With a little help from my friends...

On Tuesday night, Kevin G., Ted, Tony and I met at Southwestway Park for our usual hilly ride. We headed out at our normal time under threatening skies, hoping to get in 25+ miles and avoid rain. The ride started out pretty normal and we stopped for a breather at the S.R. 144 crossing. While there, we chatted about Tony's new tires and our experiences with flat tires, tire wear and our choices for tire size and brand. I commented that my tires had more than 3000 miles on them and my friends suggested that was probably about all the life I could expect... little did I know how close to the end they were...

We carried on to the big climb without issue, and as I went up the hill, I noticed an odd noise coming from the back of my bike. I got to the top, started down and saw that my rear tire was going flat. Hmmm... jinxed from the conversation I thought... now I have to change a tube! I rode on a bit further until I found a spot where I could do a quick fix and replace the tube. Not so! My rear tire had worn through and had a nice slit and bulge... now what?

We tried to patch the tire with a patch kit that Ted had from the Death Valley ride three years ago, but found that the patch was devoid of any stickiness and the supplied tube of rubber cement was, in fact, supplied empty. We all agreed that the best patch in this situation would be dollar bill... unfortunately, we all left our wallets in our cars fearing rain, and so no dollars were to be found. So we improvised a patch using the instructions from Tony's CO2 cartridge and a band-aid from Ted's first aid kit. We put in a new tube and inflated it... it held! We decided to turn back, with the thought that the tire may not hold and someone would need to ride in for a car and come back for me. We took it easy, and thankfully the patch held all the way back to the car. I think Ted summed it up best... "boy, are you lucky!"

So, yes, I was lucky to have you guys along... thanks Ted, Kevin and Tony for your help and support on the ride. I am very happy you guys were there... I'm not sure what I would have done if I had been by myself. I am also happy to report that I installed two new tires tonight, so I should be good for a couple of thousand miles... but I won't let them go as long as the last ones!

Be safe and share the road!

Coach's Weekly Update - Sept. 22nd

This will be my last weekly update for a few weeks since I’m heading to Europe on vacation. Below I’ve provided a schedule of rides for the time I’m gone, in the post right before this one and on the Upcoming rides section. I’m sure you will be able to coordinate amongst yourselves. By the time I return it will be time to send off the Death Valley riders - how time flies.

To the Whitefish riders we are still anxious to hear about how things went. Don’t worry about posting to the blog, just reply all to the email and let us know about the ride. Also, send any photos or links to photos and I’ll add those to the photo gallery. Same goes for the Vermont riders.

Stacey would like to have a ride presence at the walk, so give that some consideration and contact her about participating.

We had great representation this past Saturday at the HOPE ride. There were 11 JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes Indiana members there, and a few from the Cinci chapter.

Upcoming Rides

Upcoming Rides (remember consult www.cibaride.org):
Tuesday, Sept. 22nd – Southwestway Park at 6pm
Thursday, Sept. 24th – Neboridge CIBA ride at 6pm
Saturday, Sept. 26th – CIBA ride (Old School House Tour 9am)
Directions: I-69 North to Exit 10, turn right onto SR238, then left (South) on Olio Rd. Start location is on your left (East). Three story building.
Description: 14, 34, and 48 miles - Flat, fresh pavement mostly, some mild elevation changes. Long goes through Strawtown.
Sunday, Sept. 27th – CIBA ride (Team Neboridge Ride 9am)
Directions/Description: Our event features ride lengths of approximately 17, 34, 50, and 65 miles, the three longer rides will be sagged. All rides proceed north from Carmel/Zionsville with mostly flat riding; the XL route features some hills for those prepping for the Hilly Hundred. Our start location is at the east (back) entrance of Nebo Ridge Bicycle Shop, located at 4335 West 106th Street, Suite 900, West Carmel, IN 46032.
Thursday, Oct. 1st – Monthly assault on Neboridge ride at 6pm (wear JDRF jersey)
Saturday, Oct. 3rd – CIBA ride (Fortville & Beyond 10am - Lilly cycling club)
Directions: Take I-465 to Pendleton Pike exit on the east side of Indianapolis. Go northeast to Oaklandon Rd. Turn right onto Oaklandon Rd which becomes 62nd St/600N. Turn left into Veterans Memorial Park. Turn right at the "T" to the parking lot.
Description: 20 and 45 miles - Mostly flat route going from Oaklandon to Falls Park in Pendleton.
Sunday, Oct. 4th – CIBA ride (Tour of Three Counties 10am)
Directions: Take I-465 to the northwest side of Indianapolis. Exit onto 86th St. and go west to Lafayette Rd. The school is on the southeast corner of 86th St. and Lafayette Rd. Please use the school’s front parking lot.
Description: 21, 35, 51 and 61 miles - Visit lovely northwest Marion County, northeast Hendricks County, and the heart of scenic Boone County. A few hills around Fishback Creek, then gently rolling through Hendricks and Boone Counties.
Tuesday, Oct. 6th – Southwestway Park at 6pm (Kevin Garner will lead)
Thursday, Oct. 8th – Neboridge CIBA ride at 6pm
Saturday, Oct. 10th – CIBA ride (Southeast side ride 9am)
Directions: From I-465 east, take Exit 47 to US-52 east. Go .5 miles to Franklin Rd and turn right (south). Follow Franklin Rd approximately 6 miles to the church. The church is on the right (west) side.
Description: 10, 24, 30 and 50 miles - A fairly flat tour through the southeast side of Indianapolis. The long route will pass through Boggstown. A nice, scenic ride through the countryside. Get your last long miles in before the Hilly Hundred.
Sunday, Oct. 11th – CIBA ride (Fall Foliage Festival 50 10am)
Directions: Take Hwy. 37 south to Martinsville; at the second light (Hwy. 252) turn right onto Hospital Drive. At lights, turn left onto Morgan St. At first stop light, turn right onto Home Ave. Go 3 blocks to Jimmy Nash City Park.
Description: 15, 31 and 50 miles - The Morgan County Fall Foliage Festival is celebrating 50 years! What better reason for a 50-mile bicycle ride. The ride heads to the hills along the north side of the beautiful White River Valley. The 15-mile ride is flat. The 30-mile and the 50-mile will have challenging hills. There will be a police escort at the start. After the ride, head downtown for festival food and fun, or enjoy the longest small-town parade in Indiana. Parade starts at 1:30. You can watch it from the ride leaders’ front yard on the parade route. Address is 759 E. Washington Street. Take Home Avenue south to Washington Street, then west four blocks. Ride your bike to our house because the streets will be closed off to cars. We’ll leave chairs on the back patio in case we are not back from the ride.
Thursday, Oct. 15th – Neboridge CIBA ride at 6pm

