Killington Riders: READ ME!

Just another reminder about the charter bus travel to Killington. The cost is $125 per person, and we ask that you reserve your spot(s) with a deposit by Monday, April 6. You may pay the full amount at that time, or you may pay in monthly installments of $25 (due on 4/6, 4/30, 5/31, 6/30, and 7/31).

Our Team Treasurer, John Jasker, is organizing all funds for the bus charter. Please make checks payable to John Jasker, and mail to him. His address was included in the last team note sent on 3/30. Let me know if you can't find it.

If for any reason this timeline/payment plan/cost is troublesome for you at the moment, let someone on the ride committee know (Coach Mike, Mary Scheidel, Derek Dykstra, Cindy Aley, Katie Clark, John Jasker, Rob Andro, or Coach Nicole), and we'll do everything we can to make it work for you.

Finally, just for planning purposes...if you are taking the bus to Killington, plan to meet at a TBD Grand Rapids location (with parking) on Wednesday, August 26 at 7:00pm for departure.

Team Ride Babysitting

Attention Parents!

I have someone willing to come along to team rides and babysit at the host family's house. Each parent would kick in some dollars and of course let her and her son in on the post ride feed frenzy. I have no idea who would like to take me up, so respond to this post and perhaps we can work something out.

-Heather

NOTES ABOUT THE FIRST TEAM RIDE ON 4/5

The ride from Ada Park is an "out and back" route along the Grand River. IF you go all the way to Saranac before you turn around you'll end up w/ 28-29 miles. However - it IS an out-n-back so you can turn around @ whatever point you chose to get whatever your personal mileage goal might be. The route is as flat a ride as you're gonna find around here and there's really only one turn on each leg so it's a great first ride o' the year. Coach Nic and I will be keeping an eye on everyone so no one will be riding alone. (Although you should be self-sufficient eventually!)

For those of you that have been training all winter and are looking for more challenge there will a "be careful what'cha wish for" optional loop that'll add about 7 miles and plenty of up and down!

Plenty of snacks and fun await you @ the park after the ride. I realy hope to see a buncha your smiling faces there!

Coach Mike

Every Other Friday Ride

So, us Herman Millerites have every other Friday off as part of this oh-so-lovely economy we're all enjoying. What better thing to do than spend those days riding? A few of us met up here at the Spring Lake campus on the 13th, and I expect we'll do it again this Friday the 27th. That's regular enough to warrant calling it a planned ride and putting it out on the schedule. We don't have to limit it to riding in Spring Lake by any means, either - we can play it by ear depending on who's interested. We can even go mountain biking - a day trip to Yankee Springs would be totally cool.

So who's interested?

A Few Reminders

Sorry to go all business-y on you, but just wanted to be sure this info was out there again:

1. If you're planning on taking the bus to the Killington ride, you need to secure your seat by next Tuesday (3/31) by sending a deposit to John Jasker. Details and address were in the last team note sent on 3/17, but if you need details again or have any concerns at all, e-mail Nicole.

2. The t-shirt design contest is underway! Come up with a great concept for our team shirt for 2009. Details in the post below this one.

3. Go for a ride. It's beautiful (maybe a little windy, but beautiful!) outside!

Nicole

T-Shirt Design Contest - Submit Your Design by March 31

The 2nd Annual JDRF West Michigan T-Shirt Design Contest is officially underway! It's time to come up with a great idea for our team shirts for 2009...we know you all have great ideas floating around out there--let's see what you've got!

The guidelines:

• Must fit on an 8.5"X11" sheet of paper (front of shirt only)
• No more than 2 ink colors (plus color of shirt)
• If possible, have darker ink colors on lighter shirt colors
• Should have the team name JDRF West Michigan somewhere
• Should have the JDRF ride logo somewhere. Placing it on the sleeve is possible, but note that it will increase the cost to the team a bit per shirt

Designs are subject to minor revision by the ride committee, graphic designer, or shirt printer if deemed necessary.

