Day 1 of 2: 120 for Orphans

I’ve really been looking forward to this ride for sometime.  It’s the first ride, my friend, Rick Whitter has put together for iOrphan Support.  Excellent job…and excellent ministry!…over $13,000 raised to serve orphans in Haiti!  Awesome!

I’ve been looking forward to this ride also as preparation for WillRideforHope.com.  The 6 day-in-a-row 90-mile days on various terrain across Cambodia is going to be a challenge..will probably have the same kind of challenging terrain.  Today,  I got my first real taste for how it’s going to feel.  It’s a big bite to chew no doubt!

Here’s the skinny on today:

1. The ride was roughly 25 miles on pavement.  We averaged around 14-16 mph (on mountain bikes) on this ground…easy ground to cover on a mountain bike at that pace.  On my cyclocross, I should be able to maintain a higher speed in Cambodia.
2. The ride was roughly 35 miles on dirt, rock, and grass. <- that was no joke…jarring!  And, it led to some mechanical troubles on my bike….largely because the bike is fairly new and hasn’t been completely tweaked.  I think I’m back on my bike tomorrow…and off the spare mountain bike.
3. The 7 people I’m riding with and the folks in the support vehicles are amazing!…really salt-of-the-earth type of people…glad to call them friends (including the ones I’ve just met)