Tonight I headed south on the White Pine Trail without a real plan on where or how far I was going to ride. When I got to the ball park I decided to cross the river and head through Riverside Park. Much to my surprise I found a new, paved, marked, two way bike lane trucked between the park and and North Monroe. I decided to see how far this new bike lane went. As I neared the south end of the park the bike lane split to a single lane on each side of the road. I continued following as this area has had sporadic lane markings in the past. Now I was able to get all the way to the 6th Street bridge and the bike lane continued on. But I needed to turn back for home. So I crossed the river and followed the bike lane that runs along Seward Street. The roadway lane ends, but it then becomes a paved path which takes the rider north to Ann Street. At this point there are several directional signs pointing to the White Pine Trail. I followed these and ended up back at the south end of Riverside Park. This time I traveled along the path near the river, crossed the Grand river again on North Park Street, and then hooked up with the south end of the WPT. The entire trip was 22 miles. The great part is that I can now ride from my house to downtown Grand Rapids on bike trails or marked bike lanes the entire way. All the talk about being a bike friendly city appears to be coming true.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Urban Riding
Tonight I headed south on the White Pine Trail without a real plan on where or how far I was going to ride. When I got to the ball park I decided to cross the river and head through Riverside Park. Much to my surprise I found a new, paved, marked, two way bike lane trucked between the park and and North Monroe. I decided to see how far this new bike lane went. As I neared the south end of the park the bike lane split to a single lane on each side of the road. I continued following as this area has had sporadic lane markings in the past. Now I was able to get all the way to the 6th Street bridge and the bike lane continued on. But I needed to turn back for home. So I crossed the river and followed the bike lane that runs along Seward Street. The roadway lane ends, but it then becomes a paved path which takes the rider north to Ann Street. At this point there are several directional signs pointing to the White Pine Trail. I followed these and ended up back at the south end of Riverside Park. This time I traveled along the path near the river, crossed the Grand river again on North Park Street, and then hooked up with the south end of the WPT. The entire trip was 22 miles. The great part is that I can now ride from my house to downtown Grand Rapids on bike trails or marked bike lanes the entire way. All the talk about being a bike friendly city appears to be coming true.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Happy Father's Day
The best part of Father's Day was hearing from all three of my children, plus Colleen is home from D.C. for a few days, and we went out to visit my Dad in Lowell. We started the day with a 33 mile team ride. We left from team mate Mike Barnes house in Jenison. We traveled through little towns of eastern Ottawa County. I know they were towns because they had green road signs announcing their names. They was no other way to tell. The ride itself was good except for Mary getting three flats, two before we started, and having a tire almost explode. We were about 22 miles into the ride and were taking a quick break to get reassembled. Mary looked down at her front tire and said "Should my tire have a little bubble on the side like that?" She had a cut in the sidewall of her tire and the tube was starting to poke through. A quick field fix with an empty GU wrapper (thanks Coaches Mike and Derek) and she was good to go again. We finished the cycling part of the day with burgers on the grill on a beautiful Summer Solstice.
Mary and I also got out for a ride on Thursday, just 21 miles on the White Pine Trail through Rockford up to Russel Road. That's 54 miles for this weekend. After a couple weeks of very little riding because of work and weather it feels good to be getting some miles in.
Mary and I also got out for a ride on Thursday, just 21 miles on the White Pine Trail through Rockford up to Russel Road. That's 54 miles for this weekend. After a couple weeks of very little riding because of work and weather it feels good to be getting some miles in.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
A good week of riding
I got out three times this week on three very different rides. On Monday, which just happened to be Memorial Day, Mary and I went for a ride around Lake Paw Paw with Elvin and Susan Hayes. They have a cottage there and we have a tradition of getting together with them on Memorial Day weekend. 2105 marked our 30th consecutive get-together. Orignally we went camping, but for the last ten years we've mostly been to their cottage. The ride around the lake was 15 pretty flat miles at a leisurely pace. A really good holiday weekend type of ride.
