You have no idea how often I read other bloggers’ marathon recaps and yearn for that same feeling. But my knees are likely to never allow me that privilege. I just accepted the fact that I’m not an endurance athlete.
Two summers ago I bought my bike, and running kind of fell to the wayside. I love my bike!!!
Secretly when I bought my bike I knew I always wanted to try to enter a long distance ride. (Even though my bike isn’t a racing bike, it’s a hybrid.)
So let’s get to the ANNOUNCEMENT part of this post.
I’m going to participate in the 2012 Ride for Heart with the Heart and Stroke Foundation and ride the:
75 KM DISTANCE!!!
Listen I know it’s not the longest distance ever. But for someone who tops out at running 2 kilometres and has only biked about 10 kilometres before … this. is. LONG.
I was contacted by representatives of the ride earlier this month to sign up as a VIP rider and raise $1000 and have set up my donation page:
I hope you will consider helping me reach my fundraising goal 
AND I hope that some of you Toronto friends will join me in participating in the ride. If you want to sign up as a VIP rider you have until November 30th. VIP’s receive these perks:
- Choose which of the four priorities of Heart and Stroke Foundation’s mission your fundraising supports: Awareness & Prevention, Healthy Communities, Healthy Children & Youth or World Class Research
- VIP Cycling Jersey
- Event-day hospitality package including catered breakfast and lunch, free car and valet bike parking and special refreshment stops
- Access to any of the three Ride routes and choice of start time
- Invitation to the VIP Rally and post-event thank you Ride
You can register in the VIP program and ride either the 25 km, the 50 km, or the 75 km routes.
I’m so scared, but totally ready to start training.
And on June 3rd I’ll go from this
to THIS.
Won’t I look totally cool in my VIP technical shirt 
Scary scary scary scary scary!!!!
Who’s joining me? Who’s done a long distance bike ride before? Who has any advice for me?
Cool, good luck! I’ve done the ride in honour of family for the last two years, it’s a great course.
thanks Christina! Are you riding this year too?
You are AMAZING! And now that you have a goal, I know you’ll do a great job. Very proud of you!
thanks Katy
Yikes! 75 km is a freaking long distance! My longest bike ride ever was about 50 km, just this summer, and I totally felt as if I was dying during the last 10 km. I clearly wasn’t prepared for such a distance.
Anyway, this is an awesome goal, and I’m sure you’re going to rock that ride!
wow 50km I’m so impressed! I’ve got lots of time to train, and the course is not too bad – uphill for the first half, downhill for the second, I’m sure I’ll be happy about that!
Woohoo! I really want to do the RFH, but because of co-op I might be somewhere across the country in June so I don’t want to sign up and have to bail
But if I’m around, I’ll definitely do the 75k with you! My advice is get bike shorts, your butt will thank you 
yay! I hope you find a co op in Toronto this summer so you can do the ride with me, and for frozen yogurt dates, and for picnics
I’m secretly hoping for Vancouver or somewhere out east so I can travel a bit, but there are so many things around Toronto that I would miss. And I’m in Toronto now – it’s a little cold for picnics, but I think frozen yogurt is always appropriate
I think I need to thank Callie for taking Susan on her first Menchies trip after our Winterlicious meal. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known about it!
Have you guys heard of Bakerbots on Delaware? I think it might be danger zone…
NOOOOOO … what are they?
It’s this place. They have Ed’s Real Scoop ice cream flavors and you pick which ice cream you want and you pick which cookies you want and then they make a sandwich out of them.
I haven’t tried it but oh man I need to.
Yay!! I am so glad you signed up. You are going to rock it!!
I want to do a long distance ride next year too but I think this one conflicts with a relay I am participating in
if I live we can do it together in 2013 hahaha
Awesome! That its really cool. Congratulations on accepting such a big challenge. I’ve complete faith in you & will contribute to your goal. As a former USCF road racer & Mt. biker, I have a lot of experience. Heck, a good friend of mine won the Race Across America, twice. If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer. Enough for now but look forward to your progress & growth.
oh WOW! Can you point me in the direction of some good training plans??? I’m finding them harder to find than training for running
good luck Morgan! thats amazing!
Thanks Andrea!!!
I wish I was able to contribute to your awesome cause…but at least I can cheer you on!!! You’ll rock it…and that feeling of accomplishment will be so worth it!
cheerleaders definitely accepted hehehe
What a fantastic goal, Morgan! That is so exciting!
thanks Tracy – any tips for training?
I’m doing the 75km ride too!! Can’t wait! Good luck training
Yay Christina … maybe we’ll have to get together to talk shop … ie – a training plan … especially because you’re used to running long races
That is AWESOME Morgan!!!! So proud of you! Can’t wait to see you in that tech tee
red’s not my best colour, but I’ll make it work hehehe
Congrats on your goal! I was also contacted to participate but won’t be able to make the journey from Winnipeg to do it. I’m still hoping to do a virtual ride with you guys! Nothing is more motivating than a fitness goal for a great cause! Good luck, I can’t wait to follow your journey!
ohhhhh what’s a virtual ride?!?!?
