I recently read a ride report from Dave Buckney over at Cycling from fat to fit regarding a ride he had done with his family titles 'BHF Goodwood 2014.' Essentially it is an event where people can sign up and then do laps around the track at Goodwood near Portsmouth in England. It sounds like it was an absolutely wonderful day of riding with friends and family and enjoying traffic free pedalling.
This got me thinking about the Corporate Challenge Bike Races I've done (read here and here) over at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex and how it could be interesting to arrange a similar event here in a cooler part of the year. That got me wondering what, exactly it takes to organize such an event. I think it could be fun, there is certainly no shortage of worthy charitable causes that could benefit from such an event. I can even imagine getting some sponsors on board.
So, my question is a general one to anyone who might have experience putting on a charity cycling event, or any charity event - what does it take to put on this type of an event?
Conversely, if there were an event like this in the Las Vegas area, who would attend?
Please, by all means let me know your thoughts on this whole crazy idea!
And don't forget to Get on your bikes and ride!!!!
Showing posts with label event. Show all posts
Showing posts with label event. Show all posts
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
VIVA Bike Vegas is Back!
I was so happy over the weekend when I was reading an email from Lisa over at Biking Las Vegas (http://bikinglasvegas.com) in which she shared the good news that a new company has picked up the Viva Bike Vegas Ride and it will be back again this year!
From the website:
There will also be a 10 mile, and a 5 mile fun ride.
I was talking to my daughter and it looks like we are going to do a family ride of the 10 mile route with myself, my daughter and 2 or 3 of the grandkids depending on who feels up to it. It should be a blast!!!!
Here is the website for the event:
http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/las-vegas/
Get on your Bike and RIDE!!!!!
Thanks to Perimeter Bicycling Association of America (same ride organizers that host the popularTour de Tucson event), for picking up the ride, and for continuing on the tradition of hosting a well organized and fully supported century ride that is sure to be the largest and most popular ride of the year! Perimeter Bicycling has developed collaborative partnerships with the RTC, city of Henderson, city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to help support and promote the ride.The event is scheduled for Saturday September 13, 2014 and the main rides are a 100, a 50 and a 25 mile ride. Their rides are unique in that all 3 distances will finish at the Discover Children's museum by starting at various locations along the same course.
There will also be a 10 mile, and a 5 mile fun ride.
I was talking to my daughter and it looks like we are going to do a family ride of the 10 mile route with myself, my daughter and 2 or 3 of the grandkids depending on who feels up to it. It should be a blast!!!!
Here is the website for the event:
http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/las-vegas/
Get on your Bike and RIDE!!!!!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Technique is important
On Saturday we had a practice session for the upcoming track and field event I signed up for as part of this year's Corporate Challenge. We are lucky to have someone who has many years of shot put under his belt and is a patient teacher - Thanks Luke!. 4 of us met at a local park which actually had a ring and toe block so we could learn a little something about how to put the shot.
In my mind I figured - "no problem!" I'm a big guy so I should be able to do this. No big deal. Well, this is where the mind outstrips the body's abilities. Luke showed up proper form and in my mind I was doing it exactly as he was, but obviously that wasn't the case. My throws were much shorter and I just couldn't get any rotation to go with the throw. After about 30 throws I realized that with all of the time it was taking I wasn't improving much, if any plus my shoulder was starting to feel it.
At that point I stopped practicing as I realized the amount of time available between now and Saturday was insufficient for any real improvement. How far did I throw? I don't know as we didn't have a tape measure there. If I had to guess I would say in the 20 to 24 ft range. I hope to do better on Saturday, but not holding my breath.
What was really bad was attempting to throw the softball after the shot put. I was terribly uncoordinated. I was throwing line drives and sinkers like I was throwing out a runner sliding in to home plate as opposed to getting loft on the ball for distance. The softball was too light after the shot put. I was expecting more resistance and just couldn't get it right. Add to that my back was tightening up and after 10 throws I was done.
The good news is that the softball throw is first on Saturday so I am going lighter to heavier and I hope that will improve the situation. I have to focus on form and technique and worry a bit less about power.
