Boo.

What biking in 9° weather looks like.

Not shown: huge pile of stinky spandex in the laundry.

did

Ultimate Cycling Challenge Update!

Hey Kids! The team roster hasta be turned in for the U.C.C. by Thursday so here's the latest:

The Team is set and all the time slots are filled so if you still wanna be involved.........it's too late! We can talk about starting another team or you can come and root your teammies on and bring us cookies!

Here's the schedule and I need your $ by Thursday if I don't have it already!

And........lemme know what size t-shirt you want, or I'll have to guess!

8:00-10:00pm: Ross Schueller (PAID)
10:00pm-12:00: MC
12:00am-2:00am: Joe Schiemder (PAID)
2:00am-4:00am: Kevin Owens (PAID)
4:00am-6:00am: Derek Dykstra (PAID)
6:00am-8:ooam: Peggy Essenburg
8:00am-12:00pm: Scott Poeder & Linda Thompsen-Poeder
12:00pm-2:00pm: Jack Clark (PAID)
2:00pm-3:00pm: Katie & Steve Clark (PAID)
3:00pm-8:00pm: Team Andro/Bentley (Sarah, Ted and Rob)

That's gonna be the best looking group in the whole dang event, don'cha think!?!?!?!

Remember to wear your JDRF jersey(s) and I was thinking that you veterans might wanna bring any extra jerseys you have from past years to share w/ our new teammates, okay?

Shoot me an e-mail asap to let me know what size t-shirt you want! (mike@velo-citycycles.com)

Other stuff going on: It sounds like the Ride dates and details are f-i-n-a-l-l-y- set so we oughta be able to register soon! If you haven't gotten back to Mary about which Ride is your first chooice please do so so we can get things rolling! We have a Ride Committee meeting next week and we'll be planning the Team Kick-Off Party (or whatever) so stay tuned!

If this is going to be your first Ride with us welcome! If you are back for your 2nd, 3rd or 4th time around.......welcome back! It's going to be a great season and I can' t wait to get to it!

See you soon................Coach Mike

Here We Go!

Below are the people that have weighed in so far with solid 2008 Ride commitments. If your name isn't below yet, add your thoughts and inspire more dialogue with teammates and colleagues by using the 'comments' feature at the bottom of this post. We will add those comments people provide back to this original post. This will allow the Chapter office to keep all of our preferences in one place. Bookmark this page and check back often for updates on what our team is up to! Ride on!

Death Valley
Mary & Tom Scheidel
Nicole Nelles
Steve & Katie Clark
Rob Andro
Rod Stephens
Brad Spooner
Derek Dykstra
Rick Blackmar
Paul & Kathy MacBride
Amy Fisher
Melanie & Scott Williamson
Kevin Owens
Joe Schmieder
Mike Howard
Mark & Terri Heeren
Ross Schueller

Asheville (Party Bus style!?)
Chuck
Jeff Wert
Jack Clark
Herb
Brenda
Peggy
Dawn
Kevin C

Whitefish
(none?)

Undecided?
Lolly Stirling (going wherever HMI goes)

Okay Kids, time to get serious!

Alllllright! The "Holidaze" are over, no matter which one(s) you celebrate and it's time to get this show on the road for 2008, don'cha think? Although the National Folks in their infinite wisdom have yet to announce the full Ride Schedule we can still move forward with our plans for the Ultimate Cycling Challenge, a Team Kick-Off Party and other stuff. So here we go...........

I want to turn in the roster for the U.C.C. in 2 weeks so it's time to get on board! Send me a check for $30, made out to "Ultimate Fitness" and let me know times that you DO or DO NOT want to ride and I'll make the schedule. That's right......the sooner you sign up the better chance you have of getting the "good" times to ride! And.........the more riders we have the less everyone has to ride and the more $ we raise for the L.A.F. As a reminder, the dates of the event are 2/ 15-16, from 8-8pm. At this point I have ZERO riders officially, although I have had several people (Katie, Steve, Sarah, Did) say that they were in. Let's nail it down, shall we?

