Coach's Weekly Update - June 30, 2009

I had every intention of posting an official update last week, but time just got away from me. I have posted a few items about rides and I see a few others have done that as well, so that will keep you up to date.


You'll see a new photo on the front page from our June 20th ride. Other photos can be found at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=wytd589.4351h9rt&x=0&y=-lqax61&localeid=en_US (you can also get to this by going to the Team Indiana Photos link on the left-hand side of the blog and select Training Rides 2009; the June 20th photos start at #17.


There have been a few changes to the training schedule which you can find on the left-hand side at the link called Training Schedule (imagine that).

1. We are going to make the first Thursday of each month an official training ride and try to have as many folks join us for the Neboridge ride. The first one of those is this Thursday, July 2nd.



2. I've added the CIBA ride we are organizing on August 2nd. Please try your best to attend that ride.



3. I'm working on a Death Valley schedule, for those who are doing that ride, although you are more than welcome to train with the Vermont/Montana group - the more the merrier.

As I mentioned in my message there are no JDRF organized rides this weekend, but I would encourage those of you who are in town to take advantage of the CIBA rides. You can do varied distances and see some new places.

Have a wonderful Independence Day!

Alex

Weekend Activities

We had no organized ride this weekend, but some of us did keep busy.
On Saturday, Michael, Dawn & I participated in the Morse Park Sprint Triathlon. Michael & I as individuals and Dawn with a team. The weather was great (low humidity) and so was the course - fun was had by all.
On Sunday, Kevin S, Dawn & I did the 51 mile CIBA ride. It was a good route, especially because it was going into the wind on the way out and with the wind coming back. Even with that, the wind was brutal, especially on the western most section where we were averaging 11mph (thanks Kevin for leading that section). Of course coming back into Whitestown we almost broke the 25mph speedlimit.
I hope the rest of you had a good weekend.
Alex

Good Luck Joel!

The first JDRF Ride to Cure is taking place this weekend in Sonoma, California. We have one Indiana rider participating - Joel Russell. Joel is an experienced rider and multi year Ride to Cure rider, so I'm sure he will do great. Look forward to hearing all about the ride.

Saturday Training Ride

We had a good, early morning (7:30 AM... yikes!) training ride on Saturday.

We started with Coach Alex and Dawn (who got up at 5:30 AM to ride 18 miles from downtown Indy to Geist) along with Kevin G., Kevin S., Dan, Tony and special guest Mark Lushell, who hadn't ridden since the August Whitefish ride last year. It was great to see Mark and have him join us for a ride again this year!

We rode as a group from 79th and Oaklandon to Pendleton, where Mark turned around to head back for 30 miles total. The remainder of us rode another 10 miles or so to the outskirts of Middleton, where Alex and Dawn split off to go canoeing in Daleville. I think I heard Dawn mumbling something about portages and 40th birthday parties... we'll need one of them to share the details of the remainder of their adventure...

Dan, Kevin x 2, Tony and I made our way back to our starting point for a total of 52 miles. This despite the fact that Dawn tried to get us lost by "generously" giving her map to Kevin G... We made it a whole 2 miles straight down the road to the Meijer gas station before consulting the map -- "hey, isn't this the map to Daleville?" Nevertheless, we made it in safely, including tackling Florida hill (down, then up... more map issues... don't ask). On the upside, Tony achieved a new personal mileage best. Nice job Tony!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Southwestway Park on Tuesday... should be a hot and toasty ride through the hills.

Keep your wheels on the road...

Gary

Great ride

Good Nebo Ridge CIBA ride tonight. Did the 26 mile ride with the group that averages 18 mph. The group works on a rotating double pace line, which is really cool with 20 or so riders. Very hot a humid tonight, but no rain.

Looking forward to Saturday's ride with the group.

I love the wind...

Well, not really, but it is good practice.
Last night Dawn, Kevin & I rode 20 miles from the Oaklandon road parking lot. The ride out was great, doing 17 mph without even trying. Unfortunately, the wind was still there when we turned around, so we had 10 miles of tough riding, but it was a good workout and we can probably call it a 25 mile ride due to all the effort.

I hope the rest of you were able to get some rides in this week. See you on Saturday.
Coach Alex

Coach's Weekly Update - June 17, 2009

This update will be short, I'm running out of time. Next week I will have another rider profile.

