Wednesday, May 28, 2008

This riding stuff is fun... again

I got it a whopping 42 miles yesterday afternoon. I was off half the day and got out to ride about 3 and loved having the trail mostly to myself for awhile. I could tell when folks were getting off from work because it was a slow steady build of riders and runners.

I felt like me again. By that I mean it used to take me about 15 miles just to feel warmed up when I was on the bike daily. It felt like that yesterday. I did down and back on the north side and when I finished that I felt as if I was finally ready to ride so I did. This past spring I would do down and back and say that was it for the day.

I do have a "major concert announcement" (love it when the radio stations do that).
I'm going to do an epic ride again... in 2009. I started plotting and planning several weeks ago and it's beginning to become more and more public so here you go... the details...
May 1st 2009 I plan to ride the NLR/LR River Trail for 24 hours as a fundraiser for the kids of Arkansas Children's Hospital. The funds will go to the Audiology and Speech department. I'm meeting the the PR/Marketing/Audiology Team for stategy planning soon!

Here's the FAQ (Frequent asked questions) so far:
What made you decide? I knew I was not in shape this year and I will not fail this event. Not having an event to train for was making me nuts!

Will you have a jersey for the event? Oh yeah! Jon has already agreed to design it. He is the guy who designed the River-2-River one. It will have a River Trail theme. If you go to Destin this summer chances are if you buy a really cool t-shirt then you just purchased his work.

How much? How much what... oh money? I don't know... more than my last two put together! I'm pushing for this one.

But it's at the first of the spring... what about training through the winter? That my friend is going to take some serious dedication! I'm moving the trainer to the den so that I can never watch TV unless I'm on the bike. I will be ready... trust me!

Who's your coach and what is he making you do? Rance is my coach for this ride. Since he works here at the hospital as the director of the fitness center it just makes sense. I also have several friends I plan to beg for advice. Rance already has me on core training which he hammered me on for my "Round the state" ride. If I don't train, he will call me on it.

Why May 1st... that's on a Thursday. Yep, it's a special Thursday. My 50th birthday and I wanted to make it memorable. None of this black balloon and getting old crap. I mean what better way to celebrate an epic birthday than with an epic ride!

Why the River Trail? Because it's local. This will be by far the easiest to put together. Anyone can jump in an ride as much or as little as they want to. If you want to donate great and if you can't, I'm more than happy that you would take the time just to come ride in support of the hospital.

I can't wait... y'all come on and ride with me!
Life is good... on the bike!

4 comments:

Rodney Olsen said...

Always good to be 'in the zone' when you're on the bike.

I look forward to hearing a lot more about the big ride next year.

Ironman said...

Geo, as always, Ironman and Ironmaiden will be by your side. If we get sleepy in the AM hours, we can just lean against each other and let the bikes keep rolling. LOL

Wes said...

May 1, 2009 eh? Sounds like a great day for a ride....

jo said...

I am SO there! Great to see you back on the bike and excited about it again. All is right with the world now.