In about a week and a half I will be doing a 300 mile bike ride through southeastern Minnesota. I created a page that will allow people to track where I am on my journey. You can visit the page here. I am using an iPhone application that will update it at every pit stop. Because it won’t be running the whole time while I am riding it may appear that I am going off-roading, but trust me, I am not.
Charity
21
Jun 09
Day on the Ride
This weekend I did the “Day on the Ride” training event that the Red Ribbon Ride has every year. It is a fully supported one day training ride to prepare riders for the actual ride in less than a month. We had for pit-stops and one of those was for lunch. At lunch we had grilled burgers and brats. Overall we did 62 miles through South Minneapolis, Eagan, Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights. I did get a little scarred a few times riding through Eagan because there was some heavy traffic, no shoulders, and crazy people, but I made it. I also got to use my new iPhone 3G S to take some video. I made a really short clip of the pit stops on the ride. I hope to get better taking video as time goes on.
If you would like to donate to this wonderful cause and support me in my riding, please visit the following link.
3
May 09
Red Ribbon Ride 2009
Dear Friends & Family,
I am very excited to inform you that I will be doing my fifth Red Ribbon Ride this year. Half a decade sure does go by fast. With my cycling and your financial contributions, together we have raised almost $7,000 for organizations that assist people living with HIV/AIDS in Minnesota. I could not continue to ride these 300 miles every July if I did not have the continued support of my friends and family. I ask for your support again in 2009.
I fully understand the economic condition that we currently are in; this is all the more reason that we need to raise the critical funds that the seven beneficiaries rely on to keep their doors open. The seven beneficiaries include: The African American AIDS Task Force, The Aliveness Project, Clare Housing, Hope House of St. Croix Valley, The Minnesota AIDS Project, Park House and the Rural AIDS Action Network. These organizations offer a variety of services from housing to prevention and education to stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS. I invite you to check out the beneficiary page on the Red Ribbon Ride’s website by clicking here.
This ride is very challenging in both training and fund raising. Training for a 300 mile bike ride is not easy and even harder is raising the minimum $1,500 to be able to do the ride. I hope I can count on your continued support this year. If you haven’t donated in the past, I hope that you will join in the fight against HIV/AIDS and make a tax-deductible donation to my ride. To donate please click here for my page or copy the link below and paste it in your browser’s address bar.
http://www.redribbonride.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1233403&pg=personal&fr_id=1080
As always, please email me if you have any questions about donating or participating in the Red Ribbon Ride.
Thank you,
Michael
28
Jul 08
Red Ribbon Ride 2008 Recap
As many of you may know, I completed the Red Ribbon Ride 2008 last Sunday. I have posted my photos here. As usual it was a great time. This year’s weather was different from the previous years though. On the first day we had to sit in a church for 3-4 hours while it stormed out. After that though, the weather pretty much cooperated with us for the rest of the ride. This year I slept in a tent every night instead of staying in the gym. I wish I would have done this all the previous years because it is much cooler than the hot gyms. It was very convenient that I had friends that were doing gear this year so I didn’t have to worry about putting up my tent or taking it down. We ended up staying at a park in Lake City.
On Day 2, I ended up getting a flat tire. Luckily for me, I got a flat a couple of weeks earlier on busy HWY 23, so now I have learned to change my tire in about 30 seconds. Thank god for CO2 cartridges. That night we stayed at a Rochester School.
On Day 3, we spent the night in Northfield. That night was Friends & Family night. Jeanne White, who was the mother of Ryan White, came and gave a presentation. Ryan White was a hemophiliac in the 80’s that contracted HIV through contaminated blood. It was very interesting to hear her story and what their family had to endure.
On Day 4, the final day, we had a short ride (50 miles) to the capitol in St. Paul. Usually we end at Richfield middle school in previous years, so that was a really nice change.
Overall, it was another great year. I was able to ride every mile despite the weather. I am also very fortunate for my donors. This year was my best year for fundraising due to my continued donations from friends and family and also the company I work for, W3i. I raised over $2,300. Without everyone’s support I would not be able to do this ride, and without this ride, many of these organizations would be able to keep their doors open. I have already registered for next year and happy to say that I was the 3rd person to do so. By the time the ride ended, over 100 people had registered, so next year could be the largest year yet.
4
Jul 08
Red Ribbon Ride 2008
Two weeks from today I will be on my 4th Red Ribbon Ride. I am very excited as usual. The RRR is a 4 Day, 300 mile bike ride throughout southern Minnesota. We ride out of Mall of America and make our way down to Rochester and then back up to the capitol in St. Paul. In previous years, we ended at a school in richfield, so this is a nice change. I heard that we still have to ride on the usual narrow rode in Eagan. That is the worst part of the whole 4 days. Let me tell you, there are some crazies in Eagan. Anywho, the point of the ride is to raise money for non-profit organizations that assist people living with HIV/AIDS and also prevention. I am happy to say, from the help of some generous people and my very generous company, I met my original fundraising goal. Each rider is required to raise $1,500 to ride. This is not a small task! If I am lucky enough to get an iPhone next week, I plan on blogging and posting pictures to my blog. If you feel like being part of this great event, it isn’t to late to donate. Please visit the following link to do so. http://www.redribbonride.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1189443&pg=personal&fr_id=1070
9
Mar 08
F1 Web Challenge
It has been one week since the F1 Web Challenge and I think I have finally recovered. It was a very fun event. It was actually longer than 24 hours. I was up for 36 hours!! It was on the U of M campus (St. Paul). There were eight of us on a team. My team consisted of 4 other co-workers, 2 former co-workers and one back up who worked for the sponsoring company. We had six developers, one webmaster and one project manager/BA. IMO, David probably worked the hardest. I think next year if we do this again, we need to bring two webmasters. Our organization was Hope Chest for Breast Cancer. They have a very unique business model in which they receive very high end merchandise from donors and turn around and sell it in one of their two stores for a fraction of the price. The proceeds are then given to organizations that assist people living with breast cancer. They were very energetic and prepared. They did have a lot of requests though so we weren’t able to get them all done, but they do have a functional website. It is not up yet though. I hope we will have it up within the next two weeks. Below are some screenshots. Next year we will also need to have a designated driver. I got 30 minutes out of the cities and realized I was going towards Duluth and not St. Cloud!