So I am practicing the motions without the shot - Elbow up, thumb down. Shot tight to the face. Use the opposite arm to pull your through to open up and then push the shot up and out with a finish flick of the fingers. Reset. Repeat. I have no idea if this will help but figure it can't hurt.
In my mind I figured - "no problem!" I'm a big guy so I should be able to do this. No big deal. Well, this is where the mind outstrips the body's abilities. Luke showed up proper form and in my mind I was doing it exactly as he was, but obviously that wasn't the case. My throws were much shorter and I just couldn't get any rotation to go with the throw. After about 30 throws I realized that with all of the time it was taking I wasn't improving much, if any plus my shoulder was starting to feel it.
At that point I stopped practicing as I realized the amount of time available between now and Saturday was insufficient for any real improvement. How far did I throw? I don't know as we didn't have a tape measure there. If I had to guess I would say in the 20 to 24 ft range. I hope to do better on Saturday, but not holding my breath.
What was really bad was attempting to throw the softball after the shot put. I was terribly uncoordinated. I was throwing line drives and sinkers like I was throwing out a runner sliding in to home plate as opposed to getting loft on the ball for distance. The softball was too light after the shot put. I was expecting more resistance and just couldn't get it right. Add to that my back was tightening up and after 10 throws I was done.
The good news is that the softball throw is first on Saturday so I am going lighter to heavier and I hope that will improve the situation. I have to focus on form and technique and worry a bit less about power.
So I am practicing the motions without the shot - Elbow up, thumb down. Shot tight to the face. Use the opposite arm to pull your through to open up and then push the shot up and out with a finish flick of the fingers. Reset. Repeat. I have no idea if this will help but figure it can't hurt.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Ride Report BIKE:MS Vegas Challenge 2013
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to participate in the BIKE:MS Vegas Challenge 2013. I have to say up front that this was one of the best run, most organized and well supported rides I have been on. It was relatively small, only about 230 riders, but the support and organization were outstanding.
This was actually a 2 day ride, but with family commitments and lack of recent riding, I only did the first day of the 2.
The weekend started with packet pick-up on Friday evening over at Pro Cyclery. I was pleased they were the LBS supporting the ride as that's where I got my wheels and I am very happy with them. I was in and out in less than 2 minutes having signed the waiver, picked up my packet and my event T-Shirt.
Saturday was a perfect day for the ride. The temps started out around 50 in the morning and warmed up nicely into the 60's with bright sunshine and very little wind.
The courses for day one all started downtown at the Lou Ruvo Center, which is part of the Cleveland clinic, and then followed the strip south to Silverado ranch boulevard, by the Southpoint Casino.
Uncharacteristically, I wasn't at the start really early. I slept in until 5:45 and then got the carrier and bike on the car, loaded up the rest of my gear and headed over to the start bay 7:00 or so. The ride started at 7:30.
As I got out of the car and unloaded the bike I realized that I had left my bike pump sitting in the garage. I looked for someone to borrow a pump from, but all the cars near me in the lot were empty as everyone was heading over to the start area. I rode over on my soft tires and the great folks at the Procyclery tent hooked me up by pumping up my tires for me. The front wasn't bad, but the back was down to about 40 lbs.
After I got all aired up it was time for a trip to the port-a-potty. My usual pre-ride ritual.
The safety crew was there with their vehicles. Many were on motorcycles and trikes.
After taking care of business I was waiting near the starting area when someone called my name. There was Stephanie and Georgette that Michele used to work with. They were volunteering at the registration tent. It was good to see them.
Once we got to Las Vegas Boulevard and made the turn south it wasn't quite as bad, but again, there were very few lights all day that the timing worked out for me to ride through. I swear I had to stop at over 50 lights over the 30 mile ride.
I did get my picture taken shortly after making the turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard:
We cruised down the strip past all of the mega resorts. Traffic was fairly light, being Saturday morning, but it was far from non-existent and there were a few impatient drivers who made for some closer calls than were necessary.
Here I am cruising the strip near City Center.
BTW I have to give a huge shout out to SunRidge Photography for taking the pictures and then providing them to the participants free of charge. The full albums are available on their Facebook page.
