Rollin to Colon early Sunday morning

I love to bike...and if you are reading this blog you probably feel the same. So after seeing a small ad in the OWH's Thursday Go section many weeks ago about an event called Rollin to Colon, I decided that I would put my pedaling towards a good cause.

Sunday morning, June 27 finally rolled around. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of weather for today's fundraising bike ride. A scorcher like Saturday? Or another rained out bike ride like every other weekend for us? To my surprise, the temperature was perfect! A cool 75 degrees during the ride, slight headwind at first, but that would play in our favor on the way back to Valley.

The goal of this bike ride was to, "Raise awareness and funds to support the Great Plains Colon Cancer Task Force". They teamed up with Wear Yellow Nebraska to get this awesome event planned. I asked a volunteer about today's ride and she said they had around 200 registered riders! That was great news! People of all ages were on their bikes to support a good cause. There were beach cruisers, carbon fiber road bikes, mountain bikes, and recumbents on highway 64 and 77 today. Three different course lengths were planned, 53 miles, 20 miles, and a 10 mile loop. The name Rollin to Colon was not only a ride to support the Colon Cancer task force, but it was actually a ride to Colon, NE. from Valley. Get it? Very clever if you ask me.

People of all ages were out biking for a good cause

Unfortunately, I wouldn't make it far enough to reach the Colon turn around. I instead chose to do the 20 mile loop because I wasn't sure if I would survive a 53 mile pavement ride on my Gary Fisher. Even with the shorter distance that I did, it was a great relief to reach the 10 mile turnaround which was the intersection of Highway 64 and 77. Even better was reaching one of the many support stations on the side of the road. These were manned with volunteers who gave out food, snacks, and water to help refuel the body. At the time that I had stopped at one of these stations, there was a biker who was helping somebody fix a flat on her road bike. Pat on the back to not only the volunteers who helped run today's fundraiser, but also to the riders who helped each other during the ride. Good people supporting each other on and off of the bike. It's great to know that there are still lots of good people out there! Great ride people, can't wait to do it again next year!

 A couple of ladies stopping to take a drink at the 10 mile turnaround

Of course I was wearing my Livestrong edition Oakley Jawbones. This was a ride to raise awareness for cancer!

It was a relief to stop at the support station for some goodies! 

 

Bumped into Alex and Brian H after I put in my 20 miles. Alex saw my previous blog entry and decided to join the ride along with his friend Charles. I'm glad someone reads this blog ;-)

A live band provided the entertainment during the provided lunch 

Alex and I enjoying a lunch after the ride. (photo provided by Alex) 

Alex couldn't decide whether to bike or swim (photo provided by Alex)

 

Alex's friend Charles overlooking the Platte River (photo provided by Alex)

A cool looking shirt and water bottle also came along with the ride 

ps. To those bikers who saw me, I was the one with the camera on top of my helmet