training, I completed my first century! That's 100 miles on a bike, otherwise known as 7+ hours (if you're as slow as I am) with a tiny plastic seat wedged up your butt.

This wasn't just any 100 miles, though. It was probably the most famous 100 mile ride in the country -- Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses. Together with around 7000 other cyclists, I helped raise over $7.3 million to support people living with cancer. 
 
Once I passed the 35 mile/2 hour cutoff where they determine if you're allowed to go the full 100, I began to relax a little and really look around at my cohorts.  Every state and many countries were represented -- for a while I actually joined the lovely men of the Dutch International Xerox team to get a little relief from the wind (while the weather was beautiful, the wind was INSANE -- I practically went 35 mph for half the ride and 5 mph for the other half -- nuts!). 

The most powerful aspect of the ride was that almost everyone had signs pinned to their jersey regarding who they were riding "in honor of" and who they were riding "in memory of" (many also said "I'm a survivor").  Everyone had a story and they were happy to slow down a little and tell you about them. Even the hundreds of people at rest stops and little kids along the way had stories and signs that said things like "Thank You -- Our Dad is a Cancer Survivor." 
 
I never caught up to Lance or his famous friends (apparently Robin Williams went 100 miles too!), but the ride was so well supported that I think we all felt like celebrities. This is definitely an event I plan to do again (and hopefully rope more friends into doing it with me!).

Here I am, arriving home after the big event. Not TOO worse for wear!


 

Posted: Sun - October 23, 2005 at 09:46 PM          

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