On Friday morning I went out for a solo training ride. I did a sprint ride up to Rockford and back along the White Pine Trail. It was just put my head down a hammer for 15 miles.
Today we had a team ride from Sarah Andro's house in Ada. It was cold, windy, cloudy and quite hilly. We started by following the time trial route along Grand River Drive. Normally this wouldn't have been very difficult, but today there was a very stiff wind out of the east. If we were doing the time trial the wind would have been okay, because then we would have had a tailwind on the way back. But instead of turning around we turned right and climbed up to 36th Street. Heading back along that road brought us many hills. Nothing horrible, but a bit like a roller coaster, consistently up and down. We finished with 27 miles which gives me 57 for the week and 251 for the season.
We also got our new team jerseys this week. Thanks to jersey sponsor Perrin Brewing Company and designer Terry VandenAkker. If you really like them (we do) you can get your own at the Perrin Brewing tap room in Comstock Park. The jerseys are made by Primal and $5 of each purchase is donated to JDRF.
On Friday morning I went out for a solo training ride. I did a sprint ride up to Rockford and back along the White Pine Trail. It was just put my head down a hammer for 15 miles.
Today we had a team ride from Sarah Andro's house in Ada. It was cold, windy, cloudy and quite hilly. We started by following the time trial route along Grand River Drive. Normally this wouldn't have been very difficult, but today there was a very stiff wind out of the east. If we were doing the time trial the wind would have been okay, because then we would have had a tailwind on the way back. But instead of turning around we turned right and climbed up to 36th Street. Heading back along that road brought us many hills. Nothing horrible, but a bit like a roller coaster, consistently up and down. We finished with 27 miles which gives me 57 for the week and 251 for the season.
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| Linda and Mary showing off the new West Michigan team jersey. |
We also got our new team jerseys this week. Thanks to jersey sponsor Perrin Brewing Company and designer Terry VandenAkker. If you really like them (we do) you can get your own at the Perrin Brewing tap room in Comstock Park. The jerseys are made by Primal and $5 of each purchase is donated to JDRF.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Tour de Taco
Once the riding season starts we have a team ride every two weeks. Because our team is spread out all over the western half of the lower peninsula (plus parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana) we move the team ride locations around. This past Sunday we started from Coach Mike Clark's house. This ride is affectionately known as the Tour de Taco because Mike fixes up a whole mess 'o tacos when we are done. Everyone brings a dish to pass, keeping with the theme where possible. It's good eats after a good ride.
This particular Sunday we had options of 22, 28 and 39 miles to choose from. Mary and I opted for the 38 mile route, making this our longest ride of the year so far. The route started in Holland, went south through Saugatuck/Douglas, west toward Fennville and then finally north back to the start. It was a very windy day. Luckily we had a large group and by keeping to a tight pace line we were acheiving pretty decent speeds. Until we turned north to head home. Then, glory of glories, we recieved the best gift a cyclist can get at the end of a ride - a tail wind. For the last 10 miles we had a pretty steady breeze blowing up our back sides. Our average speed went from around 15 to over 20 mph. There was a one mile split that clocked in at 23 mph. I believe Mary was on the front at that point. When we rolled through the little village of Graafshap it was a slight downhill with the wind at our backs. I stopped pedaling and coasted for several blocks at 21 mph. That was fun.
This year we are riding in LaCrosse in mid August. Two months sooner than our usual Death Valley ride. That means two months less fund raising, so if you'd like to send a donation - now would be a good time. Just click on one of the "Donate to..." links on the left side of this page. Thanks.
