My second #GCCUSA2025 Century

On Saturday, I accomplished my second Century of my Great Cycle Challenge.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

I have committed to riding 1,200 miles over the course of September, and so I need to get long rides in. 

I always try to get a good start over the beginning of the month so that I'm not worrying about miles towards the end of the month when who knows what the weather will be like or what else might be going on.

By the time you read this, I will probably have gone on several more GCC rides. If you'd like to follow along or make a donation ... follow the link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

My first #GCCUSA2025 Century Ride

On Monday, I accomplished my first Century Ride since the Triple Bypass Ride back in July.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

I have committed to riding 1,200 miles over the course of September. 

I always try to get a good start over the first few days and the long Labor Day Weekend so that I'm not worrying about miles towards the end of the month when who knows what the weather will be like or what else might be going on.

By the time you read this, I will probably have gone on several GCC rides. If you'd like to follow along or make a donation ... follow the link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

2025 Triple Bypass Ride

So, if you've been reading this blog this year, you probably understood this was coming ... Saturday I rode the 2025 Triple Bypass.

If you're unfamiliar ... no I didn't have heart surgery. The Triple Bypass is a 118 mile bike ride in Colorado with 10,800 feet elevation. 

It takes 4,000 + bike riders up over 3 mountain passes.

I did this ride last year, and I thought it would be fun (type 2 fun) to do it again and see if I could finish faster.

Of course, last year, the whole thing went about perfect and lots of things can go wrong over 8 to 10 hours on the bike, so finishing faster wasn't part of my success criteria. 

 

My first #GCCUSA2024 Century Ride

On Tuesday, I accomplished my first Century Ride since the Triple Bypass Ride back in July.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

I have committed to riding 1200 miles over the course of September. 

I always try to get a good start over the first few days and the long Labor Day Weekend so that I'm not worrying about miles towards the end of the month when who knows what the weather will be like or what else might be going on.

By the time you read this, I will probably have gone on several GCC rides. If you'd like to follow along or make a donation ... follow the link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Triple Bypass Ride

If you've been following along on this blog, or my social media pages, you probably know that I have been training for the Triple Bypass Ride.

118 miles, climbing 10,800 feet over 3 Colorado passes.

This past Saturday was the day, and I was able to complete the ride.

In fact, I was able to complete it much faster than I thought that I'd be able to do it.

This being my first time attempting any organized ride, let alone one so long, I wasn't sure how to pack. I wasn't sure if I'd want my camelbak, or if I'd be able to just use water bottles, filling up at the aid stations.

I also wasn't sure how much food to bring, or how to pack for unexpected weather.

#1000MileSeptember #GCCUSA2023

If you follow me at all on this blog or facebook or instagram .. you know that I've been participating in the Great Cycle Challenge all last month.

I've pledged to ride September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard 

 

Another #GCCUSA2023 Century Ride

I did another Great Century Challenge Century Ride yesterday (Labor Day).

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

As I type this, I've done a total of 321 miles in September. By the time you read this, I will almost certainly have even more miles ridden.

So far, I've raised $2,911, hoping to get to $5,000 by the end of the challenge.

If you'd like to help out or just follow along, feel free to visit my GCC profile page:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

First #GCCUSA2023 Ride

Yesterday, I started my Great Cycle Challenge with a Century Ride.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

I have committed to riding 1000 miles over the course of September. I always try to get a good start over the first few days and the long Labor Day Weekend so that I'm not worrying about miles towards the end of the month when who knows what might be going on.

By the time you read this, I will probably have gone on another long ride. If you'd like to follow along or make a donation ... follow the link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

First Century Ride of 2023

This past Saturday, I did my first Century ride of 2023.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.

Yep, in one day.

No, my butt is fine.

Nope, I'm not crazy.

Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

Spoiler alert ... there are a lot of similarities between my First Century Ride of 2022 and this one. It was also done the last Saturday of July.

If you've been following me, on this blog, you know I'm "training" for September. 

In September, I'm riding 1,000 miles to help raise awareness and money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund with the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you can afford it and are against childhood cancer, you should donate some money to help with the cause. If you want to help my fundraising effort ... you can donate at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Back to Back Century Rides

If you follow me at all on this blog or facebook or instagram .. you know that the Great Cycle Challenge has begun.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

I've pledged to ride 1000 miles over the course of September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

1000 miles is a lot of miles. To accomplish it, I have to average 33.3 miles a day, which isn't too bad physically, but takes quite a bit of time.

First Century Ride of 2022

This past Saturday, I did my first Century Bike Ride of 2002.

Yep, 100 miles.
That's right ... On my bicycle.
Yep, in one day.
No, my butt is fine.
Nope, I'm not crazy.
Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

If you've been following me, on this blog, you know I'm "training" for September. 

In September, I'm riding 1,000 miles to help raise awareness and money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund with the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you can afford it and are against childhood cancer, you should donate some money to help with the cause. If you want to help my fundraising effort ... you can donate at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Another #GCCUSA Century Ride

To be honest, when I wrote "I might attempt Century Ride # 4 this Labor Day Weekend" on 3rd Century Ride #GCCUSA, I was mostly kidding.

Century Rides are hard. They take a lot out of me. I didn't think there was any way my legs would be ready for another long ride before the end of the long weekend.

But ... honestly, I was feeling pretty good after a rest day, and I had Friday off work.

I got up early for a bike ride. 1000 miles were not going to ride themselves. I had to keep up with my commitment to the Great Cycle Challenge.

I knew I would do a long one. I didn't really plan for 100, but I thought I'd see how it went.

After 10 or 20 miles, I was fairly sure I wouldn't be riding more than 50 miles. My legs didn't feel like they had much in them.

3rd Century Ride #GCCUSA

It is September, so I've begun my Great Cycle Challenge. 

I've committed to cycling 1000 miles in September to help raise awareness and money for Childhood Cancer Research.

If you'd like to help out with a donation my "Rider Page" is at:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

I'm extremely pleased with the support I've gotten so far. I've actually far exceeded my expectations for the amount of money I would be able to raise.

So ... with all those generous folks donating money to my "ride", presumingly expecting me to meet my 1000 mile goal, I certainly want to make sure I do my best to get all my miles in for the month.

My 2nd Century Ride

 I did my second Century Ride last Saturday. 100 miles on my gravel bike.

Yep, 100 miles.

That's right ... On my bicycle.
Yep, in one day.
No, my butt is fine.
Nope, I'm not crazy.
Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far.

If you've been following me, on this blog, you know I'm "training" for September. 

In September, I'm riding 1,000 miles to help raise awareness and money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund with the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you can afford it and are against childhood cancer, you should donate some money to help with the cause. If you want to help my fundraising effort ... you can donate at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Century Ride

I did a Century Ride last Friday.

Yep, 100 miles. 
That's right ... On my bicycle. 
Yep, in one day. 
No, my butt is fine. 
Nope, I'm not crazy. 
Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far. 

As you know if you've been paying attention at all ... September is the month that I'm riding for the Great Cycle Challenge. 

I pledged to ride 1000 miles over the week of September, and convinced a bunch of people to donate money to help fight childhood cancer.

The money goes to support the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

Anyway, 1000 miles is a lot of biking to do in one month. I've never done a century ride. I thought it would be fun to see if I could do it. 

If I'm honest, I knew I could do it.