Team Buttheads: Cheeky Riders—THEY DID IT!

My husband’s friend, Pat Primm (Cascade Auto Group), convinced him to bike in the Huntington Towpath Trail Century Ride in 2021, but I was concerned about the wisdom of the decision. Think about it:

*101 miles on a bicycle, starting in downtown Cleveland (The Flats) and headed south *Parts of the Towpath Trail are unpaved

*In 2015, Al had four cardiac arrests (from which he, obviously, has recovered)

When Al asked my/our daughter, Lysa, to accompany him on the ride, my confidence returned. She has boundless energy for biking, and they love to bike together. They debated names for their team, eventually settling on “Team Buttheads: Cheeky Riders” (not my first or even second choice!), signed up, and rode their first Century Ride.

“Good,” I thought. “That’s done.”

Then, to my chagrin, they re-upped for the 2022 Century Ride.

Many hours of training, bike repairs, crashes on the trail (just 2 this year), fundraising for the Towpath Trail, and special carb-heavy meals later, they joined 94 other riders (including Team Cascade Auto Group!) on September 17 and 18.

The weather was fine—not too hot and a little overcast—and Team Buttheads felt confident. 66 miles on the first day...35 on the second. They crossed the finish line with big smiles and sore backsides (that is a long, long way to perch on a bicycle seat!). Best of all, 52 family member and friends supported Team Buttheads with gifts totaling nearly $5,000 for the Towpath Trail (15 of the 52 people who donated gave more than once, including me!)! That money will be used to pave the unpaved parts and to maintain the parts that are finished.

Al, Lysa, and I are most grateful to everyone who supported their ride. Thank you!

I should mention that each of the 94 Century riders raised money for the Towpath Trail. In all, more than $131,000 was raised (and our friends Pat and Jane from Team Cascade Auto Group raised a whopping $6,600!!). We are grateful to the Ohio-Erie Canalway Coalition...to Ernie’s Bicycle Shop...to the massage therapists who were ready to work on riders on race day...and, again, to every person who cheered on Team Buttheads: Cheeky Riders. As our friend, Bob, said after their ride: Team Buttheads was the “only Cleveland sports team to actually win today” (yep...the Browns lost against the Jets on 9/18).

Will they tackle the Century Ride in 2023? We’ll see...