Free Bike!

You can be like TrikeMike and win your very own Wizwheelz Cruiser. Take the 'Bentrider / Terratrike Car Free Challenge! I competed last year and didn't drive from June to July!*

*okay, so I had two broken arms

Team Ride! Team Ride! Team Ride!

Hey Kids!

Just (another!) reminder that we have the first Team Ride of the month comin' up this Sunday! We are riding from my house in Holland and then there's the traditional backyard fajita cook-out afterwards! So....show up @ 130 West 18th for a 1:00pm roll-out and invite your non-riding family members, Youth Ambassadors or other loved ones to show up around 4:30 or so to eat and hang out!

The route will consist of a modified version of the "Hutchins Lake Loop", a local favorite. It showcases the best that Allegan County has to offer a hardy cycler..........quiet roads, farmland, rolling hills, the famous New Richmond bridge, Fennville, Douglas, Saugatuck.......in a mere 45 miles!

What more could you ask for?

What's that? A shorter option? Got'cha covered! There will be a 25-ish mile option as well.

Those of you that are so inclined feel free to bring something along that'll will complement the Tex-Mex nature of the menu. I'll have fajita stuff - meat, beans, rice, etc as well as fresh salsa and fixin's. We could use some guacamole, or salad, or booze, or dessert.......y'know?

Looking ahead......we have Team Training Rides on the 22nd and 29th, not to mention the 100 Grand in GR, the Lake Mac Triathlon, the 24 Hour Challenge, the Lumberjack 100, Tour de Cure and who knows what else as far as big events...not to mention the weekly shop rides and everything else that's goin' on!

There's plenty to do - that's all I'm saying!

I hope you are getting some good miles in and that your fund-raising is going well. There are "only" 10 weeks before we head for Asheville! (!!!!!!!!) [And that can only mean one thing........20 weeks 'til Death Valley! And in between there Mike and brian head for Whitefish!]

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing you soon! Ride lots, be safe and take care!

MC

Be sure to keep an eye on the Team Website for group fund-raising opportunites. The Van Andel connection has been a huge deal for many of our riders and there are lots of big events coming up! Various members fo the Team are planning fund-raisers as well so make sure that you are in the loop!

Gaging Interest...

So, one of the fun things I did over the winter was convert a clunky hybrid bike into a somewhat less clunky cyclocross bike, and I've been having a hoot of a time going down dirt roads that I barely
even notice when I'm on my road bike. I'm wondering if anyone else might be interested in doing a little exploring of the back roads in northern Muskegon and southern Oceana counties, not as an
"official" team ride, but just as an excuse to get together and go out looking for seasonal roads and the like. 'Cross bikes or mountain bikes would be best; there's enough loose sand that a road bike
would have a tough time, but there wouldn't be any other reason not to ride one.

So, like, lemme know, OK?

A new rider....

We have a new addition to our Ride family. Introducing Hazel (little sister of Sophie). Hazel joined the team on Saturday, May 24th.

We look forward to riding with you Hazel.

Congrats to Sarah, Ted & Sophie.

Fun-Raiser Ride this Sunday!

Just wanted to let everyone know about the May "Fun-Raiser" Ride from my shop this weekend. It's the "Dessert Ride"..........which simply means that afterwards we will be replacing spent carbs via direct application of various cookies, cakes and such to the mouth.

Time is 2:00pm.
Distance is 40-ish miles w/ a shorter option.
More the merrier...........there will be several groups.

Hope to see you! Otherwise....the next "official" Team Ride* is @ my house on 6/1.

MC

*You can tell that it's official - it's capitalized!

Great Ride!

18 of us "enjoyed " the wind, the temps and the hills on Sunday 5/18. 40 miles, lotsa cookies and chips, plenty of laughs and team-mate-ness!

You shoulda been there!

Next Team Ride is @ my house in Holland on Sunday June 1st. Roll-out time is 1:00pm, planned distance is 45 miles w/ a 25-ish mile cut-off and, naturally, there wil be the traditional post-ride fajita bash! Invite your family, Youth Ambassadors, etc!

Watch this space for details!

