100 miles

Not to be outdone with the imminent end of M3 year, I thought it would be prudent to set a new gigantic goal for the coming months. Some of you may recall that in the summer of 2010 Alicia and I did a 64 mile bike ride. Although I did not realize it at the time, this was basically a metric century, or a 100km ride. Never one to let an opportunity compete with myself pass my by, I thought that another long bike ride was in order – this time I’m doing a real century ride! Alicia’s agreed to join me on a 100-mile ride at the beginning of July, and I’m really excited. I have one day left of inpatient medicine, and then I’ll have outpatient (read: free evenings and weekends), vacation, dermatology, and a research month all in a row. This may be the last time I have 2.5-3 months of reasonable training time for the foreseeable future, so I’m doing it. What I’m not sure yet is exactly where I’m doing it. Last time I had a decision like this to make, that is, where all of the options were good but I knew that other folks would have interesting perspectives, was when I was deciding whether to visit Budapest or Prague. You all were very helpful at that time, so let’s have at it again. There are three options:

1. Iron Horse Ride: This takes place in Ann Arbor and is a fundraising ride for the Michigan Chapter of the ALS Association. I have mixed feelings about a charity ride, no matter how amazing the cause, as I worry that I won’t have enough time to train AND fundraise properly. Also, the ride is in town, and I will have ridden around Ann Arbor plenty by the time the ride arrives. The major plus is that I wouldn’t have to drive in the morning to the ride.

2. Covered Bridge Bike Tour: Organized by the Fallasburg Historical Society, this ride starts in Lowell, MI, outside of Grand Rapids, and winds around the scenic countryside featuring, as the name would suggest, some covered bridges. It looks beautiful, and is also a bit later in the season that the Iron Horse Ride. Major downside is that it’s a few hours away and so would require either a hotel stay the night before or an early drive out there.

3. Kalamazoo Scenic Bicycle Tour (KalTour): Another ride with more scenery, but a longer drive; I think that Lowell, MI and Texas Township, MI are about equidistant from Ann Arbor. As stated before, would probably require a hotel stay or a really early drive.

What do you think?