Kathy, Marvin and I are back at it!  We are kicking off our 2014 Fundraising for Give Kids the World on May 3, 2014.  Our first ride is going to be in Mexico!  The Annual Rosarito to Ensenada 50 mile ride.  It's not a competitive ride, but a chance for us to get back on the seats and pedal with a some new friends.

We will be putting up our fundraising links shortly!

Check presentation

Well, I am back in the office after conference and realized that we didn't put up the most important part of our ride.. The Check Presentation at the Give Kids the World.

Thanks to the help of so many volunteers, and to the help of John Kelly, We were able to ride our way to raise over $20,000.00 for GKTW!   It was an early morning, and we showed up in our jerseys (washed of course) and met some of the great people from the Owner's Association as well as the great team at Candlewood and Staybridge.

I have to say that when the kids started coming out of their villas to see what was going on with the big equipment and stage.. I was a little choked up.  Yes, this is what it all was for, the kids and families at the village.

 
I like this last photo the bet.. our rock star photo :)

The 500 Mile Man

As we all came to an end of our journey a couple of days ago and are all here in Orlando for the IHG Owners and Investors Conference, we all have had a couple of days to reflect and thinking about everything.  There is one person that I wanted to recognize and thank..

When Chris Bates (Area Manager in the West Region) and I sat down and talked about ways to raise money, I mentioned this knowing that Chris was have to drive and the knowledge to guide us along the way. He helped me pick my bike (since I did not have one), what items to buy prior and showed most of us during the ride how to change a tire and be as comfortable as possible.

And lets not forget, he completed 500 Miles!  From the moment he got there, he started, a beast in the seat, he pushed us all to want to be better on the bike, and never forgot the reason that we did this..  A true friend along with the rest of us will share this experience for a life time.

Thank you Chris for maintaining this blog, helping us throughout that entire journey...

Congrats buddy, you are the 500 mile man!

Day 7 the final day

It was a bittersweet start to the day on Monday October 22nd.  Kathy, Marvin, Manny and myself started off down the Trail for the last time on our our journey.  After 6 and 7 days of riding, we all were sore in places we won't mention here and in some cases, pedaling was painful.  We knew that the end of our ride was near and I think that each of us savored that last day in a different way.  Kathy and Manny, always saw the beauty along the trail, Eagles, turtles, incredible well springs and the beach of course.  Marvin, kept the crew together and despite a knee that was growing to double the size the other one, he pedaled on and on. I took this last day as an opportunity to really test myself a bit more... so all this meant that we were on different parts of the trail for the morning.  Our goal today was to reach at least 38 miles, which would allow each of us to reach our goal.

As we passed under the Largo sign for the last time, it was fitting that, that was our 38 mile of the day.. 400th mile in 7 days.  Just an amazing journey!

I know that I am proud of this week, but this wasn't really the ending.  The next day we would be presenting a check thanks to so many people that donated to this cause.  The ride was just to bring awareness to Give Kids the World and to raise some money to help build new villas for families.  

We reached $20,000 in donations!  We are very proud of that (by the way the donation site is still open:)

I know that each of us is also equally proud of our physical accomplishment during this week.  We had some mechanical issues along the way and physical barriers, but each of us completed our goals.  

We also know that.... this was special, not just a chance to ride for 7 days straight, for entire days, but that while we will do this again next year, it will never be like this.  Something that started as a crazy idea sitting around a table in Costa Rica, became reality.  We actually raised a boatload of money we got our bikes to Florida and we rode.

We have many people to thank,  but if it's ok.. I would like to thank my fellow riders today.

To Kathy, who made us laugh, was eternally positive and is such a loving and caring person.  Thank you for all the conversation along the ride.  Thank you for taking care of us along the way and helping me to stop and smell the roses now and then (well, beyond the smell of my own jersey:)

Manny,  Thanks for being my friend and for your perseverance, throughout the ride. You kept us grounded and reminded us of why we really are doing this.  Thank you!

   

Marvin, we rode together almost the entire time and you did it with a hurt knee.. you are truly the ironman of the ride.  None of this would have happened at all if we didn't keep pushing.  I am so happy that we didn't give up when things got tough along the way.

It's crazy that it happened and now.. I am sure it is going to be a traditional ride before conference.  We'll have more riders next year, but this year was amazing.  Thank you for pushing me along.

I'll post some photos of our Check Presentation soon, a very proud and joyous day. 

