First of all, I would like to extend an enormous "thank you" to all those who sponsored me in the Brain Tumor Society's 50-mile "Ride for Research" which took place in Waltham, Massachusetts yesterday. The local Glastonbury community really pulled together this year for Jake Gainey, a local 7 year-old Hopewell School student who suffers from a pediatric brain tumor and assembled nearly 100 riders to form "Team Jake". I was able to collect just over $1,200 for the cause, Team Jake collected over $152,000 (2nd most successful team in the event) and the event itself generated approximately $1.3 million for brain tumor research!
I have been a competitive runner for nearly 20 years and this was my first time participating in a charity bike ride. It was very strange to take in the road race atmosphere (registration tables, pre-race food, bib numbers, athletic people milling around, etc.) but not have those familiar pre-race jitters. Actually, I ended up losing track of time and as I was suiting up the gun went off and I panicked when I saw hundreds of cyclists taking off without me! For maybe 5 seconds I was a basket case as I scrambled to finish getting my things on, which would have been appropriate if it was a 5K road race. But then I realized that there were no age groups, no trophies...not even a time clock! So I slowed down, took my sweet time, high-fived the kids and shoved off in a leisurely manner.
That we're-not-in-Kansas-anymore feeling stayed with me for most of the ride. Instead of trying my best to tear through the field I simply sidled up to a few riders wearing the Team Jake t-shirts and started chatting. Then 10 miles into the course we hit our first "rest station", which is the equivalent of a water station in a road race. I'm used to grabbing a cup of water, slurping it down and chucking the cup on the side of the road without breaking stride. This was a bit different. At this station we stopped and parked our bikes, grabbed a couple fluffer-nutter sandwiches and a bottle of Powerade, sat down, stretched, chatted with other riders, posed for pictures, waved at the riders who were skipping the station (fools!) and then grabbed some more food (there's a strong possibility that I actually gained weight on this ride). I think we spent about 15 minutes there before joining the throng again. Admittedly, I developed the shakes as I tried to adjust my brain to this entirely new concept of a rest station and fought the urge to rush back out there, but it didn't take long for the shakes to subside.
Instead of picking people off, strategizing and timing my finishing kick, I rode easily and chatted with many people from all over the region (and one couple from Tennessee) who shared sad yet inspiring stories about how brain tumors had profoundly touched their lives in one way or another.
The only downside to the day was that the weather was downright awful. Temperatures in the low 50's and steady rain for most of the ride. It was much worse than Boston last month because there was more precipitation and you also had to deal with the wind-chill factor that comes with bike riding. I usually enjoy riding downhills, but the 25-30 mph downhills are absolute torture when all of your clothes are plastered to your body with cold rain. Nonetheless, I toughed most of the course out with a rider named Susan (Jake's father's cousin) and there was a huge sense of relief when we arrived back at ride headquarters.
I have no idea how much time it took me to cover the 50-mile course, what my average speed was or where I finished in the field (although Amy was in the process of organizing a search party when I finally finished, so I was apparently near the very back of the pack!). Nonetheless, this will probably end up being the most "successful" athletic event in my training log this year. Why? Because I managed to raise a four-figure amount for a very worthy cause, got in a long (albeit miserable) bike ride and met a lot of wonderful people whom I wouldn't have met otherwise. My advice to other road racers: shift gears every once in a while and get involved in one of these charity events!