Guest Post: Ride the 100 Miles of Nowhere With JOHAN BRUYNEEL

05.4.2011 | 9:01 am

A “Last Chance and a New Cause to Register” Note from Fatty: A few days ago, I told Johan Bruyneel he ought to do the 100 Miles of Nowhere with Team Fatty. He was interested, so I closed the deal by suggesting he could do it for a cause near and dear to his heart: what if he did the 100 Miles of Nowhere, but with the proceeds of his ride going to a cause he’s passionate about: World Bicycle Relief?

And what if, furthermore, I opened registration for the 100 Miles of Nowhere for one more day, so his friends and fans could sign up as well?

I proposed this because I’ve been thinking about World Bicycle Relief (WBR) a lot lately; the way a bicycle — something I love — can immediately improve the life of someone is just amazing. And I love the mission of WBR: to give away 50,000 bikes. That’s 50,000 lives improved, in a big way.

So of course Johan said yes.

So, for today and tomorrow (registration closes at 6pm ET on Thursday) only, I’m opening up registration for the 100 Miles of Nowhere (men register here; women register here). All proceeds from registrations today and tomorrow go to WBR.

I’m Doing “100 Miles of Nowhere“
Guest post (also on Johan’s website) by Johan Bruyneel  

Doesn’t make much sense to you? Well it shouldn’t.

So when The Fat Cyclist aka Fatty asked me to join him, I needed some explanation. The brief story is that Fatty has an international following – from his home in Utah to the other 49 states to countries to the North, South, East and West (and if you don’t believe me, he has the web metrics to prove it).

A few years ago, Fatty wanted to put on a ride benefiting LIVESTRONG where people from all over the world could participate. But with Fatty fans scattered throughout the world, that would be nearly impossible. So he created “100 Miles of Nowhere” allowing participants to “come together” and ride 100 miles from their own home on the rollers, trainer, or a very small course (like around the block or up and down a hill). Sounds very “Fatty like,” right? That’s what I thought too.

On a side note – I think … No actually … I’m certain the last time I did 100 miles on the rollers was when I was a professional rider … And I did that because it was my job!

Now since I like Fatty and he’s got one of the biggest hearts I’ve met, I agreed to suffer with everyone else. Fatty then suggested that since I agreed to participate that we should do a registration spin-off benefiting World Bicycle Relief. The only thing he wasn’t too sure of was if he could get more event t-shirts and race plates for the incoming number of registrants.

I’ve heard people say “Fatty for President” in the past and let me tell you, Fatty doesn’t disappoint. He managed to get Twin Six to donate and make even more event t-shirts! Bike Monkey agreed to the same for the race plates.

Which means that Fatty is reopening registration (last chance!) from Wednesday, May 4, 11:00 AM ET USA to Thursday, May 5 6:00 PM ET USA with all net proceeds from the $80 registration fee going to the Bicycle Education Empowerment Program (BEEP) of World Bicycle Relief.

And if you don’t know about WBR and BEEP, watch this video of my trip last year to Zambia.

So now my challenge to YOU!

Will you join me and Fatty for “100 Miles of Nowhere”?
How many World Bicycle Relief bikes can we put in the hands of school boys and girls in Zambia??
How many lives can we change forever?

WBR just announced that in March they gave their 10,000th WBR bike to a school child in Zambia. Amazing! But the goal is 50,000 WBR bikes to school children so there’s A LOT more work to be done.

Now I realize that everyone needs motivation to ride 100 miles on the rollers. (Does anyone really enjoy it?!?!?) So for those that register by Thursday, May 5, 6:00 PM ET USA, you’ll be entered into a random raffle drawing to win a Team RadioShack signed jersey by the riders of the 2011 Giro d’Italia squad. (Giro d’Italia squad)

Here’s how to register. It’s easy.

MEN CLICK HERE

WOMEN CLICK HERE

Fill out all the information and pay the $80 registration fee. Twin Six will then send you the t-shirt and race plate (YES – they will ship internationally) and the proceeds will go directly to providing World Bicycle Relief bikes to school children in Zambia.

And once you’ve done all that, tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter (we’ve made it easy for you).

THANK YOU and let’s make “100 Miles of Nowhere” lead to Zambia!!

Johan Bruyneel

PLEASE NOTE:

“100 Miles of Nowhere” is a Fatty owned event, which means he makes the rules …. So straight from the owner, race director, commissaire, himself:

- The “official” date of the race is Saturday, June 4.
- And, thanks to the flexibility of the event — i.e., it’s just you, really — if June doesn’t work for you, you can do it another day.
- And also, the “100 Miles” part is more of a guideline than a rule. For example, if you would rather ride 50 miles, that’s fine with me. So is 25.
- Or if you’re a runner and you want to do a marathon on the treadmill, that would be awesome. If you’re a swimmer, swim five miles. I’m not picky.
- And of course, the very best thing about the 100 Miles of Nowhere is that you are going to win your division. You just need to make sure your division is specific enough that there’s no chance anyone else is in it.

By the way, I don’t see anything about radios, so I guess they are allowed!!