Good Ole Charity Rides

Charity Rides are the backbone of the cycling community. There are way more people that just ride for the fun of it, for the love of the bike, than there are serious race snobs. No offense to the race crowd, I'm a wanna be. In fact, more power to you. If I had more time or made more time, I would be there every weekend racing too. I love it! I've actually attempted to race a couple races in the past, not this year but in the past two years, I've probably raced 7-8 races. I can say with pride that I finished in the top 10 in most of them. I think 4th was the highest I finished in a Crit one time. I'm actually looking forward to racing next year. I'm on a strength kick right now and plan to implement a strict base period this Winter.

I got my start doing the MS 150 here in beautiful East Tennessee. We left from Verizon on Gunbarrel Rd and went North to Sweetwater and back the next day. Those were the good ole days. Since then I've done so many centuries I can't count as well as standing Bicycle Shop rides and rides with friends. Probably the single best thing I did to help me compete or to keep myself in good cycling shape was my decision to be a Spinning Instructor. 3-4 times a week in the gym really helps my ability to ride and at times ride strong.

This past week-end I rode in the Open Arms Care Bike Challenge. open Arms Care is an organization that houses and assist special needs adults in the surrounding area. Great ride for a great cause. My friends wife just got a bike and has only been riding for a couple months now. Several of us planned to do the ride but when it was all said and done, it was just the three of us. Because of soccer and football it was perfect timing wise for us to only do the 28 mile option. We had so much fun. It had been a long time since I'd done a ride like that and not tried to throw a lung. It felt awesome to just ride. No worries about heart rate, nutrition, hydration, none of that, just riding with friends. So with that said, thanks guys. I needed that. Chris and Cindy are pictured above. They are true bike snobs in terms of gear. Chris has a Cervelo R-3 (decent bike ;)) with Zipp 303's and Cindy has a new Orbea Orca. Sweet rides! Here I am riding down the road. The fog was so bad I had to take my glasses off. They were so fogged up I could see better without them, and that's scary. I looked like a dork but guess what, I was having a BLAST.