SPECIAL EVENT #1 THE HOLLAND HUNDRED! (1ST IN A SERIES)

As promised - this is the start of a veritable avalanche of info on a few extra special events comin' our way here in the next few weeks. The Coolness just keeps on a-rollin'!

The Holland Hundred is one of the largest and longest running tours in West Michigan - if not the state. It offers loops of 18, 36, 67 or 100 miles, a pancake breakfast and several other food stops. The route pretty much shows you the best of Allegan County (the "Holland" part of the ride's name is a bit of a misnomer) and there will likely be 1500-1800 riders from all over the Midwest.

In short - it's a great ride.

Ready for the cool part? As a registered JDRF rider you ride for free! Not only that - but ride the HH (for free, remember) and you'll be entered (along w/ other JDRF riders) in a drawing to win a $300 donation to your Ride Account!

All courtesy of our good friends at the Macatawa Cycling Club.

There will be some paperwork - we'll try and have that w/ us @ the Team Ride on 7/14. There will also be an e-mail soon covering any other last-minute logistics and the details of how to hook up w/ the rest of the team the morning of the ride. We'll be treating the HH as an extra team training ride.

Date - 7/20
Time - around 7:30am
Cost - NONE, remember?!?!?
More info - http://macatawa.cc/holland-hundred

I sure hope to see you there!

You guys rock, but you know that, right?

Coach MC

Hope on 2 Wheels........take 2

Okay....so I'm back in the 616 after another trip out East to do the Hope Ride. Once again I'm still blown away, inspired, humbled and awestruck from the events of the 5 days and I kinda wanted to share it w/ y'all...since you couldn't all be there.

Background for those of you what needs it: The Ho2W Ride is the brainchild of JDRF coach and father of 2 boys w/ T1D Scott Kasper. Along w/ his fellow S. Jersey Coach Mike Chadwick they created this relay-style marathon ride to draw attention to JDRF and T1D research. (You can hide a post on 2012's ride in the blog archives if yawanna). This year's ride started @ Camp Joselin, a camp for T1D kids in Western MA and ended @ Camp Nejeta in Northern NJ. The total distance was 216 miles w/ about 14K of climbing.

Friday - Dr Professor Patti "Pea" Bills and I hit the road in the AM. It's 740 miles, 3 tanks of gas and $60 in tolls 'tween here and there. We arrived @ Scott's house in Mt Laurel NJ and hit the hay.

Saturday - After a diner breakfast we got to work. 'Twas our job (Pea and I) to unpack and assemble any bikes shipped in by team members. Truth be told - not a lotta heavy lifting - only 9 to get ready. That afternoon we did a nice lil' ride w/ the few other members of the squad that had arrived. Afterwards we hung out, talked logistics and ate way too many brats from Scott's grill.

Sunday - Kind of a crazy day. The logistics of getting 29 riders from literally all across the US of A, about 10 crew, 6 vans, 2 motorcycles, 29 bikes and alla the other crap we needed up to MA is no small task! Our van headed North via Newark Airport where we grabbed up 5 other riders. The others went via NYC (dodging the Gay Pride Parade which was blocking access to the original rendezvous point) and then North. Then there were the folks that had flown into Boston...or were local.

In a word.....craziness!

Regardless....we somehow all found our way to Camp Joselin for dinner. The kids there were excited to have visitors (that's a huge understatement!)and we feasted on lasagna, salad and garlic bread whilst being "entertained" by the kids. (My ears are still ringing). After we did our lil' presentation...telling the campers that we were riding to remind them that T1D doesn't haft ahold you back (about 2/3s of the riders are T1  - including 13 year old white jersey winner from Tucson Ethan Ericksen of Salt Lake City) and a brief team meeting we piled back in the vans for the brief drive to our hotel. Final sorting of gear and efforts to be hydrated ensued - interrupted for some by near-compulsive weather report checking. (It wasn't looking good but - strangely - looking at it every 5 minutes didn't change that. Weird huh?) Bed time came soon enough...a 4am wake up call will do that.

