National 24 Hour Challenge

Middle age and triathlon have moved me to a different event I never thought I'd be doing. The National 24 Hour Challenge is a cycling specific event that is not a race but "a personal best on-road bicycle ride to test your endurance and determination." It's held annually on Father's Day weekend since 1983. I've never gone 112 miles on a bike before so I imagine if I have 24 hours to ride I should be able to do that at least twice. But hey I've never done it before. It starts at 8:00 am Saturday and ends @ 8:00 am on Sunday. The course features three loops. Loop One is 121.6 miles long and you only get to ride it once and you have to ride it first. There are four checkpoints on this loop. Loop Two is 23.7 miles long. You can ride it as many times as you want but you must ride it once before you ride Loop Three which is 7.5 miles long. There are two checkpoints on Loop Two. Only full loops of Loop Three completed by 8:00 am count. There is one checkpoint on this loop. The Start/Finish area is a common checkpoint for all three loops. You can go to their web site for more details but it seems like my kind of event. Not a cycle race (the thought of being in a peloton scares me) but it does seem like just the thing to get me more into cycling. I love the running and the swimming but the cycling is such a HUGE part of any Ironman. I'll be sure to report on this event.