This particular Sunday we had options of 22, 28 and 39 miles to choose from. Mary and I opted for the 38 mile route, making this our longest ride of the year so far. The route started in Holland, went south through Saugatuck/Douglas, west toward Fennville and then finally north back to the start. It was a very windy day. Luckily we had a large group and by keeping to a tight pace line we were acheiving pretty decent speeds. Until we turned north to head home. Then, glory of glories, we recieved the best gift a cyclist can get at the end of a ride - a tail wind. For the last 10 miles we had a pretty steady breeze blowing up our back sides. Our average speed went from around 15 to over 20 mph. There was a one mile split that clocked in at 23 mph. I believe Mary was on the front at that point. When we rolled through the little village of Graafshap it was a slight downhill with the wind at our backs. I stopped pedaling and coasted for several blocks at 21 mph. That was fun.
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| The JDRF West Michigan Ride Team assembles for the annual Tour de Taco ride. |
Monday, May 4, 2015
May the Fourth be with you
The overused Star Wars joke in the title has nothing to do with this post, it was just an opportunity to let my inner geek out for a stroll. The real reason for this post is that Mary and I got out for a little 13 mile tonight. She also rode 29 miles with the JDRF team yesterday and I got 14 miles in on Saturday evening. That gives me 110 miles for the year so far. Not a lot, but the weather is improving daily, so I see big miles in our future.
For some reason I missed posting in the entire month of April. The big news from last month is that we held Jake's Music Festival on April 11 and raised $5,000. I also rode a little bit. There will be more posts going forward. I promise.
For some reason I missed posting in the entire month of April. The big news from last month is that we held Jake's Music Festival on April 11 and raised $5,000. I also rode a little bit. There will be more posts going forward. I promise.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Start of the Season
Apparently I haven't posted to this blog in 3 months. That changes today - for today I rode outside for the first time this year. The temperature topped 60 degrees and I got out for a 15 mile ride on the White Pine Trail. I have ridden the trainer a few times over the winter, but I hate it and don't do it very frequently. So it was great to get outdoors and get some real riding in. However I could tell that it has been a long winter and my cycling fitness is very low. But that will improve as the weather does. Of course we live in Michigan so we could have a blizzard in the next 24 hours.
Check out the Training Tracker over on the left. I will update this as the season goes along as I train for the JDRF ride in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. This year our West Michigan team is headed for the western edge of Wisconsin in August. The ride will be 100 miles, travel through three states and cross the mighty Mississippi River twice. Not exactly Death Valley like conditions, but anyone who has ever spent August in the Midwest knows that the humidity can be stifling.Which would you rather ride in - 100 degrees with 10% humidity or 85 degrees with 85% humidity? A new challenge for a new ride season.
Check out the Training Tracker over on the left. I will update this as the season goes along as I train for the JDRF ride in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. This year our West Michigan team is headed for the western edge of Wisconsin in August. The ride will be 100 miles, travel through three states and cross the mighty Mississippi River twice. Not exactly Death Valley like conditions, but anyone who has ever spent August in the Midwest knows that the humidity can be stifling.Which would you rather ride in - 100 degrees with 10% humidity or 85 degrees with 85% humidity? A new challenge for a new ride season.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
A Video Review of 2014
2014 was a great year. We rode a lot of miles and raised a lot of money. The West Michigan team raised $143,000 this year. That brings our ten year total to $1,660,000. Thank you to all the donors that have made this possible. Last Saturday night our team celebrated this remarkable year. One of the things we watched was a video highlight I produced of the 2014 ride season. Have a look.
Also, over on the left side you'll see a new slideshow called "A Decade of the Ride". That includes some of the more fun photos from the past ten years of riding for the cure. Just click on it to see larger versions of the photos.
Also, over on the left side you'll see a new slideshow called "A Decade of the Ride". That includes some of the more fun photos from the past ten years of riding for the cure. Just click on it to see larger versions of the photos.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
JDRF Ride #10 is in the books
One week ago today the sun came up over the Funeral Mountains in Death Valley and 300 cyclists headed out on the Ride to Cure Diabetes. 38 of those riders were affiliated with our West Michigan team. This was the tenth year for our team. Our first rides were in Death
Valley and Ashville, North Carolina in 2005. With a few exceptions we were a fairly novice group of cyclists. But the experiences of that first year propelled us to grow as a team and as riders. When all the numbers are counted up at the end of this year the West Michigan team will have raised over $1,600,000 for diabetes research.
