Gordon Wean $2,925.00
Kris Sinnenberg $2,230.00
Michael Substelny $1,300.00
Kevin Duden $1,241.00
Christina Getrost $1,078.00
Lisa Alexander $1,040.00
Melanie Getrost $891.00
Buddy O'Connor $785.00
Janet Loeffler $521.00
Alex Pesta $485.00

According to my 8/2, 10:14 PM download of money already turned in to the National MS Society:
Gordon Wean - $2,825
Kris Sinnenberg - $1,630
Christina Getrost - $821
Melanie McGee Getrost - $791
Kevin Duden - $781.00
Lisa Alexander - $690.00
Mike Substelny - $625.00
Buddy O'Connor - $515.00
Janet Loeffler - $421.00
Carrie Emch - $365.00

Congrats to the 23, including these, who have their $250 turned in already!

Remember, to get a Cedar Point, Soak City, or Star Lanes ticket, your $250 should be turned in by August 7!

Arrangements have been made with the Sandusky Inn and Suites hotel for our team for the Pedal To The Point. The rate is 129.99 plus tax. (The hotel is the former Best Western that we stayed at a few years back.) Please call the hotel to make reservations and mention you are with the Pedal to the Point and Patti’s Paladins. Rooms will go fast, so make your reservations early. (Louise is our contact in case you want to ask for her.)

Here is the Info and the website:

Sandusky Inn and Suites
US 6 - 1530 Cleveland Road, Sandusky, Ohio,44870-4302, US.

Hotel Front Desk: 419/625-9234 Hotel Fax: 419/625-9971

http://www.sanduskyinnandsuites.com/

You may have heard this word used once or twice before...

Http://dictionary1.classic.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2009/04/23.html

Today = Cold and snow. XP

Yesterday wasn't exactly warm either, but it was better than today.

It was pretty chill when I got up and paid the bills. It was better when I
started layering up to go biking with my wife and other folks from my bikeMS
team. Then when I went outside to prep our bikes, I was pleasantly
surprised by the warmth of the sun.

Right about noon, Rebecca and I rode out the driveway and over to Mike and
Patti's house. They had generously volunteered to host not only the ride
start, but surprise cake and ice cream for Chris's daughter Cassidy. Al was
already there when we arrived, and then Tim came over from next door with
his daughter Nina. Chirs and Cassidy arrived, and when she _finally_ came
inside, she was very surprised. Plus she got a new bike - her first one without a coaster brake.

So a little while later, all fuelled up on cake and ice cream, Patti, Mike,
Rebecca, Al, Chris, Cassidy and I all set out for the Walk+Roll event
downtown. OK, Patti was only scootering up to CVS, but she rode out with
us, anyway.

A block or two after Patti turned off, as we waited to regroup, three other
ride came up on us: Nicholas, who works at my second job with me, his wife
Marie, and their friend Ben. After a small amount of persuading, we
convinced them to join us on our way. :-) The more the merrier, right?

We rode down a few more backstreets, then down Edgehill and across the new Cornell Rd overpass (still closed to cars, but open to pedestrians and bikes. Be careful at the north end of the bridge, though! It's not a smooth transition through there yet.) At some point as we cruise past the back side of UH and up Adelbert, Chris and Cassidy decided to turn back.

The rest of us were treated to the 'new' Euclid Avenue bike lanes. I think they've been there since last summer sometime. Anyway, they were great discovery for some of us, a new adventure for all, I think, at least this far east. Marie had just been wishing for bike lanes on Adelbert, too. :-) They were comfortably wide, remarkably clean, and in retrospect, I was shocked at how few times we were stopped at red lights! I was disappointed that the lanes ended somewhere as we rode through the CSU campus, but there's still miles of bike lane that I'd never ridden before.

We passed Sam and Laura (teammates) going the other way on our way downtown.

So I was under the impression that the Walk+Roll event was stretching all the way from Public Square to Playhouse Square. I was a little worried as we rolled up on Playhouse Square and I didn't see much of anything going on, and then suddenly, to my right, there were ponies! Real, live, tiny ponies so small I could straddle them and still not be sitting on them. This was the "Designarosa" set up by Pop-Up City at 13th and Euclid. They had the band Heelsplitter, free food and drink, info on upcoming Walk+Rolls, some merchadise to sell, and a table from the Hooper farm in Tremont. It was pretty slick set up, if smaller than I had imagined.

While I was there I was introduced to Al's friend Brandon, who is interested in Pedalling to the Point with Patti's Paladins this summer. I also met Brandon's girl, but I am embarrassed to tell you that I forgot her name.

Rebecca and I also made the aquaintance of the fencer Sara. She was dressed up in period clothes with a cape and a sword and drawn-on mustache and beard. Very fun.

Then across the street on Star Plaza, there was bike decorating and hula-hooping and sidewalk chalk and hopscotch, all presided over by Genna, who has been a "people I may know" for months, and is now a person I DO know. :-)

I also got to shake hands with a couple of guys i've met at Ohio City Bike Co-op events, and then ran into Kevin (yes, yet another teammate) and got to catch up with him for a few minutes before the temperature started to drop and force us all on our way.

All in all, biking with old friends and making new friends was a very pleasant way to spend a very pleasant afternoon.

This coming weekend is shot for me doing holiday family things, so I won't be organizing a ride.
Next, ideally, will likely be the east side Ride for the Earth from Shaker Square to the Zoo hosted by OCBC and Earth Day Coalition. http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/documents/W-B09Sml.pdf

I'm also told to look for some GPS-based scavenger hunts, breakfast rides and a trip to a delicious muffin shop later this summer. I can't wait!

Hey, gang!

Mr. Obama's first proclamation reads: "NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century." (Read the whole thing here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/a_national_day_of_renewal_and_reconciliation/)

So here's your opportunity to serve: Register for the 2009 Bike MS Pedal to the Point before January 31, 2009 for just $20! This is a DEEP discount over the regular $45 fee. You can register online, mail in a downloaded registration form or call the office at 800-667-7131. If you register online, be sure to use the coupon code RIDER to get the $20 rate.Bike MS Pedal to the Point 2009 will take place August 15 - 16, 2009. The start/finish location is Polaris Career Center which is just down the road from the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. The lunch and overnight locations will remain the same as last year.Registered so far: Lisa Alexander, Don Bales, Sam Bell, MJ Formoso, Rebecca, Rick, Richard Jester, Kevin Madzia, Kris Sinnenberg, Brian Sobola, Chris Strobbe, and Gordon Wean.
If you registered, and you don't see your name here, tell me, and I'll get it fixed.

Rebecca and I got a nice surprise in the mail - a 2009 Bike MS Calendar. The surprise part is that Patti's Paladins are the big picture on the November 2009 page! See it online here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=216915&l=f756c&id=1377627646. If you didn't get one and you want one, I can get more for $5 each.

Only one person responded to me about the St. Patrick's Day parade, so I didn't do anything about it.

I got people working on this year's hotel already, hopefully avoiding that last minute stuff from last year.

Anybody want to be in charge of uniforms? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?