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Mike Hamel's 2009 Picassa album more 2009 photos Saturday June 5, 2010 Check back to register for the 2010 tour!
Road Bike 101 A special feature of the 100 Grand, Road Bike 101 is for cyclists of all ages who are wary of road riding but enjoy cycling trails and neighborhood streets. RB 101 riders join small groups with experienced Rapid Wheelmen Club roadies in the 100 Grand 35-mile ride. You will build confidence in riding on the road and learn the basic 'rules of the roadie' for cycling singly or in groups on our challenging but scenic 35-mile route -- complete with hills both up and down! You will learn bike handling skills to help you no matter what types of riding you do. RB 101 riders must be able to ride the 100 Grand 35-mile course in 3 to 4 hours. Rest stops with beverages, fruit, and snacks are provided. Full lunch at the conclusion of the ride. Questions? Email: 100grand@rapidwheelmen.com |
2010 online registration closes Display a print-friendly form for
100 Grand registration 2010 mail-in registration closes 100
Grand brochure SOON! Pre-registration cutoff: May 24 Questions? Email: 100grand@rapidwheelmen.com
EARLY BIRD PRIZES Register before May 24 and your name might be drawn as one of two winners of $50 gift certificates to Alger Cycling. Winners for 2009: Ed Wilson of Paw Paw, and Bonnie Robbert of Grandville. Congratulations! |
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Lunch provided for ALL entrants: BBQ sandwiches, pita wraps (with vegetarian option), tons of fruit, soda, homemade cookies, and other snacks. 65 and 105 mile riders enjoy lunch out on their routes. 17 and 35 mile riders have lunch at the school at the conclusion of the
ride. Rest stops are every 20 miles or so along each route and are stocked with home-made cookies, fruit, snacks, Gatorade, and water. 17 mile riders also have a rest stop near their half-way point.
After the ride, at the school, showers are available – bring your own soap and towel. Questions? Email: 100grand@rapidwheelmen.com
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| 2009 Ride Report You came. You rode. You ate like locusts. The 36th Annual 100 Grand Bicycle Tour on June 6th was a smashing success by any standard. A record-breaking 587 riders showed up (a 21% increase over 2008), and rode an astonishing 38,208 miles. That’s the equivalent of over 33.6 million bicycle lengths. Nearly perfect bicycling weather provided the backdrop for the day. The past three years have been unseasonably hot, so Saturday’s temps in the 60s and low 70s were a pleasant surprise. Gatorade quaffing was down – cookie, fruit, and sandwich eating was WAAAAY up. Everything, save for a few bananas, was gobbled up. Store-bought cookies and several additional bags of chips helped us keep everyone sated. Nearly 80 pounds of BBQ pulled pork, 26 watermelons, 450 wraps, over 1000 bananas, more than 72 pounds of grapes, hundreds or oranges, and thousands of cookies were consumed over the course. Over 500 cans of pop and a over a dozen 2-liter bottles of soda were guzzled. Special mention has to be made for our very youngest riders – the Lubberts clan from Jenison completed the 17 mile loop. Camden, Connor, and Ella (3, 5, and 7) hold young rider honors. Ian Rees (age 11!) rode the 105 mile loop. Also riding were Anthony (9) and Emily (12) Charameda, Nathan Perkins (11), and Kevin Baumann (12). On the upper age of the spectrum was our eldest rider William Leach, age 81 on the 65 mile loop. Our SAG drivers reported a quiet day.Tim from Alger Cycling helped a few riders with flat tires and a broken spoke or two. We rescued two wandering riders from Grand Haven (!), but otherwise little assistance was required of our four-wheeled team. Thanks to Alger Cycling for their assistance at the school start, and also along the road. Riders Bonnie Robbert and Ed Wilson will probably be visiting Alger soon to spend their $50 gift certificates that they each won as part of our early registration promotion. Congratulations to them. Once again, Wells Orchard provided the backdrop for the rest stop on our 17 mile loop. Lamont CRC hosted the busy 1st rest stop, where additional treats were offered by their Youth Group to benefit their mission project. Grose Park was the lunch stop for most of our riders. Cyclists on the 105 mile course paused for refreshments at the Grant Public Library. Our host site, Westside Christian School provides shade and shelter, and a friendly atmosphere for the 100 Grand. We’ve enjoyed starting there for years, and this year was no exception. I especially appreciated their graciousness as they watched me knock over their light post while delivering supplies on Friday before the ride. Next year, someone else will be at the helm of the 100 Grand, as I’m hanging up my helmet after four years of fun as the Director. Look for new twists & turns as the 37th Annual 100 Grand Bicycle tour hits the road on June 5, 2010. And, hey, I still haven't forgotten all the work the volunteers put in for the 100
