Ride for Hope 2013
By: Tim Sybrant
I have learned a lot about life from biking. The most important though, is the drive to overcome any obstacle and make it to my destination. Every bike ride becomes a challenge both physical and mental. The goal remains synonymous with the goal of anyone with cancer, to make it. Most of us bikers who participated in the 2013 Ride For Hope have never had cancer and have no idea how it feels. However it’s nice to think through a lifestyle of biking we will have well practiced the capacity to overcome any obstacle and know that there is great support out there.
The Ride For Hope started in 2006 by the Farrah family. Lou Farrah was a cancer survivor who dreamed of having not only a charity event and ride, but a more inclusive experience promoting all aspects of healthy living. In 2013 this two day event included: a health expo to help people learn about healthy living through pro active health practices, a healthy dinner the night before the race, a presentation in support of the fight against cancer, a family friendly walk or short ride, and of course lots of biking. I had a great opportunity to talk with a lot of people during the expo while staffing the Damn Good Bikes table. I enjoyed sharing my experience and knowledge of bikes and riding with such a friendly crowd of people. Also I met Jenny Farrah, the late Lou Farrah’s wife, and the other inspirational people who were behind putting on the event.
Starting very early in the morning myself and hundreds of other riders began their own struggle. The race had staggered starts for each of the 5 distance categories. Riders had a choice of riding 100, 60, 40, 29, and 11 mile courses. For my first road ride I choose to ride 40 miles as I know I could do this comfortably and it wouldn’t take me all day.
Most of my previous biking experience and all of my previous race experience is on mountain bikes. Mountain bike racing is more individual but on the road I quickly learned how important the other riders around you are. I started out way in the back of a hundred or so riders and very quickly moved toward the front of the pack. Then as riders spaced out further I settled alongside another rider who held a similar pace. It seemed a lot easier to turn the pedals with someone to talk to and take turns drafting each other. We had a nice sense of teamwork and the miles flew by.
On that short section of road I learned that pedaling your butt off with your tire mere inches away from someone else’s is a great way to get to know someone. Unfortunately, as in life, people come and go. A little more than halfway through, my new friend stopped at a water stop and I found myself cruising along by my lonesome. Over the next 8 or so miles, riders were so far spaced that I could barely see anyone from my group and my legs were starting to hurt.
Nearing mile 30 with 10 to go I gained some company in crossing paths with riders running the shorter courses. It was really inspiring to see the less experienced riders riding ordinary bikes all out there putting their hearts into overcoming their own obstacles. Waves and smiles were abundant and sharing those brief moments made me forget how much my legs hurt and keep pushing on.
I can only hope that I inspired them as much as they inspired me because to me that’s what life is all about. I have found in life that my bicycle is a vehicle that takes me to far greater places than I could have ever imagined and has put me not only closer to the good things in life, but farther away from the bad.
I personally rode as hard and fast as I could for 40 miles and it took a toll on my body. However the physical sacrifice I made became quickly masked by the shared feelings of success amongst over 700 riders. Helen Keller said of riding on her tandem, "It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing." The Ride For Hope showed a winning combination of all the good that comes from the biking community.
Tim Sybrant is a freelance bicycle journalist from Madison, Wisconsin. His work has been published in XXC Magazine and Street Pulse News. You can contact him about this and other articles via email at sybranttim@gmail.com.
