I’ve posted about it before—mostly to ask for donations—so here’s a short write-up about yesterday’s ride: My team, Geeks in Gear, raised over $1500 toward the fight against diabetes. We rode not just for the cause but in memory of our friend and teammate, Wil Curry, who was hit by a motorist while riding his bike two months ago. He was the team member who raised the most funds, which makes me happy in a really melancholy way (if that makes any sense). We all miss him, his humor, and his encouragement. We missed him extra, yesterday.<\/p>\n
As far as the ride itself, despite the rain and the cold (and apparently some hail, in one area), we all met our distance goals. Two of us rode 25 kilometers (which was, by the way, over three times longer than I’d ever ridden before!), and two rode 100 kilometers (I think that was the longest ride either of them had ever done; I know one of them had only ever ridden half that in a day … which sort of blows my 5 mile → 15.5 mile increase out of the water, huh? :)). With my knee problems, I didn’t expect to be able to finish … and, truth be told, although I totally traversed the whole distance, a lot of the uphill parts were done on foot: part of the TdC route is an area known semi-affectionately by local drivers as “Breaklight Hill,” because it’s so steep; I knew<\/em> I wouldn’t be able to bike up that. (Especially with my half-busted derailleur. First gear sometimes means a slipped chain, it turns out.) But, tired though I was by the end, I made it the whole way. I felt very proud of myself and proud of my team. <\/p>\n I don’t know if next year’s goal is 50k (and walk up Breaklight Hill if I need to), or 25k-and-no-walking. :)<\/p>\n Here’s Dale and me at the half-way point (not a super flattering picture, but there you go—also, check out those clouds in the background!):
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sheldon-hess.org\/coral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/halfway.jpg\" "\\"Halfway")
<\/a><\/p>\n