Yesterday, I put in my registration for Sharon's Ride for Epilepsy. It's a multi-sport event happening here in Honolulu on Jan. 29 and, according to the website, six other sites across the country (so rare someone remembers Hawaii is actually part of the country). The event is named for Sharon Rosenfeld, a nurse and teacher who cared about epilepsy and who was killed during a cross country bicycle ride in 1993.The event is made up of a 100/75/35k bike ride, a 5/10k run, or a 1 mile walk. I am naturally doing the metric century.
The reason I'll be participating in this event is not, honestly, because I have any special place in my heart for epilepsy. That is to say, I don't know someone directly affected by this. It's not that I don't care about epileptics, it's just that I'm not identifying with it as strongly as I would a ride to raise money for, say, cancer research. But to be a part of something with a real purpose, which raises money for a good cause, that's pretty awesome. Feels less selfish than some other event might.
Honestly though, the event is a perfect training opportunity. 100k is just over 62 miles, which is just over the Honu course distance and right around where I'll be training at that point in January anyway. So I basically paid money to ride a distance I would have ridden anyway for free. But its for a good cause. And Andy is going to play too, and I think Sean will as well, so that will be fun. I like big organized rides. Sure, dealing with so many other people can be a hassle, but training in groups is good preparation. And its for a good cause! And the aid stations will probably have better snacks than my normal GU.
Also, I talked Super Awesome Wife into joining the fun. She's not going to ride, but she will be walking the 5k. I'm happy she's doing another one of these events with me (Ok, this is much less "with me" than the biathlon was, but we are doing the same event thing at the same time and we'll have matching shirts. Close enough). The registration is pretty reasonable and I think everyone should get in on this. Should be a good time.
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