DONE..2 x 100kms in 2 days. charity ride for cancer

[CdnRider]

Well I finished an incredible wknd of riding 2 metric centuries back to back. Incredible!! Myself and another 4,000+ cyclists rode from Toronto to Hamilton (106kms). Slept in tents. Then off again in the morning to finish the ride to Niagara Falls (112kms). It was the Ride To Conquer Cancer. Phenomenal event. And incredibly well run. Nothing but props to all the organizers and volunteers. $61 Million dollars raised in this event.

for more info...check this.. The Ride to Conquer Cancer: Welcome to The Ride

It was the 3rd year running.

Highlights for me....and my team of 4 other riders. 5 flats...1 tip over...me getting rear ended by a buddy!! neither of us fell...mostly due to my fast acceleration once i heard the wheels rubbing!! hahaa. requiring new brake pads and getting them at the finish line day 1. FREE. from the Bike Sponsor tents. Along with a new rear brake cable. flying down one of the descents over 75kmhr(last # i saw on the comp - top speed read 113kmhr earlier which was WRONG - probably from fiddling around with the front wheel and magnet earlier!)....climbing up the Hamilton mtn or escarpment on my lightweight wheelset. I have too many to list. but wow. what a wknd. We all signed up for next year already.

Other highlights. Riding beside a lady on her tricycle...pedalling with her one and only leg. An 80+ yr old blind man on a tandem. A dude who decided to ride his BMX....many arm powered machines....and finally....all those riders who were flying the yellow flag - indicating they were cancer survivors. Hats off to all those involved. Glad i was part of this.

So what did you guys do this wknd??? hahaaa...

 

[gman0482]

Well done !! Congrats.

 

[swampy1970]

Well I finished an incredible wknd of riding 2 metric centuries back to back. Incredible!! Myself and another 4,000+ cyclists rode from Toronto to Hamilton (106kms). Slept in tents. Then off again in the morning to finish the ride to Niagara Falls (112kms). It was the Ride To Conquer Cancer. Phenomenal event. And incredibly well run. Nothing but props to all the organizers and volunteers. $61 Million dollars raised in this event.

for more info...check this.. The Ride to Conquer Cancer: Welcome to The Ride

It was the 3rd year running.

Highlights for me....and my team of 4 other riders. 5 flats...1 tip over...me getting rear ended by a buddy!! neither of us fell...mostly due to my fast acceleration once i heard the wheels rubbing!! hahaa. requiring new brake pads and getting them at the finish line day 1. FREE. from the Bike Sponsor tents. Along with a new rear brake cable. flying down one of the descents over 75kmhr(last # i saw on the comp - top speed read 113kmhr earlier which was WRONG - probably from fiddling around with the front wheel and magnet earlier!)....climbing up the Hamilton mtn or escarpment on my lightweight wheelset. I have too many to list. but wow. what a wknd. We all signed up for next year already.

Other highlights. Riding beside a lady on her tricycle...pedalling with her one and only leg. An 80+ yr old blind man on a tandem. A dude who decided to ride his BMX....many arm powered machines....and finally....all those riders who were flying the yellow flag - indicating they were cancer survivors. Hats off to all those involved. Glad i was part of this.

So what did you guys do this wknd??? hahaaa...

I rode 200 miles, 20,000+ft of climbing over 8 passes and puked a few times...

... but I did it for myself - hats off to you and the thousands of folks on bikes raising money and having fun at the same time. Sounds like you had an awesome time and helped make a difference. Nice

Me, I left a pile of carrots for someone to slip in.

 

[CdnRider]

correction guys..

16.1$ million raised. not 61$ million.

 

[alienator]

Good job. Now, after the economic melt down, Canadian miles are nearly as long as American miles, so your ride was still respectable! Alas, you may find that you now have a problem: fast descents often cause a jonesing for even faster descents.

 

[64Paramount]

Good for you, Cdn! Sounds like you had a blast!

 

[CdnRider]

I highly recommend these large charity rides. Lots of fun. Great atmosphere which adds to one's energy level. Just a ton of fun all together. Didn't hurt seeing all kinds of bikes. Eye candy to guys like me. Some of the hardcores didn't hold back and brought their full-on race bikes with carbon this and that. Heaps of tri-bikes too. I'm sure there were plenty folks there who treated the 100k or 100miles (there was an option) as a race training ride. But for the majority of people....it was a ride just to simply ride!! and to know that they raised the minimum 2500$ going towards a very worthy cause.

I'm telling you. I saw guys riding heavy 40+ lb bikes. tandems. recumbents.....vintages.....everything except a unicycle. every shape, colour, and size of rider. truly a sight to see. and everyone was smiling. even going up some of the climbs.

I know this event is being held in a few cities across Canada like Montreal, Vancouver and i think Calgary. There's probably something similar for our neighbours to the south. If so....jump on it. You'll have a blast.

We're all doing it next year. And i've decided to ride my old and heavy Miele again. I'll leave the tri bike and lighter ride at home. If all those guys are pushing their heavy bikes....so will i!!! but I still may throw on my lightweight wheels. Just to help me out on the climbs.