I do want to mention that one of our riders - Joel Russell will be participating in the 1st JDRF Ride to Cure for 2009 in Sonoma, California in a few weeks. We wish him good luck and look forward to hearing all about the ride.

As my email said, we have a ride today (Wednesday), leaving at 6pm from the parking lot at Oaklandon & 79th (Fox Rd). We will do about 20 miles. I'm hoping the rain will stay away.

On Thursday I encourage all of you to attend the Neboridge CIBA ride which leaves at 6pm from the back of the shop (106th & Michigan). You can do 26 or 17 miles. We are planning to participate as a group the first Thursday of each month (next one is July 2nd), but feel free to attend any other time - make sure to wear your JDRF jersey.

Our Saturday ride will leave at 7:30am fromt he Oaklandon & 79th parking lot. This ride will be about 57 miles. We will leave promptly at 7:30am. I will try to send out the route map on Friday in case anyone is late because I really will be leaving right at 7:30am for this ride.

For those intereted, on Sunday the CIBA ride is being organized by the Lilly Cycling Club, so I encourage you to attend. In addition, it will be good research for our upcoming CIBA ride on August 2nd. Check out the CIBA website (see links on the left hand side) for starting time & location.

Keep up with the posts about your rides (thanks Gary & Michael). Also feel free to share anything about your fundraising as well.

Thats all for now.
Alex

Great morning for a ride!

Rode 30 miles this morning, mostly on the Monon. Cool temps with light wind and a bit overcast made it a great time for a ride. The Monon was a bit crowded in spots, but still a good ride.

Saw Danny walking (walking?!) on the Monon near Broad Ripple. To his credit he was wearing his 2008 JDRF Team Indiana t-shirt!

Rode the new section of the Monon north of 146th St. It doesn't go far (just north of 156th St.), but is nice, new, smooth pavement.

I won't be able to join the team ride on Wednesday but may do the CIBA ride from Nebo Ridge on Thursday, if the weather cooperates. The storms last Thursday spoiled the possibility of a ride for me... Note that Nebo Ridge now has a Twitter account (shown on their web site or you can follow them on Twitter) so you can track whether or not they plan to ride.

Pedal on!

Tell us about your ride!

Let us know how your next ride goes. Where you went, what you saw, etc. Whether it is an official ride or not, we want to hear all about it.
Alex

Tuesday training ride!

We had another great training ride yesterday. Temperature was 87, but didn't feel that hot and the rain held off once again. Gary, Michael & Tony took the early lead, with Kristin, Dawn & I trailing behind. Then Gary & Michael dropped Tony on the big climb and Kristin dropped Dawn & I. We did all gather at the Brooklyn library then headed back. A challenging ride, but great hill work. I encourage those of you who can make it down there to join us for the next ride on Tuesday, June 23rd (Dan, don't answer the phone after 4pm). Next training ride is Wednesday, June 17th on the northside (79th & Oaklandon). See you there.
Alex

Coach's Weekly Update - June 8, 2009

Introducing Kevin Garner

Kevin (the one in the middle) is participating in his 3rd Ride to Cure Diabetes. He has done rides in Death Valley & Montana and is planning a return trip to Death Valley this year. Kevin has multiple reasons for participating in the ride: “I believe in the cause and need for helping people with Diabetes. I have a family member who has diabetes and working for a pharmaceutical company that focuses on diabetes has heightened the awareness of the need for $$ for diabetes research.” Kevin is married to Janette and they have 3 kids (Ryan – 18, Jessie – 17, Erin – 15). He has worked for Eli Lilly for 19 years and is currently a team leader in Information Technology. Kevin was born in Saginaw, Michigan and has an identical twin brother who is also in the Information Technology field. Kevin’s hope for the ride is to raise money for JDRF, ride with friends and get some exercise

For an update of the recent training rides see separate posts below. I'll try to post something about each ride, unless one of you beats me to it. Feel free to post about your other rides as well.

We have a ride this Tuesday at 6pm, leaving from Southwestway Park (Mann Rd - see bike routes link for a map to the start). This is great opportunity to get in some hill training. We do NOT have an organized training ride next weekend, despite what the schedule says. However, it is important that you try to get in 50 miles at some point during the weekend. Take advantage of some of the CIBA rides if you can. We will have a training ride on Wednesday, June 17th.

