What a Great Weekend for Riding a Bike

Good Monday Morning to you all!

The riding over the weekend was minimal, but the weather was fabulous. My schedule did not allow me to ride in the Cornfest ride, but what a great weekend for this neat event. I do look forward to riding in it next year.

Ride totals are at 1598 toward the 2000 miles by October 31. Pledges are in at $6.008/mile. That totals up to about a $24K push for the United Way campaign, with the Lilly Endowment match.

This past Thursday there was a group ride with Jim Lewis, Chris Bucher, Blair Dowden, Dave Marty, Luke Fetters and myself. We went out and back to Mahon -- 22.5 miles and had a blast.

If you are looking for some fun rides -- don't forget the upcoming Huntington Bicycle Challenge on September 20 - 21. As well the LIVE UNITED Team Mini-Triathlon is set for October 5. Give me an email or a call at 260.224.0811 if you need additional information on either of these two events.

Have a great week of riding -- it looks to be another great week of weather.

Brooks

Ride Update

Good afternoon -- the past week or two have been fabulous from a weather perspective for riding a bike. As of last evening, the Ride, Brooks, Ride total miles stands at 1533 toward a goal of 2000 miles by October 31st. Barring accident or injury, I should have the goal met by the end of September.

Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed some beautiful rides around Huntington county. Let me put a plug out for the for upcoming Huntington Bicycle Challenge on September 22 & 23. It is a two day event with two days of riding. I am registering for the Scenic Tour, which is about 60+/- miles each day around the county -- cost is only $30.00. If you need any information about this great event -- give me a call at 260.356.2400 and I will set you up with the registration forms.

Also, on October 5th is the LIVE UNITED Team Mini-Triathlon, sponsored by Parkview Huntington Hospital. Registration begins at 12:00 Noon and the ride, run, & swim events begin at 1:00 PM. This is a three person team event, with each person doing one of the events. All events are abbreviated distances -- 19 miles for the ride; 3.1 miles for the run and 500 yards for the swim. This event will be lots of fun and a great fund-raiser for the United Way Campaign. Registration fees are only $25.00/person and include a t-shirt. Give me a call if you need help getting a team registered.

This week I plan to ride on Tuesday and Thursday evening -- if you want to join in, meet me at 6:00 PM at the Huntington University Merillat Physical Center Parking Lot. I plan to ride between 15 - 25 miles each evening.

Brooks

Brooks the Biker

At long last, final photos of a large man in Spandex -- Enjoy, but don't burnout your eyes!

Brooks

Lots of Riding -- Still having fun

I am embarrassed by my delay in posting to the blog. The ride is going great -- lots of miles and fantastic weather. This past weekend, my friend Jim Lewis and I did my longest ride since RAIN -- riding to Bluffton and back on Saturday, August 2 -- 59.8 miles at an average speed of 15.3 mph. Ride totals are now at 1329 toward the goal of 2000 miles by October 31, 2008. I am averaging just over 100 miles/week, with 13 weeks to go.

I have had lots of fun with many of you on the Thursday night group rides -- Mark Featherston, Mark Shultz, Stan Bippus, Jeremy Winkleman, Cindy Gamrat, Blair Dowden, Jim Lewis, Brian Neel, Luke Fetters and Sandra Scheer, just to name a few.

In September I will be riding in the Huntington Bicycle Challenge and in October, I am organizing a cycling trip out in the hills of western Pennsylvania.

Last night, my brother Luke (just returned from 3 weeks in China) went out on a short ride -- 10.6 miles. Perhaps my worst ride of the year -- lots of humidity, low blood sugar, inadequate hydration, recovery from riding to Bluffton on Saturday -- resulted in a very slow average mph. Luke, a marathon runner was encouraging -- he tells me that there are bad days now and then.

Looking forward to more miles in the days and weeks to come.