I loved this photo, taken by our friend Fanny in St. Pete. I think this was around mile 200... crazy.. everyone did over 400 miles in a week.. that's nuts!  What an amazing team!  Thanks gang. 

Day 6

It's Sunday!  Only the Second to the last day.

We all will agree that we have bittersweet emotions when it comes to this ride today.  It was our last day through Dunedin and the North Side of the Trail up to Tarpon Springs.

At the very end of the road, there is a little dock where the fish come in.  Yesterday, we saw the fishermen tossing mackerel into a bin.  Today we just said a fine fair well to this quaint little Greek Fishing village.  On back down the trail.  We all were feeling good and had a little more pep in our step as we rode back into town.  I think we know every bump and jolt on this trail.  No, I know that we do.  Each day we see some of the same people.  One person mentioned to Kathy that "there are so many of you on this trail"  no, we are just here a lot!  Tomorrow, we will hit some milestones... some big numbers in riding!  Everyone has done a fantastic job.  Really, none of us have ever ridden this much for so many days.

If you are going to be at the IHG conference, don't be shocked if you see us up early riding around.. I think our legs will be begging for a ride.

At the end of this Glorious day, we had dinner with our 1 man support team and fellow rider John Kelley.  John has been here helping us every step of the way from logistics on the trail, to setting up PR to getting the rooms.. and carting us around with his sweet bike carrier.  He was out there on the trail today, burning up the pavement at a pace that was a little too quick for us.. long riding specialists :)

Our dinner was right on the water and we had this sunset to end the day.

There is still time to donate :)  

GKTW donations

Thanks again to everyone supporting us.  Our ride tomorrow will start as the sun comes up so that we can meet our goals and achieve some incredible milestones.

Then off to Orlando to GKTW.

Day 5

Today was another Epic day. We rode and rode and rode.. let me tell you the day after 86 miles, it takes you a little while to get going.  The funny thing is.. from Kathy to Marvin, Manny and myself.. that moment when you feel warmed up and good to go, is about 20 miles!  Now, thinking back a few weeks when we were doing some 20 mile rides.. and now that's just a warm up!  We had a great day.. riding down to St. Pete... where there were some festival goers that we had to dodge... over 8 overpasses... or as Kathy says.. 16!!! we go back over them again!!  :)    We stopped at our new adopted town of Dunedin as they were having another.. guess what.. festival!  Yes.. there seems to be something going on down here all the time.

Our day was capped off by a very nice dinner with our Host for the week.  Mr. George Glover invited us to go to have some Italian food.  It was amazing!  George a past Chairman for the Owner's Association shared some great stories and we all had fun.  And... one more thing.. after 81 miles in the saddle.. nearly 400 miles down... when you eat that first bite of food.. it tastes amazing!  I mean... we must have said.. "this is the best... fill in the blank"  every time we ate!  It's become our little joke.

Here is a picture of George, if you see him at conference, thank him for helping us out.  His staff has been amazing here at this property in Largo.  From the Front Desk staff that actually knows if the meeting room is rented to the folks at breakfast and the housekeepers that leave notes of encouragement in our rooms.

What an amazing place.. and a fantastic Host.

Thank you Baystar hotels!

Thanks George!

Day 4- Epic Ride

Today we rode down to St. Pete.. all the way until we got to Tampa Bay.. at which point we hit 200 miles on our journey!

Manny was able to grab a very nice lady from the area... named Fanny who gave us a little history and took this fantastic photo for us!

Later in the day, we were so honored to see a post on the Give Kids the World Facebook page about our ride.  Some of the comments just made us tear up and realize so much why we are doing this.  And... we were inspired.. We rode up to Tarpon Springs, making sure that we got the Max possible mileage today!

Here is a link to their page  https://www.facebook.com/gktwvillage?ref=ts&fref=ts

We don't have too many photos today.. Why?  Well, we rode 86 miles.  We had some mechanical issues, changed out some cleats, got some adjustments are Ride and Roll, had some mechanical issues with brakes then a flat.  But it was all worth it.. we rode like the wind on the way home (mostly because it was getting dark!

Thanks so much for your support!  What an amazing experience and we are so happy to be the conduit for all of you and your support of Give Kids the World.

We are nearing the $17,000 mark, and we would like to hit $20,000 or more by Monday.  If you are so inclined and would like to help out... Here is the link again.

click here for the donation page

Thanks again!  Tomorrow morning, we hit 300 miles!  Wait let me bold this   300 Miles!