Coach's Weekly Update - Sept. 14th

Greetings riders,
We have now completed 3 of the 5 Ride to Cure Diabetes. I'm looking forward to hearing from the Whitefish riders about how their event was. We now get to focus on prepping the Death Valley riders (Bob, Dan, Kevin G, Gary, Michael & Rick).

We have a Wednesday ride at 79th & Oaklandon starting at 6pm. Please let me know if you will be there so I can plan accordingly.

This weekend's ride will be the HOPE ride (www.hoperide.org). I've never done the ride before, but it comes highly recommended from Bob Karnak. In addition, we have provided JDRF ride information to the organizers as a form of advertising, so we would like as many JDRF jerseys out there as possible. You can ride 13 to 100 miles. I'm planning to ride around about 60 miles. Let me know if you are planning to do this ride and we can work out a meeting time.

For Sunday there is a CIBA ride from Southwestway Park starting at 9am:
Directions: Take I-465 on the south side of Indianapolis to SR 37 south, then follow SR 37 south to Southport Rd. Turn right on Southport Rd. to Mann Rd., then left on Mann Rd. to the park entrance on the right.
Description: 18, 26, 35, 47 and 55 miles - A somewhat hilly ride south into Morgan County. The medium route takes Mann Rd. south with a few side trips before coming to the SAG at the Brooklyn Kids' Park. The shorter routes have rolling hills while the 47 and 55 miles routes add a very scenic loop to Martinsville with a monster climb up Maple Turn and Lincoln Hill Roads. A good opportunity to get your legs ready for the Hilly Hundred.

JDRF Walk:
Help us Promote the JDRF Ride to Cure Program to other JDRF supporters. Join me at the 2009 Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, October 10th from 8:30 to 11:00 at Military Park . We will chat with people about the ride and start the walk off in style. If you are interested in representing the ride program please contact Stacey Holdaway directly.

Pedal on!

Help promote the ride...

Help us promote the JDRF Ride to Cure Program to other JDRF supporters. Join me at the 2009 Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, October 10th from 8:30 to 11:00 at Military Park . We will chat with people about the ride and start the walk off in style. If you are interested in representing the ride program please contact Stacey Holdaway directly.

Good Labor Day Ride

On Monday, Kevin G., Michael, Lisa and I did the Tour de Loops CIBA ride in Brownsburg. We did the north loop twice (though the first time around, I missed a turn and got us a bit off course, shaving a few miles in the process), and the west and south loops once. The routes were very good, well marked and lightly traveled (except for that "quiet" road on the north loop, right Michael?) and we managed to get between 80 and 90 miles. Despite a forecast for rain, we had great cool weather, with just a little wind and a little sun.

Congrats to Lisa who achieved a new personal mileage best... great job Lisa!

Hopefully the Whitefish riders had a good experience! I'm looking forward to hearing about their ride!