Spoke and Sole

Right across The Cape where a number of different nonprofits come together to have a large impact in their community. Today, we're breaking down the second summer cycle event on Cape Cod.

Routes, or just out there for the love of it, you have found your crew. We're here to share stories, tips, and anything that keeps us motivated. So lace up, clip in, and let's get moving with your hosts.

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I'm Terrance here with Anthony, who's back from his long journey on wherever he was. Today, we're breaking down an event that happens in The Cape called the second summer cycle event. It's happening on 09/13/2026, and that's what we're talking about today. So lace up, clip in, and let's get to it. So Ant, before I talk about the specifics of this event, I wanna talk to you or I wanna have a conversation about The Cape and what comes to mind when

you think about that? When I think about The Cape, I think about scenic, busy, heavy traffic, lots of people.

Yeah, yeah. And that's the case for a lot of places where it's summer, beach weather, you have all these different tourists running around. And it's a nice place to be, but it can get a little hectic. Very hectic. And the funny thing is, I mean, we've had conversations earlier in the season about getting down to The Cape.

This is, we were supposed to do Martha's Vineyard this year. As you know, we did a ride there. I think it was a couple years ago. Didn't work out this year, but we had talked about going down to The Cape and getting letting the wheels spin, if that makes sense down there. It just didn't work out.

It didn't, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. Riding in The Cape is exciting, but it's busy. You know, the couple of times that I've been there and I've rode, you know, the the rail trail is is really good but the roads are hectic. Like, you know, there there's a lot of like roundabouts and it's just busy and it's hard to really stay focused because there's just so many people. Yeah, so interestingly enough,

April Merrill from an organization called Second Summer reached out to me and it was about an event that they put on again. That event is 09/13/2026. And it's interesting because as I started to look into the event and as she started to provide me with information, it's a situation where we talked about community and building a community. And I had mentioned in an episode before that, you know, the running community really comes together and I was looking for something like that in the cycling community. This event reminds me of a couple things.

One, it reminds me of that feeling that I get when I'm around particular runners or particular organizations. But the other thing it reminds me of is, in a sense, and this is I'm comparing apples and oranges here. It kind of reminds me of a road race event. And what I mean by that is, and I haven't participated in the event, and we're gonna talk about the event in a minute, From the information that April was able to provide me and from the information that I was able to get from going to their website, it's a well organized event and it's really a situation where this is not some large organization putting on an event. It is the community coming together to actually fulfill a need or fill a gap for a number of nonprofits that are going to actually benefit from this event.

That's beautiful that you said that. It's kind of you ride the cape for the cape. Gives That's a good feel for that.

Yeah, and it's funny because that is their slogan and I don't think there's any better way to actually say that for an organization where the community is coming together and that impact is directly in the community. So when I reached out, well, April reached out to me and we were going back and forth, one of the first things that I actually wanted to know was I wanted to know the origins behind the event just to get an idea of, you know, what was the thought process, how all this came together, who was involved. And interestingly enough, there was a ride called The Last Gasp. And the interesting part about that is the name. The name comes from a hill that was near the end of the ride where you had to put a lot of effort in just to actually finish and hence, the name, The Last Gasp.

But I think that ride ran until COVID hit and COVID had an impact on a number of different things. But I think that after COVID, there was this void. And I think that the community felt that the benefits of that previous ride, because that ride was was a a ride that raised money for a number of nonprofits on The Cape. The benefits of that previous ride or the needs were still there. And so second summer along with the Chamber of Commerce and a couple of other nonprofits, came together and they decided to create this event.

And they were very strategic about not just the event, but when they were gonna actually do the event. And the strategy came in based off, you know, the traffic, the tourism. There's a lot of money that's generated during the summer months from tourism, whether it be on The Cape, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard. So there's a lot of revenue that's generated there. But typically, what happens is, you know, when September comes around, you have kids going back to school, that traffic dies down.

However, you still get the great weather. So now you have the opportunity to ride those, whether it be the trails or the roads, and not be so concerned with all the traffic and all that extra stuff that comes around. And the beauty part about it is, again, you know, you still got the opportunity to hit those shops.

Yeah. Think, doing some research on the research that, that we did, was based on the lore.

Speak up, man.

The lore, which was that brutal last hill. And you know, as T says, the hills pay the bills.

Hills pay the bills.

That that I'd love to see

what that hill looks like. Well, mean, listen, you got the opportunity. They come together. They organize this event and then in 2023, when the first event was supposed to actually happen, weather caused them to actually cancel it. But here's the beauty part about this.

