Weekly Update from Coach - April 28th

Introducing Gary Martindale
Gary Martindale is participating in his second Ride to Cure diabetes, although I’ve been told he intended to ride in 2007, but was sidelined by a kickball incident (ask him about it on the next ride). He will be riding in Death Valley this year. Gary is an IT manager at Eli Lilly, is married to Sandy and has three kids (Kasey 13, Brian 12, Jack 7). Gary is doing the ride “to raise money for a good cause, to enjoy the camaraderie, to stay fit and to see a new part of the country.” In addition to donating his time to JDRF Gary is also a regular blood donor and is expecting to reach 10 gallons (80 units) donated in 2009. Gary’s hope for the ride is to get a sense of accomplishment, both for meeting his fundraising goal and completing the ride. He was born in Ohio and his nickname is Fancy Pants.

It was a beautiful sunny day this past Saturday, but was a bit windy which made for a tough 20 miles (or so I'm told). Everyone survived the 20 miles, including Amarilis (Congratulations on completing your first group ride).

No organized rides this weekend, although I do urge you to consider joining one of the CIBA rides, you need to get in about 25 miles this weekend.

Our next ride will be next Wednesday, May 6th. Bob Karnak will be leading this ride which will leave at 6pm from the Marsh parking lot at 79th St. & Oaklandon (same spot as this past Saturday). The group will do about 15 miles.

On a personal note, I rode 3 miles on the stationary bike this morning, so the knee is improving. My goal is to be back on the bike in 3 weeks.

Best of luck to anyone who is participating in the Mini marathon.

Pedal On!

Just FYI

I dropped by Nebo Ridge bike shop today and they have some nice winter items on sale, along with a few bicycles. It's a really nice shop.

P.S. I watched the documentary about the West Michigan team last night, get out your kleenex.

Mayor's Bike Ride May 16th

On May 16th the Marion County Health Department, the City of Indianapolis and Health by Design will be hosting the inaugral Mayor's Bike Ride along the new bike lanes on Michigan & New York Streets. There will be a 10 mile and 3 mile route, starting at 1:00 pm and 1:30 pm respectively.

We won't be riding that day, we have plans for a ride the next day, so you may want to consider this fun event. For more information and to register (registration is free) go to: http://www.healthbydesignonline.org/biking/index.html

Eating for Health and Performance

Team,

I got this great article from one of the other JDRF coaches. It talks about good nutrition in general, but more importantly covers how you should be eating for optimal performance. Take a few minutes to read this, even those of you who are experienced; you will all learn something. Remember, you are burning a lot of calories while out on the bike, especially when we start to pick up the mileage, so nutrition the day before a ride, pre-ride, during a ride and after a ride is all very important. Happy reading!
http://groups.google.com/group/jdrfindianaridetocure/web/EatingForHealthandPerformance.pdf

Coach Alex

Weekly Update from Coach - April 20th

Introducing Kevin Strawbridge
Kevin is a first year JDRF rider, although he has plenty of experience on the bike. He is doing the ride “to achieve a health goal and to support a good friend whose family is affected by diabetes.” Kevin is a psychotherapist who is originally from Indianapolis. His wife Sarah, who has already joined us for a training ride, is the Program Coordinator for Indiana’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program. Kevin’s goal for the ride is “to get to know some good people, support those touched by diabetes, challenge myself mentally and physically and to finish,” he is looking forward to riding with the team.

I would also like to announce that we have a Ride Champion from the JDRF Board of Directors. Susan Brown has agreed to be our link to the board. She has done some riding herself, participating in several Hilly Hundreds although she said she hasn't done a lot of riding over the past 6 years since she got a dog. Her daughter, who is also an avid cyclist, has had diabetes since she was 9 years old, which spurred Susan's interested in JDRF. We hope to get Susan to join us at the start of one of our upcoming rides, I know she is looking forward to meeting all of you.

