Ride 2 Report & Ride 3 Fanfare

Alrightly then, so we had really excellent turnout for Team Ride Deux at the ever-popular Ada Park - in attendance were:

Jeremy B

Tom M

Cindy (with her first flat of the season - someone start a tally!)

Sarah S (getting a quick taste of the tandem!)

Countdown Cliff

Diana S

Tom S

Mary S

Ian S

J2

LTP, who we need to thank for the candy storage lessons

Kirsten D, who does NOT get extra mileage credit for wrong turns no matter what she says because coaches' trophy wives are held to a higher standard, so THERE! HAH!

Kaat

Pea

Jeff H, briefly

MC and Lin

big D and little D

As ever, we're thrilled to have new folks to call out:

Lauren T

Skyler T

Vern VH

Lori H

Michelle "Grand Valley" C

Heather "MSU" A

Lauren "Hope" B

ADDED to assuage my total guilt for forgetting to include them originally, DANGIT!:

Paul C
Nick C

DANGAFRAGGADAGGADOOGA I hate it when I do that!

25 people for a "park ride" that was sorta iffily promoted? Not shabby at all, and we may even have made a dent in the massive pile of food that was in the back of MC's van.

Now, on to Team Ride 3 - that's this coming Sunday, yah? We're gonna be hosted by our own newly-retired Tom Miller from his house just south of Grand Haven. The address is 11881 Mistral Lane; here's the inevitable map link. Rollout time will again be 2pm, and we'll have distances from 20ish to 35ish miles. Tom say's he's gonna grill up some burgers and hot dogs, so please let me know if you're gonna be there so we can plan out how much to get, and if you're so inclined bring a dish to pass!

Don't forget about the T-shirt design contest - the deadline is NEXT FRIDAY (May 11)!

Keep to your rockin', and we'll see ya Sunday!

T-Shirt Design Contest - Get Your Entry Submitted

It's that time of year....   riding your bike, you say!?   Well, yes, but we're talking about the ever popular JDRF West Michigan Ride to Cure Diabetes Team T-Shirt Design Contest!   That's right - your chance you show off your design talents for all to see.  

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 'West Michigan' somewhere
• Should have the JDRF ride logo somewhere (in design, on sleeve, etc.). 

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

Please submit all designs to Katie Clark by Friday, May 11. You may draw a design on paper and scan it (or meet up with Katie and she can scan it for you), or create in a computer design program. .jpg, .pdf, or .eps 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!

First Team Ride o' the Season Report!

Wow!
Whatta GREAT turn-out for the 1st training ride of the season for the World's Coolest Team!

At least 31 riders convened @ Katie & Steve Clark's place in Grandville to brave strong winds and brisk temps.

Here's a list of the attendance - w/ the qualifier that the 2 of us that came up w/ it (MC n/ Did) had 100+ miles in our legs by then and that Did tends to mumble when stuffing his face!

New Riders:
Lindsey S
Laura B
Jeff B
Paul C

Prospective Riders / Special Guest Stars:
Amie B
Donna K
Susan W
Cam L
Dane D
Deb (didn't get last name, dang!)
Sarah S
Laurie (ditto dang!)

Annnnd....Veteran Riders:

J2
Tom S
Becky M
Chris M
Coach Did
Kirsten D
Linda C
Cliff L
Nicole N
Linda T-P
Katie C
Steve C
Nick C
Diana S
Tom M
BirthdayKaat
Mike H
Cindy A
Chris R
 and.....your trusty reporter Coach MC

Post ride festivities involved the demolition of a huge pan of "Mexican lasagne", Kaat's B-Day cake, J2's birthday cookies (many of which didn't make it 'til the end of the ride, a big pot o' queso, assorted fruits, candies and....of course....your basic etc!

All in all 'twas a powerful start to what stands to be a powerful season!

Thanks to the G'Ville Clarks for the hospitality - thanks to everyone for coming out and sending our ol' "friend" type 1 the messa ge that - once again - the World's Coolest Team is after your butt!

Next Ride - SUNDAY APRIL 29 - ADA PARK - 2:00PM. See you there!

Thanks for reading  - keep recruiting - every ride (yes, including DV) is still open despite record numbers of riders registering.

See you soon, keep being the rockstars that you ALL are!

Coach MC

Team Ride Numero Uno!

Heyo, Ride Team members n' prospectives n' associated cool people - it's time to start team rides!

This Sunday, April 22, we're gonna kick off with our now-traditional gig from Katie and Steve Clark's house in Grandville (y'all got the address emailed to ya; if ya didn't, email me or Katie and we'll get you the info you need). Rollout time is 2pm (so be there by 1:45, right?) for 12, 20, or 29 miles at any pace to suit any rider.

Post ride fun? Of course! If you're so inclined, bring a dish to pass - hot food, munchies, dessert, whatever. Calorie replenishment is important, ya know!

Let's get this season of rockin' started!

No excuse to stay home Saturday

Saturday, April 14th is a big day in west Michigan JDRF land. There is the inaugural DuneCross race in Saugatuck in the morning. This is a fund raiser that benefits the ride accounts of Cliff Lewis and Nicole Nellis. Then in the evening Jake's Music Festival takes place at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids. This eighth annual event is a major fundraiser for Tom, Mary and Ian Scheidel.

So don't even think about staying home Saturday. Here is a possible itinerary that I'm sure at least a couple of our team mates will follow.
Get up early and drive to Saugatuck
Race in DuneCross
Go home and clean up
Drive to Grand Rapids
Attend Jake's Music Festival
Go home with the knowledge that you've helped several of your team mates get a little bit closer to their goal.
(And if you bring friends we'll all get that much closer that much sooner.)

For more info on DuneCross click HERE

For more info on Jake's Music Festival click HERE