That year, they raised nearly $250,000 And that $250,000 still went to those nonprofits, those local charities. They still benefited from all that money was raised. And I think that's phenomenal.

Oh, it definitely is.

Yeah. So, again, we talk about community, but to see or to hear the effect that, even the effect, the impact that those dollars can actually have in that community. And in fact that all those, all that money that was raised still went to those nonprofits, that's phenomenal.

Oh definitely, and I think, you know for a lot of organizations that raise money too, sometimes, the money doesn't necessarily stay within that community or, you know, go to where it's supposed to go, so to see that know they were able to raise $250,000 and went directly to those charities and it had a 100% impact you know that's something that doesn't always happen so you know not only did they were they able to state this is our mission and this is what we're going to do but they actually went through with what their mission was, as well. So, I I think that's that's very admirable.

Yeah and that's why that slogan rings so true. Ride the cape for the cape. Again, 100% of that goes directly into the actual local community. And, you know, I'll make sure that we include links to Second Summer Cycle, on their website. You you'll be able to see all the charities that are actually benefiting from this upcoming ride and all the actual rides.

So we'll make sure we put that, down in the description below. So one of the questions that I asked April was to just give me a sense of, you know, the rides and the logistics, and this event really has something for everyone.

Yep. And I and I and I, again, you know, some research that, that we did, You know, I I believe that that's great because I think a lot of times, not just in running but in cycling and in all those different events. You know, sometimes it can be a little non exclusive. You know, a non inclusive.

Yeah. You know, you

have, you know, you have things that people are that are just unattainable. You know, so the fact that they're diff that there's four different loops of the ones that you can ride, you know, whether that be the 15 miles, the 34 mile ride, the 60 ride or the 100 miles ride gives it a little bit something for everyone, you know, so, you know, people of all levels, can come in and participate and feel like they're part of the community and it doesn't leave anyone out. So, I think, you know, the inclusiveness of it. I I love that. I think, you know, I think, you know, we we should do more of that.

You know, and the events that people hold because you know, it allows for everyone to be involved and not just, you know, I mean, we do it but everyone can't ride 50 miles.

Yeah.

You know, everyone can't ride 100 miles. You know, and in in the grand scheme of things, anyone that's out there riding period is trying to, you know, to better their health. So, whether that be 15, whether it be 34, 60, whatever that is to be able to include everyone. So II think that's that's great.

Yeah. There is a this phrase rings so true. Get in where you fit in. Yeah. Right?

Again, fifteen, thirty four, 60, a 100. This is really an opportunity for whether you're a beginner, intermediate, been doing this for a while, if you just want to get out there and, you know, support and, you know, have a little fun. And the other part about all this is, again, you don't even have to ride. You can raise money and just donate to these organizations. And we had this conversation before, and I'm so glad that April reached out because it's one thing to talk about these things.

And again, I was just saying how this summer has been so hectic, and there's still some logistics that have to work out. I would like to add a minimum volunteer but again, Sandy's having surgery on the eleventh two days before but there are opportunities to donate. There's opportunities to actually, you know, volunteer. You can volunteer. They need volunteers days before, during, after.

And the great part about all of this is, so you get to ride through the Cape. You ride through these historic towns, you get to take in that scenery, but at the end, at Smugglers, like at Smugglers Bay?

Smugglers Bay, yeah. There's a huge Smugglers Beach.

Smugglers Beach. There's a huge party afterwards.

Not like a party.

And listen, know how we do in the Runner community. You know how the hydration boys do. You know, it's it's great to get out there. It's great to get out there and, you know, run and ride, but coming together afterwards and, you know, that camaraderie, you've done that work, you've raised the money, but now you get to sit back and commune with those who just either did the ride with you, who supported you during that ride,

Celebrate the organizations.

Celebrate the organizations. Community. Yeah, yeah.

And with it all too, I believe also too, you talked about a number of different ways to assist, you know, even those out there listening, know, you can help assist by sharing, you know, on your social media platforms that this event is happening so that, you know, maybe if people can't ride, like you said, you can raise money and donate money.

That's a great point too.

And are number of different ways to bring awareness and to assist.

That's a great point too. And, you know, professionally, I'm part of an organization that does a lot of work for nonprofits in Rhode Island. Well, let me, I wanna phrase that properly without getting too much into it. We we're in the We're in the business of providing for nonprofits in Rhode Island based off particular needs. I hope people understand that, particularly in the environment that we're currently in, there are some, there are needs out there that need to be met and it can be difficult for nonprofits to handle everything they need to operate and still provide the services that they need to provide to the communities that actually need those out there.