Ride day was beautiful. In the seven times I've been to Death Valley it was the best weather we've ever had. The morning started cool and temperatures stayed below 90 until mid-afternoon. Temps did top out at around 100 out near Jubilee Pass. There was very little wind and that was a godsend. Normally we fight a strong headwind for the second half of the ride, but not this year.
Our plan as a family was to do the entire 100 miles, including the climb up to the top of Jubilee Pass. Ian and I started out riding with a faster group and Mary was riding with a fast group so we got separated early on. Our group arrived at the Badwater Basin break point in a very good time. Just as we were getting ready to pull out for the next leg of the ride another group of our team mates rolled in and told us that Mary had been in a crash at the 8 mile mark. We got a hold of one of the volunteers (Thanks very much to all the volunteers.) and radioed back to where the crash had been. It seems that a teenage girl rider had stopped on the course and then turned right in front of Mary on a downhill. Mary couldn't avoid her and crashed into the girl. Luckily they both only suffered minor scraps and bruises. Although Mary cut her lip and bled for quite awhile. After she was bandaged up she got back on her bike (which was fine) and continued the ride. Since I knew she was coming but didn't know how bad she was injured I decided to wait at Badwater and told Ian to ride on. I knew this would mean I probably wouldn't complete the entire 100 miles, but I've gotten the century in Death Valley before. Ian still hadn't finished a century here and this was his third try. He took off with our original group and I waited for a hour for Mary to show up at Badwater.
Mary rolled into the break point banged up but determined to continue the ride. It turns out that a couple miles after the crash she also had a flat tire. This put us way behind schedule. There was no way we could make to cut-off time to do the whole 100 miles, so we decided to go for the metric century, which is 100 kilometers, or about 63 miles. We had a group of about a dozen riders that were all going the same distance. In a ride like this, with many different ability levels, the group would break up into smaller groups and then we would reconstitute at the next break point.
Our head coach, Mike Clark, calls the last mile of the Death Valley ride "the best mile in cycling". You've ridden many, many miles through the desert. It's very hot, you're very tired. The sea level sign is at the turn to head back down to Furnace Creek Ranch and the finish line. However, you have to ride about a two mile climb before you get to that point. Once you're at the sign, you take a photo with your riding partners and then coast the last mile into the ranch and cross the finish line to the cheers of the staff, volunteers and fellow riders. This was my seventh time riding that "best mile" and I teared up again as we crossed the finish line.
By "only" riding a metric century we finished in the mid afternoon instead of close to sunset. For the first time ever I had a chance to quickly run back to the room and shower before returning to the finish line to cheer on our team mates who had ridden longer distances. One of the West Michigan traditions is that we stay at the finish line and cheer for all the riders as they come across. It's always one of the more emotional moments of the weekend. One of those riders was our son Ian. He completed his first century in Death Valley. He got a century in Nashville last year and had one other on a non-JDRF ride. But this was his first one in Death Valley and a great accomplishment
As powerful as riding in Death Valley is, the true purpose is to raise money to fund research into Type One diabetes. In that respect this ride was a huge success. The Death Valley Ride for a Cure raised over $900,000. The JDRF ride program for 2014 is on track to raise over five million dollars. Thank you once again to everyone who donated to the cause. Great strides are being made and soon we WILL have a cure, thanks in part to the dedication of the people I had the honor of riding with last weekend.
