They didn't get to ride, but the 1,500 cyclists who signed up for the 50-mile final leg of the Tour of Hope accomplished what they set out to do: raise money for cancer research.
Heavy rains, 7.25 inches in two days, according to Operation Gadget, forced cancellation of the Grand Finale of the cross-country bicycling tour to raise funds and awareness in the battle against cancer.
There were some bloggers among the cyclists who showed up for the 50-mile ride to the Ellipse from Howard County Community College. Here's what they had to say:
“We decided at that point to see why everyone was still walking towards the registration tent and began to walk that way. When we got to the front of the check-in line, it became more apparent that this event was a huge clusterf—. There didn’t seem to be any single authority in charge of the volunteers. I gave the woman my name and she promptly told me that they didn’t have my check-in packet there. I was confused for a second and then realized what these people were doing. They were just grabbing random race packets and giving them to people! C’mon people, how easy is it to just hand people the packets that belong to them? I spent a lot of my own time and money to help this cause out, I expect to atleast get my assigned number plates! Now, before you guys try to give me a hard time about number plates, just realize that our race numbers are the little things that separate us from the people that just watched the event happen.
“To make matters a little tougher, the event had 1500 registered participants and the check-in tent was 20′ by 20′ in size. Barely 100 people could fit in that thing. To add insult to injury, the “organizers” KNEW that they had planned an event that would start before sunrise and yet there were no lights in the actual check-in tent. What were they thinking? Volunteers were sitting behind the desks trying to juggle their papers and their flashlights.
“… I’ll definitely help raise money for the cause again, but don’t expect me to recommend the “Tour of Hope” to anyone ever again unless they really get their act together.”
“Eye on the prize, though. As the woman mentioned who came on the bus to tell us the ride was off, “Hey, you guys did help raise over 1.5 million dollars for cancer research this year!” So that’s pretty awesome.
I was pretty bummed and very amped up to get on the bike, so I just rode home from DC.”
“It's hard for me to look back on Saturday and come to any other conclusion than that the organizers made the right decision. In the end 7.25 inches (18.4 centimeters) of rain fell in two days at Reagan National Airport in Washington. I know how much we all wanted to ride yesterday, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt either.”
Meanwhile, AP filed a story about Lance Armstrong finishing the Tour of Hope, without mentioning the grand finale being wiped out.
Chris Brewer, a cyclist who accompanied the Tour of Hope and wrote daily dispatches, reports on the finale at The Paceline. In spite of all the cancellations, the group of 24 were able to finish the ride and were met at their hotel by a huge, impromptu reception.
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