April Featured Ride: Horsham Rotary River Ride

What a great ride this was!  Scenic route, beautiful day, great people, what more could you ask for?

Hills Galore
I guess you could ask for more hills, but there were hills galore.  A challenging ride - yes.  Made for great hill training.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

The Route
Starting at the College Settlement Camp near Horsham, the 35 mile route (which was actually 43 miles) took us through Fort Washington, around Ambler, past Blue Bell, out over the plateau near Worcester for stunning views of Center City off in the distance.

The 35 milers would take a circuitous route back to Horsham, while the 63 mile route (again - more like 69 miles) would continue on through Trooper, around Collegeville almost out to Spring City, to the rest stop in Upper Schuylkill Valley Park - a bucolic setting alongside a particularly serene stretch of the Schuylkill River. 

The 63 milers made their way back through Trappe, Perkiomen Valley, and Evansburg State Park, back to the Worcester plateau where we were all glad to see the 35 mile rest stop once again after a seemingly endless stretch of hills.  4,200 feet of total climbing for the 63 milers!

The Ride
We had 10 riders show up for the ride.

L to R: Ed Kosmowski, Bob Carter, Kevin Horio,
Enid Porrata Doria, Joanne Hollenbach

• Bob Carter
• Ed Kosmowski
• Joanne Hollenbach
• Enid Porrata Doria
• Joe Perretti
• Elise Goodyear
• Mark Babson
• George Carey (Team SCU)
• Lee Maloy (American Classic Motors)
• and me - Kevin Horio

A lot of new Team Red blood, some old faithfuls, and some friends.  Six rode the 43 miles, and four rode the 69.  George Carey blazed the 69 miles solo, while Lee Maloy, Mark Babson and I battled the hills together.  I don't know how the 35 milers fared on their return route, but my guess is they did great - everyone looked good at the turnaround point.  Elise Goodyear was amazing on her MTB cranking up those hills!

The day started at a chilly 41 degrees and warmed up to the mid-60s, remaining crisp and sunny - great day for a ride.  Those PBJs did the trick at the rest stops, and I just couldn't get enough of those orange slices.

A fun ride - I look forward to riding the Horsham Rotary River Ride again next year!


Future Rides
Come join the fun, these are great training rides!  Coming up in May:

• Mock Tour de Cure #1 (35 mile route) on May 6th
• Delaware Tour de Cure on May 12th
• SCU Quad County Metric on May 12th
• Mock Tour de Cure #2 (28 miles of 63 mile route beyond the 35 mile turnaround) on May 27th

And our weekly training rides:

• Sunday SRT Rides from Conshy
• Tuesday Evening SRT Rides from Betzwood
• Saturday Beginner's Rides from Ambler on the 12 mile Tour de Cure Route

Team Red Creating More Teams!

Just this week we spun a new team out from Team Red with high hopes!  Although sad to see her leave Team Red, Leticia Arrington is now captain of the Lockheed Martin Team for Philadelphia!

We'll still see Leticia on our Team Red rides. Everyone's welcome on our rides and to our events, including her new team.  You see, part of our mission for Team Red is to encourage new teams - so I'm really proud that Leticia and Lockheed Martin are both Team Red alma mater! 

We'll also be seeing Sanjay Shah move to Lockheed as he also works there. The hopes are that they will go on to create a much bigger team at Lockheed Martin and that's good for the Tour de Cure, and that's good for our fight against diabetes!

The downside is that Team Red has fallen below our 50% fundraising, $10k mark - so we'll have to work to pull that back!  Not to worry, though -we're already back up to $9,919 so we're back on track.

If anyone is interested in started their own team for next year, please let me know and I can help you get it going.  And you'll always be welcome to Team Red activities - you'll always be Team Red alma mater.

Congratulations to Lockheed Martin on their new team, and best of luck in giving J&J some competition for that top corporate team spot!  ; )

Cheers,
k

Team Red Challenge - Earn $$$s While Training!

That's right, this is no joke!  

We have a challenge from the Iron Andy Foundation and you can earn up to $300 toward your Tour de Cure fundraising for logging training miles between now and the Tour de Cure.  AND, if we meet our team goal, we'll help send a kid to diabetes camp!

Individual prizes for 12, 35, and 63 mile riders!



The 7-Week Challenge Starts Now!

Team Red Philly has partnered with the Iron Andy Foundation to create a cycling challenge to give you extra motivation leading up to the Tour de Cure on June 2nd!  Motivation and $$$...that's right...cash toward your Tour de Cure fundraising goal!

Three Individual winners of this challenge will receive anywhere from $50-$300 towards their TDC fundraising goals (depending on which route you plan to ride in the Tour de Cure) compliments of the Iron Andy Foundation (IAF).

