The end of the Dura Mater Hill Climb always leaves me feeling a bit sad. But, upon reflection, the start of the ride does too.

The ride gives the Overlord and me time to reflect upon his father and his life. It gives us time to remember those folks close to us or close to our amazing riders and supporters that we have lost. Being a part of the brain tumor community, has given us a new purpose and new friends. It has also given us moments of loss. The Dura Mater Hill Climb stands witness to all those people; to all of that loss.

The Dura Mater Hill Climb also stands for hope. It stands strong and true because of the people who are part of it. It stands for every patient and every family, for every person being impacted by brain tumor diagnosis.

This year’s ride was smaller than previous years. It had less bulk, less tangibility. There were some things that we missed having this streamlined version.

We missed all of you wearing your matching cycling costumes. We missed Emily sharing words of encouragement. We missed seeing Jose and Josh and all the SAG guys and knowing our cyclists were in good hands once they hit the road. (Stephanie in particular, missed you guys when she needed a fresh tire on the road.) We missed playing corn hole in the parking lot and sharing stories with the other volunteers. (I saved the trophy for the next corn hole championships, and I am not secretly displaying it at the bike shop pretending to be the Corn Hole Champion.)

There was a lot about this year that turned out super cool.

First, we were able to pull off a metallic theme this year, Silver, (which works on stickers and shirts but not on jerseys) so this was the first year we even considered it. Designed as always by the incomparable Jared Pendergraft Designs and produced by the always astounding All Stars Ink.

Second, we offered three routes instead of one. With increasing difficulty meant there was route to challenge everyone.

Dura Mater Classic 52mi 5775ft

Dura + Pia Mater 62mi 7260ft

DD Mater 104mi 11550ft

The riders did not disappoint with Scott D heading out and conquering the DD Mater before anyone else had even thought about it. First rider out and you did the hardest route! Well played.

Lastly, riders weren’t limited to only riding one route, with quite a few getting out on multiple days to ride two out of the three routes. The Overlord out did himself riding the routes so many times that we lost count.

We raised $7000. At first glance this would appear less than in previous years, however once you apply proper pandemic math you realize the amount is equal to a much higher ($50,000) pre-pandemic amount.

The Overlord and I can not wait to see what is in store for the 2021 ride. Though I have a feeling it will come stocked with harder routes, hopefully it will also come with people riding on the same day and even at the same time!

Thank you to every one of our riders. You guys made the ride this year. If it weren’t for you, the Overlord would have just seemed weirdly excited about riding Witter a bunch alone…