March Madness

Each year the Davis Bike Club hosts March Madness. It is a fundraiser for area school kids who need helmets and generally safer cycling gear for riding their bikes.  DBC members register and pledge to ride a certain number of miles during the month of March. And then you see a helluva lot of people riding bikes in March around Davis!  Here is the link to MM info on the DBC site. 

Being new to the club, and looking to do some pretty serious miles in preparation for my summer, I registered and pledged to do 1000 miles.  That is a lot of miles, but I think I nearly did 1000 miles in February, so, while it seemed ambitious, it was not unlikely that I could do this.  I even ordered a March Madness Jersey, which will have the pledge miles emblazoned on the sleeve.  The photo of the jersey looks pretty cool:



 
I like the blue and orange themes, and I understand there has been an Alice in Wonderland motif going on for the last few years of MM, so it works for me.


March, as it turns out, was one of the wettest on record! It was difficult to schedule ride time around the seemingly constant rain. Additionally, Kathleen's daughter and my son Bryce came home for spring break, and we had a lot of activities together.  I managed to sneak in a few rides on half decent days. I even bought some lightweight fenders for my bike so I could ride in the rain and not get quite as soaked. 

I had about 900 or so miles by March 30, but had entered a long ride (called a permanent) on April 1st.  The last few days of March featured better weather, so I rode multiple days in a row without a day off, and got pretty tired.  I didn't want to be worn out for the longest (125 miles) ride I'd ever done to that point for the permanent on April 1st, but there was no way I was ready to ride 100 miles to make my pledged miles for MM, and and do the permanent the following day.  My cycling club buddies kidded me about claiming the permanent's miles on "March 32nd."  Hmmmmm....that is not adhering to the letter of the MM event, but, with all the unexpected rain we had....that was my intention to finish 1000 miles.....it is in keeping with the spirit of MM, right?....hmmmmm......OK!  I put my April 1st permanent mileage in my MM record...It is a kind of April Fool thing, in a mad way.  

So, having had some days to reflect on my "fudge," I don't really feel great about it, but it is difficult so early in my cycling experiences to know for sure what I could do in March.  Balancing work, family, and riding around bad weather was a challenge.  I vow that next year, I will do an extra 100 miles over my pledge amount to make up for it.  The Madness of March....