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| The official West Michigan team photo |
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| Ian at Badwater Basin. 282 feet below sea level. |
Our plan as a family was to do the entire 100 miles, including the climb up to the top of Jubilee Pass. Ian and I started out riding with a faster group and Mary was riding with a fast group so we got separated early on. Our group arrived at the Badwater Basin break point in a very good time. Just as we were getting ready to pull out for the next leg of the ride another group of our team mates rolled in and told us that Mary had been in a crash at the 8 mile mark. We got a hold of one of the volunteers (Thanks very much to all the volunteers.) and radioed back to where the crash had been. It seems that a teenage girl rider had stopped on the course and then turned right in front of Mary on a downhill. Mary couldn't avoid her and crashed into the girl. Luckily they both only suffered minor scraps and bruises. Although Mary cut her lip and bled for quite awhile. After she was bandaged up she got back on her bike (which was fine) and continued the ride. Since I knew she was coming but didn't know how bad she was injured I decided to wait at Badwater and told Ian to ride on. I knew this would mean I probably wouldn't complete the entire 100 miles, but I've gotten the century in Death Valley before. Ian still hadn't finished a century here and this was his third try. He took off with our original group and I waited for a hour for Mary to show up at Badwater.
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| Mary leading the pace line after her crash. |
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| Our group on the way from Badwater to the finish line. |
Our head coach, Mike Clark, calls the last mile of the Death Valley ride "the best mile in cycling". You've ridden many, many miles through the desert. It's very hot, you're very tired. The sea level sign is at the turn to head back down to Furnace Creek Ranch and the finish line. However, you have to ride about a two mile climb before you get to that point. Once you're at the sign, you take a photo with your riding partners and then coast the last mile into the ranch and cross the finish line to the cheers of the staff, volunteers and fellow riders. This was my seventh time riding that "best mile" and I teared up again as we crossed the finish line.
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| Megan, Jeremy, Tom, Linda, Mary and Sarah at the sea level sign. One mile to go. |
By "only" riding a metric century we finished in the mid afternoon instead of close to sunset. For the first time ever I had a chance to quickly run back to the room and shower before returning to the finish line to cheer on our team mates who had ridden longer distances. One of the West Michigan traditions is that we stay at the finish line and cheer for all the riders as they come across. It's always one of the more emotional moments of the weekend. One of those riders was our son Ian. He completed his first century in Death Valley. He got a century in Nashville last year and had one other on a non-JDRF ride. But this was his first one in Death Valley and a great accomplishment
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| Ian crossing the finish line of his first Death valley century ride. |
As powerful as riding in Death Valley is, the true purpose is to raise money to fund research into Type One diabetes. In that respect this ride was a huge success. The Death Valley Ride for a Cure raised over $900,000. The JDRF ride program for 2014 is on track to raise over five million dollars. Thank you once again to everyone who donated to the cause. Great strides are being made and soon we WILL have a cure, thanks in part to the dedication of the people I had the honor of riding with last weekend.
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| Team Scheidel - safe, sound and smiling |
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Thank you to our donors
We leave for Death Valley in 36 hours. To say we are all pretty excited would be an understatement. We've been training and fundraising since early spring and now the time of the ride is almost upon us. The best news is that Team Scheidel has exceeded our goal. As of tonight we are at $12,141. Thank you to everyone who has helped out with a donation to the cause. In no particular order here are the people who have helped us get one step closer to finding a cure for diabetes.
Dan Ayers
Tom & Florence Scheidel
David Pasciak
Allison Wheeler
Daniel Dillon
Christine Behrens
Mike Oele
Paula Briggs
Henry & Mari Wieten
John Despres
Kim Summers
Dennis & Kim Moline
Pam Hanson
Tru Vue
Susanne Aldridge
Patrick Scheidel
Bill & Ginger Young
Michelle Bassett
Pam Murray
Kim Summers
Anne Goetz
Linda Milanowski
Kim Monks
Catrina Chambers
Mary Koziol
Miriam Wyatt
Stacey Woock
Lake Michigan Credit Union
Anna Kirvan
Sally Story
Kimberely Markoff
Karen Sterling
Leo Isaguirre
Jacquelyn McCarty
Roy Dodman
Therese Kent
Michelle DeVries
William Totten
Debra Shaffer
Derek Dykstra
Stonecrest Productions
X- Cel Chemical Specialties
Chris Radford
And all the people who made cash donations at Jake's Music Festival. We don't have your names but thanks for helping out anonymously.
