My mom and I rode the Wear Yellow Ride yesterday. Ever since I started riding bikes, my mom, my brother, and I try to go for a longer ride together and this year we made the Wear Yellow Ride our annual long ride. Unfortunately, Tyler was not able to make it this year due to some scheduling conflicts, so it was just Mom and me. He was there in spirit, I'm sure. At least that's what I assume the lingering fart smell was. Bazinga!
I wouldn't be surprised if we make the Wear Yellow Ride our regular big ride together. This charity event exists for the mission of "fighting against cancer through advocacy, awareness, and fundraising." This year (and maybe other years as well?) the funds raised were going to support the Wear Yellow Nebraska Cab Ride Program which helps to transport cancer patients to their treatments when they are not otherwise able to get transportation.
There are several charity rides one can choose to do in the region, including Tour de Cure and BikeMS. However, the Wear Yellow Ride is one whose mission strikes close to home for our family. Seven years ago my dad passed away after a seven year off and on again fight against melanoma. Because of cancer, he wasn't able to see his two boys get married, nor was able to meet his, so far, four grandchildren. That's not to say that there wasn't some good things that came from his fight against cancer (because Genesis 50:20), but it's still a horrible disease that should be cured if we can!
Anyways, my mom and I rode the 62 mile road ride and it was a good time. 62 miles is a really long ride for my mom, but she has been doing some training using a Sufferfest video and riding around the lake at Chalco. She's also been starting to ride with some other ladies from the Trek store on Tuesday nights, which she's really been enjoying. I was very impressed with how well she did! Last year, we rode about the same distance with most of it being on the flat local multi-use trails and it seemed to me that she was more comfortable yesterday than last year. It took us something like 40 minutes longer this year, but there was way more climbing involved in this ride.
The ride itself is supported quite nicely and there was a metric crap-ton of stuff being raffled off. I'm pretty sure someone rigged the raffle for the Zipp 202 wheelset that I was suppose to win, but oh well. The only things I would have liked to see done differently would be having more bathrooms available at rest stops (we gave our bladders as much of a workout as we did our lungs and legs) and it would be nice if they would wait until at least the official cut-off before beginning to tear down the event site. The official end of the event was one o'clock in the afternoon, after which the rest stops and the start/finish area would be wrapped up. We pulled in at 12:40 or so and they were already starting to tear things down. I get wanting to get things torn down and put away quickly, but it can be a bit disheartening for someone who's worked hard to finish a long distance ride to come back to such an anticlimactic scene.
We didn't let that get us down though. We were in it more for the ride and the good cause than the trappings of the event. I think we'll strongly consider doing the ride again next year. Maybe even Tyler will join us!
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