Man-Powering Across Michigan 2: The Revenge

What started off as a lofty self-dare and became one of the greatest adventures of my life is back again for its second iteration: Man-Powering Across Michigan. That’s right, I’m going to hop on the ol’ two-wheeler again and ride from Chicago to Detroit, May 20-22, 2011. I wrote a fairly extensive recap of last year’s journey, so if you haven’t read it and want to laugh along at the thought of me walking 9 miles through the west side of Gary, IN in the rain, then go for it. There’s also some good long-distance biking tips in there, but whatever. I’ll begin training for the ride in early April by starting off short (30-40mi) and then doing incrementally longer runs until my endurance is back to form (100-110mi/day). Total trip distance: ~300 miles.

The finish line

When I first got the idea to do this ride back in mid-2009, I thought it would be cool to build my own bike, do the ride once by myself, and then make it an annual event each year thereafter and (hopefully) get others to do it with me. I am happy to say that it’s looking like I’ll have three friends/riders coming along this year. Two of them are still working on getting the proper equipment, which can be a slippery slope financially, but they seem really eager to get out there and start kicking some ass with me. I know it’s short notice at this point but if any of you reading this are also interested in going and already have a decent road/touring bike, get ahold of me and we can discuss it.

One of the things I am most proud of from last year is that my friends and family were willing to donate over $800 on my behalf to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. That is seriously awesome. I’ve decided to do this again. If donations reach that amount again this year, great. If not, that’s OK too. This is a disease that has affected my family, and I again wanted to use this opportunity to pump some money into the cause. If the spirit moves you, go here to donate. Thanks!

The route