The Roswell Park Cancer Institute has an annual charity bike ride to raise funds. This year 7000+ people participated, raising $4.5 million.

All the riders aren't in a single pack- you sign up for your choice of routes, from a 3-mile family easy ride, to a 100-mile 'century' for the hard-core. This year my wife and I chose the 30 mile route, which is the most popular. It's so popular that there are two start times. We picked the early start so my wife could head off to her favorite strawberry festival, which is scheduled for the same day every year.

Sadly, one of us hit the snooze button the morning of the ride. I'm not going to say who, just that it's the guy that was up late prepping the bikes. We're not here to cast blame. I'm sure that the sleepy gentleman had a series of other excuses reasons too.


We did arrive in time to start with the 45-mile pack. I just made a point of standing next to my bike in such a way as to conceal the sticker identifying which route we were going on. Really though, no one cared. We took off with the 45-milers, and then when the two paths diverged after five or so miles, my wife and I took a left while the hundreds of other bikers around us took a right.

Being late turned out to be a genius decision. Instead of being stuck in the middle of a horde, we were free to gambol along at my wife's preferred pace. (About 1 mph faster than last time, despite us not getting in much bike time in spring.) The route was clearly marked, and the aid stations were still open because the second wave of the 30 mile route (the "late start") was going to come along in another hour and a half.

A few of their fastest riders managed to catch us just before the end, because it was hot. It wasn't so bad when we started at 7:30 AM, but by 9 it was in the mid-80s and humid. We were the last people to complete the 30 mile route, because in light of the rising heat index, the later wave of people doing the 30 mile course were all diverted to a shorter route.

So to summarize, we had a hot morning of riding along with a few thousand random strangers, and also raised some money to support our local cancer treatment and research center.

Posted by: Boviate at 10:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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