MC

MY EYES! IT BURNS!

Painful experience taught me a brutal lesson today.

When one has a handlebar-mounted video camera, do not, DO NOT, aim it backwards. Crotchcam is not a good thing.

Now, back to bleaching my retinas...

And the Winner Is.....

This one was a photo finish, folks. With 49% of the total votes as of 11:59pm EDT 5/15/08, this shirt design by Katie was deemed the favorite. Thanks to all of you who took the time to put together some great designs and send them to me. You are some of the most creative and talented (not to mention nice!) people I know.

Next step is me taking this design to our 'shirt guys' to see how it will look in reality on cotton. These guys at 2 Hands Graphix donate much of their time and eat a lot of the cost of shirts to hook us up each year and allow us to give more directly to JDRF. More to come!

Map correction

Thanks to Derek for noticing that the map posted for this Sunday's ride was incorrect. That has been fixed. Our address is 6184 Archer St. NE, Rockford, MI and a correct map link is here.
See everyone on Sunday.

an email I received....

The Official Rules of the Euro Cyclist

(I believe our coach might actually live by some of these, I shall highlight the matches)

1. Image and style shall be your primary concern. When suffering, one must focus first on maintaining a cool, even composure, and second on performance. Winning races is an added talent, and only counts if said euro cyclist wins with appropriate style.

2. You shall NEVER, under any circumstances, wear plain black spandex bibs (shorts, regardless of colour are BANNED) or any team kit containing non-prominent Logo's. Shorts will extend approximately 2/3rds of the way down the upper leg and will contain a compression band at the bottom distinct in colour. In NO CONDITION shall they extend any further! ABSOLUTELY NO SLEEVELESS KITS nor ankle socks allowed. No exceptions. Socks must extend stylishly above the shoe, tan line a plus.

3. Legs will be SHAVED year-round. ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS. Certain hair removal creams are endorsed only on a case-by-case basis. One shall never show up to a race (large or small) with ANY AMOUNT of stubble visible on legs.

4. A prominent line where your kit ends and where your tan begins is essential to your image. Artificial tanning is BANNED. The tan SHALL reflect the level of training commitment.

5. Cycling shoes must contain at least 80% white! The following exceptions apply…i) Colours combinations such as world cup stripes, or Olympic gold where title has been EARNED.ii) Shoes which are custom-made for specific riders by companies endorsed by this group. These shoes will be accessible to the particular cyclist only, and shall follow the preceding rules.

6. Your bike frame must contain 2-4 colours IN ADDITION TO WHITE. All colours are acceptable as long as they combine tastefully. In addition to this, wheel selection must also match frame and fork.

7. ALL wheels shall be equipped with tubulars, regardless of your ability in gluing them.

8. Ridiculously stylish eyewear (see endorsed products list) is to be worn at all time without exception. Glasses are to be worn over helmet straps at all times.

9. Hair shall be kept neatly short, and matching helmet shall be worn (again with prominent logo placement). Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES shall a clashing helmet colour be worn with your euro kit. Helmets are not to be worn when venturing indoors at any time. It is, however, acceptable to wear your helmet while outdoors on a patio. (see rule 34)

10. Handlebar tape is required to be cork as well as being WHITE IN COLOUR. Bar tape will be kept in pristine white condition. This state shall be achieved either through daily cleansing or frequent replacement. These jobs will NEVER be performed by the cyclist as you must maintain your image.

11. A rider will ALWAYS have liniment applied to his legs before appearing in public.

12. You shall NEVER, under any circumstances, acknowledge the presence of a cyclist riding a bike costing less than €2000 in a public place. This could be severely detrimental to your image.

13. ABSOLUTELY NO FORM of seatbag, frame pump, mud guard or mirror shall come within 2 meters of your bike.

14. Coffee is a necessity and as such must be consumed strong (ie. espresso) on a patio in Italy in full kit, it shall be drunk black. Sugar is STRONGLY FROWNED UPON. The only milk present shall appear frothed on top (if at all).

15. Post-race, you shall be tied to your mobile phone, receiving endless calls from your attractive euro-girlfriend or important ad executives concerning modeling contracts. This will be done under the protection of the post race gazebo.

