Hello All!
Today was an awesome day for riding as it was sunny with a high of 80 degrees today with absolutely no wind! Mac and I began our ride with MOBI (see earlier posts) today at McCormick Park. Our route would take us all the way to upper Miller Creek with several ascents and descents. The route was beautiful as we rode over rolling hills and deep valleys. We made a couple of long steep ascents but the view at the top as well as the quick ride down made it worthwhile. After 30 miles of riding Mac and I made a stop for lunch at the Bridge. After our lunch, we rode down to DQ for some much deserved ice cream. Overall, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect ride and we hope for many more like it.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Hello Everybody!
We have recently reached our first fundraising goal of $5,000! This money is going to the first half of the trip from Seaside to Minneapolis. We would really like to thank everybody who has donated and to give a HUGE thank you to our Sponsors! (see them in the left margin). For the next part of our fundraising, we need to get $4,000 EACH to go to the Jett Foundation, this is for the second half of our trip from Minneapolis to Point Pleasant Beach. All donations to our sites (you can choose to donate to either of us) are completely tax deductible! If you can help us out by donating AND sharing this page with your friends and family that would be amazing! We also have a Facebook Page! Thanks!
We have recently reached our first fundraising goal of $5,000! This money is going to the first half of the trip from Seaside to Minneapolis. We would really like to thank everybody who has donated and to give a HUGE thank you to our Sponsors! (see them in the left margin). For the next part of our fundraising, we need to get $4,000 EACH to go to the Jett Foundation, this is for the second half of our trip from Minneapolis to Point Pleasant Beach. All donations to our sites (you can choose to donate to either of us) are completely tax deductible! If you can help us out by donating AND sharing this page with your friends and family that would be amazing! We also have a Facebook Page! Thanks!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
A Very Rainy Ride
Hello!
This past Sunday, with Mac in Boston, I ventured solo to do a 55 mile Missoulians on Bicycles ride from Missoula to Stevensville. Now, for those of you who don't know, the weather on Sunday was pretty horrendous. It was raining and 40 degrees, some of the worst possible weather you can have. Luckily, I was able to stay pretty dry thanks to a few tricks my Grandpa has used on some of his bike rides. Anyways, when I arrived at Montana Lil's for the bike ride there were originally 4 of us there. Two of the guys who showed up left within 5 minutes because they weren't prepared for the rainy day. So, when we started, it was just me and one other guy who started off towards Lolo. When we arrived in Lolo, we luckily met with two other cyclists who rode with us to Stevensville to enjoy a nice lunch at their local diner. Although it was rainy and uphill for most of the way there, the lunch was certainly worth the ride. After lunch the weather cleared up a little bit, I could see some blue in the sky, and we rode back pretty easily towards Lolo. Once there, we dropped our two other companions off, and once again it was just me and one other guy. Although it started to rain again once we got close to Missoula and the wind started to pick up the last few miles weren't too hard. Overall, when counting the miles I rode to and from my house, I rode a grand total of 60 miles that day. Pretty fun I would say!!!
This past Sunday, with Mac in Boston, I ventured solo to do a 55 mile Missoulians on Bicycles ride from Missoula to Stevensville. Now, for those of you who don't know, the weather on Sunday was pretty horrendous. It was raining and 40 degrees, some of the worst possible weather you can have. Luckily, I was able to stay pretty dry thanks to a few tricks my Grandpa has used on some of his bike rides. Anyways, when I arrived at Montana Lil's for the bike ride there were originally 4 of us there. Two of the guys who showed up left within 5 minutes because they weren't prepared for the rainy day. So, when we started, it was just me and one other guy who started off towards Lolo. When we arrived in Lolo, we luckily met with two other cyclists who rode with us to Stevensville to enjoy a nice lunch at their local diner. Although it was rainy and uphill for most of the way there, the lunch was certainly worth the ride. After lunch the weather cleared up a little bit, I could see some blue in the sky, and we rode back pretty easily towards Lolo. Once there, we dropped our two other companions off, and once again it was just me and one other guy. Although it started to rain again once we got close to Missoula and the wind started to pick up the last few miles weren't too hard. Overall, when counting the miles I rode to and from my house, I rode a grand total of 60 miles that day. Pretty fun I would say!!!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A Ride of Mishaps
Hello everyone!
Today looked to be a perfect day for bike riding. It was bright and sunny, and it was the last day of a great spring break. Mac and I began our day with preparing for our 55 mile bike ride with Missoulians on Bicycles (MOBI) with some routine maintenance on our bicycles such as: pumping our tires, lubricating our chains, and adjusting our seats to the appropriate heights. Everything went smoothly in our routine maintenance check until it was my turn to pump up my tires. The problem I encountered was that I put the pump too far on the tube opening and consequently when I took it off I ripped the seal on the tube opening. At this point we were already late and we sent Mac's Mom, Ginny, off to MOBI to tell them we would be a few minutes late. Mac and I attempted to put another tube on the bike, that didn't fit perfectly, in the hopes it would hold up for the ride. This tube popped before I even mounted the bicycle. In exasperation we fetched another tube for my troublesome tire. Although this tube didn't fit the tire perfectly, we were running out of options and decided to make it work the best we could. Thankfully, this tube didn't pop immediately when we fitted it to the tire. At this point Mac and I were already 10 minutes late and so we knew we would have to work hard in order to catch the MOBI riders, who were already well on their way up the rattlesnake. And so Mac and I rode hard for 10 miles with no problems until I heard the terrible sound of air rushing out of my back tire, and I knew at this point our ride was over. So Mac and I stopped and we walked a mile back to Mac's house in dejection. Despite our misfortune there was a major lesson that Mac and I learned from our experience today. The most important thing you can do to make your ride go smoothly is to prepare completely and properly with as much time as possible. The primary mistake that Mac and I made today was that we took around 15 rushed minutes to prepare for our ride today. In fact, we needed at least 30 minutes to prepare properly for our ride. If we hadn't been so rushed we could have avoided popping the tubes and enjoyed a nice 55 miles on a great Missoula day.
