Climate Ride Cycling Wrap-up
The goal of the Climate Ride was to raise money and increase awareness about climate change, clean energy, and alternative transportation (eg. something other than a car), and I'm pretty sure the event was a success. I'll share more on that in a few days over on my other blog, Dennis D's Quest. The means by which we achieved that goal was to ride our bikes a lot. As it turns out, I was VERY successful in that regard. After 5 days I tallied 22 hrs, 8 minutes of ride time over 354 miles while burning 11,875 kJ. That's about 20 big macs worth of calories, or for the vegetarians out there, about 42 tofu burger burned while out on the road.
I returned home a little more fatigued than I had anticipated. My legs were surprised numerous times by the roads we faced. While the pavement was mostly smooth and located in tranquil settings (for good chunks of time cows and horses outnumbered the cars we passed), the elevation gain was far steeper than I had envisioned for such a long charity ride. Nothing as serious as what I'd face on a hilly road race in New England, but still, far more climbing than I'd normally associate with a long charity ride. And of course I have myself to blame for the tired legs as I kept hammering away, especially so on the hills, often leaving fellow riders in awe.
One of the scenic roads of Amish Country
One rider remarked “I wish I was good at something like you – I’m only good at drinking beer and eating pizza.” I’ll admit that such comments stoked the ego just a bit, but as the days passed by, I found myself far more impressed with the other riders. After all, what’s more impressive? A Cat 4 roadie who zooms up the hills faster than the rest of the charity rider peloton? Or the person in not-so-great shape with maybe just a couple hundred miles under their belt for the year who pushed their bodies to the brink of exhaustion? A regular bike commuter who took his trusty Fixie out of the city and into the hills?
Fixie on the left, fixie rider holding helmet on the right
Or how about the guy who powered the contraption pictured below for 300 miles to demonstrate the utilitarian aspects of cycling?
Two ladies taking tough guy's steed for a test ride
Or the folks who donned work clothes to prove you can bike to work at even great distances?
"Commuter" on the left.
And there's no way you could claim I had more stamina than this mother-daughter duo!
The two most impressive Climate Riders, photo from Kip Pierson
What further impressed me with my fellow rider’s performances had to do with their motivation. For those who know me personally, it is clear that Climate Change is a cause near and dear to me. However, if you were to say “Dennis, do you want to ride 300 miles in five days to support XYZ”, I might just say “yes”, regardless of what word you use to replace XYZ. I love riding my bike, and I need little motivation to get me excited to hit the roads. Yet I’m willing to bet that a good number of the 140 riders battled with their bikes, and perhaps even grew to loath their bikes as they clawed their way up a few hills in excess of 11%. Yet they persevered & toughed it out all in the name of a good cause.
I enjoyed every one of the tens of thousands of pedal strokes throughout the 350+ miles, so even though I might have been going fast, I’d say I had it pretty easy. For the not-so-avid female cyclist whose descrption of her saddle rash grew more grotesque with each day, and all of the other riders like her, now that’s impressive!