Once we got past the heart of the strip the riding got better. The traffic thinned out as did the number of lights. One interesting note was that as we passed Mandalay Bay Resort I noticed they had an event lining up in their overflow parking across the street. This was the ride 2 recovery ride and they had a bunch of police motorcycles and cars lined up waiting for the ride to start.
We got a bit farther down the strip and passed the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign,where several riders were stopping for a photo op. I decided to just keep riding.
From here on to the turn at Silverado ranch was a nice little ride. Once we made the turn, heading west on Silverado Ranch we were faced with the toughest hill of the 30 mile route - we had to ride up and over I-15. Now I've ridden over this bridge many time in a car and it wasn't bad, but on a bike, I was certainly glad I had my gears. I dropped down to my middle ring and hit my lowest gear and just ground up the bridge to the top.
Just as I neared the top, the light changed so I had to stop which wasn't all that bad as I got a minute reprieve before restarting. I got over the top and started heading down, but of course had to stop for the light so I couldn't take full advantage of the gravity assist. I did enjoy what I could, though.
Now along the way I had been seesawing with a couple of the safety crew riders. One in particular I remembered from the Tour De Cure back in April. We rode past each other many times over the course of the ride:
I just want to say thank you for being there and making sure we were all safe.
We rode down Silverado Ranch to Arville and made a right towards the midway point and the rest stop. The volunteers were all upbeat and helpful and the rest stopped was well stocked with beverages, fruit and various nutrition bars. I still hadn't opened my powerade so I didn't grab any hydration, but I did grab a banana and ate it.
The photographer caught me while I was there:
(Boy do I need a hair cut!)
Then it was back on the bike to finish off the second half of the ride. What was nice is that there was a slight elevation gain most of the way south on the boulevard so I knew that I was going to benefit from heading back down that elevation change.
The biggest chunk of it was along Alta Drive where at one point there was a decently steep downhill that I took full advantage of. It was interesting. I would catch up to my friend on the motorcycle at each light. He would pull away from me but have to stop at the next light where I would catch back up to him just before it turned green. We repeated this for 4 or 5 lights down Alta.
The next hing I knew I was riding under I-15 and coming up on Central Parkway and making the turn into the finish area, back where we had started. The DJ was announcing riders as they came in and I stopped and got my finishers medal.
There were lots of volunteers and quite the party atmosphere at the finish:
Unfortunately it was still a bit early for the post-ride lunch so I decided to load up and head home. All in all the ride took 3:07, but my actual moving time was only 2:32. The other 35 minutes was spent sitting and waiting for lights along the way and the 3 or 4 minutes I spent at the rest stop.
It was a very enjoyable ride.
This was actually a 2 day ride, but with family commitments and lack of recent riding, I only did the first day of the 2.
The weekend started with packet pick-up on Friday evening over at Pro Cyclery. I was pleased they were the LBS supporting the ride as that's where I got my wheels and I am very happy with them. I was in and out in less than 2 minutes having signed the waiver, picked up my packet and my event T-Shirt.
Saturday was a perfect day for the ride. The temps started out around 50 in the morning and warmed up nicely into the 60's with bright sunshine and very little wind.
The courses for day one all started downtown at the Lou Ruvo Center, which is part of the Cleveland clinic, and then followed the strip south to Silverado ranch boulevard, by the Southpoint Casino.
Uncharacteristically, I wasn't at the start really early. I slept in until 5:45 and then got the carrier and bike on the car, loaded up the rest of my gear and headed over to the start bay 7:00 or so. The ride started at 7:30.
As I got out of the car and unloaded the bike I realized that I had left my bike pump sitting in the garage. I looked for someone to borrow a pump from, but all the cars near me in the lot were empty as everyone was heading over to the start area. I rode over on my soft tires and the great folks at the Procyclery tent hooked me up by pumping up my tires for me. The front wasn't bad, but the back was down to about 40 lbs.
After I got all aired up it was time for a trip to the port-a-potty. My usual pre-ride ritual.
The safety crew was there with their vehicles. Many were on motorcycles and trikes.
After taking care of business I was waiting near the starting area when someone called my name. There was Stephanie and Georgette that Michele used to work with. They were volunteering at the registration tent. It was good to see them.