I agree with that a 100%. And I think, you know, it's a little off topic for where we're at. But like you said, from a professional perspective, you know the company that I work for they have a foundation and they work with the different nonprofits too and I say that only because like you said I think there's there's a scarcity for different things you know like for example you're in IT I happen to be in insurance and for some organizations they may need, skills based volunteering, where they can, it can assist them with getting certain things done. You know, for example, if, you know, let's say this organization here needed some IT help.

Yep.

You know, you could do skills based volunteering there. So, there's a number of different ways that you could help those organizations outside of just this event, you know, and maybe, and again, you know, for the person who's done that April, maybe that's something we can look at moving forward too with not just from a monetary basis, but from they have like, they call it skills based volunteering where they can even expand that to fill some gaps in so that they could get some of the different things that they need as well.

Yeah, and the interesting thing that April mentioned was this event happens the September 2 every year, right? And they're called, you know, second summer cycle. They market and plan for this year round. Yeah. Right?

So, this is not a, okay, well, you know what? We're going to get together the weekend before. They understand the need for these nonprofits and they work towards this. And again, the fact that these nonprofits are coming together doing the work, that's what makes this so beautiful. I mean, there's no competition, it's a collaboration.

I love that, you're absolutely right about that. I think, and I think with, you know, although the state of where we are in society is very adverse and competitive, it just goes to show that collectively, you know, people are gonna go further and organizations are gonna go further than if they try to go out there alone and do those things. And I think that's beautiful because then you find, you know, you find those different things, you know, you're not duplicating efforts with with different things and you're able to share ideas.

Yeah.

And brainstorm and do things that you wouldn't have normally done, you know, had you not had to collaborate.

Yeah. So, again, I'm going to get the date again. September 13 is the date of the ride. There are four options, fifteen, thirty four, sixty, and one hundred. Here's the other part about this that I think everyone needs to know.

There is support. Yes. SAG vehicles all throughout the actual ride.

Hydration every 15 miles too. As you know about my hydration.

Yes. Hydration is a very important aspect of whether you're running or riding. I will say this, make sure you hydrate well before, during, and after, as we like to do. But the fact that they have SAG vehicles, they have volunteers, again,

this reminds me of medical support and physical therapists, I experienced. You know about the experience, the experience, type of things. You you finish your ride, you go get a massage.

A better way. This, I'm looking forward to again, I don't know what this year is gonna bring, but next year

Definitely. And I can tell you, I can

I'm looking forward to experiencing the ambiance. Yes. Right? When you can can look at an event you can look at an event before that event happens and see the pieces that they're putting And

the and the vibe. And based on your experience,

you get a vibe on how well that event is going to be.

Yes, and you're

right about that. Just going back to the fact that this has to be a phenomenal community, going back to the fact that that first year that the event was actually canceled and they still that $250,000 still went back to the community. That's a testament to the not just the community, the people involved, sponsorships, all that.

And their resilience too. I think you, you know, before we were on air, we talked about the fact that they've gone from five to 30. Like, that's like 600%, you know? I mean that that's phenomenal. And again, the collaboration that it takes, you know, not that it's easy, but it's less difficult to work with five organizations than it is for 30 and for everyone to collaborate and maybe at some point you know not just be about them but about the collective.

So that in itself you know that's true community you know looking out for the greater good of everyone than just my organization. So I'm excited for what we're gonna do next year and how we can, you know, insert ourselves and be a part of that, a part of that community and bring our piece from a Rhode Island perspective and our Spoke and Sole, you know, put our little footprint on it.

And I'd like to congratulate that whole community on pulling this off. And by that, the reason why I say that is because, again, you mentioned it. The original ride, there were a smaller number of, you know, nonprofit charities or nonprofit organizations that that money raised was going to. They have increased that, you know, by an immense amount. Right?

And that was a challenge in and of itself, but they came together and actually pulling that off. Right? And and I think the thing that is I think the thing that, you know, I might not have mentioned yet is that money that's raised, it immediately goes back into the actual community. So this is not a situation where, okay, well, we're gonna raise money for this event. You know, all that money has to go into a organization.

And then after all the money is raised and all the money is tabulated, it's trickled down. This money has an immediate impact in the community. As that money comes in, it's dispersed to nonprofits, which I have not seen that model before, not to say that it doesn't exist.

I haven't either. Like that.

