Next Year

OK, this year is, from the JDRF point of view, over. We had our end-of-the-year group party Saturday evening at the West Michigan chapter director's house, ate too much, looked at pictures from both Asheville and Death Valley, talked about the differences between the two rides, and, most importantly, signed up for 2006.

2006 will be different - we're going to concentrate on getting the biggest possible group to go to Death Valley in late October, so I'll be in the hot, gray-and-tan desert rather than the cool, lush, green Appalachians. I can't very well have a blog called Asheville2005 for a ride in Death Valley in 2006, so the new, more general-purpose blog will be Riding to Cure Diabetes.

We're also going to try to get my wife to come along as a volunteer, with her big camera, to get great pictures and give us water and yell and hoot and help with whatever needs helping with.

The fundraising goal for me is, again, $3500; we'll need to add another few hundred dollars to cover Kirsten coming along as well, so let's call it $4000. For Asheville, I raised $2570, so it seems I've got my work cut out for me. Of course, I didn't really put any effort into fundraising until early September this year, and I'm a lot more pumped now that I understand what I'm raising money for, both in terms of the cause and the ride itself.

Another goal is to have 50 people come along associated with the West Michigan chapter; note that you don't have to live in West Michigan (or in Michigan at all, for that matter) to sign up with our chapter, so if you read this, and you're interested, shoot me an email. From here on out, though, read over at the Riding blog!

Now to just get through winter...

Recollections of Riding

OK, at long last I've finished writing up the whole Asheville experience, and trying to express what it meant to me, how I felt doing it, and all. Currently, it's all text, but I'm intending to add some pictures eventually. It's supposed to be a rainy weekend, maybe I'll have time to do it then. Look here

Meanwhile, the Death Valley folks are off, out to do their thing. For most of them, it's a first time ride. I envy them!

Back.

Home. Tired. Elated. Amazed.

My simple, largely unimportant facts:

Completed the 100 mile course in just under 7 hours, with an average speed of 15.1 mph. Climbed. Descended. Climbed some more. Ate. Climbed. Went slow, went fast. Mashed. Spun. Cheered and was cheered. Applauded and was applauded.

More later, I'm tired.

Mo' Money

Up to $2185, with new donors:

Jerry Lewallen
Brian Collier and Kris Dykstra
Mark and Kristy Vukovich
Donna Phillips
George and Elaine Hopkins
Maggie and Leon Easter
Ken Hawkinson

We fly out tomorrow morning at 6 from Grand Rapids, and should be in Asheville by noon. Weather looks wet for a couple of days, then drying out a bit Saturday for the ride.

Fundraising update...

Five days before the ride, my total is $2010 - not bad for the all-too-small effort I've put in to it! It's really the first fundraising I've done in my little ol' life, so I was pretty much going in blind. Next year I'll have a better idea of what to do...

Ye Olde Liste of Donors:

Brenda Merrifield
Rosemary Rogalla
Brian Walker
Susan Meisenbach
Kathryn Dykstra
Peggy Wilson
Amber Kippley
Barbara J. Berry
Rosemarie Eppard
Kimbelry and Jeremy Boss
Brian and Ruth Dykstra
Virginia Leonard
Jennifer Wever
Matt and Ruth Quinn
Dick and Peggy Foster
Dennis and Anita Werling
Nancy and Herb Strong
Darrell and Ginger Dykstra
Peggy Essenberg
Allison and Jason Duckworth
Virginia Johnson
Mary White
Sirena White
Stuart and Tia Peterson
Betty and Clarke Hansen
Craig and Julie Williams
Amanda Meehan
Wendy and Craig Stark
Kay and Robert Teadt
Bob and Mary Ellen Kauss
Kent and Mardell Harriss
Lee Brice
Don and Jodi Smith

Great things about a mountain bike...

A couple of hours riding mostly on roads on the mountain bike - call it 20 miles.

So what's positive about riding a basic mountain bike compared to a high-end road bike? Well, on the road, there isn't much. Having crazy-low gears is kind of fun, and handy when you're consciously trying to avoid stressing your legs grinding up a hill - you feel like your climbing ability is limited not by your legs but by the grip and your ability to balance at like 2 miles an hour. Otherwise, it's slow, clumsy, and lacks the grace you feel on a roadie, even with relatively narrow, high-pressure slick tires front and back.

What was cool, though, was following a little dirt path off the bike trail, buzzing around in the woods for 20 minutes or so, and then coming home. That sort of spontaneity is lacking on a bike that's not intended for anything but a smooth, paved road. Not that really ever choose a mountain ride over a road ride more than a few times a year - for a given amount of effort, I want the most speed and distance as possible.

That's it, then, for real this time

31 miles at a relaxed pace. Tomorrow Ruby goes to the JDRF West Michigan chapter office to go on the big field trip to Asheville with all the other bikes!

I think I'm anthropomorphizing my bike a bit much. Of course, I've been in rather intimate contact with this machine for almost 2400 miles this year!

Anyway, it's getting chilly out there. A ride ending around 7 p.m. finishes in the mid-50's, which is pretty serious bundling up weather on the bike. In addition to the usual shorts and jersey, today I had fleece-lined leg warmers (basically thigh-high tights) and some heavy lycra arm warmers, and I would have been happy to have another layer on top.

Coming home from The North on the Hart to Montague rail trail, I passed the New Era Canning Company. They'd gone into hard-core Autumn mode, with what appeared to be a pumpkin canning operation set up in one of their parking lots. I could see whole pumpkins going through a wash of some sort, then going through a machine that apparently chopped them up. At then end of that, there were a group of people sorting out the nasty chunks. I don't remember seeing that last fall, but it was a pretty neat operation.

Time to go pack Ruby up...