It was now just a few minutes until the start. I was near the middle of the group waiting near the starting line. The music was playing and the DJ counted us down to the 7:30 start. I had expected them to let us all go at once, but that was not to be. They let 30 or 40 riders go and then held us up for a couple of minutes so there wasn't a huge blockage on the roads. This was a good strategy as they on had the one intersection blocked right by the start. The rest of the ride we were on the roads with traffic.
The next wave went and I wasn't in it, but I was now near the front. Finally when they let the third wave go I got through the start and got rolling. While I give them kudos for the organization and support on this ride, I have to say it made me appreciate the Viva Bike Vegas traffic blockage along the strip. The first 2 miles of the ride had over a dozen lights and it seemed that we had to stop at every one of them.
Once we got to Las Vegas Boulevard and made the turn south it wasn't quite as bad, but again, there were very few lights all day that the timing worked out for me to ride through. I swear I had to stop at over 50 lights over the 30 mile ride.
I did get my picture taken shortly after making the turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard:
We cruised down the strip past all of the mega resorts. Traffic was fairly light, being Saturday morning, but it was far from non-existent and there were a few impatient drivers who made for some closer calls than were necessary.
Here I am cruising the strip near City Center.
BTW I have to give a huge shout out to SunRidge Photography for taking the pictures and then providing them to the participants free of charge. The full albums are available on their Facebook page.
Once we got past the heart of the strip the riding got better. The traffic thinned out as did the number of lights. One interesting note was that as we passed Mandalay Bay Resort I noticed they had an event lining up in their overflow parking across the street. This was the ride 2 recovery ride and they had a bunch of police motorcycles and cars lined up waiting for the ride to start.
We got a bit farther down the strip and passed the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign,where several riders were stopping for a photo op. I decided to just keep riding.
From here on to the turn at Silverado ranch was a nice little ride. Once we made the turn, heading west on Silverado Ranch we were faced with the toughest hill of the 30 mile route - we had to ride up and over I-15. Now I've ridden over this bridge many time in a car and it wasn't bad, but on a bike, I was certainly glad I had my gears. I dropped down to my middle ring and hit my lowest gear and just ground up the bridge to the top.
Just as I neared the top, the light changed so I had to stop which wasn't all that bad as I got a minute reprieve before restarting. I got over the top and started heading down, but of course had to stop for the light so I couldn't take full advantage of the gravity assist. I did enjoy what I could, though.
Now along the way I had been seesawing with a couple of the safety crew riders. One in particular I remembered from the Tour De Cure back in April. We rode past each other many times over the course of the ride:
I just want to say thank you for being there and making sure we were all safe.
We rode down Silverado Ranch to Arville and made a right towards the midway point and the rest stop. The volunteers were all upbeat and helpful and the rest stopped was well stocked with beverages, fruit and various nutrition bars. I still hadn't opened my powerade so I didn't grab any hydration, but I did grab a banana and ate it.
The photographer caught me while I was there:
(Boy do I need a hair cut!)
Then it was back on the bike to finish off the second half of the ride. What was nice is that there was a slight elevation gain most of the way south on the boulevard so I knew that I was going to benefit from heading back down that elevation change.
The biggest chunk of it was along Alta Drive where at one point there was a decently steep downhill that I took full advantage of. It was interesting. I would catch up to my friend on the motorcycle at each light. He would pull away from me but have to stop at the next light where I would catch back up to him just before it turned green. We repeated this for 4 or 5 lights down Alta.
The next hing I knew I was riding under I-15 and coming up on Central Parkway and making the turn into the finish area, back where we had started. The DJ was announcing riders as they came in and I stopped and got my finishers medal.
There were lots of volunteers and quite the party atmosphere at the finish:
Unfortunately it was still a bit early for the post-ride lunch so I decided to load up and head home. All in all the ride took 3:07, but my actual moving time was only 2:32. The other 35 minutes was spent sitting and waiting for lights along the way and the 3 or 4 minutes I spent at the rest stop.
It was a very enjoyable ride.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Another morning, another early ride.
The alarm went off at its usual (of late) 3:45 and I was up and ready in what seemed like record time. A quick perusal of the radar showed possible light showers in the area. When I got downstairs I saw nary a drop, so I decided the ride was a go.
