Renovo Bikes

Late August 2013, I had a visit with a couple of customers in Portland, Oregon.  While I was there I dropped by to visit Renovo Bikes.  After a tour through their shop, I told the folks I was travelling with to head on and pick me up in a couple of hours.

The folks there were as great as the bikes.  I just showed up and rang their doorbell and a guy and a standard size poodle come to greet me at the door.  I later learn that the guy is Ken Wheeler, the owner and founder and the poodle is Elwood the guard poodle.  He immediately identified my southern accent, but he placed me from Georgia instead of NC.  After he answered a few of my questions, he took me on a tour of the shop where the bikes are made.  It is a really neat process.  All wood is tested and indexed when received.  Once you place an order for a bike, you get to pick the woods that are used for your bike.  I am sure you have the same thoughts I did when I first heard of bikes made out of wood, but these bikes are incredible works of art.  They are comparable to any graphite road bike.  Elwood lead our tour through the factory taking us to different departments on command.  For each bike, the wood is laminated and joined to the basic bike shape.  The wood is then carved on a CNC machine then the two halves are joined.  The remaining parts are assembled, each bike is then hand sanded and finished.  Before it ships, it is tested for horizontal and vertical compliance.  After the tour, I asked about a test ride.  Ken told me he had a helmet, I told him not to worry, I brought all my stuff.  Here again, they went above and beyond making sure I was set up properly on the bike.  It was about 2:00 in the afternoon at this time, he told me he closed at 6 so be back by then.

I took off riding the R3 and had a great ride.  Portland is a great place for cycling with many bike lanes and one way streets.  The bike had an incredible ride.  The ride was smooth as silk.  It was amazing how much the wood absorbed the shock from the road.  This was the most comfortable standard cycle that I have ever been on.  While on the ride, I noticed that the tires were a little slack on air.  I started looking for someone with a pump and found a couple of bicycle mounted police officers before long.  I borrowed a pump from them and pumped up the tires.  They had never heard of the bikes and took pictures of it before I went on my way.  One of the officers have married someone from NC and he picked my accent out better than Ken.  I ended up riding about 14 miles around Portland and finally took the bike back.

I was very surprised at the quality of the ride that the Renovo bikes had.  This would be highly recommended for a comfortable standard bike for long rides or just everyday rides.

Jimmy Jamboree

Saturday, August 24, 2013 was a special ride, the Jimmy Jamboree. Last
year in April, we had a fellow rider that passed away in the night
following the last day of Cycle to the Sea. It is still a little hard
to understand how someone who had just completed a 180 mile bike ride,
could just be gone so suddenly. Saturday though, we celebrated the
life of Jimmy Melton. There was a 5K road race, bicycle ride, and
softball tournament. I was glad to be able to participate in the
bicycle ride. My family also helped out at the rest stop along the
route. It was ver nice to get to see several of the ASAP riders out
Saturday. There were at least 16 ASAP riders as well as 4 of the
support crew. I rode with Greg Taylor, Brian Muscarella, and Karen and
Julio Rodriguez. The first part of the ride was very nice and easy,
rolling hills through quaint towns and beautiful country. The second
half of the ride was a little more challenging. There were some very
nice descents where you'd could easily hit speeds over 35 mph. As
always with that, there is the upholds to pay for it. There were a
couple of the hills that really sneaked up on us as caught us in gears
that were way too high for the climb. Probably the hardest was a short
steep uphill right after we had to stop at an intersection. This was a
great ride honoring a fellow rider who had obviously made a great
impact on his community.

At one point, Greg was cruising down a hill, and I was pedaling as
hard as I could just to keep up with him. I looked up to see a deer
crossing the road in front of us. I yelled for Greg to watch out as I
was afraid that it was not by itself. Just as I yelled, the second one
came out of the woods across the road. Greg was probably less than 20
feet from the deer when it crossed in front of him. I am glad there
were only two of them or we both may have been in trouble.

It was very nice to be able to see some of the ASAP family more than
once a year. Hopefully we can all ride together more through the year
in the future.

Heaven's gain

The trip home from CTTS 2013 was with a very heavy heart.  Jimmy Melton was a first year rider with CTTS.  He came to ride as an able bodied support rider to help his friend Jacob this year.  Not only did Jimmy sign up to ride the route each day, pushing as needed, but he also took care of the needs of a friend at the stops each night on the way.  I had only met Jimmy during the ride this year, but I could clearly see that he was a genuine, caring, and compassionate man.  With no warning, Jimmy passed away during the night following the ride. 

Jimmy, you will be missed greatly by your friends and family.  Our prayers are with you family during this difficult time.

Cycle to the Sea - Day 3

We finished up the ride to the beach today with three days of great weather. While it was windy, there was no rain. Planning an event ahead of time like CTTS means you gamble with the weather, but it was great this year.

