Friends, Passion, and Wind – Tour De Camden Bike Ride

The Tour de Camden this year was a meld of many friends, their passion for cycling, and some strong winds. Much of the FGM Internet Marketing, LLC’s cycling team members were at the Tour De Camden bike ride on May 6th, 2017 including Lance Schultz, Fiona Martin, Les Boan, Amy Wise, Doug Lucas, Ricky Sox, Pamela Babbit, Catherine Ashbridge, Henry Mandrell, Tonia McGrew and last year’s team members Scott Ravan and Chris Walther. Traversing through horse country, this ride had a choice of 30 mile, 50 mile, or 62 mile routes.

The wind was a bit worse than years past on the course. Some of the FGM Internet Marketing team members started out with the front group of riders. A few members decided to battle the wind on their own and ride it alone. Post ride, many of the team members were heard talking about how tough it was battling the headwinds for most of the ride.

Fiona and Lance started out towards the very front at a blisteringly fast pace. Doug Lucas started in the group directly behind them. Ricky Sox, Pamela Babbit, and Amy Wise found a comfortable pace that was still incredibly fast, but one they could manage. Towards the beginning of the ride, Amy decided that she was going to try and catch up to the group in front that included Doug Lucas. She hung out with that group a few miles before deciding to wait on the previous group and take a more comfortably fast pace.

Shortly before the second rest stop, their group got quite a bit bigger and Ricky, Pam, and Amy picked up Scott Raven who was on the FGM Internet Cycling team in 2016. The group worked together to battle some tough hills going directly into the wind shortly before the second rest stop at mile 38.

At each rest stop Ricky, Pamela, and Amy were greeted by FGM team members Catherine Ashbridge and Henry Mandrell. Catherine was riding in the support truck after a rough day of chemo and blood transfusions the day before. It was amazing to see Catherine fighting so hard after a rough day of treatments. Henry was supporting riders who suffered from mechanical issues on the course. It was very refreshing and motivating to see both Catherine and Henry at the rest stops.

The next 12 miles were pure headwind and the group worked hard to get to the last rest stop at mile 50. After refreshing their water bottles and a good stretch for sore muscles, the group was on the road once again. Ricky and Pamela pulled a good portion of the remaining 12 miles and made their way towards the middle of the group for the last 2 miles of the ride. Coming into Camden and seeing the “Historic Camden” sign was a huge relief for everyone. The welcome sign meant that the finish was just a few more pedal strokes away. Getting off their bikes, most of the group made their way to the refreshments and we very happy to be on solid ground not fighting a headwind.

Across the pond, FGM team member John Martin competed in the Felice Gimondi Gran Fondo in Bergamo, Italy. Check out his 102-mile ride through the Italian Alps here. He loved showing off his FGM kit!