Pardon me for the lack of updates this past week. As I write this, I’m sitting in the Cleveland Airport awaiting my flight back to Burlington and figured I should let you know what’s been going on.
Last Sunday was the 6th installment of The Great Turkey Chase, an alley-cat style food drive similar to Cranksgiving, put on by Liam Griffin each year. This was my 4th year riding and probably my favorite yet!
We had 26 riders come out this year; despite the 20-degree weather with a 7-degree windchill, 30 MPH winds and a couple inches of snow, everyone finished the race and we ended up collecting about 600 pounds of food and 18 turkeys for the Vermont Food Shelf. Not bad!
I woke up Sunday morning in a bit of a confused state, and after seeing some new snow on the ground I decided that it’d be a great idea to ride my mountain bike for the race that’s 95% on sealed roads. My ‘cross bike would have been perfect, but as I said, my ability to make logical decisions that morning was laughable…
About 16 miles later and with 20 psi in my tires, I ended up at Manhattans Pizza and immediately had myself a Heady Topper and a couple slices of pizza. I also might have taken a little pit-stop mid-race that emergency tall boy I’d been carrying with me. At this point, my brain had almost woken up and I figured drinking the beer would: a) warm me up, b) lighten my load, c) make room in my bag for more cans and d) make me hate myself a little less for riding a mountain bike.
Anyway, I’m so thankful for this race every year and being able to take part. Even though we didn’t bring in as much food as previous years, it still feels great to be able to help out the community! (and while riding a bike). Thanks again to Liam for putting this on each year.
Check out a few photos from Liam below and see the full album on Facebook. Also, be sure to check out the Burlington Free Press writeup.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
-Brian
I rode the 26″ and Lance was on the fat bike.
Norris, Hubert, Dan and Hunt hangin’ pre race at Maglianero
A Culture Cycles 40 oz koozie was one of the coveted prizes.
Hunt with a banana and his killer glasses.
