OK, the 100 miles of nowhere is done.  As previously mentioned, it was a 100 mile ride around a .25 mile track.  400 laps of pure monotony.  I had originally planned to do this ride by myself with my erstwhile family occasionally peeking their head out the front door to cheer me on before returning to the warm glow of the TV.

However, a fit of inspiration overcame me and I determined to find some volunteers to help share the load.  The first volunteers I found lived in my house.  These volunteers were not initially very happy about the state of affairs but went along with the plan in the name of familial harmony.  Next I posted on Facebook to find some more volunteers and picked up Marci and Bob.  Rich mentioned it to Allen and the day of the event I had about 6 people riding including several youngsters.  Also had a couple of ladies from the neighborhood walking laps to help out!  Cindy Brookshire stopped by to cheer us on.

The only thing that worried me about this whole lash-up was Beauregard Avenue part of the course.  That road is a frequently-used cuthrough.  The turn onto Beauregard is a bit awkward and even the most vigilant rider might let his attention wander after 100 laps.  So, I called the Police department and asked what I could do to make it safer.  I wondered if it would be cool if I went and bought a couple of cones to plunk down in the middle of the street to warn drivers that something was going on.  They indicated that they would look at it and get back to me.  They called back later and said they would just put out a couple of cones – it wasn’t a big deal.  Well, they outdid themselves.  As you can see from the picture, they put out enough cones to make a nice safe lane.  At first this seemed like overkill but as more people got involved – including several little kids, I was thankful they had been vigilant.  Thanks to the PD for their help.

The ride for me went off without a hitch except that the night before the ride my road bike developed a flat tire and I couldn’t find the leak.  I had to switch to the hybrid bike.  Riding that hybrid 35 or so miles was like pushing a brick.  My quads are still sore…:)  Overall we got done in about 3 hours.  We just added everyone’s lap totals together instead of having everyone ride 100 miles.  Many out there would accuse me of cheating.  Not So!  It was an ideal recruiting mechanism as it makes the ride seem less daunting.  Thanks to everyone who turned out and rode.  I appreciate the support.

I think next year I’ll do it again (if they have it) and we’ll make a real local fundraiser for it.  Still would benefit the livestrong foundation but we would do more to involve Manassas and raise some money to help the cause.