Monday - Ride Day. Finally. We kitted up (there's something kinda weird about pulling on a pair of bibs @ 4:00am knowing that you're gonna be in them until at least midnight) and headed to the lobby for breakfast. The plan was to drive back to the camp for a 6am roll out. We actually almost made it. After the mandatory flurry of tire-pumping, bottle-filling and last second adjustments we were off.....following 2 Harleys and bound for NJ and hope.

The route was broken up into roughly 20-25 mile "stages" - w/ all 3 teams rotating. Unlike last year where we had "A", "B" and "C" teams based on riding ability this time we were "1", "2" and "3" and the effort was made to mix the stronger and weaker riders evenly so all the teams would benefit from the experience of the more experienced riders. I was "road captain" of Team 1)
Just like last year all 29 of us did the 1st stage, then our team kept rolling while the others climbing into their respective vans to leapfrog ahead. Pea and I rode my tandem for that initial 50 miles.

It was wet....a steady drizzle combined w/ wet roads ensured that we were soaked and grimy pretty much right away. (It became a running joke all day that Team 2 stayed suspiciously clean all day...they missed almost alla the rain). During our transfer up to the transition point where we'd get back on the road after "taking the baton" from Team 3 the skies darkened up and then opened up! Thunder, lightning, flooded roads, low-visibility...the whole enchilada! Kinda ugly, actually. We waited in the van and they trickled in in small groups (and a few in the van). Some were visibly shaken by the challenge of negotiating  long fast descents on narrow roads in those conditions. (I don't blame them).

We hung out for a few, giving the worst of it a chance to move through, then saddled up. Our leg started w/ a 4 mile climb - kinda rude on cold legs I thought! After that we got it together (Pea and I were on single bikes now) and made good time. Our team rode together really well all day I thought)

Soon enough we were rolling into lunch (after a slight "directional snafu") - 109 miles in and w/ the weather starting to co-operate. Lunch was courtesy of the local JDRF Chapter and was pretty dang awesome. Then we loaded up and off we went.

For our next stage we were joined by last year's team mate Annie S. She's Scott's sis-in-law and was signed up for this year before a family tragedy derailed those plans. She met us for 1 stage and rode w/ me on the tandem and had a blast. The highlight of this leg was crossing the Hudson River into NY on a cool old bridge about 1.5 miles long and about 300' above the water. The bike lane was metal plate and mesh.....awesome!

A couple hours later we were pulling into the final transition area - 23 miles from the finish line @ Camp Nejeta. The plan was for all of us to ride together from here. The other 2 teams finally pulled in (Team 2 in their vans and still oddly crisp kits) and Team 3 rolling in - once again kinda shattered. Their leg had some serious hills (they all did!) and a few of their number were feeling it. Ethan was low......way low and it showed on his usually beaming face. There was talk of leap-frogging a few riders ahead Ride to Cure style but he wasn't into that at ALL. I offered up the tandem and that proved to be the perfect solution..

By now 'twas about 8:00pm - we had almost 2 hours of riding to do (& lots more climbing - including the steepest bit by far) so we fitted up the lights and rolled out. As daylight waned the fireflies and headlights kept us company as we rolled - as one - towards the camp. After a final stop @ the outskirts of the camp to re-group we rolled in to a thunderous welcome. There was a last sharp left and steep climb into the camp proper (and you HAD to make in in front of alla those people!) and up top we found the campers from Cabin #7 waiting to greet us. We wasted no time parking our bikes and heading into the dining hall where a veritable feast of BBQ chicken, pulled pork, ribs, mac-n-cheese and cornbread was quickly decimated.

Then back in the vans and off to the hotel.....desperate by now for a shower and to get that kit off!

1:00am found many of us - w/ glazed eyes and wet hair (ok - I said "most") hanging around the lobby...completely spent but unwilling/able to let the day end.

But end it did.