This is the first time that I heard about that. And I think that from the perspective of when you're in an environment and, you know, the normal channels of support Listen, that

I think I'm get you Sometimes the money, the math ain't math, and then the money don't get to where it's supposed to get to.

Sometimes Listen, that is a great way to put it. Sometimes the math ain't mathing, right?

But this a situation where The math math and the money goes to wherever it goes. So, you know, if there's 1,100 raised, 1,100 goes back out directly to those organizations. And that I believe also gives credibility to the organization and it makes people want to give because you know that it's having a 100% impact right away and it's not delayed which I, you know, I love that and I love the fact too that, you know, for the people or for the fundraising efforts, it's not that much, it's $2.50. Yeah. And now I, we need to clarify is that per team or per person?

I believe that is per person.

Okay, yep, which is still very doable, you know.

Oh yeah, I

you know, I figure and I maybe like as we move forward for next year we could figure out how that works like from a team perspective like if there's a set number, know, like because I know some of the organizations and maybe that's something we can collaborate with them with that because I know with a couple of the other charities, sometimes they'll do like a two fifty per person, but then they'll do

A number for an actual team.

A number for an actual team and then they're like levels to that, which I think, but again, something that we can definitely do, but even with two fifty, I mean, how, you know And you have, so here's the thing, again, I think

the beauty part about this is, this is a grassroots movement, right? And you have experience with this because you've done a number of charity rides or runs, not rides.

One Saturday one. One

charity one.

But it was more than one year. Yes. Yes. Charity ride. Have not Oh, we did do.

Actually- We did. We did. We did.

We did. Did. I stand corrected.

Here's what happens. What happens is we were talking about this earlier, you get old, you stop forgetting things. This is why you gotta make sure you have the Can I

have the cliff notes?

This is why you gotta make sure you have the cliff notes. And here's the thing, if you notice, I'm looking at these notes because I did not wanna miss anything on Yes. This, need to All of this is an evolution, and I like to get to a point where we can have the individuals who represent these organizations come in and tell their story so nothing gets missed. And I wanted to make sure that as, you know, April and I went back and forth, I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to capture all the necessary details to do it justice. As we talked about the actual event, I'd like to be able to do Cape Cod more justice.

But I think everyone who is familiar with Cape Cod understands Cape Cod is a beautiful place. It's, again, I'm one of those people where I'm not so much for the crowds, right? I think the summer months for me, as beautiful it is, whether it be Cape Cod, whether it be and you know this, whether it be Cape Cod, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, I don't wanna keep mentioning those other places, because we're not talking about them today.

Cape Cod.

But for me, the draw is times like September. Right? Times like even April, May, where you get to enjoy that scenery, the experience, the beauty. Yes. Without having to worry about.

Yes, and that and that's when that's actually when I normally, you know, I normally it's like about mid Aprilish. Like, right like it they call it the dead season, you know?

Yeah.

When there's no one there but even then too, there's still a lot, you know, the way that the traffic's set up is but it's a beautiful environment too and I think, you know, most importantly, it's soothing. You know, it's one of those places where you go and you know, the whole speed of it, know, I mean I'm a city guy and I know you're actually out in the suburbs but I'm a city guy so there's a lot of hustle and bustle but when you get out there you get a chance to see it all slow down so it's kind of like a different world and different environment. And I think, what I really enjoy about what we're doing right now, and what they're doing is it's about visibility. It's not just about, you know, and I think, you know, as people, you know, the two of us that we are in a community, we are doing things. I always tell people, you know, people always think it's something where you go in your pocket and you dig it up and that's not it.

You know, it's about visibility. It's about bringing visibility and awareness to what other people are doing and and I I understood that more when I did do, you know, the first charity run that I did, you know, it was about bringing visibility to that organization and what they were trying to do and it isn't always, you know, I think sometimes people always think it's about a monetary donation and it's not. It's about, you know, helping to share that platform, helping to grow, you know, what that organization or those organizations are doing and not just like you said, that they do that year round. So, to celebrate them year round and help them year round, not just when it comes, you know, three months before the ride that we come out and we promote it, you know, but and again, a lot of people have different platforms that they can do that, you know, to spotlight some of those organizations. I believe WE CAN is one of those organizations.

I believe Heroes in Transition is another one, Capabilities. Again, all those different organizations to be able to shed light on what they do. So that again, not just from when we're doing that ride, but all year round, you know, when maybe the visibility can help with to give them volunteers at certain times of the year that they need help.