16. Motivational music during training shall consist of late 90s house or deep-trance hard-style German techno hereby known as 'euro beats'. NO EXCEPTIONS.

17. A gold pendant on a very long, thin chain bearing some form of religious icon is STRONGLY recommended for mountain races.

18. When appearing in a photo spread for sponsor's products, you have the option of appearing fully nude, in your team kit, or in full Brioni 3 piece suits (nothing else). Smiling is prohibited in these instances.

19. When asked "how are you?" while riding you must proceed with one of the following...-Complain about coming off a sickness.- Explain you're peaking for bigger races later in the season- Mention that this is a "recovery ride"-That you are on the tail end of your daily 6 hour training ride

20. When climbing anything with a gradient above 20% and lasting over 8 kilometers, you are required to fully unzip your jersey and let it flutter freely in the wind.

21. Team-building motivational camps will be held annually in the off-season. These are to place team members in as ridiculous a setting as possible. Photos will be widely reproduced to demonstrate team cohesion.

...

More photos, more rides

First, we added some new photos of recent team rides to our Google Photo site. You can check those out by clicking here.

Second, the team ride leaves from our house at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday. Please note the earlier start time. The main route will be 35-40 miles with some hills of the rolling variety. There will also be a shorter route, if needed. Snack on the patio after the ride. In case of rain, snacks inside, instead of a ride. A map is here.

Third, the Ride of Silence is happening on May 21. This is a memorial ride for cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding. There are locations in Grand Rapids and Holland. A full list of Michigan locations and info is here.

Big Weekend Comin' up! Are you ready for it?

Hey Team! I missed you guys while I was out wanderin' around in the desert! (No, really...I did! A little bit anyways.)

Thanks to DD for takin' care of my Post-Ride Report...as he said I was in the van out on that lonesome road from Sunday night 'til Monday afternoon. We had a great ride from Townsend Park that day...........a good route from my buddy Jim, a decent turn-out.....great post-ride snacks. (If you haven't heard about Derek's baklava by now.................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Anyway.............the point of this post was the future, not the past. We have lotsa cool Team stuff comin' up this weekend and I wanted to make sure that everyone's in the loop. Read on!

Friday, 5/16 - Okay, it's mebbe not an OFFICIAL JDRF thing...but my band's playin' @ The New Holland Brew Pub and it'd be cool to see you there. Music goes from 7-10pm, there's no cover and the place is smoke free.

Saturday, 5/17 - Yoga For Cyclists Fundraiser Event in Saugatuck. This one's a "twofer"! Learn a buncha cool-and-oh-so-helpful yoga stuff AND help support your teammie Brian Bowe! Time is 6:00pm, place is the Satya Yoga Center (3385 Blue Star Highway, Saugatuck) and there will be refreshments afterwards. (My guess is that the odds of some of us goin' out afterwards are pretty dang good as well!)

Sunday, 5/18 - Team Training Ride hosted by the Scheidels! 40 miles. From their place in Rockford @ 1:00pm.

Man................does this Team have it going on or what!?!?

I hope to see you guys at one or more of these deals this weekend!

MC

The first annual Family Fun Day was an amazing success. It was a beautiful day and everyone in attendance enjoyed walking or riding the trail and bidding on the auction items. We collected over $1500 on Saturday with many more donations still being collected. We had both participants and volunteers who are currently battling this disease and as I spoke with them, I learned about how many more are affected by this disease in the community.

The Family Fun packs for the Poker walk were a hit because of the gifts, including food certificates, sports bottles, merchandise discount cards and JDRF bracelets included in the packet. Even with five draws from the decks of cards, the winning hand was a pair of Aces.

Our registration information showed that participants were drawn to the event via the many media sources including Posters at local merchants, local and regional Newspaper articles, live Radio interview, Television activity postings and even Signs posted on the day of the event.

The Silent auction was the second highlight of the event, while sipping coffee or water, the bidding heated up as the time was about to expire. With over 50 auction items, everyone got in on the bidding. The bike which was auctioned and the tag-a-long received a lot of interest.

