Bike Friendly Richardson

I shared this on Suburban Assault, but thought I should share it here as well.

This past weekend, I decided to participate in the 8th annual Richardson WildRide! Against Cancer benefitting the Methodist Richardson Cancer Center, home of the Lance Armstrong Shaped Beam SurgeryTM program. The ride consisted of three distances of your choice – a 16 mile, 40 mile or 64 mile route. Last year, I decided to do the 16 mile route – mostly because I’m not a sports cyclist and I don’t have a proper road bike. It turns out the route was relatively easy and I finished rather early – even on my old clunker, mountain-to-road bike conversion. I told myself that I would do the 40 mile route in 2011.

As it turns out, I wasn’t able to get on the saddle as much this spring. Worried about not having enough training, I opted to do the 16 mile route again. Quite honestly, I’m shocked that there is such a gap between the short and medium routes. I would have preferred a 30 mile route.

At the actual line-up of the rally, I met some folks that were excited about doing the 40 mile route and getting to ride on the Lake Lavon Dam – only open to cyclists for this ride. I got motivated and decided to do the 40 mile route as well. Most of the ride was really nice and the scenery was amazing – even on such a cloudy and foggy morning. It wasn’t until the return stretch that I was regretting my decision to upgrade the route distance. Those small climbs up Shiloh and Campbell, that were so easy last year, seemed like mountains. Still, I managed to plow through and get my weak legs and heavy bike to the finish line. Of course I didn’t realize how tired I was until my 2.5 mile bike ride home from the event.

Here are some pics from the event. Click here to see the entire set.

Starting Point

Mass Of Riders Going Down Plano Road

Teams of Riders

Slight Detour Over Some Rough Roads

Riding On Lake Lavon Dam

View From Lake Lavon Dam

The Ride Back

Open Fields