2012 / WRAP UP / 2013 KICK OFF......WHATEVER!!

Hey y'all!

So - as hard as is it for me to fathom...another season of JDRF-ed-ness is drawing to a close. Man, when I think back.....

The Ultimate Cycle Challenge in February,
Outdoor Training rides starting in April, as well as DuneCross and Jake's Music Fest,
The craziness of the Hope on 2 Wheels Ride in June,
Burlington in July,
La Crosse in August,
ODRAM too!
Lake Tahoe in September,
Death Valley in October,
Tucson in November,
and our freakin' awesome party in December!!!!!! (just last week in fact)

And woven in, around and between alla that stuff all those training rides, and nights @ Van Andel and golf outings and trail rides and flat tires and (sadly) busted body parts, and laughter and tears and meetings and (for our T1D folks in particular) the highs and lows* of another great season.

*no pun intended

Dang - makes me kinda goose-bumpy to just sit here and ponder alla that for a sec..........whew!

We had our last meeting of the 2012 Ride Committee this morning. I wanna thank (again and again and again) Nicole for herding the cats for the last buncha years and we all wish her nothin' but tailwinds and downhills as she finishes her long pull on the front and sits in for awhile. The committee is super excited to welcome Rookie of the Year Michelle Carpenter and JDRF Regional Endurance Program Big Cheese Kim Monk (who's also gonna ride w/ us!) to the RC Breakfast Table joining current-and-unable-to-think-up-a-good-excuse continuing members Cindy "Van Andel Queen" Aley, Becky "I wanted to be the Chair but settled for Secretary" Machuta, Cathy "the real boss" Coury, Rob "I can't believe I missed Death Valley" Andro, Katie "Web Mistress" Clark, Derek "Coach Did" Dykstra and my-own-self.

The Ride Commitee is ready-to-rock, that's all I'm sayin'.

For those of you that had to miss the party - we missed you too! We had 50+ people there, we ate wings and chips-n-salsa and cupcakes and such. We watched an awesome video (courtesy of Tom Scheidel) and we talked about 2012 - both from a Chapter (Top $ Team in Tahoe, White Jersey Winner Nick C there too) and National (5.2 million dollars raised, best year ever, most money ever, most riders ever!) standpoint.

We also handed out the 2012 Team Awards - custom Road ID bracelets - and they went like-so:

Top Fund-Raiser : John Jasker
Rookie of the Year : Michelle Carpenter
Comeback Rider, Death Valley : Dave "Ninja" Berkimer
Comeback Rider, Lake Tahoe : Ross Schueller
Longest Pull Award : John Jasker  (From 2013 on this award - basically a "Team MVP"- will be known as the "Jasker Award"
Ride Committee MVP - Nicole Lewis

Then we talked about 2013 - where to ride, who's gonna ride, etc. We had a buncha potential new riders there (mucho exciting) and I'm 100% convinced that 2013's gonna rock SO hard that T1D ain't never gonna know what hit it!

So - stay tuned. Lots of stuff comin' around the bend soon. We're gonna keep it in the big ring alllll winter long - training (if you're into that sort of thing), fund-raising, scheming about MORE fund-raising, hangin' out, gettin' together and alla that stuff that helps make this The World's Coolest Team.

Soon - like this week - I'll post what I've learned about the Nashville Ride route - as well as a quick synopsis of the other venues as well - so we'll be ready to get things started as soon as they open Registration (which oughta be soon after the New Year)

Until then.........................ride on!

Coach MC