Ride Recap Brothers Ride 24

This summer was such a drag for riding. I was not motivated at all with no racing going on. So I thought to myself I got to do something to become interested in riding again. Talking with Monk he was having the same mindset as me. What's the point of getting on the bike and killing yourself for nothing? We threw some ideas around jokingly, what about a 24hr ride? "Yeah that would be epic" I said without thinking much of it. A few weeks went by still with the same mentality about being on the bike. I got a call from my brother saying lets actually do this. Let's ride for a few causes Alzheimer's Disease and Veteran Suicide Awareness. Before I could say yes the IG page was made and the donation site was up. "Looks like we are doing this" With about a month away I started training. With some long hours on the trainer and some hours on the road we were a week out. It didn't hit me till I got a call from Monk saying he was on the way. Then all the thoughts went through my head. Am I ready, I'm going to die, I don't know if I can do it etc. The day before I packed all my gear and got to bed around 9 for a solid 11 hours of sleep. Drove to my parents house where a gourmet breakfast was waiting. I smashed some breaky and it was time. The two of us hopped on the bike joined by our dad. LETS GO! The first hour was a little rocky working out some of the kinks. We made it to our fist top about 45 miles in to refuel and pick up my mom, aunt and Anna as they rode a few miles with us. Super cool to share this moment with us. The two of them pulled off and Anna continued North West to our next stop at Psimet with us. Rob was awesome. He got the juices flowing with some conversation and a mighty fine espresso! We hopped back on the bike around 4 going to our next stop Lake Geneva. Where mid way we picked up Nathan. About 90 miles in my dad

turns to us and says this is the longest ride I've done in a while. We were like how long has it been? It has been at least 30 year since I've done a century, I want to get to 100. At 105mile he was done. What a ride that was with no training. That gave me the motivation to get up to Lake G. We got to lake Geneva just as night fell where we were greeted by a loud roar of strangers cheering us on. Awaiting us was food much needed so real food. Quickly hammered some food down the throat and off we were. As we approached 1/2 way mark we dropped Nathan off and changed chamois and got into some warmer clothing. It was pitch black out thankfully we had a wonderful crew to help guide us through the miles and miles of mindless cornfields. It was about 2 in the morning we made a right turn form a head wind to a cross wind. Monk shifted down and just took off. I tried to yell, whistle finally I had to chase him to get his attention. Yo slow down your pushing over 22 mph. He didn't even know he was just in a grove, pedaling his bike. At this point nothing on my body was hurting except for my shoulder. I was in so much pain. My body has been beaten down by hockey and it was the first time in life that I could feel the effects. I kept on pushing though. We made it to about 5am were we got some much needed food and a warm house to recoup. Thanks Aunt Cindy! We kept plugging along around 7 we met up a Brian McCarthy and Jim Russel in Lemont. The two of them were just going out for a ride and had no plans but to see us off to the finish. As we were approaching the final stretch we realized we still had an hour to go. Quickly we refueled and came up with a quick route to get us to our goal of 24 hours. As we approached home we were greeted with cheers it was finally over 24 hour done and dusted 318 mile all for the greater cause of helping veteran suicide awareness and pedaling for Alzheimer's! I must say the only thing that really hurt on my body was my shoulders. Never was in a spot where I thought I was going to cramp or couldn’t continue. Truly an amazing experience. Not sure what it means for next year however we could not have done it without our crew. Not only were they keeping us safe they had food/ bottles whatever we needed to keep us going. They are the true hero's of this ride! Without them we could not have done it. While we have reached our goal the link

is still up to donate.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/brothers-ride-24

I can’t thank you all enough. I know these two organizations @pedalforalz and @projectechelonracing truly appreciate all the efforts and support you all have given. So Thank You!