Pedaling with Purpose (Copy)

Riders gathering at UP for the Ride for Roswell

The Ride for Roswell is one of the country's largest charity cycling events, benefiting Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. Thousands of cyclists participate each year, raising millions of dollars to support cancer research, clinical trials, and patient care. This year I joined nearly 5,000 riders, rode with my bank’s team, and I shamelessly pestered my friends and family until I reached my fundraising goal.

I left home Friday afternoon and drove to Buffalo. After stopping at the bank to pick up my team jersey, I drove to Amherst and checked into a hotel less than a mile from the University at Buffalo North Campus, where the ride would begin the next morning.

I biked over to UB to register, but the registration tents had already closed for the evening. The campus was so quiet and peaceful in the dusky light that I decided to stay out for a ride. The wide roads, bike paths, and nearly empty campus made for a peaceful hour and a half of riding before dinner. I stopped for dinner and a beer at Brick House, a pub with great food about a mile off campus. The patio was full of families in town for Freshman Orientation week.

After dinner, I tried finding my way back to the hotel without using my GPS, just to practice navigation without a map, but ended up riding about fifteen minutes in the wrong direction before finally checking my phone.

Ride day started about 6am. After checking out of the hotel with no time for coffee, I biked over to UB, checked in, and just made the last call for the 7:30am start of the 30-mile River Route.

Heading to the starting line.

The course followed the Empire State Trail, Ellicott Creek, and the Niagara River through Tonawanda. Police closed intersections along the route, and volunteers staffed rest stops every few miles with water, Gatorade, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and homemade cookies.

I finished the ride shortly before 11:00 a.m., had lunch with the M&T Bank team under the team tent, then returned to the hotel, loaded my bike, and drove home.