Another Weekend, Another Charity Ride

the chinook helicopter, parked in a field across the highway, in all of it's glory

the rear part of the chinook

the front part of the chinook helicopter

the rest of us waiting for the start

the hammerheads waiting for the ride to start

Yesterday was the 3rd. annual Ride For Independence out of Wallis, Texas. This ride to raise money for specialized wheel chairs and wheel chair bikes for disabled veterans from Iraq, Iran , and Afghanistan, and is always a ride I look forward to, not only for the cause, but for the ride location and the enthusiasm of all of the volunteers and participants. This year was no exception. The number of registered riders was well over 700, up from about 250 on the first ride.

The first year they did this ride, I was off the bike with broken ribs, but Phil did the ride. His favorite story of the ride is of the Hewey helicopter, which had been recruited from a local military base, to lead out the first wave of riders, coming back at full speed and about 100 feet above the ground, along the two lane country road where the ride started and blowing the second and third wave of riders off the road into the ditches on either side. Since then, they have continued to have a helicopter of some sort show up, but only after all of the riders have departed. They have also made of point of announcing that the helicopter is parked and will remain parked in the field across the road. The helicopter this year, was a Chinook troop carrier so everyone was greatly relieved that it was not going to be in the air while anyone was on bikes.

Although we got to the ride at a time we thought might be too early, the parking area was already almost full, and the traffic access was slow. By the time we got parked, the bikes geared up and were ready to ride, we had just enough time to get a cup of coffee, admire the Marine honor guard, check out the items on the silent auction and greet a few people we know from various rides, before the opening ceremonies.

Even though I was riding a longer distance, I held back to the last group of the first wave. The start of this ride is a left turn out of a parking lot at the Knights of Columbus Hall onto a narrow two lane country road with a ditch on either side, along with the occasional oncoming car. The star is always organized chaos and invariably, someone will lose their balance going slowly, or fail to unclip and go over, possibly taking other riders along. I am so used to riding solo, that any sort of a crowd situation involving bikes makes me nervous. By the time I started out on this ride, the crowd had thinned out and it was possible to start out at a slow pace and still have room to maneuver. The only other problems was some major road construction with the first intersection being torn up down to gravel and some long stretches of chip seal with loose gravel. There was also a section of one lane traffic with flagmen which slowed the ride for some of the riders.

There were a number of disabled veterans doing the ride in hand cranked recumbent bikes and one blind veteran riding on a tandem bike with a volunteer. It is the sight of these individuals trucking down the road at speeds I have to struggle to maintain over a distance, that makes this ride so inspiring. There are always a number of veterans in the specialized wheel chairs who attend the ride as well, to be present, to help out at the volunteer tables and to enjoy hanging out.

One of the most amazing aspects of this years' ride was the $10,000.00 donation made to the Independence Fund by a group of veteran prisoners in California, who made all of the money by doing glass and aluminum can recycling, sponsoring bake sales and hosting some entertainment events.

The ride itself goes through mostly rural and agricultural areas skirting the ever expanding suburbs of south west Houston and is primarily flat, although there are a couple of really gentle rollers. There were a lot of fields of freshly baled hay rolls, and in the fields holding cattle, a lot of youngish looking calfs, obviously a late summer crop as well.

We have been exceptionally lucky in all of our fall charity rides with the weather. For the most part it has been mild and relatively low humidity and today's ride was no exception. The temperature was in the 60's with scattered clouds when we started and had gone up only to the low 80's by the time we finished. There were scattered clouds alternating with full sun, and a moderate breeze, so even though the humidity was up slightly, it was comfortable.

The only problem I had was that I missed the turn for the 64 mile distance at around 20 miles and didn't discover my mistake until I was 35 miles into the shorter 42 mile route. I didn't feel like back tracking 22 miles so my total distance was lower than I had hoped, but other than that, it was an excellent ride and for once, I got in earlier than Phil. Since he usually does a shorter distance than I do, he always brings his weaving along and waits patiently until I finish. For once I was glad he didn't have to wait on me.

After an excellent lunch of grilled chicken and cole slaw, we trekked out across the field and spent some time exploring the Chinook helicopter.

All in all, it was an excellent day and a fantastic ride.

Today's stats

distance 42.20

time 2:35

speed 16.6