As an extra bonus if Team Red Philly logs a team total of 20,000 miles between now and midnight on May 31st, IAF will also award a $500 "campership" to a local diabetes camp. That'll help send a kid to diabetes camp!  See Iron Andy's site to learn more about this meaningful and vital cause!


$20,000 and 20,000 Miles!  We Can Do It!  Let's Send a Kid to Diabetes Camp!
  
20,000 miles sounds like a lot, but with all of us pedaling together, we can do it!  Just like how $20,000 sounds like a lot to fundraise, but we're almost half way there - and we can do that, too!

If we work together, we can make all of this happen!  There are 58 of us now and if we each ride 50 miles a week for the 7 weeks, we're there!  Plus, we'll keep recruiting more riders - trying to get 100 by the Tour d Cure.  So along with training, recruit some reinforcements, too! 


Sign Up For the Challenge!
 
This challenge isn't asking you to do anything that you are not already doing...   simply asking you to log all your miles on the challenge site. 

• Go here for step-by-step instructions on joining the challenge

The Prize Breakdown
 
Here is the award breakdown.  These will be awarded toward your 2012 Tour de Cure fundraising  if you win your division, whether we hit the team goal or not (but I truly hope we all work to reach our team goal)!

• $300 to Top Mileage Trainer registered for the 63 mile route
  ** You must ride a minimum 560 miles over the 7 week challenge, that's just 80 miles / week
• $150 to Top Mileage Trainer registered for the 35 mile route
  ** You must ride a minimum 280 miles over the 7 week challenge, that's just 40 miles / week
• $50 to Top Mileage Trainer registered for the 12 mile route
  ** You must ride a minimum 130 miles over the 7 week challenge, that's just 18.5 miles / week

As if that's not enough...

    Nine Team Iron Andy shirts will be awarded!
    One to each of the top three finishers in each category!

AND...

   Winners will be announced at the Tour de Cure!

AND...

   TEAM GOAL- if together we log 20,000 or more miles, we help send a child to diabetes camp!


How's that for motivation?


Winners will also be mentioned in an upcoming issue of Insulin Nation (http://www.insulinnation.com) or you can download Insulin Nation app for FREE from Apple, Android and Kindle Fire markets.  This is a great publication - please check it out, great tips for folks with diabetes and those who help them.


Note from Kevin...
 
I just have to thank Andy personally for proposing this challenge.  Iron Andy's foundation is doing great work helping to send kids to diabetes camp where they can learn more about living with diabetes, and also know that they are not alone.  They make life long friends with other kids, they learn a lot, and they have a fun time!

Please checkout Iron Andy's site when you have time, and take a read at Insulin Nation - I did, it's a great publication!

Now let's all work together and make this happen!

Now get cycling!

Join Our Training Rides!

We've held Team Red training rides all the way through winter, and now that the weather's nicer we're getting more folks out on our rides.  The Tour de Cure is in less than 2 months and it's time to start building up miles.

Team Red Art Museum Ride, 4/1/2012

Our staple ride is along the Schuylkill River Trail where there are no cars, but at times we take spurs off of the SRT and hit some roads for hills.  We normally ride between 20 and 30 miles, but we're beginning to ramp up our mileage and work those hills into the routine.  As we get more riders, we'll break into groups where some will train for the 63 mile route and others will train for the 35 or 12 mile routes.

Everyone is welcome to our rides and we do our best to accommodate all skill levels.

Last week we rode out to the Philadelphia Art Museum and next week we'll do some hills out at Valley Forge Park.  And coming up in May, we'll be doing portions of the Tour de Cure route - a "Mock" Tour de Cure, so you can get familiar with the route.

If you have any questions about our rides, contact me - kevinhorio@yahoo.com.

Join our Team Red meetup site for all ride details and to get email updates on ride: http://Meetup.TeamRedPhilly.org



More Ride Options
 
We've also joined forces with several bike clubs in the area and they are welcoming Team Red members to their rides.  The clubs have many more ride options, so if their ride locations and schedules work better for you, please join their rides.  And let me know if you decide to join their rides because we may have other Team Redders that may want to join you.  Please respect the clubs' riding rules and ask about their skill levels so you join an appropriate group for the best experience and results.  Here's a list of clubs we are working with:

• Suburban Cyclists Unlimited (SCU)
  Montgomery and Bucks County Areas
  
  SCU's Meetup Site - for all ride options
  
  SCU's Main Website
  
  
  
• White Clay Bike Club (WCBC)
  Northern Delaware Area, and up into PA
  
  WCBC's Ride Calendar (they are not on meetup.com yet)
  
  WCBC's Man Website
  
  WCBC's Ride Rules

We'll also be reaching out to Bike Club of Philadelphia, Lancaster Bike Club, and others.

There are tons of ride options - join friends, train together, have fun.  Good luck on your training!

