Marching on

March means March Madness—not the NCAA basketball kind, the bicycling kind, in which Davis Bike Club members pledge to ride a whole lot of miles in one month, the total miles ridden translating into a penny per mile to purchase helmets for kids whose families don't have the money to buy them themselves. This year, I expect there will be more kids needing them.

In any event, I've committed to ride 500 miles this March. Seeing as how I've been on my road bike exactly four times since the beginning of 2009, racking up a whopping 83 miles in toto, I will be challenged to make it. As incentive, I've signed up (and paid for. so I can't back out) a four-day tour beginning Sunday, the 29th. There will be hills, so I'll have to train. Hope the rain stops pretty soon, otherwise I could be in the same fix these guys were in a couple of weeks ago . . .

Amgen Tour of California riders crossing Stevenson's Bridge in the rain
Feb. 15, 2009