Friday, October 24, 2008

Ride photos

The photos of the ride have been posted. Click here to see the Ride Day photos. Click here to see the photos from the training ride, hike and dinner.

Here we are at Zabriski Point on the training ride. 14 miles on Friday to tune up our bikes, legs and butts.

On top of Jubilee Pass after a six mile climb. We rode to the bottom of the climb together, but then Tom pulled away. We rode the second half of the ride with different groups, but both finished the full 105 miles.

The West Michigan Ride Team - Death Valley Group. 40 riders out of 300 total. Without a doubt the most inspirational team in the desert.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Home again

We got home about 11:00 last night after 3 days in Death Valley and 2 days in Las Vegas. The Death Valley Ride was fantastic. The weather was hot, over 95 degrees with about 10 % humidity. But the good news is there was very little wind and even some cloud cover mid-afternoon. We both finished the entire 105 miles. In fact most of our West Michigan team hit or exceeded their goals on the ride. We'll be posting more thoughts and photos later on, once all the brain function has returned. Right now we'll just post the weekly update.

This week's ride totals:
10/17 - 14 miles; warm up ride to Golden Canyon and Zabriske Point
10/18 - 105 miles; Death Valley Ride
Total: 119 miles

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Over on the team blog http://jdrfwestmichiganride.blogspot.com/ there is lots of excitement building over the upcoming ride in Death Valley. For some people this will be their first ride in the desert. For others it will be our 4th go round. For everyone it will be a life altering experience. Participating in the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes does give one a feeling of accomplishment. There's also the concept of "If I can do this, I can do anything." And most importantly, the knowledge that with dedicated people like this on our side we will definitely find a cure for diabetes.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Counting down

We are almost to the point of counting the hours until we leave for Death Valley. At 7:00 a.m. on Thursday most of our 40 person team will be boarding a jet at Gerald Ford Airport and heading for Las Vegas. One plane change, a bus ride and a "supply" stop later, we'll be in Death Valley. Then next Saturday we do the ride. 105 miles in the desert. Six months of training and fundraising is down to the final hours.
This has been a beautiful weekend in west Michigan so we took advantage and hopped on the mountain bikes. Our son Ian even went with us. We rode the Rouge River Nature Trail which is a little dirt path between our house and the White Pine Trail. A really fun jaunt on the mountain bike for a grand total of 5 miles. We'll be doing considerably more than that soon.

This week's Ride Totals:
10/12 - 5 miles; Rouge River Nature Trail

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Photos from the final team ride of '08

Mary climbing to the top of one of several hills we rode on Sunday.

Team mate Maggie cresting another hill.

The team taking a short break somewhere along the 42 mile route.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The last ride

Today marked the last team ride of the 2008 season. In a little less than two weeks 40 of us will be in Death Valley riding for the cure. Today's ride was a 42 mile loop through some very familiar territory. We started by Lake Bella Vista headed south on Blakely and then Eqypt Valley, east on Vergennes and then north on Parnell. We finished up by going past Wabasis Lake and then working our way back over to Bella Vista. It was quite cool in the morning, but it was sunny and not windy so all in all a great day. The team is more than ready.
Also, we have achieved our fundraising goal for this year. Mary and Tom have each raised over $4000. However additional donations are still welcome as every dollar we earn goes directly to help fund finding a cure, Thanks to everyone who supported us this year and stay tuned to the blog for more updates.

This week's ride totals:
10/5 - 42 miles; big loop described above
Total: 42 miles

Friday, October 03, 2008

Corner Bar Fundraiser on October 6

On Monday night, October 6, the place to be is The Corner Bar in Rockford, Michigan. It's our final fund raiser of the 2008 ride season. The Corner is donating 15% of all food receipts between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. that day. This will be a great chance to talk to members of the bike team who are just itching to get out to Death Valley. Our bikes leave on Tuesday and we fly out the following Thursday with the ride happening on October 18th.
So come on up to Rockford. Have a hot dog or a wet burrito and send the team off. You can print and bring the coupon below or we'll have some at the restaurant. See you Monday.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Apple Cider Century Photos

Tom, Susan, Chan, Mary, Eddie and Elvin gettign ready to start the ACC '08. Thanks for taking the picture, Clark.

Eddie, Chan, Clark and Elvin at the first rest stop. Check out the Sparty jerseys.

Mary completing 103 miles in the 2008 ACC.

Tom after his 5th century ride, Mary after her 4th.