Girls With Gears 2009 – The wrap up.

GWG 2009 Post ride photo (l-r) Diane, Lou, me

First let me say thank you! I was able to raise $325, $75 more than my pledge goal! The event overall raised $50,000 from rider pledges.

This was my second charity ride and my first time back on my bike in over a year. Since high school I have always been “into” cycling and have 2 lifetime goals – 1 is to complete a 100 mile ride (aka century.) The other is to ride across the country. While this ride was only 10 miles I had to take off a few months of any sort of exercise while recovering from recent surgery so this ride was big deal for me and hopefully the start of many great things to come.

Joining me on the ride was my lovely wife, Diane and our friend Lou. Lou is a very experienced rider with over 20 years riding experience. He does the huge charity rides like the California AIDS ride which covers 750 miles over the course of a week. Everyone needs Lou or some like him on a ride. He is friendly, encouraging and thoroughly knowledgeable without being condescending or a busybody. Lou is someone who rides for the sheer joy riding and wants everyone around him to experience the joy.

The weather held up nicely for us as well. Far from the predicted cold, wind, and rain we had a warm gentle breeze and just enough sun to make it a cheerful Sunday morning. We couldn’t have ordered up better conditions, not too hot, not too cold but juussst right!

The event took place at the Limerick Community Park and Pavilion. There were 1000 registered riders who participated in various rides from 62.5 miles (a metric century) to 42, 25 and the 10 mile ride. We arrived at the event around 8:45 am. The longer rides had left around 7am or so. The parking at the pavilion was full so we were directed to the ‘overflow’ parking about 1.5 miles down the road. We parked and started to unload the bikes. Lou immediately began assisting 2 women pumping their tires and getting them set up on their mountain bikes. His sweet carbon frame Cologno was set up in seconds. Diane had her 1975 Gitane – another very sweet ride and I had the Catbird – my Jamis Coda Sport hybrid. We rode back to the park and registered and after looking over the size of the 10 mile group chose to depart on our own.

Diane had a few mechanical issues getting started. Her chain kept jumping off the gears and getting stick between the cranks and the frame. Lou got her set up and back on the road ASAP. A short while later we met up with some folks who were having troubles with their brakes, again Lou jumped off and had them back on the road in less than 5 mins.

The 10 mile route was rolling hills, challenging but doable. And of course what goes up must come down. At one point we came to a nice downhill ' s 'curve . Lou took off as did Diane. Per Lou’s bike computer they clocked around 35 -40 mph. Me? I’m a big scaredy cat and went down a little more cautiously at 18- 20 mph. A few hills later I passed Di who had pulled over to walk a bit but she got back on and passed me soon enough.

Along the route we passed a working farm. The farmer was in his driveway smiling and shouting out encouragement to everyone who passed. The riders and the event staff and even many of the local residents, like that farmer, were all very supportive and ready to help. When Lou was working on freeing Diane's chain a guy who lived in a home across the road came running out with a bike pump assuming we had a flat. We thanked him and told him the deal and he waved us on our way. It was great feeling.

There were photographers taking pictures of the riders as we left and returned from our rides at the Pavilion. Outback provided lunch – a choice of salads, pasta and grilled chicken. Volunteers had oranges and bananas and Luna bars. Starbucks provided coffee and there were various flavors of sports drink and water donated by Giant and volunteers. A lot of vendors jewelry, clothing, bike related stuff who donated part of their sales to Carol For Heart , free heart health screenings, massage and lots of good cheer all the way around.

After lunch Lou shared some inspiring stories of the big rides he’s completed. I was choked up several times. It is amazing how something as simple as a bike ride can change so many lives – the riders, the volunteers and the beneficiaries.

This was a great experience and something I will definitely be doing again next year.