Ride photos

Here's one shot of the West Michigan Ride Team as we buzz around Hutchins Lake on our 48 mile ride this past Sunday. You can see more photos at our Google photo site. Just click HERE.

Feelin' Good

I had an unintentional athletic layoff. Between Jake's graduation open house and traveling for work, I didn't ride my bike, play basketball or work out at the gym for a week and a half. I was concerned that the 50 mile team ride yesterday was going to be very tough. But an amazing thing happened. I felt good. Really good. I kept a great pace. My back didn't hurt (which has been a problem this year). And I finished with a little energy (not much) to spare. I was quite surprised, then I figured it out. By taking that time off I actually gave my body a chance to heal. Imagine that. Not getting beat upon on the basketball court by 20 somethings and chasing crazy Melanie through forests on our mountain bikes gave me a chance to recuperate. Now it's time to go out and start beating on my body again. Killington is only 11 weeks away.

This one goes to 11

Mary played bike commuter today. Actually she didn't play it, she did it. She rode her bike the 11 miles to work early this morning, traveling mostly on Grand River Drive. And then she returned home this evening, via Bianchi bicycle, another 11 miles.
I went out to the Owasippe Scout Reservation near White Lake for some mountain bike riding. I met up with Ride teammates Derek, Amy, and Melanie. We did an 11 mile loop. (again with the 11) It was a great route and a fairly tough ride. Melanie was cranking full speed on the down hills. I was using a little more caution, being my first time at this particular spot. We all had a great time on a very beautiful day.

Festival Show Times

The screening times for the Festival Film Competition have been announced. Since our documentary was one of the award winners it will be shown all three days of Festival. All showings take place at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Show times may vary slightly.
Friday, June 5 - 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, June 6 - 3:35 p.m.
Sunday, June 7 - 3:35 p.m.
So this is an excellent opportunity to see the film if you haven't had the chance yet, or if you'd like to see it again. Plus, like everything else at Festival, it's free admission. For more information check out www.festivalgr.org.

GR Festival Winner

We just got word that the documentary won an award in the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts Film Competition. That means it will be shown each day of the Festival. The exact schedule hasn't come out yet but the Festival dates are June 5, 6 & 7 in downtown Grand Rapids. The screenings take place in the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

A new loop

I had a great ride at lunch today. Started by going west on Rogue River Drive to Post Road. It's a nice mile long climb up Post to where you cross over the highway. Then north on Pine Island for a short way to House St. That road is like a roller coaster, lots of rolling hills. Then west on 10 Mile for just a little bit to Jewel. North there until it makes a turn and becomes 11 Mile which also makes a big turn and becomes Edgerton. I turned east on 13 Mile and took that to the White Pine Trail which brought me home. Just a shade over 20 miles in length with an average speed of 16 miles an hour.
There was very little traffic and I only saw 4 other bicyclists on the whole route. Of course the fact that it looked like it was going to storm at any second probably kept people inside. I did get sprinkled on a couple of times, which felt good as I was dealing with 94% humidity.

Muskegon Film Festival Info

Our documentary, "More Than 100 Miles: Riding to Cure Diabetes", will be showing this weekend at the Muskegon Film Festival. Follow this link to their web site for detailed information. On the top of the page click on "Schedule", then on "Saturday's Schedule" on the next page. The doc is showing as part of Documentary Session #2. That runs from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. in the Starboard Theatre, one of the two viewing rooms at the Harbor Theatre. And the fun doesn't stop after the movie is over.
Join us for the after-party at the Muskegon Film Festival Beer Garden, located right next to Harbor Theatre. It is strictly cash only and you must have a valid ID with you. The Beer Garden is open Saturday and Sunday during the Festival until 10:00 p.m.
So please join us on Saturday to watch the film and tip back a few.

Puttin' in the miles

Wednesday was the Ride of Silence. This is a memorial ride for all the cyclists who have been killed or injured by motor vehicles. The ride takes place at sites across the country. The Grand Rapids event started at Riverside Park, worked it's way through downtown to John Ball Park and then back. It was a very solemn ride complete with bagpipers playing "Amazing Grace". There were seven of us from the West Michigan Ride Team participating, plus I saw several other riders I know. After the 12 slow miles I sprinted the 8 miles back home for a 20 mile day.
Thursday I did a quick lunchtime ride with my neighbor Craig. We just went to 12 Mile Road and back along the White Pine Trail. It was absolutely perfect cycling weather. Sunny, warm and only slightly windy. We did an easy 15 miles.
Today Mary rode her bike to work. I have some errands to run this morning and I'm going to do those on my bike. Mary gets home from work early today because of the holiday weekend. We then pack up and head to Canton, Michigan for Ian's soccer tournament. That means no riding for a couple of days but we'll be okay.

Great Team Ride

We had a fantastic West Michigan Team ride on Sunday out in Grand Haven. There were 35 riders on a beautiful sunny day. It was a little cool but not too windy so all in all a great ride. There were two routes, 26 miles and 38 miles. While both were relatively flat, 38 miles is the most I've ridden this year. It felt good.
It's amazing the number of people who showed up for a training ride. Our first couple of years we didn't have this many people on the entire team. The kind of turnout we had Sunday speaks volumes about the commitment of this group of cyclists.
There are more photos posted on our Google photo site. Click here to follow the link.

ACCEPTED!

We just got word that the documentary has been accepted by the Muskegon Film Festival!!!!!
The dates of the festival are May 30 and 31. The location is the Harbor Theatre in Muskegon. The final schedule has not been released yet, but when it is I'll post the show times here. If you'd like more information on the Muskegon Film Festival click here.
I'm very excited that the film was accepted. We've gotten a lot of very positive feedback so far. But most of the people who have seen it are either involved with cycling or JDRF. Not exactly an unbiased crowd. The film festivals accept movies based on how good of films they are, regardless of the subject matter. It feels great knowing that people outside of our team and friends also see how special this group is.