Tuesday - came soon enough, since we were expected back @ the camp for breakfast. Once again the kids entertained us w/ songs, we did our thing, posed for pics and sharing many hugs, handshakes and high fives. All to soon it was time......time to load up and commence the involved process of wrappin' it up. I found myself offering to drive a van back so after a stop @ the Newark Airport Pea and I headed back to Mt Laurel. We got there about 1:30, grabbed some lunch, re-packed the bikes, loaded the van and headed this-a-way about 7pm, arriving back in the 616 about 8am Wed.

This whole experience was an exercise in love & hope & dreams...and as such was essentially a small scale JDRF Ride. I have other stories to tell and yarns to spin but Imma gonna save 'em for the next ride, okay?

I sure hope to ride w/ you soon......we got T1D ass to kick!

Looking ahead - July & August!

Can that headline be right?!?!?!? Can it possibly be time to talk about the 7th and 8th month o' the year already?!?

(I know - we just put away the arm warmers and toe covers, right?)

And yet - the calendar tells no lies - so discuss July and August we shall!

Dates - let's talk about dates, huh?

7/8 - Next Team Ride! Location will be Mullaly Park up in N Muskegon. Times and details to be announced soon. (Watch your e-mail and/or FaceBook)

7/14 - Team Ride hosted by Kim Monk in Ada. (a pool! a pool!) Again - specifics to follow.

7/20 - The Holland Hundred. I've waxed poetic about the generosity of the Macatawa Cycling Club and their efforts on our behalf elsewhere on this forum but suffice to say that any JDRF riders get to ride for free and will be eligible to win a $300 donation from the club!!! Let's make a big showing and turn it into a team ride and JDRF jersey festival! We're planning 2 group starts - one for folks doing the 19 or 36 mile routes & another for the 67 milers and century riders. (The oft-mentioned coming e-mail will fill in the gaps)

7/28 - Team Ride! (Details blahblahblah)

8/3 - 6 and 12 Hours of Pando!

8/4 - Team Ride - Tour de Taco! Our annual celebration of grilled fajitas and fellowship @ case de Clark in Holland.

8/10 - ODRAM!!! (and MARDO!)

Dang! Is that a rockin' list of chances to git'cher BikeFace on or what!?!?! (Looks like 7 more pieces of evidence that we're the Coolest Team Ever to me!)

Okay - it's time to wrap this up. I can't wait to ride w/ you again at some (or all!) of these upcoming chances to get together - 'cuz Type 1 needs to know that we are coming and its goose is COOKED!

Thanks for all you do - you all ROCK w/ a capital R and I'm prouder n' proud to ride alongside you!

See you soon, Ride on!
Coach MC

TEAM RIDE 5 REPORT AND LOTSA BIG NEWS!

We had a pretty good ride today. Our traditional Father's Day Team Ride is never a huge one (lots' going on after all) but 10 of us gathered @ Scheidel's and headed for the hills! (Literally!)

Roll Call:
All 3 Scheidels
2 Dykstras
2 Clarks (Lin & I)
Tom Miller
Chris Radford
LumberKaat

As has been often mentioned - Coach Did, Kaat and I were in various stages of duress/recovery following our 100 mile ATB race yesterday so it might not've been the FASTEST ride in the team's history but we covered 30+ miles on a perfect day. Plenty of hills on one of the best loops yours truly has ever ridden in Kent County!

Afterwards we put a SERIOUS dent in a variety of snacks while enjoying the company and the patio.

Please read on for details on the next Team Ride AND a couple of other REALLY COOL THINGS comin' up!

Next Team Ride - Next Sunday - The Allegrina 100! Our good friends and past teammates Heather & Brian are throwing a ride to celebrate her father's life and raise $ for the scholarship that they've created in his name @ GVSU. The A100 has been referred to as the best ride in the 616 and I'd concur 100%! There are loops of 33, 66 and 100 miles - as well as a "Family Ice Cream Ride". All the loops leave at scheduled times so we can all ride together regardless of your desired distance.
The 100 milers roll @ 8:00am
The 66 milers leave @ 10:30am
The 33 milers take off @ 1:00pm. (As well as the Ice Cream Ride)

There will be a SERIOUS after party @ the Felt Mansion sponsored in part by the New Holland Brewery.