It’s basically me riding the same distance, the same day but in my city since I wouldn’t be able to be there to ride it in Toronto. I’m thinking of trying to put together a big virtual ride so that those of us who can’t be there can still take part in our own ride. But with a toddler and newborn set to arrive in February, that might prove to be a bit challenging…
Stephanie, let us know when you start to gain momentum and support from others on this. It is a great idea and I can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Very cool! That will be epic! If I were you I would start building up mileage. Also, you might want to try joining a cycling group, to get used to biking with lots of other bikes around, because that can be really intimidating (not to mention dangerous) if you aren’t comfortable in a pack.
that’s a good idea Bronwyn … will look into that in the spring
WOWWW Good for you !!!!! 75 km is FAR! Definitely marathon-comparable. I look forward to tracking your training progress. What an endeavor! You’re an inspiration in goal-setting.
Thanks Meredith … far indeed, ahhhhhh!
AWESOME! This is a great idea! I’ve wanted to be a long distance runner for ever but I know it will never happen due to injuries so I really like this concept!
Good luck!
PS, 75km is pretty effin’ far!
perfect excuse for you to visit Toronto???
Congrats!!! That sounds awesome!! I would love to help you with your training… Maybe we can hit a bike trail and get out there!!
oh definitely!
Congrats!! That is an awesome goal. The longest ride I’ve done is 37 miles. I have always had the dream to do Bike Across Kansas ~ which is 475 miles over 8 days. It sounds so exciting, and yet so scary.
Now that my daughter is older I might feel ok about leaving her for a week. You’ve got me getting excited again! Can’t wait to hear about your ride!!
Dude – 75 kms is FAR!! I’m so excited for you, this is the type of thing I would love to do one day just so I could say I did it. I cant even think of anything else to say, Im just too excited. Yah . . . I really am that much of a nerd.
yeah totally FAR … Brad has reminded me that my wine and snack intake will have to drop off when I get deeper into my training plan
Oh, no. Thats incorrect. You see, now that you’ll be training it will be even more important to maintain a balanced diet. Wine is made from grapes. Grapes are fruit. Therefore, a glass of wine is a serving of fruit. You can’t be skipping out on those important nutrients.
WOW!!! Congrats, doll!! What a goal and you’ll totally achieve this and feel so powerful!! You rock and I’m so inspired by you!! I was just thinking the other day that I could bike longer than I could run any day!!
xxoo
Never done any bike riding as sport, so no advice there. No advice on fund raising either. BUT I’m here to support you any way I possibly can. SO excited for you!
Super exciting Morgan!! Good for you for making a dream your reality. A friend of mine did this ride a few years back and said it was an absolutely amazing experience. Wishing you all the best for a successful race
YAY! And a fantastic cause. Good for you Mo! I never cease to be amazed by you and couldn’t be prouder of all your accomplishments.
That’s amazing Morgan. I actually didn’t realize RFH had a route that long. I’m really excited for you and I’m looking forward to following your trainingprogress! Man, I haven’t been on my bike for soooo long!
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Congratulations! Once you get hooked on long distance cycling you won’t want to stop! I’m in Toronto too but also just cycled across Canada this past summer, averaging about 100-120km/day. It sounds like a lot but honestly your body gets used to it pretty fast. The good news is that you could probably finish the 75km without a ton of training, the bad news is that it will hurt like hell and probably wouldn’t be much fun, which could discourage future riding.
Since you have a lot of time before your ride, I’d say to start with a few 20-30km rides and ease your way up about 5-10km at a time. Also, try to sneak short rides into your daily routine if possible. I *hate* training for the sake of it so I always like to do destination or goal oriented rides; I find the GO transit service to be awesome for this, i.e. we’ll bike to Hamilton and take the train back.
This comment is getting long but feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or just want to talk cycling and/or routes. In any case, best of luck and have fun with it!
Vanessa thanks so much for all your advice … I’ve shared it with some other blogger friends who have signed up as well
Do you have any specific routes you could share with us?
Found your blog from Ride for Heart’s FB pg. I did the 75K Ride for Heart this year without any training. I’ve only gotten into biking last year & I LOVE IT! You’ll be fine – take it at your own pace. With all the rest stops set up, you wouldn’t even feel the distance!! Just remember to have fun.
Are you going to ride again this year, Cherry? Thanks for chiming in with some training tips
Of course!! I wouldn’t miss it for anything – it’s not everyday we get to bike on a highway!!!
I can hardly wait.
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