The week ahead and the week behind

It will be difficult to get much riding in this coming week. Mary and Tom are both working long hours on a big project until Thursday. Plus the kids are all at camp this week and have to be picked up Saturday. That leaves Friday and next Sunday for training. That might be okay. Time to let some of the sore muscles recover. We are now only 12 weeks away from the ride.

This week's ride totals:
8/26 - 11 miles, White Pine Trail south
8/29 - 20 miles, White Pine Trail north
8/30 - 33 miles, north past Cedar Springs to 20th and back

Friday ride

An early morning start on Friday (7:00 a.m.) and we got 20 miles in by 9:00. For those of you keeping score that's one-fifth of the distance we will be riding in Death Valley. We also received some more donations this week. Thank you very much. Watch for a new donor list soon.
Things are coming along well for the benefit concert on August 18 at Studio 28. Make your plans now to attend. Tickets are only $10 in advance, $13 at the door.
Ride On!

Short ride today

Our ride training schedule is to do a short, intense ride on Tuesday, a medium distance and effort ride on Thursday, and a long easy ride on Saturday or Sunday. So tonight we did 11 miles in between thunderstorms. It was nice and flat on the White Pine Trail and we worked on going fast. Our goal is to be consistently riding 15 miles per hour by October. We did 13.6 mph today. That's not bad, but every mile an hour faster in Death Valley cuts almost an hour off our total ride time.

The West Michigan Ride to Cure Diabetes Team.

What a week

Lots of riding this week, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Each week the miles get longer and legs get more tired. As a recreational rider you would think it's your rear end that gets sore, but that toughens up pretty quick. It's amazing how tired our legs are.
Today's ride was great. It was a team ride (we should have a picture soon). We left Ann O'Conner's restored 100 year old farmhouse in Pullman at 9:00 a.m. and rode 37 miles. We traveled to Douglas, rode along Lake Michigan and had a great time. A fierce head wind on the way back made things a little tough, but our group prevailed. Afterward we had a cookout and went swimming in Ann's pool. A great day, since we got the ride in before the temperatures hit the mid-90's.

This week's ride totals:
7/19 - 11 miles, around the neighborhoods near our house
7/22 - 24 miles, Musketawa Trail, from Marne to Ravenna and back
7/24 - 37 miles, Pullman to Douglas and back

Photos of the Bands

Craic Wisely

Red Frog Drum & Dance Ensemble

Jake's Music Festival

To help support the Ride for the Cure we are presenting Music for the Cure.
On August 18, starting at 6:00 p.m., Studio 28 in Grand Rapids will be the site of Jake's Music Festival. Some very dynamic area bands will be performing; Irish music band, Craic Wisely; African drum group, Red Frog Drum & Dance Ensemble; and a special surprise band. Founder's Brewery is the main sponsor and will be serving at the event. There will also be food, artists, and other concessions. It promises to be the event of the summer. Tickets are $10 in advance or $13 at the door. Tickets can be ordered by emailing JMF@scheidelgroup.com. Hope to see you there. It's going to be great.

Personal Best

Actually two personal bests were achieved today. Tom and Mary both rode their longest distance ever for a single ride - 32 miles! We left home at 1:30 and rode south on the White Pine Trail, through Riverside park and into downtown Grand Rapids. Then we crossed the west side and hopped onto Kent Trails near John Ball Park and rode that all the way to Byron Center. We arrived at Douglas Walker Park at 4:00. Then our lovely daughter picked us up and we drove home. We'll save the round trip for later in the summer when our weekend rides are pushing the 60 mile mark.

This week's ride totals:
7/13 - 9.5 miles, White Pine Trail
7/14 - 25 miles, Rockford to downtown GR and back
7/17 - 32 miles, Rockford to Byron Center

Two days in a row!

We rode yesterday and rode again tonight. We rode 25 miles down the White Pine Trail, through Riverside Park and into downtown Grand Rapids. And then back, of course. We tried out our new Camelbak water packs. They worked very well. I think they will be very helpful on the longer training rides and in Death Valley.

Housekeeping notes:

I added a link to Velo City Cycles. Mike Clark, our bike coach, runs Velo City. So check out his site. Better yet, travel to Holland and check out his store.

If you would like to be notified when we update this blog, just click on the comments link under any post and let us know. And please keep those comments coming.

Riding on Wednesday?

Our normal Tuesday evening ride was washed out last night by the remnants of Hurricane Dennis. So we rode 9.5 miles on the White Pine Trail this morning. Just a quick jaunt before heading off to morning work meetings. Watch for news about our music festival coming up in August.

Riding around the lake

This morning we rode around beautiful Paw Paw Lake where are friends Elvin and Susan Hayes have a cottage. Susan went with us. (Take a look at the post ride photo below.) After the ride we enjoyed a great breakfast before heading home. Thanks to the Hayes' for their hospitality this weekend.

This week's ride totals:
7/5: 9 miles, White Pine Trail to Rockford with a stop at Rocky's
7/7: 20 miles, White Pine trail south to Grand Rapids and back
7/10: 17 miles, around Paw Paw Lake

Tom & Mary and friend Susan Applegate after Sunday's ride around Paw Paw Lake.

Thanks to our donors

This is a list of the people who have made a donation to our Ride for the Cure team. Many, many thanks!

Chris Behrens
Tim & Gloria Buist
Jim & Mary Clinthorne
Joel & Ruth Ensminger
Steve & Stacey Farr
Richard & Maxine Fox
Reg & Anne Goetz
Jim & Susan Hayes
Jim & Connie Hennip
Marc & Jane Longstreet
Dave Mackenzie
Donald & Linda Milanowski
Karla Oard
Dave Pasciak
Greg & Gail Raap
Carrie Ratuzney
Ed & Nancy Reed
Michelle Reed
Tom & Florence Scheidel
Dick & Juanita Scheidel
John & Rosie Scheidel
Mike Silverstein
Chris & Collette Smiley
Kim Summers
Pete & Kay Timinskis
Sharon Turnquist
Lisa VandeKopple
Bill & Ginger Young

Thursday ride

Tonight we rode 20 miles in about two hours. We went south down the White Pine Trail past the Whitecaps stadium and on to Riverside Park, eventually ending up at Ann Street in Grand Rapids. We then rode north, buzzed around Comstock Park a bit, and took Packer Road home. Another donation check arrived today. We will be listing all of our donors very soon. Thanks again to everyone who is helping make this 100 mile dream come true.

Also, I added some links to our local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation chapter web site and the official Ride for the Cure web site. Check these out for more info on what we are doing and why.

Post those comments

Thank you for all the positive emails we have received so far. If you are so inclined please post your comments right here on the blog. Just click on the comment link after each entry and type away.
Today is a strength work out day. No riding, but we are headed to the gym to get "pumped up".

Tuesday's ride

An easy ride today. We took along the kids and rode the White Pine Trail to Rockford and back. While in Rockford we watched a little of the live Blues concert by the river. Big Daddy Fox from Muskegon was playing tonight. We also got ice cream at Rocky's. So maybe not the most intense ride, but fun none the less.

Tom, Mary and Jacob preparing for the Ride.

Happy Independence Day!
Several people have asked to be kept up to date on how our training is going for the 100 mile bike ride in Death Valley. So we have established this blog to do just that. We will post our mileage stats, photos, and other information. Please feel free to add comments or ask questions.
Happy riding.

This week's mileage stats:
6/28: 9 miles, White Pine Trail
6/30: 18 miles, Rockford, north, White Pine Trail
7/2: 25.5 miles, Pettis to Honey Creek to Cannonsburg Rd., lots of hills