I aired up the tires, turned on my lights and headed out by 4:00. I took it real easy my first lap as we had had a pretty good drenching rain the night before and I knew there was likely to be debris, rocks and sand on the roadway. I was especially worried about the area on Quarterhorse where they are building the new sub. Fortunately my fears weren't truly realized as there was a light coating of sand and not much else on the road.
Once I safely navigated the first lap and found the streets in not bad shape, I started the second lap only to have it start sprinkling on me. I hoped that it wasn't really going to rain. It stopped by the end of the second lap so I felt confident I would get my ride in.
2 laps later it started drizzling and I was seriously starting to think I might have to call it. Its not that I mind the rain so much as I don't feel too safe with wet rims and possible inattentive morning drivers. Most everyone must have been sleeping in this morning, though, since I saw 3 cars all morning. Anyway, the drizzle lasted only 7 minutes or so and was done, having barely wet the roads.
The 3 women I've been seeing on their morning walk/jog/run for the past month or so, were out there again this morning. On lap 8, there was a bit more sprinkles happening and I was seriously thinking of cutting the ride short, but decided I needed to get the full 12 miles in this morning, so I did.
This morning's ride takes me to 79.6 miles so far for the month of September. Seeing as its the 10th, which is 1/3 of the way through the month, and I'm basically 1/3 of the way to my monthly mileage goal of 240 miles I'm feeling very good with my progress and my prospects of hitting my goal.
I found a ride this coming weekend that I think I am going to do. Its called the 3 Feet for Pete ride and its a fun ride to raise awareness for cycling safety. Its named after a local cyclist, Pete Makowski who lost his life June 19th on a training ride. I'm thinking this would be a great cause as well as a way to meet some local cyclists.
Be safe out there and Get On Your Bikes and Ride!!!
I aired up the tires, turned on my lights and headed out by 4:00. I took it real easy my first lap as we had had a pretty good drenching rain the night before and I knew there was likely to be debris, rocks and sand on the roadway. I was especially worried about the area on Quarterhorse where they are building the new sub. Fortunately my fears weren't truly realized as there was a light coating of sand and not much else on the road.
Once I safely navigated the first lap and found the streets in not bad shape, I started the second lap only to have it start sprinkling on me. I hoped that it wasn't really going to rain. It stopped by the end of the second lap so I felt confident I would get my ride in.
2 laps later it started drizzling and I was seriously starting to think I might have to call it. Its not that I mind the rain so much as I don't feel too safe with wet rims and possible inattentive morning drivers. Most everyone must have been sleeping in this morning, though, since I saw 3 cars all morning. Anyway, the drizzle lasted only 7 minutes or so and was done, having barely wet the roads.
The 3 women I've been seeing on their morning walk/jog/run for the past month or so, were out there again this morning. On lap 8, there was a bit more sprinkles happening and I was seriously thinking of cutting the ride short, but decided I needed to get the full 12 miles in this morning, so I did.
This morning's ride takes me to 79.6 miles so far for the month of September. Seeing as its the 10th, which is 1/3 of the way through the month, and I'm basically 1/3 of the way to my monthly mileage goal of 240 miles I'm feeling very good with my progress and my prospects of hitting my goal.
I found a ride this coming weekend that I think I am going to do. Its called the 3 Feet for Pete ride and its a fun ride to raise awareness for cycling safety. Its named after a local cyclist, Pete Makowski who lost his life June 19th on a training ride. I'm thinking this would be a great cause as well as a way to meet some local cyclists.
Be safe out there and Get On Your Bikes and Ride!!!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Registration complete...
Well, now its official. Both myself and my dad are registered for Viva Bike Vegas on September 21st.
I am so happy and proud of my dad who hasn't ridden more than a couple of miles in the last 30 years, until he thought he might try riding more this summer. It will be so cool to ride the strip with him that day. I'm glad its not a race and we can take our time and enjoy the sites.
Anyone else going to be here in September for the ride????
BTW here is the route:
I am so happy and proud of my dad who hasn't ridden more than a couple of miles in the last 30 years, until he thought he might try riding more this summer. It will be so cool to ride the strip with him that day. I'm glad its not a race and we can take our time and enjoy the sites.
Anyone else going to be here in September for the ride????
BTW here is the route:
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