Two weeks and counting

The Death Valley ride is getting very close. Our bikes leave by truck this Saturday and we leave by plane in two weeks. Then, on October 16, we will pedal 105 miles across some of the most starkly beautiful landscape in the United States. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we've been doing this for six years. I personally have ridden over 8,000 miles in that time. And every step of the way has been with one goal in mind - to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years. We are close to our family goal of $12,000. We still need a little help, so if you would like to make a donation the easiest way to do it is by clicking on one of the links to the left. Thanks for helping us find a cure to this terrible disease.

Listen to the WGVU Morning Show on Tuesday, October 5. I will be interviewed about the ride sometime between 9 and 11 a.m. I'll post the exact time when we know it.

Apple Cider Century Photos

The group we started with: Tom, Stewart, Cindy, Mary, Brenda, Ian and Herb.

The Fat Tire Twins. It's hard to tell us apart, isn't it.

Ian, on his way to his first century.

Brenda and Herb at the second rest stop, right before they dropped us.

Mary, looking coy about 80 miles into the ride.

Team Scheidel at the finish line.

Apple Cider Century 2010

What a great day to ride. It was a cool, partly sunny, typical Michigan autumn day. The route was a little breezy, a little hilly and very different than previous years. The Apple Cider Century starts in Three Oaks near the Michigan/Indiana border. Normally we head north, skirt the shore of Lake Michigan and then do the last third of the ride through Indiana. This year we started by going south and almost 60 miles were in the Hoosier state. No big lake views at all this year. And quite a few more hills than any of us remember. This was our sixth ACC and we had a great time. We saw and/or rode with several of our JDRF team mates. Normally we ride with our friends the Hayes from Chicago, but they had other plans with their daughter so it was Team Scheidel on the road. We ended up being the last of the large JDRF group to roll in. But when we did roll in, just under 10 hours from when we started, we had completed the full 100 mile century. It was Ian's first century ride. He is now officially ready to go tackle the century in Death Valley in just under three weeks.

We'll post some pictures later on this week. Good job Ian. Great training and great ride today.

Ride Team on Fox-17

Great coverage from WXMI Fox-17 last night. They did a live interview with me at about 6:15 p.m. and then ran taped interviews of Tom Miller and Katie Clark at 6:40 p.m. During the 10:00 p.m. newscast they ran another different piece that featured clips by all three of us. Plus they had footage of our team riding on the White Pine Trail and even some footage from the documentary "More Than 100 Miles". Here are the two clips from the 6:00 news.

 

 

All the News That Fits

Lots to report on so let's get started.

Yesterday I rode into downtown Grand Rapids. That's a pleasant and flat ride since most of it follows the Grand River. On a Sunday evening there isn't much city car traffic so it was a good 23 mile ride. There was all kinds of activity going on downtown with people setting up for ArtPrize. It looks like the parking lot of the B.O.B. is again going to be a happening place. See the SteamPig!

Tuesday night the West Michigan Ride Team will be featured on the TV17 newscasts. We will be on LIVE during the 6:00 p.m. newscast. During the 10:00 show TV17 will feature interviews with some of our riders. Approximate times for the live shots are 6:15 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. on WXMI-TV. That's our local Fox affiliate.

Sunday, September 26 we will be riding in the Apple Cider Century down in Three Oaks. Lots of our team mates and at least some of the Hayes from Chicago will be joining us. The Apple Cider is always a great ride. Our plan is to get Ian his first century!

Monday, September 27 is Dogs for Dollars night at the Corner Bar in Rockford. 15% of the proceeds of all food served between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. next Monday will be donated to the Ride to Cure Diabetes. So come on up to Rockford, have a hot dog and help cure diabetes.

And finally, we leave for Death Valley in 24 days.

7500

Seven thousand five hundred miles. That's how many miles I've put on my Cannondale road bike since I purchased it shortly before the Death Valley ride in 2005. That works out to about 1,500 miles a year. The most recent 40 took place yesterday when we rode out to my parent's house north of Lowell. It was a great day to ride. Mild temperatures, sunny skies and not enough wind to talk about. We turned the route into a loop instead of a straight out and back. We basically headed east on Cannonsburg Road to Lincoln Lake Road (with a couple of unintentional detours to add extra mileage). After a visit with my parents (Happy Birthday Mom) we continued south on Lincoln Lake to Bailey Road. We rode that to Pettis and then headed north-ish to Knapp. We crossed the river on Knapp and then turned north on Grand River Avenue. Turning right, which was north (twisty roads), on Northland Drive brought us back into our neighborhood. I noticed that I was 4 tenths of a mile short of 7,500, so I did one lap around our block to roll over to that magic number.

To put 7,500 miles in perspective that like riding from New York to California and back and then riding to St. Louis. 7,500 is also the approximate number of times Jake has poked his finger to test his blood sugar in the last five years. So with every mile I pedal I can think "That's one more finger poke". I long for the day when I'll be able to ride my bike just to ride my bike. But for now every mile is a reminder of what my son has gone through for the past 13 years. I'm not even counting the insulin pump site changes, injections, doctor's visits and other things he's had to endure, just to stay alive.

7,500 is a great milestone. But it's also a great reminder of why we started on this journey in the first place. And why we'll continue to work until a cure is found.

Dogs For Dollars

You can help our cause and have a great dinner all at the same time. On September 27th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. we will be hosting Dogs For Dollars at the Corner Bar in Rockford, Michigan. The good folks at the Corner will donate 15% of all food sales that night to our ride team. All you have to do is come up to Rockford and eat some hot dogs (or other tasty treats). It would help if you printed this flyer and brought it along. No worries if you can't print it, we'll have extras there.

So come on up for a great time. Meet members of the West Michigan Ride Team. Have some fantastic food. And help us beat Type 1 diabetes.