This week, Why Cycle Wednesday is all about a GREAT Reason to Ride - fundraising for charity.
You've probably heard of the MS 150 for Multiple Sclerosis, the Tour de Cure for diabetes, and - of course - Livestrong for cancer (though not a ride per se, Lance is involved so it counts). Well, Get Your Guts in Gear (GYGIG) is the ride for those with Crohn's Disease & Colitis. It takes place in three locations - Texas, Washington and New York - and I'll be riding 210 miles from NYC to Saratoga Springs. It's my first-ever charity ride.
But while GYGIG is an important cause to ride for, if the people I've met so far through it are any indication, it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun too!
This past Saturday, GYGIG founder Judy Pacitti and I organized a training ride for those nearby that'll be doing the NY ride. Judy didn't know the area, so I got to pick one of my favorite routes: Branford to Guilford via Rt. 146 with a detour to the picture-perfect seaside village of Stony Creek. I've described this route before, having just done it with a good friend of mine for his 65th birthday. We're at Stony Creek in the pic above - that's Paul, Felipe, Caroline, Mrs. Suitcase and Judy. Be sure to click here for more pics of this route on a sunnier day . . .
After 14 or so miles of rolling terrain on backroads along the ocean, we reached our turnaround point in Guilford. Not only does Guilford have a beautiful seashore and town green, but a neat independent coffee shop. Of course, any good training ride has to include nutrition and - true to the, shall we say, "informal" nature of this particular training ride - we stopped for lattes and dessert. Don't let the pic below fool you - she may look like a potassium addict, but I'm convinced Caroline was just trying to make up for the whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top of her coffee (or was that ice cream in there?)
We'd never met any of these folks in person before and had only GYGIG - and our love of cycling - in common. But by the end of the first few miles of the ride, they already seemed like old friends. If you have a chance to do a fundraising ride this summer - do it. You'll not only provide critical support for some very worthy causes, you'll meet some really great people along the way.
If you've done a charity ride - or are planning to soon - leave a comment and let me know. And be sure to check out the full route map and stats of our ride here. To donate to GYGIG, please click here and thanks in advance!
(props to Judy for the great banana pic!)