All the details @ www.allegrina100.com where you can also pre-register if yawanna.

Hey team - let's make this a BIG DEAL, huh? It's a great cause (much like JDRF's!) it's a great ride and Heather and Brian are great folks.

JULY 20 - THE HOLLAND HUNDRED! There are a couple of really cool things happening w/ the HH! This is a great ride and many of us do it every year. Here are a couple more reasons to do so:

FREE ENTRY TO JDRF RIDERS! That's right! Show up in your JDRF jersey (Ride Day, current Team jersey, Herman Miller version, they're all good) and ride the HH for free! (Only applies to riders registered for a 2013 Ride to Cure event)

 BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING TO WIN $300 FOR YOUR RIDE FUND!!!! The Macatawa Cycling Club has stepped up HUGE to support our team! Every registered rider attending the HH will have their name entered in a drawing. At the end of the day 5 names will be chosen to receive a sweet $300 bump to their fund-raising efforts! How ever-lovin' cool is that !?!?!?

All the answers to your questions are at www.hollandhundred.com Again  - this is a great ride and the MCC is being MORE than generous!

AUGUST 3 - THE 6 AND 12 HOURS OF PANDO! Sure - it's a ways off yet but you KNOW this summer's gonna fly by. Mark your calendars now for this fun day! This is a solo,  2 or 4 person relay race on a great lil' 4-ish mile singletrack trail that you can't ride any other time! (It's only open for races). Coach Derek and I wanna eliminate all of your objections right now.....

I don't have a mountainbike - we'll find you one to use!

I don't really "do" off-road - This trail is a blast and you can do as few laps as you'd like!

I don't race - It's not really a race as much as an all day festival. We'll hang out together ALL DAY having fun and being together!

I don't have any lights - Either race on a 6 hour team or ride only during the day on a 12 hour team or borrow some!

Here's the thing....Brent Walk (the race promoter) has been a huge supporter of our team and JDRF over the last couple of years and it'd be GREAT to see a BUNCH of teams out there comprised of our riders and their friends. It'll be a blast, I promise!

Interested? (I sure hope so!) Contact me with your team details OR if you want me to put you oin a team. (I'll just need to know 6 or 12 Hour and 2 or 4 person)

www.funpromotions.com

AUGUST 10 - ONE DAY RIDE ACROSS MICHIGAN! This ride is gonna be bigger and better than ever this year! The easiest Century-And-A-Half you'll ever do and a fund-raiser for some of your teammies to boot! 152 miles, lunch and dinner included and the option of riding back the nexy day if yawanna!

More on this fanTAStic day @ www.odram.com

Okay - enough for now! (Good lord!) Needless to say there are PLENTY of reasons to get'cher ride on as we prepare ourselves to give T1D another punch in the neck!

Speaking for myself, for Coach Derek and the entire Ride Committee....it would please us to no end to see all of y'all out @ the Felt Mansion this coming Sunday....as well as all of these other great events and the other Team Rides on the calendar. (Tour de Taco - 7/14!)

In the meantime - keep riding, keep fund-raising and keep rocking!

I love you guys,
Coach Mike

Team Ride 5 is tomorrow

I know it seems like we just had a team ride last week. That's because we did. We're having another one this Sunday (as in tomorrow). Coaches Mike and DID are doing the Lumberjack ride today and wanted to add to their weekend suffering by scheduling another team ride, with hills. So here are the particulars. The ride leaves at NOON from Tom and Mary Scheidel's house in Rockford. There will be loops of 20, 30, and 40 miles. (please add an -ish to each of those distances). This is a hilly ride. The 40 mile route has almost 1,000 feet of climbing. Before you start whining, that's considerably less than you'll be doing in Nashville or Death Valley. There will be a post ride patio party with whatever snacks you all decide to bring. There will be some of my mom's famous dill pickles. (Just for you Linda Clark.)

