The City to Shore is my favorite ride of the year. It's by far the largest group ride that we participate in, it's flat as can be, and it gives us the opportunity to practice drafting and group riding better than any other ride. I've also got a personal connection to this ride.
After graduating college, I was at the beach with my folks and mentioned that I really wanted to do something about my weight. My step dad suggested doing the City to Shore. He had done this ride years earlier and had a great time. Although he would be unable to participate in the ride with me, my good friend who still rides with me came along. We rode 75 miles one way on our first year. I rode my step dad's old trek hybrid bike. My friend rode his dad's 1970's road bike which shifting on the down tube. It also was incredibly too small for him. But we did it.
This ride is the reason I got interested in cycling. It's great because you meet people, talk, challenge yourself physically and mentally (especially when the rain comes and the wind starts blowing), and most importantly, it gives you a goal to set your sights on.
At the end of the ride in Ocean City, my wife (then girlfriend) says to me, "I think I want to do this next year." And she did. So did my brother. But this time, we set our sights higher. We did 100 miles in one day. The first time any of us had ever attempted a century. It was difficult. Especially since my spoke broke on the century loop (an additional 25 mile loop to make the route 100 total). I had to wait for a support van to come fix my spoke. I sent everyone up ahead to the rest stop and ended up waiting about 30 minutes and learning that I was the second to last person left on the century loop.
Needless to say, I wasn't happy with looking like the slow poke. I hopped on my bike, thanked the mechanic, and pushed at 25mph or more up to the rest stop a little over 5 miles up the road. When I got there, huffing and puffing, I handed my wife my bottles, asked her to refill them, and then off we went. Finishing that ride was a great accomplishment. If any of you ride or run, you know how your muscles can cramp up if you rest too long. Just getting back on the bike was difficult, let alone churning out relatively high speeds for the rest of the ride.
For our third year, we decided to do the two day ride. 75 miles in each direction. The challenge here is doing a long ride, resting, and then getting on your bike the next day with a sore butt and tight legs just to complete the same ride, in reverse, the following day. But we did. And it was awesome. Our first day felt a little unorganized. We were not working as a team to draft and pull ourselves along. Day two was entirely different. It felt like everything clicked. Even with the sore legs we managed exactly the same average speed the next day!
This year will be our fourth ride. We'll be completing the longest ride that they offer, 175 miles in two days. I'm extremely excited, however, I do not have the funds raised yet to be able to participate.
In order to participate in this ride, we each need to raise $300. I have currently raised $160. I hate asking for money from people, but if you've got a few bucks to donate to a great cause, I would appreciate your continued support. Please visit my Participant Center and donate.
As a bonus, I'll send an e-mail to the people who donated to me with an update on the ride soon after it's over. Please help me out!
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