Today looked to be a perfect day for bike riding. It was bright and sunny, and it was the last day of a great spring break. Mac and I began our day with preparing for our 55 mile bike ride with Missoulians on Bicycles (MOBI) with some routine maintenance on our bicycles such as: pumping our tires, lubricating our chains, and adjusting our seats to the appropriate heights. Everything went smoothly in our routine maintenance check until it was my turn to pump up my tires. The problem I encountered was that I put the pump too far on the tube opening and consequently when I took it off I ripped the seal on the tube opening. At this point we were already late and we sent Mac's Mom, Ginny, off to MOBI to tell them we would be a few minutes late. Mac and I attempted to put another tube on the bike, that didn't fit perfectly, in the hopes it would hold up for the ride. This tube popped before I even mounted the bicycle. In exasperation we fetched another tube for my troublesome tire. Although this tube didn't fit the tire perfectly, we were running out of options and decided to make it work the best we could. Thankfully, this tube didn't pop immediately when we fitted it to the tire. At this point Mac and I were already 10 minutes late and so we knew we would have to work hard in order to catch the MOBI riders, who were already well on their way up the rattlesnake. And so Mac and I rode hard for 10 miles with no problems until I heard the terrible sound of air rushing out of my back tire, and I knew at this point our ride was over. So Mac and I stopped and we walked a mile back to Mac's house in dejection. Despite our misfortune there was a major lesson that Mac and I learned from our experience today. The most important thing you can do to make your ride go smoothly is to prepare completely and properly with as much time as possible. The primary mistake that Mac and I made today was that we took around 15 rushed minutes to prepare for our ride today. In fact, we needed at least 30 minutes to prepare properly for our ride. If we hadn't been so rushed we could have avoided popping the tubes and enjoyed a nice 55 miles on a great Missoula day.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
MOBI Ride...... & A Challenge
Hello!
Today, I went on a 45 mile MOBI ride, Drew is on vacation so I went with my mom, we went out to Frenchtown then saw some dark, gloomy clouds drifting towards us. Naturally, we jump on our bikes and get the heck out of there, we start making our way back. We only made it five minutes before getting hit by the storm, and trust me, we got hit HARD! It started to rain, then the wind started blowing, and then, the wind turned to hail. The wind was coming at us from our right side, so, we were all leaning right on our bikes at a 45 degree angle while getting pelted by hail. We found a hay stack and decided to use it as shelter. As we were stopping, I, of course, forgot to unclip from my bike pedals and the wind blew me over. We huddled and regrouped in a ditch by the road, then crawled under a barbed wire fence to get to the hay stack. We were completely ready to get picked up and driven home, when all of the sudden, the wind and hail stopped, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out. So we hopped on our bikes and rode home, though we were sopping wet...
On to the next thing, we have a challenge for everyone. Right now we are sitting at $2,320, as you know, we need $5,000 for the first half of our trip. Our challenge to you is to help us raise $2,500 by the end of today (April 1st), so that we are halfway to our goal this week. Please donate! Even $5-$10 would help, as well as sharing this page with your friends and family.
Thanks!
Today, I went on a 45 mile MOBI ride, Drew is on vacation so I went with my mom, we went out to Frenchtown then saw some dark, gloomy clouds drifting towards us. Naturally, we jump on our bikes and get the heck out of there, we start making our way back. We only made it five minutes before getting hit by the storm, and trust me, we got hit HARD! It started to rain, then the wind started blowing, and then, the wind turned to hail. The wind was coming at us from our right side, so, we were all leaning right on our bikes at a 45 degree angle while getting pelted by hail. We found a hay stack and decided to use it as shelter. As we were stopping, I, of course, forgot to unclip from my bike pedals and the wind blew me over. We huddled and regrouped in a ditch by the road, then crawled under a barbed wire fence to get to the hay stack. We were completely ready to get picked up and driven home, when all of the sudden, the wind and hail stopped, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out. So we hopped on our bikes and rode home, though we were sopping wet...
On to the next thing, we have a challenge for everyone. Right now we are sitting at $2,320, as you know, we need $5,000 for the first half of our trip. Our challenge to you is to help us raise $2,500 by the end of today (April 1st), so that we are halfway to our goal this week. Please donate! Even $5-$10 would help, as well as sharing this page with your friends and family.
Thanks!
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