Habitat Bike Ride

I've been too lazy to blog lately, but I've mustered enough initiative to post some pictures from the Durham Habitat for Humanity 17 mile moonlight bike ride, which was two weeks ago. I was a little nervous because I've never done a bike race before. Actually, this wasn't a real "race", but still, biking in a big group of people in the dark (with very little moonlight despite the name) was new for me. However, when I saw that the participants were just as laidback as (and in some cases, more out-of-shape than) your typical neighborhood 5K fundraising crowd, I figured there would be nothing to worry about.

So here's my new bike with only 6 miles on it at this point, ready for its first real ride:



And here's the Durham Bull's mascot (Wool E. Bull) getting ready for the ride. I think he only did the first half mile or so:



I found some pictures on the website with me (in bright yellow) lurking in the background or foreground:









That last one is from the post-race party. What a spread of food! Mellow Mushroom pizza, locopops, beers, cookies, brownies, other desserts, fruit, crackers & cheese, other stuff from Whole Foods. I think I should have run 17 miles, not biked, to earn all that food! Plus, there was a midrace party, too! Which was good, because I needed to visit the "bike surgeon" to have my headlight taped on. It fell off the first mile, and I'm impressed it didn't get crushed in the pack. And I'm glad it still worked after getting knocked around, because I totally needed it on the second half of the ride - those streets and trails were DARK. Anyway, it was a fun time and raised money for a good cause, so I think I'll do their Halloween ride in the fall.