Note: The 30 bucks is your entry fee/minimum donation. The organizers hope that everyone does more fund-raising and those checks (if any) should be made out to "The Lance Armstrong Foundation". Only that initial "entry fee" check is made to Ultimate Fitness" okay?

The Ride Commitee is working on a date and place for a big Team Sign-up and Kick Off party, stay tuned!

At this point we have decided to focus our attention on the September MT Ride and Death Valley, since those Rides scored the highest in interest in the Survey. Still..we're curious as to the rest of the schedule and looking forward to it being finalized.

We have a meeting w/ the interested Herman Miller riders on Monday the 14th, so that oughta be good. I'll keep everyone posted on what goes down there.

I have finalized the Team Sponsorship deal w/ Cannondale again for 2008. They are offering 20% off any bike for all Team Members. Let me know if you want to look into that.

I think that's all I have for now. Let's get this Blog humming again, okay? Don't forget all the ride opportunities that are going on right now..........we have 2 or 3 indoor workouts a week @ the shop here, plus I do 2 outdoor dirt road rides a week (assuming that you're up for a ride on dirt roads in the dark, that is!). Contact me for details! (mike@velo-citycycles.com)

See you soon I hope!

MC

How Santa REALLY Delivers All Those Gifts

Merry Christmas, my friends!

LETS GET IT ON!

Okay kids, here's the latest on the greatest. (Team, that is!)

Mary and I met w/ Rod Stephens and Brian Walker @ Herman Miller yesterday. They are in as a Big Team Sponsor for 2008 and are committed to at least 20 riders again. We are also planning to do a West Michigan Team / Herman Miller / Velo City jersey for team riders to wear @ training rides, events and for the Friday Shake-down rides. We'll also make extras for everyone to sell as a fund-raising deal. It's gonna be cool!

(Rumours that it will be plaid are just that......rumours!) (For the moment anyway)

The other big news is that we've decided to focus our Collective Team Attention on the September Whitefish Ride and Death Valley. These are the Rides that score highest in the Team Survey and we think that focusing on 2 Rides will increase the chances of everyone having the kind of experience that we all know is possible. The dates are Sept 11/14 for MT and Oct 16/19 for DV so it's time to make your plans, weigh your options and decide! We still can't officially register but the Nat'l folks are slavin' away to get all the details set so that they can open up for business. 'Til then have your eager-beaver donors send you a check and let Mary know which Ride you favor so we can make sure that everyone gets in!

Having the Rides that we're planning on oughta make it easier to get new riders on board as well so let's do talk to all those folks that we know are thinkin' about it and get 'em on board before the train leaves the station!

Have a great holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy Happy New Year! Thanks again (and again and again and again..................!) for all you did for the Team and JDRF this past season and for lettin' me be a part of it w/ you. Don't forget the shop's New Years' Day ride, the indoor rides, the Ultimate Cycling Indoor Challenge in Feb and all the other cool stuff that's goin' on!

Blessings and Peace to you all,
Mike

Happy Holidays

A little extra-curricular holiday fun this past weekend, as the entire Scheidel clan visited Chicago. Tom, Mary, Colleen, Jake, and Ian are rockstars, enjoying every minute of their trip, even in a snowstorm. While the 7" of snow prevented us from logging any miles on the lakefront trail, we did manage to meet up at the Christkindl Market, take a stroll to Macy's to see the windows and the tree, marvel at The Bean and other artwork at Millennium Park, stuff our faces at one of my favorite loop pubs, and even get a little smarter and thoughtful with our visit to the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum.

PS. Check out Tom's hat--public shout-out to our team!

We had a great time, even chatting a bit about our great time in 2007 and looking forward to an even more amazing 2008 season with our team.

Happy Holidays to all!