A 100K fundraiser ride for the American Diabetes Association, with a 40 mile add-on.

DAVID ALDEN
Oh look, another EARLY Sunday morning.

After a surprise birthday party for me on Saturday (thanks Jean!), I went to bed at about 11:00 and set the alarm for 4:45 a.m. Enough time to get up, get dressed, feed the dogs, get the bikes and gear ready, and be on the road by six.

It was all part of my hare-brained idea to ride to and from the start of a 100K diabetes fundraiser ride, making it a cool 100-mile ride. I thought it was a good idea until I set the alarm that night.

Anyway, Nathan drove out from NY (for my party and the ride) and Tim and Tom and Doug and Jean got sucked in to the ride idea too, so we were all up and on the road bright and early.

By the time we found the school and got signed in, we had about two minutes to hit the bathrooms, stuff bagels into our pockets and get to the start line - yikes!

All in all, the ride was great. We got a little rain, some head winds, some traffic and some pot-holes, but we also got some great scenery, some fun roads and lots of laughs. There were well-stocked check-in stations and the route was well marked. (Although I did miss a turn causing some confusion until we all joined up again).

Highlights of the ride?
Attacking a STEEP hill at mile 80 and passing a car.
Watching Nathan fall down - while walking - in the post ride cafeteria (not even in road shoes).
Having everyone pull through the whole ride and finish strong.

The ride was a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes is a horrible disease. To learn more or to contribute to the association, click here

With a 100M done, what's next?

DOUG SALB
Ok, so I sort of agreed to ride the 60 mile charity ride for diabetes in Gloucester on June 9, Sunday. I figured why not. I'm in good shape and just last week I did 60 miles in hilly, very hilly, Vermont. This should be a breeze.

The diabetes ride was on my road bike also, which is much easier then mountain biking on dirt roads.

Of course there is a catch, my team captain, Dave Alden wanted to ride from his house in Salem to Gloucester, ride the 60 miles then ride back to his house in Salem. Making the ride an even 100 miles, YES I SAID 100 MILES.

At first I was against this, but everyone else was doing it so I had to. Yes peer pressure took over. I was up at 5AM and we left for Gloucester at about 6:15. The ride to Gloucester was a little chilly but nice. We did the 20 miles to Gloucester in about 1.5 hours. Dave, Jean, Tom and Tim just had enough time to register, grab some food, and visit the restroom. Nathan and I (Doug) were riding as Bandits. We didn't register because we hadn't raised any money for the cause but wanted to ride with our team for support and for the fun of it. Fun? Yeah fun!

Well we were off.

The ride was rather laid back, up and down gently flowing hills, and the miles went by rather quickly. This was a much different kind of ride then last week in Vermont. My legs hurt so bad in Vermont mostly due to all those evil hills, but this ride was more downhills (my favorite).

The scenery was also very breathtaking. Riding along the water in Gloucester was very pleasant. It did rain a tad but nothing to be worried about. Somehow Dave and Jean took a wrong turn and we lost them. We waited but did not see him. Tom went to look for them but nothing. So we pressed on to the next rest stop and learned that they had signed in. Now we had to play catch up. Faster and faster we went, it took a few miles but we did catch Dave and Jean finally and we were all together again. After about 5 hours we make it back in one piece. We ate, drank, and fell. Yes I said fall. Somehow Nathan managed to fall in the cafeteria, ironically he never fell on the bike ride.

One note on the food, the rest stops were filled with banana's, cookies, gum, water, Gatorade, granola bars, etc... It was very well stocked. Dave stuffed his bag with an assortment of these goodies. I thought he was going to open a convenience store from his bike. Stranger things have happened.

Ok back to THE RIDE,

Finally we had to ride back to Dave's house in Salem. The last 20 miles of the 100 mile ride. It went by fast but I was getting tired. After 80+ miles I was feeling the effects of the long trip. I also got a little sunburn. When I turned the corner and saw Dave's house i was relieved and couldn't believe I just did a 102-mile bike ride. What was I thinking? What made me do this? The truth is I did it and I chose to do it and it did feel like a great accomplishment.

I'll never do it again, until next time of course. LOL