biking...the journey continues

Next weekend (as in the 18th) the youngster and I will participate in the Katie Ride for Life. It's a charity thing that benefits education programs on the high school level concerning organ donor registration. Apparently it's also pretty effective at getting kids about to get their drivers license thinking about electing to register to be an organ donor. If anyone wants to contribute to the cause, there's an e-mail link in my profile. Feel free to use it and I'll let you know how.

We did this thing last year, and it was the first organized ride we did together. The youngster got a feel for what this kind of ride is like on a smaller scale (about 500 cyclists), before doing the MS Ride in the fall which has over 2000 riders.

There are several things I like about the Katie Ride. It's a good cause, and it works. It really does save lives, just by educating kids. The ride is beautiful. It goes from Fernandina Beach south along the ocean. For a lot of the ride, you either have the beach or the intracoastal waterway, or both, in sight. You turn around at an old clubhouse on Fort George Island and head back to the start...100 km total. It starts at a civilized hour...8:30, so you don't have to get up before dawn and.....hold on there!

They changed the freakin' time! Well, they did for some of us. The ride has several distances, from 30 km (18 miles) up to 100 miles. Next year I'm hoping to do the 100 mile route. I'd do it this year, but I have a neighbor and the youngster with me, and I don't think they're up to that quite yet. Anyway, I digress. Last year, they started the 100 mile folks at 7:00. The 30, 60 and 100 km people started at 8:30. This year the 100 km people (ie. us) will start at 7:00 with the 100 mile riders. Since it's about an hour ride by car from home to the start line, and we'll have to be there before it starts, we'll be leaving home at about 5:30. Oh joy! I know....waaaahhhhhh, but still!