Easter Sunday Ride

Yesterday was a pretty nice day compared to the weather we've been having for the last couple weeks. So after attending Mass and going to my mother-in-law's for Easter dinner I got out on my bike for a ride. I rode past Rockford High School and turned north on Courtland Road. I took that to 12 Mile where I turned west to connect with the White Pine Trail. I then rode south on the WPT to complete my 16 mile loop.Just a typical solo training ride, a few climbs, a few sprints, and a couple of 30 mph downhills.

Jake's Music Festival on Saturday

It is upon us. The musical event of the year. Jake's Music Festival takes place this Saturday, April 16th at Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids. This 7th annual celebration of local music starts at 3:00 p.m. and runs until 11:00 p.m. Performers include A.B! and Coconut Brown, Igby Iris, Chance Jones, Poor 'Ol Jim, The Fainting Generals, Karisa Wilson, Ritsu and many more. Click here for the full lineup.
The festival is organizer by West Michigan Ride Team members Tom and Mary Scheidel along with Clay Grueber and Todd Herring. Because of the generosity of sponsors Frames Unlimited, The Gordon Group, and Magic Hat #9 this will be a free show. Donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will be cheerfully accepted. There is also a silent auction with items from the GR Symphony, Art Museum, Public Museum, Whitecaps, Grand River Grocery, and over a dozen more local businesses.
So please stop by on Saturday. See one or two bands or stay all day. It's promises to be a great day of great music.

Team Scheidel's first outing

We had great weather in west Michigan this weekend so Saturday was our first official road bike ride. Tom, Mary and Ian all got out for a little 12 mile ride up to Rockford and back along the White Pine Trail. It's become something of a tradition to have our first ride along the WPT. Ian also logged a couple of firsts. It was his first ride on his new (still unnamed) Cannondale bike and his first flat ever. He rode all last season without a flat and this year he got one 4 miles into the first ride. I'm sure that's some kind of bike karma.

On a separate, unrelated note. I've moved JDRF ride video to the bottom of the page. Please be sure to check it out. It's new and improved for 2011.

Mountain biking in Moab

It's hard to believe I haven't posted here yet about our trip to Moab, Utah. Ian and I went there as part of a Blue Monkey Adventure excursion. I've posted a story and photos there and on Facebook and I Twittered during the trip, but alas I failed to actually mention something on my blog that deals with cycling. Let's make amends.

Tom and Ian at Uranium Arch near Moab.

We went hiking in Arches National Park, found dinosaur tracks and native petroglyphs, and did some bouldering and rock scrambling. One of the highlights of the trip was the half day "intermediate" ride we did called the Blue Buffalo. Our guide was from Rim Tours and he did a great job. He gave us lots of pointers on navigating over the unfamiliar terrain. Riding in Moab is nothing like riding in Michigan. We climbed from the valley floor to the canyon rim over boulder strewn dirt, sand and slickrock. The views from on top were incredible.

The view from the canyon rim. We rode up to this point.

After some snacks we started our descent. As hard as the ride up was physically, coming down was that hard mentally. We had to pay close attention every second. Those rocks and boulders that were easy to avoid going up now came upon us very quickly as we were going down. It was an exhilarating ride down the mountain. When the ride was finished so were we. I can't imagine how tough an "advanced" ride must be. Ian and I had lunch and then went back to the Red Cliffs Lodge and watched basketball (Final Four) for the rest of the evening. We didn't even have the energy to go to dinner. Thank goodness for jerky and granola bars.

Ian and our guide heading out across the slickrock.

Thanks to Bill our guide for all the help and the really cool Cannondale bikes we got to ride. I have something new on my wish list now.