Location: 6184 Archer St. NE, Rockford, MI
Date: Sunday, June 16, 2013
Arrival time: 11:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Introductions and the ceremonial handing out of tip sheets: 11:45 a.m.
Clip in and roll out: 12:00 p.m. SHARP

If you have questions or need directions please contact Tom Scheidel as the coaches are busy today. "Oh, I'm a Lumberjack and I'm okay..."

TEAM RIDE 4 REPORT! (The day the weatherman lied)

The forecast for Ride day (Sunday 6/9) was all over the map - all day rain (that was Thurs), chance of rain all day, especially afternoon (Fri), rain in the evening (Sat) etc etc etc. What they NEVER called for was "delightful sunny awesomeness, w/ just enough clouds to break it up, a bit too much wind if you were riding a bicycle south and a few sprinkles just as you were packing up to make you feel kinda smug for squeezing alla the juice outta the day."

So - naturally (this being the Mitten n' all) that's EXACTLY what we got!

We had a decent turnout, in light of all the graduation parties, vacations and other challenges out there:

Coach Did & Kirsten
All 3 Scheidels
Vern V
Special Guest Star Patti "Dr Professor Captain" B
J2
Kim M
Brad S
Host-With-The-Most JD
Chris R and daughter Kristina
Scott W
LTP
Tom M
Paul B
Michelle "Please don't gimme anymore nicknames!" C
Special Guests Bill & Sue G (Fam of JD's) as well as John D from GR
Coach MC & Lin

Not to mention our "Ground Crew" of Maggie & Donna - keeping it real on the grill!

It was a fantastic ride - one that my buddy John D called "the best group ride he's ever done" - we rode together down to New Richmond and across the old bridge. After that we split into a 30 and a 43 mile group and went our merry ways. Both groups rode well together (Hey, I'm the coach - I hear things!) and the goodly assortment of ups were dealt with in style.

Back @ the lake much consumption of brats, chicken, cookies, cupcakes and other critical elements of an athlete's recovery process was observed - along w/ laying in the grass, laughter and general group awesomeness.

A fine day indeed - that's all I'm sayin'.

Our next Team Ride is a week from today - on 6/16. Yes - that IS Father's Day and we certainly understand that family matters may well intrude. It's ALSO the day after Did, Kaat and I attempt the Lumberjack 100 mountainbike race so if you've been lookin' for a chance to put it to us - here ya go!

The details will be sent via e-mail ASAP - but you can count on the location being on GR's east side. (Yes - where the hills are - sigh)

Okay - enough for now........thanks again to everyone that made today special and an even BIGGER thanks to everyone on the team - 'cuz y'all are ALL making everyday special and keepin' T1D looking over its shoulder!

You guys ROCK - you know that, right?

Coach Mike

TEAM RIDE FOUR A-COMIN'!

HEY TEAM!

Here are some numbers for ya:

51 days 'til Burlington!
72 days 'til La Crosse!
93 days 'til Tahoe!
107 days 'til Nashville!
135 days 'til Death Valley!
170 days 'til Tucson!!!!!!

In other words.....time is slipping by! I trust that your riding AND fund-raising is in good shape as I type these words on a sunny-if-kinda-cool Wed morn.

This Sunday brings us a Special Team Ride - hosted by long-time teammate JD Stone out @ Eldean's Shipyard in Macatawa. This be-YOO-ti-ful spot is right on Lake Mac, offers a pool and picnic area and we ALWAYS have a blast!

The deets:

We ROLL at noon. Not 12:10. Not 12:18 after we see you roll in @ 12:10. NOON. Please arrive in time to kit up, pump your tires, fill your bottles and roll at NOON.

(Did I mention that we roll @ 12:00?)

There will be 3 lovely route options of 43, 32 and 20(ish) miles. Those of you who ride in these parts often are well aware that there are limitless options to add (or subtract) a bit if need be.

The post-ride repast is will be anchored (a boat reference - har!) by GrillMeister JD's brats and chicken. Please bring something to share (if you are so inclined) and we sure hope to see you there!

You should have an e-mail w/ location details - holler if not.

See you soon, keep it rolling and keep on rockin'!

Coach MC