Cheers,
k

April Featured Ride, and a Dash...

You may have missed a soggy Icicle Metric, and although I'm sure you're kicking yourself because you weren't there - you have another chance in April!  In fact there are two featured Team Red events in April.

Dash 4 Diabetes
 
For a change of pace (literally!), how about a run?  Join Bob Carter and Kevin Horio in West Chester at the Chester County Hospital Dash 4 Diabetes 5k run or 2.5 mile walk/run on Saturday, April 14th.  Go to our meetup posting for all the details:

   http://www.meetup.com/TeamRedPhilly/events/54334672/





Horsham Rotary Memorial River Ride

And for our April Featured Bike Ride on Sunday, April 29th, join us in Horsham for a bike ride with routes of 5, 20, 35, or 63 mile routes.  Proceeds benefit the Horsham Rotary Club, for full details see our meetup posting for the event:

   http://www.meetup.com/TeamRedPhilly/events/54340952/

For those who have already ordered Team Red kits, you should have them by then.  If you haven't ordered your kit, order here now and you'll have them for the Horsham Rotary Ride - we'll all wear our Team Red jerseys and show some force!  See you there.  ; )

Top 10 Team Red Fundraisers!

Give a hand to our Top 10 fundraisers so far (with a big 5-way tie for 10th place)...

Mark Cavendish shows his excitement for Team Red!

  1  Larry Lukin        $3,421.00
  2  Andrew Lyman         $790.00
  3  Matt Axel            $670.00
  4  Joel Brazy           $520.00
  5  Charles Johnston     $500.00
  6  Kevin Horio          $475.00
  7  Vineeth Varghese     $250.00
  8  Leticia Arrington    $245.00
  9  Joseph Niszczak      $225.00
 10  Laura Axel           $200.00
 10  Michelene Corcoran   $200.00
 10  Bill Edwards         $200.00
 10  Ed Kosmowski         $200.00
 10  Anthony Tamburello   $200.00

What a great job you all are doing!  Thank you for the extraordinary effort!

And thanks go out to everyone doing their part to reach our Team Red goals.  Team Red is currently 11th in recruiting and fundraising in the 80 Tour de Cure events across the nation!

But we still have work to do.


Our Goals
 
We're at $9,100, almost halfway to our overall fundraising goal of $20,000.

And we have 57 Team Red members, shooting for 100! 

So what can you do to help? 


Recruit One Teammate in April!

There are 57 Team Red members right now. If we can each recruit one more rider in the month of April, we'll be well over our goal of 100 riders.

And remember, recruiting a new rider is just as good as getting $200 in donations because they'll be raising their minimum fundraising amount.  But it's even better, because it helps spread the word to more people, which means more riders!


Raise at least $100 in April!

We all need to raise $200 by June 2nd.  So we can get at least half way there in April by raising $100.  Then we have May to get the other half, and we're done!

If we get 100 Team Red members and we all raise our minimum $200, then we will easily reach our goal of raising $20,000!  Every bit counts.  Heroic efforts are great!  But all of our every-day individual efforts add up to a big deal!  Little steps - keep at it.

For tips on fundraising, see our latest article on our Riding, Recruiting, Fundraising tab:

   http://teamredphilly.blogspot.com/p/riding-tips.html

Team Red Wins the Tour de Cure March Madness!

Great job everyone!  Congratulate yourselves! Your hard work over the past couple of weeks have won the March Madness contest for Team Red!

We've won special bib numbers to be recognized on the day of the Tour de Cure and we'll also have a special "Spotlight" in next year's Tour de Cure!

Here's a recap of March Madness.  We had to cover the minimum requirements each week to continue to qualify, but at the end of the 4 weeks all teams would be compared to see which team went "above and beyond" the call - that would determine the winner!

• Week 1 - Setup Your Team Page
  We had this beat!  We've had our team page up for months, plus we have our own website and a meetup site!
  
  
• Week 2 - Send 25 Emails through the Tour de Cure SiteI emailed through the Tour de Cure site this week and sent over 90 emails!  Actually, I just sent 2, but they went to each of our 47 team members that week - so it was easy.  ; )
  
  
• Week 3 - Recruit 5 Team MembersThis is where I really needed your help.  We recruited 7 Team Red members that week!  Special thanks to Lisa Caramandi - awesome job!
  
  
• Week 4 - Raise $500We all kicked it into gear for Week 4 - we raised $1,175 last week!  Great job on the fundraising, everyone!  

We just broke though $9,000!  But Orlando is right on our tail, trailing us by only $100!  Gotta keep moving!

Let's keep up the fundraising because we are currently #11 in the nation versus Team Reds in other cities.  Just a bit more push and we'll get back into the top 10!   We're only $120 behind Team Red Tampa/Sarasota. 

You can help us do it!