Fifth annual Tour de Tryptophan

Riders in Southern California may burn off some post-Thanksgiving turkey while raising funds for a good cause at the Fifth Annual Tour de Tryptophan/24 Hours of the Fullerton Loop. The event will commence at noon on Friday and will finish at noon on Saturday. With no rules, riders can start or finish any time, do one lap or go home for the evening and do another in the morning. Seventeen laps is the reigning record.

The Fullerton Loop is an 11-mile network of suburban trails that pass through city parks, horse trails, hidden pathways and creekside wilderness. Originally pieced together by Richard Cunningham in 1983, hundreds of people ride and train on the famed loop every week. The ride will start and end in the upper parking lot of the Courthouse in Fullerton at Harbor and Berkeley. Participants can show up any time, donate US$30 and receive a T-shirt until supplies run out.

This year's proceeds will benefit the SoCal High School Cycling League, which will bring cycling to Southern California High Schools in 2009. Former beneficiaries of the Tour de Tryp have included the Tara Llanes Recovery Fund, CHOC Hospitals, and various other charities.