R.A.T.S

For quite literally my entire life I have heard stories about R.A.T.S., the Ride Across Three States. A bicycle trip from Orono, Maine to Burlington, Vermont it is a ride of absurd numbers. 300 miles. Nearly 20,000 feet of climbing. 22 hours straight. At different points in my life I have praised and reviled it. Dreamed of completing it and hoped that I would never have to face it. But despite a few major setbacks and some serious trepidation, on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. I set out with four other riders, determined to make it to Burlington.

There is no way that RATS can be understood by a rational person. There is simply no reason that anyone should want to ride 300 miles in one day. Rational people do not even consider riding RATS. Even having been convinced to do it, I’m still not exactly sure why I, or anyone else, would agree to subject themselves to that kind of guaranteed suffering. By providing some background I hope to give you, (the very few people interested enough to actually read this,) some insight into the motives behind this epic ride. If you are more interested in the how than the why, feel free to skip ahead, the story of my particular ride is interesting enough in itself. But if you want to know the particulars of how I came to be riding my bike to Burlington, at midnight, from Orono, then read on.