We roll at sun up on Saturday morning. Thanks again.
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| Tom and Mary wearing jerseys from sponsor XS Energy Drinks |
Tom & Florence Scheidel
David Pasciak
Allison Wheeler
Daniel Dillon
Christine Behrens
Mike Oele
Paula Briggs
Henry & Mari Wieten
John Despres
Kim Summers
Dennis & Kim Moline
Pam Hanson
Tru Vue
Susanne Aldridge
Patrick Scheidel
Bill & Ginger Young
Michelle Bassett
Pam Murray
Kim Summers
Anne Goetz
Linda Milanowski
Kim Monks
Catrina Chambers
Mary Koziol
Miriam Wyatt
Stacey Woock
Lake Michigan Credit Union
Anna Kirvan
Sally Story
Kimberely Markoff
Karen Sterling
Leo Isaguirre
Jacquelyn McCarty
Roy Dodman
Therese Kent
Michelle DeVries
William Totten
Debra Shaffer
Derek Dykstra
Stonecrest Productions
X- Cel Chemical Specialties
Chris Radford
And all the people who made cash donations at Jake's Music Festival. We don't have your names but thanks for helping out anonymously.
We roll at sun up on Saturday morning. Thanks again.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The stretch run
We are in the final countdown for this year's JDRF Death Valley ride. Our bikes leave tomorrow. We get on a plane to head for DV a week from tomorrow. A week from Saturday we'll be riding 105 miles in predicted 102 degree heat. After over 1,200 miles of training and almost $12,000 of fundraising it's almost time to ride. I am very excited.
My first JDRF ride was in Death Valley in 2005. It was also my first ever century ride and happened on my 48th birthday. October 18, 2014 will be the tenth annual ride I've done with JDRF. Death Valley seems like a great place to commemorate a decade of riding for the cure. There will be about 35 of us from West Michigan out in the desert. 10 years ago there were 14. We've gone from a confused little group of mostly casual riders to one of the top teams in all of JDRF. Since 2005 we've raised over 1.5 million dollars for diabetes research. That is exhilirating and humbling at the same time.
I'm going to try and get a little more riding in on my mountain bike before we go to Death Valley. I have done two rides on my road bike this week. Sunday was a 30 mile team ride in the Cannonsburg area. Quite cold and windy with over 1,100 feet of climbing, but at least it didn't rain. Yesterday I did a quick solo ride on the White Pine Trail south to the ballpark. It was one of the best average speeds I've had in awhile, 15.6 mph. Now that's not going to win many races, but I've been hovering in the 14 mph range for most of the summer, so it was good to see that better time. Of course, it might also be because of the new bibs and sunglasses I got from 3rd Coast Cycles.
10 days until ride number 10.
My first JDRF ride was in Death Valley in 2005. It was also my first ever century ride and happened on my 48th birthday. October 18, 2014 will be the tenth annual ride I've done with JDRF. Death Valley seems like a great place to commemorate a decade of riding for the cure. There will be about 35 of us from West Michigan out in the desert. 10 years ago there were 14. We've gone from a confused little group of mostly casual riders to one of the top teams in all of JDRF. Since 2005 we've raised over 1.5 million dollars for diabetes research. That is exhilirating and humbling at the same time.
I'm going to try and get a little more riding in on my mountain bike before we go to Death Valley. I have done two rides on my road bike this week. Sunday was a 30 mile team ride in the Cannonsburg area. Quite cold and windy with over 1,100 feet of climbing, but at least it didn't rain. Yesterday I did a quick solo ride on the White Pine Trail south to the ballpark. It was one of the best average speeds I've had in awhile, 15.6 mph. Now that's not going to win many races, but I've been hovering in the 14 mph range for most of the summer, so it was good to see that better time. Of course, it might also be because of the new bibs and sunglasses I got from 3rd Coast Cycles.
10 days until ride number 10.
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