WORLD PREMIERE

We are pleased to announce the World Premiere of "More Than 100 Miles: Riding to Cure Diabetes". This exciting event will take place on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at Celebration Cinemas North in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We are planning on a 7:00 p.m. start time, with an after-party to be announced later. Tickets will be available in advance and at the door. Ticket prices and other surprises will be announced soon.

Big announcement coming soon

We have been diligently working on the film over the last couple of weeks and now have a rough cut of the full movie. The next step is to add in narration, music, sound effects, graphics and all the stuff that makes it pretty. This is a very time consuming process but the finished film is going to look fantastic.
Before we get to the big announcement we have a small, but exciting announcement. Todd Herring of Craic Wisely will be composing some original music for the documentary. We're very excited to have someone of Todd's talent working on this project.
The big announcement is going to be the date of the premiere. We are still working out the details but I can tell you that it will be in April at Celebration Cinemas North in Grand Rapids. So watch this space as we hope to have the official announcement within the next week.

Saturday was a great day

Last night we showed the trailer for "More Than 100 Miles" at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival. It was very well received by the over 200 people in attendance. In fact several people told me it was the best film of the night. And it looks we'll be showing the completed film at next year's film festival, among other places.

But before we got to the Wealthy Theatre last night the sun came out, the temperature hit 50 degrees and the road was calling. So I pulled out my mountain bike and did a quick 5 miles along the Rouge River to Belmont and back. It felt great to be outside riding again. Earlier in the week I did 5 miles on a stationary bike in the gym. That was just exercise for the sake of exercise. Yesterday's 5 miles was pure joy. The warm sun, the cool air, the spray off my tires from the snow melt, all wonderful. Now I know that within a week we'll be back to sub 30 degrees and more snow, but it sure was fun to get on the road in February in Michigan.

Film Festival Update

The trailer for the ride documentary "More Than 100 Miles" will be the first film shown at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival on Saturday at the Wealthy Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the films start 7:30 p.m. That means don't be late, it's only 4 and a half minutes long. Check the film out on the big screen and see if it looks better than on YouTube.

Press Coverage

There is a great article in today's Grand Rapids Press, and on MLive, about the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival. The trailer for "More Than 100 Miles" will be shown and I was interviewed by the Press writer for being a local film maker participating in the Festival.
The best part though was to see one of my photos of our team in Death Valley printed big as life in the GR Press.
The Film Festival takes place on Saturday, February 7 at Wealthy Theatre, doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more info click here.
To read the full article on MLive click here.
Hope to see everyone next weekend at the festival.

Killington here we come!

We are officially registered for the JDRF ride in Killington, Vermont. The ride takes place on August 29, 2009. That is 6 weeks earlier than the last four years when we've ridden in Death Valley. So that moves up our training and fund raising deadlines. Once the weather warms up (and it will warm up someday, right?), we'll be doing longer rides earlier in the season. To prepare for that Mary is riding her trainer this winter and I'm working out at the gym. From a fund raising stand point the on-line donation pages are up and running. If you'd like to donate to me click here. If you'd like to donate to Mary click here. We also have links on the left side of this page. Thanks in advance for helping us fund the search for a cure to diabetes.

Watching paint dry...

...also known as video editing. We have been working on editing the documentary pretty extensively this week. It is a long slow process, as we have hours and hours of riding footage to go through, plus many excellent interviews. Right now we are concentrating on the Asheville Ride. It's amazing watching that event again and seeing all the West Michigan riders. They are nervous at the start, working hard during the ride, and emotional at the end. We've already built quite a bit of the training/fundraising section and next we move on to the Death Valley Ride. We are still on schedule to have a world premiere before spring. So keep a eye on this blog for more details as they become available.

Baby it's cold outside

This recent cold snap of sub-zero temperatures has made outdoor training non-existent. I know there are several members of our ride team who cycle outside regardless of the weather conditions. We have a name for those people. Insane. We have been getting our fitness work done inside however. I went to the gym last night and played basketball and lifted weights. I do that at least 2 or 3 times a week in the winter months. It's quite a workout shooting hoops with guys 20 and 30 years younger than ones self. Mary was on her trainer again last night. She logged 5 more miles on her indoor ride to Vermont. Actually our son Ian was jumping on her trainer over the weekend. At 13 he's the right height for Mary's bike, but he wears my cycling shoes. The kid is like a puppy. When he grows into his feet, watch out!

Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival

The trailer for our documentary will be shown at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival on February 7. The festival takes place at Wealthy Theatre from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The event is a fund raiser for the Western Michigan Mountain Bike Association. If you're on Facebook (and who isn't these days?) here's a link to more info about the evening. It sounds like a great time with several bike related films. So please stop on down and get a chance to see the "More Than 100 Miles" trailer on the big screen.

Training & movies

Mary got on her new trainer for the first time yesterday. She set it up in front of the TV in the basement and rode about five miles while watching the cycling movie Breaking Away. We watched this 1979 bike classic during our first JDRF trip to Death Valley. On the bus ride from the Las Vegas airport to Death Valley Coach Mike popped in the DVD of the movie. The rest of the weekend had a sort of Italian feel. It was capped off near the end of the ride when a female tourist from Genoa asked Joe Schmieder for directions. Watch the movie and you'll understand the reference. Also, it stars a very young Dennis Quaid in a supporting role.