Eat A Peach/Westminster

[Zen]

I got this message from a friend.

If you know anyone who would be interested in being a stoker, PM me and I'll give you the rest of the info.

or you could go solo.

It's too hot for me!

Hey, all. I know this is out of character but I'm considering riding the "Eat a Peach" challenge ride this Saturday, 8/11, starting in Westminster. The ride is a fundraiser for The Brain Injury Association of Maryland. I know little about the group but the ride comes recommended.

The Brain Injury Association of Maryland's website is here: http://www.biamd.org/

For better information on the ride, this is from the people running the ride: http://www.charmcityrun.com/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=671

I was thinking of doing the 67 mile or the 100 mile course. As I read the information they are the same except that the 100 miler continues on after the 67 miler stops so you probably don't have to make a choice until mile 67. Registration is $45 between now and the event day so no commitment is needed now.

If anyone is interested let me know so we can meet up and perhaps ride some of it together...I'm not going for any speed records.

As an alternative, if anyone is interested, I can offer you a ride on the back of the tandem. You won't have to worry about traffic and you will see more scenery. You won't have to work quite as hard, as tandems are more efficient. The novelty of a tandem makes other riders more social. Riding behind a big load like me will make you look thin. And finally I've been told I'm a good listener but I don't remember who said that. If you have any interest let me know so we can see if we can fit the bike to you before the event day.

So far Bob Wormald and I are considering this and he says he doesn't need to race either. Any interest?

[Rakekay]

This actuallly sounds like great fun, but I'm just back on the bike this week (after spending about a year in the gym and off the bike) and don't think I could tackle any but the 12-mile route -- and depending on the hills, even that might be a challenge.

Maybe next year. Let us know how it goes if any of you do it.

[Zen]

Keep in mind I'm not doing this, I just posted that for a friend.

Why would an organization schedule a fundraising ride in August!!!???

[JmcG]

Hey all -
Just wanted to update you on the Eat a Peach ride......to sum it up - it's the toughest ride I've ever done (one of the guys with us had a GPS and determined we did at least 7000 feet of climbing in those 67 miles). And I do the Civil War Century every year, but I felt like this was tougher - there are no flats and so no recovery. It kicked my butt! It also didn't help that I went to the Gipsy Kings concert Friday night and only got about 4.5 hours of sleep....but anyway, it's a great ride, lots of fun, and it turned out to be great weather. It was really cool at the start and never got too hot. The ride was really well supported with great volunteers. We had a great time, although we ended up only doing the 67 miles. There was a cutoff time of finishing the 67 miles by 1pm, which we made, but we were so beat up, we decided we wouldn't benefit or gain anything by continuing on, and that it would just be a 33 mile sufferfest.

I would definitely recommend this ride to everyone, and it's nice b/c it has distances for all - 12 mile loop, 33 mile loop, 40 mile, 67 mile, and 100 miles. One guy I know did the 33 mile loop, felt great, so went out and did it again. That was the longest he's ever ridden, too!

So who's doing civil war century this year?? There's also the Reston Century on August 26, which I've never done but I'm registered for.

And next weekend, if you really want to suffer, but see how good you are at climbing a hill, there's an uphill time trial (0.9 miles - easy!) in Ellicott City on Ilchester Road. Here's the link for it:
http://www.chesapeakewheelmen.org/HiwayToHeavenTT.pdf
Currently there are only 2 women signed up (me and another lady).