Why do it?

Why do we ride?  That’s an interesting question, and it gets asked a lot.  We ride for many reasons.  To get away.  To get somewhere else.  For fitness.  To train for something.  To help prolong a running carreer.  Because we can no longer run.  Because it does less damage than football.  It’s more interesting than golf.

All of those are good reasons.  But most of us started riding because it was fun.  It was, most likely sheer and simple joy that attracted us to the pastime of cycling in the first place.  It’s simply enjoyable to get on a bike and feel the wind in your face, to zoom down a hill, to get on the cranks and feel the rush of speed through a long flat.  It’s a blast.

We like to challenge ourselves.  (There’s a fun aspect to this, but it’s more subtle.)  We like to set a big goal, and then go for it.

We like to see our world.  Many of us are natural-born tourists.  We enjoy being able to look at our world.  To see it well, and savor it.  We crave new vistas.  We have “fiddle feet,” and we just simply need to take them on a dancing journey from time to time.

Then there is another discovery we make after we ride for a while.  Camaraderie.  We meet other like minded folks and enjoy their company.  There is a definite social side to our sport.

And all of that is the reason for the Annual Audax 200K.  It’s fun.  It’s a long and challenging event.  It’s very sociable.  We’ll see a lot of terrain  and territory.  We’ll likely meet some smiling faces along the way.  We’ll share good times and good food.

As for the Solstice Celebration Ride  This is sort of a new variant of a very old idea.  Once upon a time, clear back in Saxon England, maps were scarce and not very reliable.  Besides most folks couldn’t read.  So, once or twice a year, the whole mob would make a trip around the parish, or town, makring the boundaries, and making sure all was well.  This was usually a late Winter, or early Spring occasion.

I’ve moved it to the start of Summer.  I’m sort of adopting the idea so that we will never be far from home, and we’ll have good riding all the way.  At the same time, we should get in some good night riding, at a time when the temperature won’t be cold.

Besides, after the Winter we’ve just endured, wouldn’t it be fun to ride through the Spring and formally (sort of) mark the beginning of Summer?

Let’s have some fun with this.

Summer Solstice Celebration Ride!

Date:  Monday, June 21, 2010

Time:  8:00 PM

Duration:  about 3 hours

Location:  Start/Finish at Bicycles Unlimited, Peachtree City

Requirements:  Helmets.  Dress for weather.  Good headlights, tail lights, reflective vest or sash, and reflective ankle bands.

The idea:  We’ll Ride around the outside of the City, “Beating the bounds.”  That is, we will circle the boundries of the city.  We will start with the sun in the sky, but we will ride into the night, on the shortest night of the year.  It’s good fun, and good luck.

Contest?  There are still three bikes up for grabs in The Great and Weird Road Dragon Bike Contest. Have you sent your entry in yet?  If not, scan back through this blog, find the questions and the entry info, and do it!  This offer ain't gonna last forever.