24 hours of Booty

The 24 Hours of Booty is a cycling event that raises money for Lance Armstrongs' Livestrong Foundation.  In 2011 the Charlotte area is celebrating its 9th year of hosting a Booty ride and will also be raising money for the Levine Cancer Institute.  Plans this year are for there to be 1,200 riders and to raise more than $1 millon for cancer research.

The event is set up for participants to raise a minimum of $240 in order to participate in the event.  Once they have raised this amount of money riders can participate in the Booty ride in one of two ways.  First they can ride the 24 Hours of Booty and ride continuously for 24 hours, or they can participate in a shorter version called the reboot.  Participants than ride as many miles as possible for the given amount of time.

The route for the 24 Hours of Booty runs 2.97 miles through the historic neighborhood of Myer's Park, south of Uptown Charlotte.  This neighborhood is near Freedom Park and the stylish Dilworth neighborhood.  There are many old house's and some of the biggest trees in Mecklenburg County.  Bootyville, the center of the festivities, is situated on the campus of Queens University.  Some riders set up tents and sleep in between rides while others just take short breaks and keep pedaling right on through to the end.



Three of my friends and coworkers at REI rode in the event.  Ann Smith and Cliff Stoner both did the reboot and rode more than 60 miles each.  Ben Malmquist rode the whole 24 Hours of Booty and finished with 250 miles.  Wow!  Good job guys.

Every year this event is held the last weekend of July and raises lots of money for a great cause.  Keep it in mind next Summer if you are looking for a cycling challenge.  

Congratulations to my friends on team REI.

Don't forget to check out the Blue Ridge Bandit Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Ridge-Bandit/190721607643691?sk=wall

There are many more photos of all the places I have written about and links to other cool blogs you might also enjoy reading.

Below are some websites that can give you more information about the 24 Hours of Booty in Charlotte, NC and the groups the event supports.

http://www.24hoursofbooty.org/site/PageServer
http://www.carolinasmedicalcenter.org/blank.cfm?id=2437&fr=true
http://www.livestrong.org/
http://leonlevinefoundation.org/aboutus.html