Friday, September 30, 2005

Another new personal best

73 miles! In 6 hours! At that pace the Death Valley ride will take us just about 8 hours.
Mary had the day off work today, so after the kids left for school we put on our cold weather gear (48 degrees this morning) and started riding. We rode out to the Muskatawa Trail which runs from Marne to Muskegon. It's 15 miles just to get there. We didn't make it all the way to Muskegon, but did get about 8 miles past Ravenna before we turned around and headed home.
We also received some more donation checks today. That puts us over $5,000 raised to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. Thanks again to all those who have contributed so far.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Ride to the office day

I had to drop off some DONATION checks to the JDRF office today. I also needed to get a ride in. Soooo... I did both. I rode from our house in Rockford to the JDRF offices on Cascade Road. A round trip on 21.6 miles. Saw Derek Dykstra there. He was dropping off his bike as it needs to be shipped to Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow. Derek is one of our team riders who will not be in Death Valley. He and 12 others will be peddling in beautiful North Carolina next weekend.

Keep those cards, letters, emails and contributions coming. With your help we will find a cure for diabetes!

Sunday, September 25, 2005

The Metric Century

Today we rode in the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks, Michigan. We completed the Metric Century which is 62 miles. That's a new personal best. The ride was great, over 4000 riders through some pretty farmland in south western Michigan. Part of the ride skirted the coast of Lake Michigan and went by some gorgeous lake homes. Places worth several million dollars each. The kind of places you need Lance Armstrong money to buy. It started raining about halfway through the ride and made the last half kind of wet. Even with the rain it was a great ride and we are looking forward to the Big One in Death Valley. We also saw fellow Death Valley rider Joe Schmeider as we were finishing up. A great day at ACC 2005.

This weeks totals:
9/20 - 19 miles, White Pine Trail south
9/21- 14 miles, WPT north
9/23 - 12 miles, Belmont to 10 Mile to WPT
9/25 - 62 miles, the Apple Cider (Metric) Century

Mary riding in the Apple Cider Century















Tom and Mary after the ACC2005

Thursday, September 22, 2005

One month to go

In one month from today we will be riding 105 miles across Death Valley. It's hard to believe we've been training for this all summer and now we are just a few weeks away. Right now it's all about getting in the miles so that we are ready on October 22nd. We did a quick 14 mile out and back on the White Pine Trail yesterday. We are both feeling strong. We are really looking forward to this ride and the good work it will allow JDRF to do.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Lunchtime ride

A quick 19 mile jaunt at lunch today. Went south on the White Pine Trail to it's end by Fifth Third Ball Park, then over to Riverside Park and took that trail to it's end at Ann Street in Grand Rapids. Then turned around a came home. I'd like to get in at least two more rides before Sunday when we do the Apple Cider Century (actually a half century for us).

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Team ride Sunday

We had a great ride with the JDRF team today. 45 miles from Ada Park to Saranac then north to Fallasburg Park out on Bailey Road to Pettis road and then back into Ada. There were probably some other roads in there, but I don't remember them. What I mostly remember is the hills. Lots of them today. Some quite steep. Coach Mike made an adjustment to the seat of my Cannondale that really helped. I've also included a couple of pictures from today's ride. This week also marks another milestone. I've now ridden over 100 miles this week. So I have now done in a week the distance we'll do in one day in Death Valley.

This week's totals:
9/12 - 12 miles, White Pine Trail south
9/13 - 21 miles, White Pine Trail north
9/15 - 14 miles, Coit to North park to WPT
9/17 - 12 miles, 7 mile to Blakely to Keis and back
9/18 - 45 miles, Ada to Saranac to Fallasburg loop
The JDRF Ride Team in Vergennes Township.


















Mary and Coach Mike

Saturday, September 17, 2005

A good week

Rode 14 miles on Thursday and another 12 miles today. That makes four rides this week for a total of 59 miles. And tomorrow we have our early morning team ride. We are planning on doing 50 miles. I'm getting used to the new bike. I do like how much faster it is than my mountain bike. We are still accepting donations, so if you haven't sent one yet please do. If you have sent a donation, then thank you very much.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The week so far

Monday was a quick (45 minutes) out and back to the south on the White Pine Trail. About 12 miles total. Tuesday was a bit longer, 21 miles riding north on the WPT. Off day today and then I'm going to try and get two more short rides in before the big team ride on Sunday.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

More donors

Thanks to our many donors. To date we have raised almost $5,000 to help cure diabetes. Some of our most recent donors include:

Brent & Jennifer Deuel
Roy Dodman
Dr. Dennis Dennenberg
Brian & Darolyn Mogg
Lawerence & Bernice Oele
Joe & Mary Powell
Nena Pulsifer
Peter & Stephanie Setterington
Alice Totaritis
Tru-Vue, Inc.
Dave & Suelynn Uselton
Tom & Kim Vogel
Hank & Mary Wieten

Sunday, September 11, 2005

A light week

With friends in from out of town and a then us going out of town this weekend it was a very light week of training. That concerns me a bit since we are getting so close to ride day (October 22). But our coach tells us we'll be fine. My rear end is getting adjusted to the new seat on the new bike. We will crank up the miles this week and be ready for the big team ride next Sunday.

This weeks totals:
9/6 - 17 miles, the hilly Pettis, Egypt Valley, Canonsburg loop
9/8 - 13 miles, to the west of our house and south on the White Pine Trail

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Quick note for a quick ride

Did some hill work on the new wheels today. 17 miles down Pettis to Knapp and then up Egypt Valley to Cannonsburg Road. Up and down for about an hour. Legs feel pretty good. Rear end is still getting used to the new seat.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

This week's totals

Trying to break in the new bike so I rode on Friday, Saturday and today. Today being a team ride. We were out in the Ada area again with a small group because of the holiday weekend. My rear end is sore while I get used to the new saddle, but the bike is great. Very fast when compared to the mountain bike I was riding. We will be riding in Death Valley next month. It's hard to believe it's that close after training all summer.

This week's rides:
8/30 - 14 miles, White Pine Trail north
9/2 - 12 miles, White Pine Trail south
9/3 - 14 miles, White Pine Trail north
9/4 - 35 miles, Ada area loop

Friday, September 02, 2005

Bike Lust

Well I did it. I gave in to bike lust. Today I picked up my new Cannondale SR500 from Velo City in Holland. It has 27 speeds and weighs 23 pounds. Much lighter than my mountain bike. I had planned on riding my mountain bike in Death Valley. I was doing pretty well staying with the team on the 20 and 30 mile rides. But when we bumped it up to 40 and 50 I noticed a big difference. Then when Mary pulled out her old Schwinn World Sport road bike and started beating me, well I had to do something. Not that I have to be faster than my wife, but it was obvious that I was expending a lot more energy then the rest of the riders. And since we are planning on riding 100 miles in the desert in less than 8 weeks I will need all the energy I can muster. Therefore I am now back on a road bike. We rode 12 miles tonight to break it in and boy was it fun. I can hardly wait for the team ride on Sunday.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Team Ride Photos


The team on a relatively flat section of road.





40 miles done, 15 to go!

Thanks to Derek who seems to be becoming our official team photographer.