Yeah, see, I'm glad you mentioned visibility aspect of it because April did mention that also. I think it's important the way that you termed everything that you just said, it's not always about dollars. Something like this is crucial for a lot of smaller organizations because from a budget perspective, it's very difficult to do something like this on your own. And again, this is why there is a special place for people and organizations to take up the mantle and support those in need. Yes.

Right? Yes. Excuse me. Again, I'm fortunate to be a part of a organization that does a number of things for nonprofits here in Rhode Island. It affords me the opportunity to go to some of these events and meet some of these organizations.

And each time that I get an opportunity to interact with people at these organizations, I'm blown away. Because again, the selflessness it takes to not be caught up in your, excuse me, your own every day. Mhmm. To take on the additional weight that comes with, you know, providing for different needs in the community, my hat goes off to those individuals and whatever we can do to support those individuals, whether it be on The Cape, whether it be here in Rhode Island, wherever, I think that that's something that, you know, regardless of how small it is, we champion and we actually push to actually do. Again, second summer cycle event, it's happening on 09/13/2026.

Again, there are so many ways that you can actually be a part of this. You can ride it, you can donate, you can sponsor.

Can share the event on your social You

can share the event on social media. The impact that this has locally for these nonprofits is immense.

Yes and and looking in it, there's there's a few of them like there's some that they that they fund grief groups. You know, there's a couple organizations that are assisted pathways for for injured veterans which they don't receive any government funding. So, there's a lot of these organizations that aren't receiving federal funding that are just grassroot organizations where people are out there, you know, trying to help regular everyday people or people that have contributed to not only society but specifically this country, you know, and you know, we should give back to them, you know, and be able to show them some empathy and sympathy and and and help those causes. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, and I and I know I spoke about this on another episode, you know, people need people. Yeah.

Here's my book, What People Need People.

No, that's a great point. People do need people. And, you know, when we started this, we said we wanted to be the change we want to see. We said we wanted to build a community. We said that we wanted that community to be open and inclusive to everyone.

This is where this starts. And additionally,

it's

important that we mention any opportunity or any event that we come across that builds upon that. Yes. So, that's what we're doing, right?

We're living in our truth too.

We're living in the truth.

We're living in our truth and we're doing what we said, you know, and I and I think for me, it's a because I didn't I didn't know the full effect of it but but for me, it makes me feel good because we're not just, you know, my new and I'm I'm bringing this up for us. My new thing is, what is your say, do ratio?

I like that.

What is your say?

I like that.

Do ratio.

I like that.

What do you say and what do you do? What's your ratio? And and at and at this point and at this juncture we're at a 100% of what we say, what say we represent versus what we do. And I want to, you know, I'm excited and thrilled to be a part of that because not only are we, I mean, we get to ride and be in that community, but on top of that, it's like kind of like, it's like, it's like a cute, and I don't want to use the expression, but you kill two birds with stone, but it's like that. You get a chance to get, you know, double return on investment.

And I just think it's beautiful what they do.

Here at Spoke and Sole, we do not condone the killing of any birds, whether it be with stones or anything.

So- It's metaphorically speaking.

A big part of what you just said is us holding ourselves accountable. And so let's do this. Let's mention the fact that all the information about this, you can get at secondsummercycle.com. On their website, they have all the information. They have a listing of all the charities.

Oh, and before, here's the one thing that I wanted to make sure I mentioned this, this is why you gotta look at your notes because you wanna forget these things. So we talked about this ride, right? And they have these fifteen, thirty four, sixteen, and one hundred. They actually do training rides throughout the year, throughout the season. So you can go to their website.

They do a weekly training ride. So if you just want to get a ride in on a cape, or if you want to get some training in or get a feel for how it is, go to their website. They have all that stuff listed there. You can find the information about their training rides. You can find the information about the actual, charities that support this.

You can find information about sponsorships, about the organization. Secondsummercycle.com. Make sure I got that right. Yeah. Secondsummercycle.com.

And based off all the stuff that we just mentioned, you have the opportunity now to go out and participate, to donate, to sponsor. They're doing this event not just this year. Again, it's a yearly event. It's for a great cause. It has a huge impact on the community in Cape Cod.

Again, their slogan is Ride the Cape for the Cape. A 100% of all this fundraising and all this, the proceeds goes right back into that actual community? Immediately. Immediately, which I think is a phenomenal thing. With that being said, that's the end of this episode.

So as we sign off, we say, keep those wheels turning, keep those feet moving, and we'll see you on the road.