 

I think that day three is actually the hardest day. We are tired from the first two days and with a mostly flat route, there is little rest time.  On the first two days, with the hills, you at least get to rest on the down hills.  Also, day three has longer legs to the rest stops. The first leg is 23 miles, then the next leg is another 23 miles to lunch.  That leaves a short ride of just over 10 miles after lunch to finish up.

 

During the ride today, we had a group of motorcycles pass us that seemed like they would never end.  There was no harm and they did nothing out of the way, it just seemed like they kept coming forever.  Their loud pipes right beside you on the bicycle were deafening. About 5 miles out from lunch, Greg had a flat tire on his bike.  Luckily, it was a back tire so we didn't have to deal with the chain and derailleur this time, but our luck was not much better with the tube.  This time, we got it up to 120psi on the first try and right as I was standing up from taking the pump off the stem, the tube popped. It was deafening in my right ear this time.  We got it right again on the second try and was back on the road. 

 

We finally figured out how to get Micah up out of the seat more so he was not so sore.  When we got to lunch I asked Micah if he was ready to get his bike out and he was.  I but the Beast on the van and got our standard bikes out.  Micah rode great on the last 10 mile stretch with the front pack. I think that he is ready to try more next year on his bike.

 

It would be a great disservice not to take this opportunity to thank some of the people who make this happen. This event would not be possible without them. First to Jennifer Moore and all of her staff, I will not try to name all of them as I would leave someone out.  I could not begin to thank you for the tireless hours put into organizing every part of this event and other ASAP programs.  To all of our support crew, lead and SAG vehicle drivers, food prep team, and many others.  To all the riders, you make it enjoyable while we are out on the road.  To the Rolling Thunder and all of our motorcyclist that are a part of our safety net on the ride, this ride simply could not take place without you.  Last, but certainly not least to all of our donors and sponsors, you make this happen, you give opportunities to those who may do things a little differently than you, but still want to remain active. 

 

This ride really is about the friendships among the ASAP family as much as it is about riding 180 miles together.  We ride together as packs, when one member of the pack needs help, we all stop and see what we can do.  We work hard together and we enjoy each others company over some great meals the Chef Jeff makes on the grill in the parking lot.  There are so many encouraging words spoken between the riders and you take an extremely diverse group of people that become family.  When Micah was a little tired on the last day, I reminded him that we had rode 160 miles together, and that was exactly how we were going to finish the ride.  Sometimes we need a little push or a word of encouragement to keep going, that is always there for you with this group.  You really can accomplish anything when you set your mind to it.  CTTS will always be my favorite ride of the year, can't wait until 2014!

 

Getting in the shade at lunch

 

 

Cycle to the Sea - Day 2

We had another very good day for riding. Early in the morning as we started out, it was a little cool, but warmed up pretty quickly with some movement. Day 2 is in my opinion the easiest riding day. The terrain is flatter than the first day, but there is still enough rolling hills to get a little break from time to time.

All in all it was another calm day. We had one mechanical problem with a handcycle. The shifter cable for the derailleur for the cassette broke. This is for the set of gears that are normally on the rear wheel of a standard bicycle, but they are located on the front wheel of the handcycles. This made is impossible to make small shifts from gear to gear and with a broken cable, the chain automatically goes to the easiest and slowest gear on the cassette. It would have been very difficult to stay with the group with this problem. Robbie had some cables in his bag that we could use for repairs, but none were long enough. We had another hand cycle on the truck, so Johnny transferred to the other handcycle.  This cycle had been set up for a quadriplegic rider so it was very different. We finally were able to figure out how the shifters worked and were ready to get back on the road when we realized there were no brake levers. We found some mechanism attached to the brakes, but did not see how it worked.  A plan was eventually devised that Johnny would have Damon in front of him and could ease into his bumper and Damon would brake for both of them. There was a roller on the back of the spare handcycle and Robbie would ride behind him and help push as needed. It also had a push pole so I got a little experience with a push pole from the captains seat on the Beast. Johnny was really a trooper riding a handcycle that was not set up properly for him, was difficult to shift, heavy, and rattled horribly on the fine SC asphalt.  At the first break we had Robbie was able to get the correct cable from his truck and fix the bike and get it back on the road.

We later had a flat tire that we stopped to fix. We had the tired back on and pumped it up only to find that we had pinched the tube when putting it back on the rim. We took it off and put another tube on and we should have been good to go. Only problem we me and Rhett were standing there looking at the wheel and the derailleur set up with very confused looks on our faces. The handcycles have the drive wheel in the front and the derailleur is mounted upside down. We finally looked at one of the other bikes and with some expert guidance from one of the handcyclists, we got it back on.  

 

We finished up our ride in Marion-Mullins SC. Micah decided that he wanted to stay on tandem today, so that is what we did. We had one rider this year on a recumbent bike.  I have never had the chance to try one out before until now.  I made it around the hotel a couple of times with no incident.  I see how these would be very comfortable on long rides.

Chef Jeff prepared us another incredible meal with pork tenderloin, beef, smoked sausages, potatoes, baked beans, and salad.  It is worth the 60 mile ride each day just for the food!

