Bicycling

In the final hours of the Great Cycle Challenge, I completed my goal of riding 160 miles in the month of September. Not bad for a guy in his early 50's but I'm sure 20-something me would have been able to reach this total in half the time it took. But the truth is I probably worked harder for these miles than anytime in my life given my current weight and all the windy days I rode.

The middle of September brought unfriendly bicycle weather to South Dakota with winds the primary foe for any bicyclist. Even as I write with only a few days of the challenge left, we're seeing winds at 30 MPH gusting to 45 MPH. For weeks 3 and 4 of my challenge, I was only able to get three rides completed. With only a few days left of the month, I've ridden just 120 miles of my 160 mile goal. Cross your fingers that I get 40 miles of additional riding done before this challenge is over.

As we end week two for this ride challenge to help fight kids' cancer, we find cooler and wetter weather coming to my part of the country. So rides are now less predictable, and as such, I was only able to get a single ride in. The good news is my team is doing well with their rides and together we have managed to ride 190 miles. More importantly, so far we've collected $1435 for the Great Cycle Challenge.

I can still use your help in this charity as I'm only half way through in reaching my goal for donations. If you wish to donate and help me raise funds for children's cancer research, please visit my Great Cycle Challenge page and consider contributing to this worthy charity.

During this month of September, I am taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer!

Why? Because right now, cancer is the biggest killer of children from disease in the United States. Over 15,700 children are diagnosed every year, and sadly, 38 children die of cancer every week. Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.

I was asked to join my office's bike team, the SuperCells, and help in in the effort to raise money through a ride challenge intended to support the Children's Cancer Research Fund. The fund and research dollars allow research to continue their work to develop lifesaving treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer. 

Yesterday, we just didn't get rain but also had some snow in the mix. It's days (weeks) like this that have me miss the warm days my son and I get to ride our bicycles on the city bike trails. In April we did just that and completed a 25 mile bike path with a nice stop at the Sioux Falls Waterfall.

I've taken my son on these bike rides since he was eight years old. We started out with 12 mile rides but he can now easily do 25 to 30 miles with me. He's now getting to the point that my sport is his sport and he'll hit the long bike trails even without me.