Thank you to the all who supported this event and we hope to see you at the next Family Fun Day.

Family Fun Day May 10th 9:00-1:30

Thank you! to everyone who has mentioned my event this weekend. I thought it was about time I mentioned it and made my first blog entry. As my son would say - "Oh Snap". Hopefully you have been bombarded by the media coverage (Rockford Squire, Rockford Independent and the GR Press) and may have even visited one of the websites that listed the event( JDRFwestmichigan.com/ride , cannontwp.org and GRnow.com) As I am a rookie to this raising money stuff, I am excited about the community support for my event and would be glad to share lessons learned with anyone willing to listen. OK - here are the details... We are giving away a bike for the best poker hands from a trail walk/ride, along with a bike accessory kit (pump, lock, bag), and a JDRF Sports pack for 2nd and 3rd place respectively. We also have over $1000 in merchandise and gift certificates to auction. There are even some Mother's Day items like: Jewelry, Artwork, Chocolate, Restaurant Gift Cards and more. It will be action packed day starting at 9:00am at Cannon Township Office (anyone attending the ride last weekend rode by it) on the SE corner of Meyers Lake and Belding Road in Rockford. The event runs until 1:30 and we will have snacks, water and Starbucks coffee. Hope to see you there!

Mothers Day Ride?

I know this crazy talk...I'm probably asking for trouble. But, is anyone planning a Mother's Day ride?

I don't have anything scheduled at the moment. I'd still like to be able to do the usual Mother's Day stuff...brunch, family time, some gifts, etc. But, I wouldn't be opposed to a ride late in the day. Anyone else?

Yoga for cyclists fundraiser

While cycling is great exercise, doing it a lot can lead to muscle tightness that can ultimately hinder your performance on the bike. Yoga instructor and cyclist Heather Allegrina-Bowe (my better half) will lead a 60-minute class on proper stretching and strengthening to help improve performance on the bike with food and refreshments immediately following. All proceeds go to JDRF (natch!).

The class will be Saturday May 17 at 6 p.m. at Satya Yoga Center, 3385 Blue Star Highway in Saugatuck. For more information, call (269) 857-7289 or visit www.satyayogacenter.net

OK, since Coach MC is rumbling westward with a couple of mountain bikes lashed to his covered wag-o-van, I'm drafting myself to give a quick accounting of the day's team ride.

In attendance were:

Sarah and Lorna M. (Lorna's pretty much wrapped up the Youth Awesomeness award)
Tom and Mary S.
Maggie D., joining us for her first team ride
Mike H. (aka Trikin' Mike)
Linda and Scott T. and/or P. (dang hyphenated names!)
Jack C.
John J.
The One and Only Carmen H.
Coach Mike (physically, at least; mentally, he's mostly already in Moab)
and Me, the did.

We did roughly 34.5 miles through the Cannonsburg/Rockford area, in weather that was rather better than predicted (if a skoosh breezy). We had the usual assortment of calorie-replenishment goodies post-ride.

Next team ride is on the 18th from Tom and Mary's house in Rockford - we'll email out maps. In the interim, there are a couple of fundraiser events: on the 10th is the Family Fun Day from 9am to 1:30pm at the Cannon Township Office, and on the 17th is Yoga for Cyclists - we'll get more info on that as soon as possible.

Happy riding!

Voting is open for the 2008 Ride Team T-shirt

Get your vote in soon.

http://www.jdrfwestmichigan.com/ride/shirt.html

Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry. There's lots of great ones to choose between.

Team Ride Numero Tres This Sunday!

Hey All!

Join me and a (hopefully) big chunk o' team mates @ Townsend Park this Sunday @ 2:00pm for a Team Training Ride. Townsend Park is just east of the little town of Cannonsburg on the N.E. side of GR. I'm still working on the route, but the calendar calls for 35 miles so you can plan on something in that neighborhood.

(Maybe Derek will do a map?)

Remember that you have until SATURDAY MAY 10TH to get your clothing orders onto either myself or Mary.

Plan on post-ride snacks, the weather forecast (for the moment anyway) is pretty good and I hope to see you there!

MC