Fun Charity Ride!

Blackie here with an update about the End Hunger charity ride I was talking about in my Last Post.  It was chilly (upper 40's to low 50's all day), cloudy, and rained/sleeted on us in the last few miles- there's a story there, but we'll tell it in good time...
Here was the route we took:

It was scheduled to be a Metric Century (100km or 64-ish miles), but our riding buddy, Bob, missed a turn and Buttercup had to go find him.  So it turned out to be more of a 71 mile ride.  Good Grief.  *Sigh*

But it was a good ride- as I've been documenting here, Buttercup has been working on his leg strength a lot so far this season and this was another good opportunity for a workout!  On all the hills, I stayed in the Big Ring so he had to get his rear out of the saddle and work for it.  I don't think I quite had his legs feeling like jelly, but I watched from the rack as he was walking to the truck after the picnic and he was looking a little tired.  So I think it was success!

Here's a picture of me and Bob's Bianchi at one of the rest stops...

Taking a Break

And, the getting lost story: We were on a part of the course with some pretty big rolling hills- so I had BC out of the saddle since I was Big Ring-ing him.  That had us going a little faster pace up the hills so we were ahead when we topped one hill where there was a turn.  And Bob wasn't far behind, but we stopped to take a picture or two shortly after the turn and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  We went back to the turn and waited a while longer.  Then Bob called and said he missed the turn.  So we went and met him part way as he was making his way back to the course.  No big deal- but a fun opportunity to pick on him.  "I hear Deale is nice this time of year..." *snicker*.

Speaking of pictures!  Here are those two shots BC took!

The Road Ahead- into the woods!

Just a nice farm/tree shot :o)

Anyway- to finish the "lost" story- so we're now a little later in the day than we were planning on, right?  Two friggin' miles from the finish?  It finally rains.  Wait, no that's sleet.  No, no... that's HAIL.  Are you serious?  Really?  Oh well, it only lasted for a bit.
Then the nice volunteer police man stopped traffic so we could cross back to the starting point, I got racked and they went to the picnic.  Then home.
Since it was supposed to rain today, BC didn't bother to do my tear down maintenance work (of course then it didn't rain other than for those couple of minutes...), so watch for that coming up this week!
But a good ride, a good cause, and a good time.  Sweet.

Oh- and here's a picture that one of the nice photographers took of me and BC on the course.  Good thing I'm so darned good looking!

Friday Fuel Injection 4/27/2012- Charity Rides

Happy Friday!  It's me, Blackie Bike, here with this week's Friday Fuel Injection.
Buttercup and I are going to have a wet and chilly ride tomorrow in the End Hunger Calvert County charity bike ride.  We're doing the metric century (100km- 64miles) route.  This is always a great ride that is VERY well run and a lot of fun.
So let's take just a minute to focus on charity rides!

Fundraising!!

These rides help to provide more information and visibility to whatever cause they are supporting.  Hunger, Diabetes, a local shelter, animals, blindness, Veterans, and the list goes on.  Heck, there's even one put on every year in Boston from the Brain Tumor Association that we're going to go up and do some year!  But here's the deal- for a lot of them, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RIDE.  There might be a small registration fee.  Some of them have fundraising goals- those run the gambit from $100-over $1000.  Just pick one that suits you.
Do you know somebody with a disease that has a prominent charity ride?  Dad has Diabetes?  A friend or co-worker has MS?  MD?  TB?  AIDS? Cancer?  Some guy who rides a bike who has a blog has/had a brain tumor?  Go ride.  Get them on board for support- maybe your co-worker will help you fund raise?  Maybe they'll come out and ring a cowbell for you?  Cheer?  Hold up embarrassing signs?  SWEET!
And use your social media connections for fundraising.  You'd be amazed at how much closer you can be to your goal with just a little ask.  Maybe your company will help out by letting everyone know?  Or matching donations?

All good stuff.  So we'll be out there in the rain and cold tomorrow morning (BC will be bundled up and I'll have those damn fenders on) out to help the members of our community who just need a little extra help!

So sign up for a charity ride for something that will provide some more incentive for you to GO RIDE YOUR BIKE!!