Cycle to the Sea - Day 1

Cycle to the Sea 2013, Day 1 is done.  We had a great day for riding today.  The weather was great, no rain like last year.  Micah is doing much better this afternoon.  In the rain last year, he got dehydrated and we had a pretty rough night.  This year, we had a great ride and learned from our mistakes.  We rode with the front pack again this year, total mileage was 55 miles and we averaged 13.8 for the day.  Today was one of the best kind of cycling days you could have, uneventful.  Couple of chains came off in our pack and one parking brake issue on the less than ideal bumpy roads in SC.  We had a lot of new riders this year, both able bodies (AB's) and disabled riders.  Several times today it was the AB's that were slowing us up, but we got everything together towards the end.

So far this year, there has been over $56,000 raised through Cycle to the Sea.  This will help ASAP continue to provide their services.  Thank you all for your support!

Tomorrow, we are looking for another great day.  We have Micah's bike and after lunch tomorrow, we plan on having Micah ride his own bike.  The back pack is large this year, so that may hold us up some with that.

Morgan, one of our safety riders

Greg Taylor

Brian M.

Doug -  a new rider this year

Johnny Ragland

Me and Micah on the Beast

Jim and Jason on Beast 2.0

Megan

Almost time for CTTS 2013

It is getting close to Cycle to the Sea again this year and we are really excited.  We had promised to match the first $500 donated this year.  We were amazed that in just two days we had reached the $500 mark, and with the match, we were half way to our fund raising goal!  We currently are at $1775, almost there.  This event is a great fund raiser for the Adaptive Sports and Adventures Program, so far over $20,000 has been donated towards this cause.  The continued support of this program helps people who are differently abled to be able to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. 

At the beginning of this week, I went on a field trip with Micah and his school to Seabrook Island, SC.  At one of the classes they asked us to introduce ourselves and tell something we liked to do.  I told them that I liked to ride my bike which sparked more conversation about the rides I had done and upcoming rides.  At some point, one of the teachers asked me how much more we needed for our fund raising.  I was surprised and humbled today when I received an email from the teacher asking if it would be OK with us if they did a blue jeans day, she had already spoken with the principal for approval, and they wanted to help us make our fund raising goal.  For those not familiar with Lincoln Charter, the students have to wear uniforms, on blue jean days, they are allowed to wear blue jeans in exchange for a donation to the charity or cause for that day.  I had already been impressed with the way the teachers cared for the students and interacted during the trip, but to think about doing this for us was more than I would have ever expected.

Cycle to the Sea 2013

It is about time for my favorite ride of the year!!  Micah and I are registered this year and plan on bringing the beast for Cycle to the Sea 2013.  Why you ask is this my favorite ride??

• It is very encouraging to watch all the different people that participate in the ride.  There are many circumstances that have led to different disabilities.  Riding along side someone who has decided to continue to be active despite the obstacles is very encouraging.  Seeing the level that many peform at is humbling. 
• Less complaining than any ride with all able bodied riders.
• GREAT PEOPLE!!!!

I am looking forward to this ride again this year.  If all goes well, we hope for Micah to be able to ride part of the ride on his own bike this year.  That will also allow me to help more as a support rider. 

Check out our fundraising page:

http://events.carolinashealthcarefoundation.org/goto/mize

Our goal is $2000 this year.  This year, we are matching the first $500, so your early donation gets doubled!

Breakaway to the Beach 2012

Breakaway to the Beach this year was one of my most difficult rides I have completed so far.  The first day was warm and quite windy.  I am not sure if this was better than the rain from last year or not.  The extra wind made it more difficult to stay hydrated.  In the first five miles, I lost one of my water bottles when putting it back in the cage.  I made the wrong decision and chose to stay with the pack instead of stopping to get the bottle.  On a day like this, one water bottle was just not enough.  I was OK through the first 40 miles but then started getting cramps.  I was not alone, there were a lot of people along the route stopped trying to work out cramps.  At about mile 55, I had a cramp that locked my legs up.  I had to stop going up a hill, and could not even get off of my bike for several minutes.  I was finally able to work it out and the SAG truck came by and had some extra water that they gave to me.  I finally made it into lunch and then rode at a slower pace for the rest of the day.  As soon as I got to the hotel that night, I found a store to buy me a new water bottle.  I was not going to run out again. 

On the second day, I started with out second group and kept a slower pace throughout the day.  We still averaged around 16 for the 100 miles.  We had one rider in our group that had MS.  She was so disappointed that she was not able to make the full ride.  She rode over 140 miles in the two days and then got a ride to the finish.  She was determined, but we highly encouraged her to get a ride instead of doing damage to her joints. 

All in all, I still finished a double century, but it was very difficult for me this year.  After the first day, I was about ready to throw in the towel, but I wanted to make sure that I am setting a good example for my kids.  When you commit to do something, do it.  It may not always be easy, but as long as you are able, keep your commitments.