Please submit all designs to Nicole Nelles by Tuesday, March 31. You may draw a design and scan it (or meet up with Nicole and she can scan it for you), or create in a computer design program. .jpg, .pdf, and .pub are preferred file formats, but we can work with whatever you have. Your design doesn't have to be perfect-the graphic designer can 'clean it up' later. We are just looking for awesome concepts that capture who this team is, where we're going, and maybe even why we're doing this. After all submissions are collected, you will have the opportunity to view them all on the Blog and vote for your favorite. Good luck!

THE FIRST TEAM RIDE IS ONLY 18 DAYS AWAY!

HOOOOOOOOOO BOY!
I can't wait! It seems like I've been looking forward to this Spring since I was 11 years old or so (and that's at least 25 years ago!) I can not wait to ride w/ you guys and see the smiles and hear the stories and witness the magic that this whole Team Thing makes happen every year!

Let's get to it!

We'll roll from Ada park @ 2:00. We'll do 20-ish miles w/a few options for you frisky folk.

A few things to keep in mind as we f-i-n-a-l-l-y get to ride outside:

A Road I.D. or something similar w/ medical info, emergency contact, etc.
2 bottle cages on your bike, as well as a small saddle bag (or something) w/ everything you'd need to fix a flat tire.
Speaking of your bike - now weould be a good time to get it in to your shop to get it tuned up for Spring!

As always - give Nic or I a shout w/ any issues, questions or concerns okay?

O-KAY!

See you out there - be safe and ride on!

Coach Mike (mike@velo-citycycles.com)
Coach Nicole (nicole.nelles@gmail.com)

Look! We even have fun when we're supporting another awesome cause and not riding our bikes!

On Friday night, a few of us (Bob, Nicole, Melanie, Katie, Amy, Nathen, and Scott) attended Cheers and Chocolate, a fundraiser to benefit a local support agency, Every Woman's Place. What a beautiful evening and a great time with some cycling friends, off the road. In all honesty, I think it's little stuff like this that is just another bit of the glue that brings this awesome team together. Thanks, Melanie, for being so awesomely committed to another great cause in addition to JDRF.

New National Head Coach... guess who!?

as seen in the Ride to Cure March Training Times....

Please join us in congratulating Mike Clark as he joins Tim St. Clair as Co-head coach for the Ride to Cure Diabetes. For the past several years Tim St. Clair has served as the sole National Head Ride Coach for the Ride to Cure Diabetes. Tim has tirelessly helped coordinate all aspects of the coaching program including training programs, coaching recruitment and his fantastic support of riders on-site at each ride. As the Ride program grows the responsibilities have also grown, and with Tim’s support we are proud to announce a second National Coach to the program: Mike
Clark.

Mike Clark is a familiar name to the Ride to Cure Diabetes and is known for his efforts as the coach for the West Michigan Chapter team, one of the largest ride teams in the country. Additionally, Mike is also known for his efforts in supplying mechanical support for the Ride. As the owner of bike shops in Michigan, Mike is "all about" growth of the Ride program. On a chapter level, he has tirelessly promoted the Ride - his chapter's ride team has grown like few others and he even volunteers at his local chapter once a week, stuffing envelopes, organizing, and doing whatever is needed to make his ride team successful. Mike has ridden as his chapter's coach for five years, he rode as the Head Coach in Asheville last year, operated the "bike room" for several Rides, driven a SAG wagon at multiple Rides, and last year and again this year he has joined Tim St. Clair on conference calls throughout the year with new Riders and Coaches. In 2008, he was at all five Rides in one capacity or another.

By joining Tim St. Clair as a National Coach, Mike will provide more communication with potential Riders, more communication with prospective Coaches, and more communication with veteran Coaches. Congratulations Mike Clark and thank you for your years of dedicated service to the Ride and JDRF!