There were 6 riders (Kevin G, Gary, Michael, Lisa, Dan & Bob Berger) on Saturday for our 15 mile ride followed by our youth ambassador kick-off, which was a lot of fun. Amarilis also made an appearance to send off the riders, hopefully she got her bike later that day and will be able to join us this weekend.

Our next ride is this Saturday, April 25th at 9am (be there at 8:45). We will meet at the far east end of the Marsh Supermarket parking lot located at the corner of East 79th Street (Fox Road) and Oaklandon Ave, out in the Geist area. There is a Chase Bank on the corner and we typically park / meet right behind it. Please be at the meeting site by 8:45am so we can get on the road on time. Our plan is to ride 20 miles, with a short break somewhere in between.

Following the ride we will have our monthly Ride Committee meeting, not 100% sure where, but it will be close by. All riders are welcome to attend. You can find information about the ride committee on the link section of the blog.

We will NOT have an organized ride the following weekend because it is the Mini marathon - best of luck to anyone who is running. However, just because we aren't riding, doesn't mean you can't. In fact, you should get out and do about 25 miles if possible. Check out the CIBA website (a link is provided in the link section of the blog) for organized rides, these are always a good option.

Great Ride and Party Saturday

Sorry for living up to my reputation and being late for the ride, but I have to confess it was due to a navigation error.

I thought that I was only 21 blocks from the meeting point when I called coach Alex, but I neglected to figure the east west factor that turned out to be close to an additional 10 miles.... oops!

I rode as fast as I could but still ended up not catching the group until the turn arround in the middle of the scheduled ride.

The party was cool and I got to meet my new youth ambassador "Matt" and his mom "Stacy"
Matt has been a type one diabetic for about 3 years now and Stacy has been the mother of a type 1 diabetic for about the same amount of time :)

I am looking forward to seeing everyone on next Saturday!

April 13th Weekly Coach's Note

Introducing Michael Schwab
Michael is a second year rider; he completed the Death Valley ride in 2007 and will be returning there this year. He has had type 1 diabetes for over 34 years and says “Riding for the cure has impacted my life in ways that I never expected,,, just from the riding.” Michael was born in Rushville , Indiana , was married at the end of last year and also has a nephew that I believe spends some time living at his house. He is in the musical wholesale and import business and is himself a musician; rumor has it he plays some Friday evening at Finn McCools. Michael wants to compete in the Ford Ironman World Championships some days, but his goal for the ride to cure is to raise money for the cure and to meet some more great people.

This is the start of a series of profiles about the riders. This will help you introduce yourselves to each other. If you haven't already responded to Stacey with your information, please do so.

Well team we had another great ride this weekend (or at least I'm told it was good). The weather was a bit chilly, but sunny and we got to see the start of an Indian wedding, what more could you ask. A special congratulations to Lisa & Stacey for completing their first group ride and thank you to Michael & Dan for their help in making sure everyone got back safely.

Our next ride is Saturday, April 18th, prior to our Kick-off Event at Ben & Ari's on the north east side (141st & SR37). We will leave at 11:30 for a 15 mile ride and be back in plenty of time for the event. Stacey did want me to warn everyone that there will be snacks available, but not a full meal, so eat accordingly prior to the ride. There is a gas station right near by though if you end up being super hungry after the ride. I hope to see you all there.

Check out the link to photos on the blog. For the veteran riders it will bring back some memories, for the rookie riders it will show you what you are in for.

New blog features

In addition to the notification of upcoming rides I've also created a google site to hold files and links to photos (see the Links section). If you have any photos from past rides that are loaded somewhere on the web (snapfish, kodak, picassa) send me the link and I'll add them.
Alex

Sorry I was Late

Alex you have no idea how happy I was to see you when I finally got to the meet point on Saturday :)

Great ride everyone, and I enjoyed meeting all the people who are new to me as well as seeing some old familiar faces! (I don't mean that their faces were old, but definitely familiar)

I enjoyed dining with Todd and Amy who have a 3 year old son who is type 1 and are going to Whitefish!

The weather is supposed to be decent again this Saturday, so I hope we have another great ride coming :)

Peace

Michael