In 2009, I participated in 24 Hours of Booty, a 24-hour cycling event in Columbia, Maryland, raising funds and awareness in the fight against cancer. I rode the event Saturday into the night, then traded my bike for a camera on Sunday to photograph the cyclists who continued to ride.
At the time, I wrote a three-part series about the experience, which I shared with my then-wife. Seventeen years later, I am revisiting that original series and the photographs that accompanied it. The writing has been lightly edited, but the stories, photographs, and memories remain very much those of 2009.
Part 3 of 3: Sore is a Four Letter Word
Sore!! In a word, that is what I was as I drove to the hotel with my wife. Not a bad sore, but I was definitely hurting. The night had turned both wet and cold. I was so looking forward to a hot shower, snacking on some junk food, and crawling into a warm, soft, solitary bed. So was my wife.
We got back to the hotel, grabbed our wet clothes, and headed to the room. The walk from the parking lot to the hotel lobby seemed long. Did I say seemed long? It was long and made more so by the fact that the elevators in the hotel were not working. I could not believe that after riding for hours, my wife and I were now looking at a nice stair climb. I started laughing as we headed down the hall to the stairs and started the climb to our room.
We finally got to our floor and our room. Comfort at last. Hot showers were the first order of business, followed by a proper face stuffing of chips, soda, and, believe it or not, ice cream. Pure comfort food. My wife settled into watching a little late-night television while I got out the laptop and popped on Facebook and the Twitter. Then… Sweet sleep.
Sore!! I thought I was sore as I drove to the hotel. Wrong!! Sore is what I was when I woke in the morning… lol. Sunday, for me, I knew was a short day. I had to pick up our kids well before the end of the event. My wife, however, was staying and riding the whole day. Knowing how I felt when I woke, I just looked over at her and smiled. I knew she was sore also, even more so as she rode longer the night before.
We got up. We got dressed. We packed our things and checked out. First order of business was a hot coffee and breakfast at Bootyville. When we arrived, the sky was still overcast, with a misty, intermittent rain coming down. Bootyville was hopping, though, with a mixture of cyclists who rode through the night and new cyclists coming in or returning to ride on Sunday.
We grabbed a coffee and some eggs and had a quiet breakfast under the mess tent together. My wife was itching to get back on her bike, and I was looking forward to capturing some images of the event. We walked back to our Jeep, and I helped my wife ready her bike for the day. I wished her well and gave her a kiss before she headed out. I then turned to my camera bag. I grabbed my Canon DSLR, my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, slung my bag over my shoulder, and headed out.
Photography, for me, is a passion, a passion I hope comes through in my images. No, I didn’t ride on Sunday. It was my hope, though, that my images would capture the passion of others as they rode for such a worthy cause. As my own worst critic, I can’t say if my images do that or not. I will leave that up to others to decide. What I will say is, I am truly in awe of the folks who came out to ride and do their part to help rid the world of cancer.
A Note About 24 Hours of Booty
Since these pieces were originally written in 2009, both the organization and its story have evolved. 24 Hours of Booty eventually became 24 Foundation in 2017, while the original 24 Hours of Booty continues as its signature cycling event in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, 24 Foundation focuses on cancer navigation and survivorship and has raised more than $33 million since its beginnings.
The references to the Lance Armstrong Foundation in these original posts have been retained as part of their 2009 context. The events surrounding Lance Armstrong came later and do not change the work of the riders, volunteers, cancer organizations, and communities these events brought together.
Technical Notes:
These images were captured with a Canon DSLR and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. The photos were processed in Adobe Lightroom, with adjustments to exposure and color, along with clarity and saturation. A slight amount of film grain was applied to each image. All images are presented in their original 3:2 aspect ratio.