Grand. Still working on that piece ... thanks. Judy Crankshaw Director/100 Grand 100 Grand Hall of Fame Neil Jasperse – coordinator of all the
volunteers. When I asked for help, Neil was the first to step up. Assigning
jobs and begging for cookie bakers, he has been tireless. AND, he worked registration
just for the fun of it! Caroline and Greg Blake – vetting the route
is no small task. The 100 Grand crosses four county lines, and numerous
city/township boundaries. hey contacted all the road authorities, rode the
routes, and made helped map out a construction-free, safe route. THEN, they
also painted a stretch of it with John Kowalczyk (everyone see the smiley face
on Hoover?) Leslie Wills – who else would volunteer to
shop with me for an entire day, make trail mix, sort out rest stop supplies,
and keep me calm as I backed over the light post in front of the school? Leslie is the perfect side-kick for an
adventure of this type! Rosalie and Abe Bangma – Rosalie offered to
run ‘errands’ before ride day, as she and Abe wanted to ride. After making
dozens of trips to purchase soda at specially advertised prices, they also
picked up/dropped off BBQ, and worked the day at Grose Park. She also witnessed
the light-post encounter on Friday, but wisely declined to offer counsel. John Kraklau – recommended by Diane
Obermeyer from the N24HR, John not only worked registration, but also hauled a
ton of food from the school to Grose Park.A volunteer in the truest sense of
the word. Terry Vanderkolk – working registration
wasn’t enough for Terry – he had to SAG as well. We were lucky to have such a
handy SAG driver. Kim Kordecki – Vice President, registration,
emergency rescue driver to Grand Haven, emergency food purchases. This woman
can do it all! Thanks for staying where you were desperately needed. John Crankshaw – Command Central for
SAG/rescue, errands, support, and 100 Grand Chief Psychiatrist. The best
ever. PLUS, he rinsed and returned 300+
snotty pop cans. Registration – Geri Finch, Jim Steenwyk,
Nancy VanderKolk, Jessica Mariano, Dan Van Meurs, and all of the people
above. Taking money, snapping
wristbands, and answering questions!
Calm, quick, and efficient. Lamont – extraordinary efforts by Nancy
Lange, Laura Melendez, and Rick Pearce. They kept (nearly) every happy at a
VERY busy rest stop. Grose Park – Jane Magniant hauled supplies
and wore the Chief’s hat. Jochen Ditterich, Bob Ayars, the Bangmas, John
Kraklau all dished up BBQ, wraps, fruit, and cookies while mixing Gatorade and
answering route questions. Fun, wasn’t it? Wells Orchard – Dennis Hamel and the whole
Hamel crew put up the RW shelter and recovered it. And Katie sold every last
pair of socks from last year and filled in at a lot of other jobs. Grant – Patricia and Mike Gormley, assisted
by daughter Elena dished up snacks for over 100 riders at this busy stop. They
hauled it all up there, brought back the few leftover, and took VERY good care
of everyone who passed through. Mike then rode back to Westside CS, just to get
in a few quality miles! Cookie Bakers – where would we be without
them? I wish I could credit the specific cookies to the bakers – we had an
extraordinary variety, and the quality (John can attest to that!) was
exceptional. Thanks to Michelle Modzeleski, Nancy VanderKolk, Katie/Kevin
Hollebeak, Amy Duggan, Ellie Bergman, Larry Martin, Troy Carr, Lisa Mead, Norm
Sevensma, Neil and John. Hope I didn’t
miss anyone. I would match up our bakers against any Club – ANYWHERE! Road
Bike 101 – we started this four years ago. As cyclists, we need to
encourage new folks to set aside their worries and just ride. These are the
folks who help. Renee and Jeff Zylstra have headed this up since its inception,
but had to pass this year due to Jeff’s back injury. Josh and Amy Duggan
stepped in to run the 10 riders through the basics of road riding, safety
rules, and other road bike miscellany. On the ride, they were ably assisted by
Jessica Maycroft, Jim Crawford, Lee McCormick, and Mike/Gloria Everts. This group
deserves your special thanks for stepping in to help new riders. It’s not an
easy task, but they do it, and have fun as well. Road Painting – Dave Mordis and Dan Kloet
painted the Grant loop and swept the route clean. Greg Blake and John Kowalczyk
painted from Lamont to Grose Park, and back. I enlisted a total non-cyclist
friend Tom Cole to help me paint, and John and I finished the rest of the
school/Lamont route. Lots of marks – really a great job by all. Maps – Mike Burden takes the rough (very)
information I give him and produces our wonderful maps. He even prints them,
and his wonderful boss at Lynk Systems allows him to use the color laser
printer there to print them free for the Club. This is exceptional. As any ride
captain knows, mapmaking is the absolute worst part of leading any ride. Mike
is the Map King. If I forgot anyone, it’s unintentional. Let
me know, and I’ll make immediate corrections. |
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