Don't forget your fundraising, especially the Vermont riders who should be at the $750 mark. If you are having trouble with this let me know and I can get you some help.

Pedal on!

Coach Alex

B&O Ride in Brownsburg

Dan, Dawn, Kevin S. & his wife Sara, joined me on Saturday for the B&O ride. The weather was perfect and we had a great 47 mile ride, with Sara achieving her personal best. The route was great, with yummy brownies at the rest stops, some rolling hills which are always good practice and the wind wasn't too bad. There was stretch of about 4 miles on an almost gravel road, character building is what Dan called it. Despite what Dan thinks I did not have any input into the route selection. I've uploaded some more photos and photos from a previous training ride onto my kodak gallery account, you can view them by clicking here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=wytd589.4351h9rt&x=0&y=-lqax61&localeid=en_US, the link can also be found in the Team Indiana Photos page (find this on the link section of the blog).

We will have training ride on Tuesday at Southwestway Park (ready to ride at 6pm).

Coach Alex

Great ride at Neboridge Bike Shop

Last night Kevin G., Gary & I were able to participate in the weekly CIBA ride organized by the Neboridge Bike Shop (one of our partner bike shops). Tim, the owner & organizer, even gave a call out to the JDRF group at the intro to the ride which was nice (free advertising). Gary rode in the 3rd group (26 miles, 20mph, paceline), I'll let him fill you in on how that went. Kevin & I rode in the 4th group (17 miles, varied pace). It was a great route, very little traffic, a few rolling hills, all around a great workout. Dan wasn't able to make it because of a family issue, but I'm sure he is planning to attend some other week and will be calling on all of you to join him. This is a free ride open to everyone, so if you live up that way or have another reason to be up that way, take advantage of it, they ride every Thursday at 6pm.

See everyone Saturday at the B&O ride.
Alex

Tips for Safe Training and Riding

The article link below was provided by one of the JDRF coaches. It was written for a ride across Iowa (RAGBRAI), but it is all very appropriate for us. Take a look, even if you are an experienced rider.

http://www.cyclesportcoaching.com/articleRAGBRAI5.html

Coach's Update - June 1, 2009

Wow! I can't believe it already June, that's less than a month before Sonoma and less than 3 months before Vermont. Time to make sure you are getting in the funds and the miles.

We had a great ride on Saturday with Kevin S., Gary, Dan & myself, along with past rider Kate and future riders Lisa & Tony. We got some practice riding in traffic, but all in all had a nice 40 mile ride and made it home in one piece.

I'm going to skip the profiles for this week, but they will be back next week - I promise. I have some important information about upcoming rides:

• Thursday, June 4th 6pm - Neboridge Bike Shop (106th & Michigan); I previously said 116th, sorry about that. WEAR YOUR JDRF JERSEY. This is an organized ride they do every week. There are multiple groups to ride with, so everyone will find a spot. Neboridge is one of our partner bike shops, so please join us in showing them our support.
• Saturday, June 6th 8:45am - B&O Trail Ride (Williams Park, Brownsburg); there are routes for 11, 24, 46 & 62 miles; I'll probably do 46 miles which is in line with our training schedule, the 62 mile route doesn't separate from 46 until the last rest stop so even those who are doing 62 miles can ride with the group most of the way. Ride starts at 8:50am, I'd like us to be all together & ready to ride by 8:45am (group photo) http://www.botrail.org/17th-annual-bao-bicycle-tour.html
• If you can't join us Saturday, there is an organized ride in Shelbyville on Sunday - June Bug Jamboree http://www.morselakemetric.com/index.html
• Tuesday, June 9th 6pm - Southwestway Park; we will ride 20-26 miles, great hill workout.
• Saturday, June 13th we were scheduled to have a training ride, but I'm substituting this weekend's ride. I would recommend trying a CIBA ride (http://www.cibaride.org/index.php) or the Save the Noggin Ride (http://www.biausa.org/Indiana/calendar.htm)

One other note - keep August 2nd open, JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes Team will be hosting the CIBA ride that day. Stay tuned for more information - we will be needing you all to ride and help out. This is a great opportunity to get some publicity for the group within the cycling community.

That's all for now! Keep pedaling for a cure!

Alex