A charity bike ride, like the 24 Hours of Booty for the Livestrong Foundation, is a great road bike ride where you can put in long miles without the worry of getting lost or left out in the cold. With multiple mileage options and a wide variety of road bikers, charity bike rides give road bikers a way to get involved and enjoy the sport of cycling. Every city in just about every country in the world has their own form of a charity ride or at least one near by.

Why Should You Ride A Charity Bike Ride?

If you are new to the sport of road biking or are looking to increase your mileage limit for your road rides, charity bike rides are a perfect way to increase your fitness and test the limits of your riding with very little risk. Typically, if you are going to try your first century (100 miles or 160 km) or metric century (100 km or 62 miles), you are going to want to try to test your legs ability to go the distance on charity bike rides for several reasons (that you end up paying for with the entry fee):

Charity Bike Rides Are Well Supported

When you ride in an organized charity bike ride, about every 25 miles (if you are doing the century or metric) has a sag stop where you can refill bottles with water or other electrolyte drink, eat a snake (fruit, bananas, cookies), get a goo or two, use the restroom and get ready for the next leg of the ride. Unless you plan store stops into your long un-supported rides, you are never going to have pit stops as good as they are on organized road rides.

Charity Bike Rides Have Medical Support

While you are riding a charity bike ride, (I did the Hospitality Highway Century 2 years running) there are automobiles that sweep the course to make sure everyone is ok. If you get into redzone trouble, help is just a phone call or wave of the hand away, so you can get help or get picked up for a mechanical easily and quickly.

Charity Bike Rides Give Back To A Great Cause

By participating in a charity bike ride, you are giving your money and effort into raising awareness and funds for a good cause. With 1,000′s of road bikers showing up to some of these events, every rider counts in the push to make our sport and the cause better in the long run. Even when most events are now ranging around $45.00 to enter, at least you have a good idea of where that money is going and you end up getting a t-shirt out of the deal.

Where Can I Find Charity Bike Rides In My Area?

The #1 best place to find a charity bike ride in your area is your local bike shop. If they do not already have fliers available, just ask the guy behind the counter and he can point you in the right direction. If there are any local, organized cycling groups in your area, one of the board members will know and you can also check their forum site to see when the next organized charity ride is going on in your area.