If you had to choose one of these two options….

[SteveTheTech]

Happy Saturday folks.

I’ve got an interesting question and was hoping the wise people here would offer up some opinions on this.

Earlier this year I raised a bunch of money for the folks over at the National MS society. In return they waived my entrance fee and fund raising requirement for any ride on their schedule from 9/11-6/12. Usually I don’t take things in return for volunteering or fundraising efforts but this one is quite interesting.

The one that is currently leading in my mind is;

The pros here are-
-A shorter to and from trip
-It leaves and arrives at a winery (a significant plus, for the mrs and post ride libation)

Cons-
…It’s not MV?

Here is the other one;

Pros of this one
-Amazing scenery
-The course goes through all of the photo opportunities on the island
-Despite growing up no more than 40 miles from this ride I have never seen this island

Can’t decide pro or con-
I would have to carry my slr and at least two lenses for this ride, as I have conflicting hobbies.

Cons-
-No less than a 10 hour ride
-Family visit will be required, not quite a con just a long detour. Can’t just sneak in…get it done…and roll out.

Neither of these are really long…60 and 65 miles max, but as a fun and partial training ride I think this will be a great warm up for the DC area ride which I am planning on riding 130 which is a month after.

Here is a national map of all of the events in case anyone here is interested.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/raceMap.aspx

Cheers,

Steve

Topic

[americancyclo]

I’d go for the first option. Martha’s Vineyard (no actual vineyard) deserves a trip of its own, and is easily explored by bike at a leisurely pace. Go for the real winery, and save the MV trip for when you have the time to enjoy it, and invite family down for a day visit or two. That way, you can fotog as much as you want, see your fam, and enjoy the biking on the island without having to cram it all in to one weekend. You can get some real decent rates at some of the BnBs in Oak Bluffs.

[creadinger]

First of all, that’s a great reward even though you did not ask for or expect one. Nice job raising so much money! Your pro/con list so far is hilarious. I think if you do either of these rides you’ll have a great time.

Another addition to your pro/con list, you may want to consider overall weather too. May 5th seems kinda early in the season for a ride up in New England. On the other hand, late May in North Carolina could be kinda hot and sweaty and possibly thunderstormy. Accoding to wunderground.com, the climo data for Martha’s Vineyard would almost gurantee 40-50s and possibly 30’s. That would not be very enjoyable if it rained, although you’re probably hardier than I am if you grew up up there. Gibsonville weather is more of a toss-up. Could range from the 50’s to the 80’s in late May.

Would it be impossible to make a longer trip out of it and head out to Colorado or Arizona? One of these days I need to see what riding in the high desert or in the Rockies feels like.

[SteveTheTech]

@americancyclo 8716 wrote:

I’d go for the first option. Martha’s Vineyard (no actual vineyard) deserves a trip of its own, and is easily explored by bike at a leisurely pace.

We have turned into those people now so a winery really is something we would do for fun already. Heading up to New England usually takes several days to meet and eat with all required family members.

@creadinger 8720 wrote:

Another addition to your pro/con list, you may want to consider overall weather too. May 5th seems kinda early in the season for a ride up in New England.

Would it be impossible to make a longer trip out of it and head out to Colorado or Arizona? One of these days I need to see what riding in the high desert or in the Rockies feels like.

Oh I didn’t even think about that….I hate the icy Atlantic “springs”. I have a selective memory loss when it comes what I deem as unacceptably cold weather. Especially when it is just warm enough to rain but cold enough that it freezes. Just gross. Ha thanks for jogging my memory.

I would rather take the gamble on a trip to somewhere new but for this one I’d really like to keep it a good driving distance. My patience for car trips seems to be decreasing the older I get. Five hours in the car should be just about enough. We do typically make the trip up 95 to RI at least twice in the spring and summer, but I have yet to meet 75W from Richmond.

I find the idea of recreational destination vacations quite interesting. I’m not at the point in this hobby where my equipment is worth shipping but I like my bike and do not much care for rental fleets (exception being the convenience of BikeShare). I need to build a better collection, but this is still a point of miscommunication in my house these days. I think riding through the desert or the Rockies would be an epic ride and might be worth the headaches and logistics issues.

[Dirt]

Yes. (That’s my way of saying “both”).

[SteveTheTech]

I agree…my Saturday work schedule…probably not so much, although that time of the year I’m usually ready to pay off some colleagues to cover a Saturday.

The donation requirements are actually very low…it’s basically a buy in ($30-35) and whatever you can give/get.

[Usern Ame]

I find that literally flipping a coin is good in these situations. So far the coin has always been right.

[Author]

Replies