Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon Huge Success!

Last Sunday, I rode in a 65-mile bike-a-thon, to support Bikes Not Bombs. It was a great success, both for me and for the organization.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated and supported me!

I raised $2,205, making me the fourth-biggest fundraiser.

There were over 458 registered riders who together raised over $125,000. That's huge for an organization whose annual budget is something like $1 million.

I tweeted some comments and pictures as I rode. You can see my tweets here (when twitter is working). Click on the image links to see the pictures.

Here's the route we took:

We started and finished at Bikes Not Bombs in Jamaica Plain, Boston. Marker 1 is where I got a puncture. Marker 3 is rest stop number one, near Walden Pond. Marker 5 is rest stop number two, at the Peace Abbey.

I started out riding strong. I stayed with the lead group until I punctured. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch up with them again.

The puncture was about as painless as it could have been. Someone stopped to help and keep me company...and then before I knew it, a support car stopped, offered me a floor pump, and took away my punctured tube. Not bad.

It was hot and humid, and a thunderstorm seemed imminent the whole time, but didn't come until a few hours later.

Some musings on the puncture:

The night before the event, I had replaced my training tires with some light-weight, smooth-running race tires. I reused an old tube on the front (this was the one that popped), and used a new one on the back. Changing the tires was a pain in the butt. After changing the tires, I rode a few miles to verify the installation.

I learned that when you change the tire, you should change the tube too. It's worth the $4 to not get a flat tire. And you shouldn't mess with your bike the night before the ride anyway. If I had changed the tires a week before, I would have discovered any tube problems on a training ride rather than on the bike-a-thon.

The end!