Saturday, April 5, 2008

Camp for All Ride



Today Camp for All had their annual fund-raising bike ride. I got up at 5:15 and headed up to Burton, about an hour and a half drive. Camp for All is worth it, it’s a really cool place.

This is from Camp for All's website: Camp For All, located in the rolling hills of Washington County, Texas, is a unique camping and retreat facility that strives to enrich the lives of people with special needs. A not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Camp For All works in partnership with special needs groups whose members gain self-esteem, self-awareness and independence by participating in programs that are recreational, therapeutic and educational. The camp provides a fully-accessible environment and programs that are tailored to meet the needs of campers of all ages, interests and abilities.

Essentially, it’s a camp for kids and adults with cancer, cerebral palsy, burns, spinal cord injuries, and many other conditions. Campers get to do activities like archery, cycling, canoeing, horseback riding, nature studies, and tons of other cool stuff. When I worked at Duckworth-Cole, Inc. we did some charity work for Camp for All, so when I heard about the bike ride, I knew I wanted to go up there to do it.

Riders had a choice of 3 distances, 22 miles, 36 miles or 64 miles. I decided on 36 miles. Since there are lots of hills around Camp for All and no hills in Houston, I wasn’t sure I could do 64 miles in such a hilly area. I was excited to ride on some hills today, they really build leg strength and it’s good practice for some of my triathlons in Austin.

It was pretty cold this morning, I was shivering before the ride started, so I got to wear the riding jacket that Jeff got me for Valentine’s Day for the first time. It was sunny and clear and the bluebonnets and other wildflowers were blooming all along the course. It was a really beautiful bike ride. The first 25 miles was hilly, but I was feeling good, the last 10 miles or so were a little tough, there were some bigger hills and a little headwind, so I was happy to ride back into Camp for All at the finish. My quads are fairly sore tonight, so I guess I got a good workout today.

Then I picked up my goodie bag and t-shirt and had lunch. They had hamburgers, chips, potato salad (yuck!), ice cream, and beer. (It’s pretty common to serve unhealthy food at rides & races, last weekend at the triathlon the post race food was pizza, ice cream, and beer) I met some girls from A&M who did their very first ride today, the 22 mile ride, that’s a great first ride! It was such a pretty day that I hung out at Camp for All for awhile and watched some of the 64 mile riders finish.
Cool Camp for All cnavas bag and t-shirt.

Hamburgers and beer after the ride.

This is me with one of the Aggie girls who did her very first ride today.

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