*tweak*

48 hours and we'll be most of the way to Nashville. My brain is remaining impressively useful, only drifting off 60-70 percent of the time, but I'm sure that's coming to an end. I offer apologies to my employer, as I do every year.

Anywhoodles, hey, look, maps and cool stuff!

Indiana road projects and conditions
Kentucky road info
Tennessee road whosawhatsis

I love map.

Weather: Kinda looking a bit meh for Saturday - solid chance of rain, temperatures in the mid-upper 70s. It'll still be awesome; the glow of 500 determined and wonderful riders and hundreds of volunteers and supporters will keep us warm and dry no matter what, and it totally doesn't matter how far you ride or how fast you do it or even IF you ride. I'm not sure what the Nashville equivalent of this standard speech is, but the Death Valley version is "if you take off and turn left instead of right and go spend the day at the pool, you're just as successful as the monster who rides the 100 miles in 4 and a half hours."

(Please tell someone if you do that, though, so we don't go looking for you.)

I'm sure a lot of our activities will center around the Bike Room; let's keep an eye out for each other Thursday afternoon and evening so we can do whatever planning we want to do. Your bike will stay with you in your room, in case you were wondering.

Man, do I ever envy the first-time riders! Make new friends. Be with your people. It's a firehose of an experience; all you can do is open yourself up and soak in as much of the emotion and power as you can. Just BE.

See you in Nashville!

Last Team Ride Before Nashville!

So in a WEEK, a whole mess of us are gonna be en route to Nashville! How 'bout them apples?!?!?! Anybody else kinda tweakin' about it? I'm getting all good and wound up; it's almost time to start making the annual Ride Weekend Packing Spreadsheet! Woot Woot!

BUT FIRST! Let's have one more team ride, OK?

Deets, in case you missed the email and don't do the Facebook thing:

Starting from Spring Grove Park, near Jamestown (MAP HERE)
Rollout time 10 am
33 or 45ish miles, with some hills
Post ride snacks and planning meeting, starting at let's say 2:30

I think what I'm gonna map out is a quick 15 mile loop that will swing back to the park, and then proceed back out for the 33 mile loop, so if you want to do 33, be at the park and READY TO RIDE by 10:45 am. We'll roll through, and if nobody's there  we'll take right off again.

OK!

1 Week 1 week 1 week!

La Crosse recap from a first time "bike tech"

When the opportunity to spend three days in a windowless room unpacking and repacking bicycles presented itself, I jumped on board (once the vacation days were approved).

This was the most amazing weekend since I participated in my own JDRF Ride to Cure September 2012. Watching new and returning riders accomplish whatever goal they had set for themselves was inspiring and uplifting, to say the very least.

As a volunteer, I was fortunate to have my own goals and even accomplished a handful of “firsts.”
1. Change a flat bike tire. Surprising, considering I was tech support, but I saved a riders last 16 miles with a quick tube change. High-five!

2. Pack a bike. If you’ve never spent 6 hours in a windowless room packing bikes (and sometimes yourself) with 3 pretty cool dudes, you’re missing out.

3. Ride a bike down a bubble wrap path. There’s video evidence of this extreme sport to be released at the 2014 Golden Globes.

No matter what role I seem to have with this incredible cause, I have my own triumphs and goosebump moments, which prove the power of the bicycle.

Ride on!
Michelle