My Motto

Hop on. Ride hard. Repeat



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Bike Day!

I'm truly excited about tomorrow.  It is the first of several Bike Days that I have planned for the year.  Long story short, I have a good bit of time off saved up and I need to use it.  On Wednesdays, my wife works all day and my kids go to daycare.  We will pay for the daycare whether we use it or not, so why not take a day off and get in a long bike ride?  Everyone is happy, right?

It also happens that tomorrow is my birthday which, of course, makes this extra special.

All of my Bike Days are in the spring or fall because I am encouraged not to take too much time off during June, July and August.  So what do I plan on doing?  Good question.

Tomorrow, I will ride the 100K/64 mile route used for the annual 100 Grand Bike Tour put on by the Rapidwheelmen.  I hope to do this route twice on the day of the 100 Grand so I can capture my first 200k ride.  That's my plan, at least.

On May 23rd, I might participate in the 100 Miles to Nowhere charity ride put on by fatcyclist.com.  The gist of this ride is that you pick some short, mundane route near you and ride it enough times to go 100 miles.  The proceeds from the event will go to a camp meant for kids of parents with cancer (a pretty worthy cause, I think!).

The cool part is that it will likely be a worldwide event.  Each participant gets to pick their own route and then ride it.  They don't even have to be on the same day.  Fatty encourages riders to do it on June 2nd, but it's not a requirement.

My plan is to ride "The Loop".  This is a 5 mile route practically outside my house.  It has 2 good hills and one decent hill.  I will have to complete it 20 times.  This will likely be my biggest cycling challenge to date because it will involve a lot of climbing and it will be, honestly, quite boring.

One other obstacle to this ride might be the cost.  I have no idea what the cost is to register.  Will I have to raise a certain amount of money?  Is there a steep entry fee?  Ya got me.  Registration is supposed to open tomorrow, so I guess I will see.

Other than those two days, I plan on riding other local routes that I typically do not have time for or have never ridden before.  For instance, I plan on following Honey Creek Road from Cannonsburg into Ada, mostly because the last stretch into Ada is about as hilly as they come for the Grand Rapids area.