27 miles for the Texas Mamma Jamma Ride

Here are some 'stats' from the first-ever Texas Mamma Jamma Ride:

1 handcyclist, accompanied by 1 amazingly supportive husband spent 3.5 hours riding 27 miles, carrying 51 names of women to honor, up countless hills, in chilly weather with a high of 57 degrees, along with 478 other riders and over 200 volunteers, to raise $2,910 (so far!) - toward our $3000 goal - as part of $517,000 (so far!) raised overall to support 10 nonprofit charities! (By the way, the amount of your donations that went to ride advertising, printed materials, rider t-shirts, etc. - $0. The ride had great sponsors--so your contributions went directly to the charities to provide needed services.)

It was a chilly day, but it was a well organized ride. The riders & volunteers were enthusiastic and supportive. We rode through a lovely area and enjoyed seeing the flowers and the farm animals (who seemed quite curious about this mass migration of critters on wheels! Many of the animals came toward the fences so Mark could snap a picture--either they were mugging for the camera or they were trying to give me a warning about what happens to those who lag too far behind the pack!)

The volunteers were terrific yesterday--even though we were the last of the 27 milers, they kept the 2 rest stops open until we came through. Wasn't that nice!?! We gave a moment's consideration to taking the shorter 13 mile route, but were committed to doing the full 27. A few miles after we passed the 13 mile turn-off, we saw the sign in honor of Mom--would have missed that if we'd taken the shorter distance!

We're definitely doing the ride next year (in fact, I'm already registered.) Next year, we're going to try something new in our fundraising--look for a post about that soon to give you a heads up.

And THANK YOU again to all of those who supported us financially and emotionally and to everyone who shared a name of someone to honor or celebrate! Every hill, every mile, every shiver of this ride was worth it!

Click on the 'Mamma Jamma Ride Oct 2009' slideshow for more pictures! (scroll down to the 'Mitchell Pictures' section of the toolbar on the right side of the blog page).