Hello everyone!
I was sick last week and had no business staying awake for two days. It all caught up with me this past Monday after Bike the Blizzard was over. The only reason I think I made it was the positive vibes. So much positive mental attitude going on around here this weekend. On Saturday we saw the first 4 bikes of 2014 get earned. Heather and I then bolted to go home before Bike the Blizzard began. I was back here at 11pm and Heather climbing the stairs at 11:30pm – she was not alone.
Our beginning riders were already showing up along with the first volunteers to help watch the shop during the ride. So lets start there. We had volunteers waiting at the shop during the entire 24 hours waiting by the phone in case a rider needed a pick up, kept making coffee for riders and were there to greet folks as they came in. So big thank you to: Andrew, James, Joe, Olivia, Bob, Carl, Jim, Whitney, Jim, Mike, Leslie and Sicily. All those folks put in at least a 3 hour shift hanging out at the shop making this event happen. Some folks even put in a shift, went home and came back a second time. Others put in a shift and then rode a little with us. Thank you so much!
Before I get into everything, I should mention that you can still donate to our riders here, if you haven’t already.
Last year we had 2 people begin riding at midnight. Others joined in around 1 or 2am. This year we had 15 people riding at midnight! Also, this year was MUCH colder than 2013. The wind chill kept the temperature below zero. For the entire morning it kept a steady -6 degrees Fahrenheit. This didn’t stop folks. You just had to bundle up. Here is a picture of Mike showing how to bundle for cold riding.
I hope Mike forgives me, but I have to reveal his age to give him the credit he deserves. Though our riders were of all different ages, Mike is 62 years old (our oldest rider) and planned to ride the same number of miles as his age. Mike decided to quit on Sunday after riding 70 miles in the cold. Most of those miles he rode before the sun came up, but he definitely kept riding into the early evening before he called it a day. #MiketheBlizzard
We ended up having 25 riders throughout the whole day and I plan to tell you about all of them, so get ready for a long post. However, I feel as if this is why you are here right? To live this great day through the folks that did it? Yeah, me too.
I now want to talk to you about a group of riders called Team Gladstone. This group included Doug, Alice, Dan and Noah. They were super impressive. This team began the ride before the 26th, they came up with their own incentives for people to donate to them including getting a bicycle themed block print mailed, mimosas delivered to a brunch location of your choice and two of their riders offered to ride nude for a mile (sadly no one took them up on this, it was going for a $500 donation). It worked out for team Gladstone who raised over $1,300 for Back Alley Bikes.
The day before the ride this team help a potluck at their house for riders to come and load up on carbs and bask in the fellowship we were about to share. On the day of the ride they brought leftovers to share with everyone. Top notch people I tell ya!
Also, collectively this team rode 304 miles throughout the day. They scheduled it out so that for the first half of the day, someone from their team would be riding the entire time. Around 3am some of our midnight riders started to head home for a nap – this is when Dan showed up to ride. At 6pm most of the rest of our midnight riders bonked out – this is when Alice started to ride. Team Gladstone was holding it down.
I suppose I should tell you about those folks that rode a century next right? For those that don’t know riding a century means riding 100 miles in a day. Ramon was the first to finish 100 miles before he went home for a well deserved rest. Our board president Joel also hit the 100 mark as well as Jamie who hit 100 miles right at midnight.
All three riders started at midnight. Joel and Ramon went straight to Belle Isle where they reported a beautiful view but freezing winds. Jamie rode around Hamtramck stopping at home a few times to get her layers right. They all got some rest at certain points throughout the day, but Jamie held in the longest finishing right at midnight. Though the weather was cold it never snowed too bad until right at midnight. Jamie rode her last mile in whiteout conditions (more about that later).
Another special group was Team Winter of Sal. This group was from KLM Bike & Fitness, one of our partner bike shops out in the suburbs. Tim, Sal, Rivers & Ricardo signed up to ride with us a few weeks ago not knowing that they would have to work a sale on the day of and day before the ride! Ricardo and Sal showed up at midnight to do a lap around Belle Isle before heading home. They came back as a group later in the day.
I didn’t get their exact mileage, but I think the group did around 200 miles together. They brought out a fat bike to have some fun in the snow with and rode around town. These folks also brought a bunch of cheer with them considering that they worked before heading down to ride. We are really excited to work with KLM more in the future.
Another team that started at midnight was Team Four de Dudes – Derek, Jeremiah, Bobby and Kourtney. If I remember correctly it was Jeremiah’s birthday on the 26th. So the team started the day riding together and celebrating Jeremiah’s birthday. What a way to start the day!
As daylight broke the energy didn’t stop. In the early afternoon Angela showed up to begin riding. Angela runs a bike program in Flint called the Berston Bicycle Club Project. Angela is originally from Detroit and wanted to come down to see what we were up to. She rode through the first of the snow in the afternoon around Belle Isle and then had to take off back to Flint. It was great to have Angela down and hopefully our groups will be riding together this summer!
Also around this time one of our volunteers Liz came by with a bunch of food for everyone. We did have snacks for all the riders, but a crock pot full of hot pasta was a really nice touch that gave folks a boost of energy. Liz then also put in 35 miles of riding that afternoon as well. Thanks Liz!
Team Freighty Cat is made of Kyle and Leslie who run Freighty Cat bike company (they are going to make cargo bikes right here in Detroit). Also they both work with our friends South West Custom Rides and Kyle works as a mechanic in our shop. So, we love these two!
Kyle had some big talk about riding to Port Huron and back, which didn’t end up happening, but at midday they did ride out the Greenfield Village to visit Henry Ford.
George lead our youth rides this past summer and he wanted in on some winter riding. George had to work on Sunday and showed up at 11pm. He fixed his flat really quick and with Jamie riding with him, he took off to put in 10 miles (and Jamie then reached her 100). George rode through the worst weather of the day and then rode home in thick snow. It is hard to keep up the energy at the end of the day, but George gave us that final boost we needed and made sure we had a rider on the road for the entire 24 hours!
Now I’ve got to tell you about the staff here. Heather, Joey and I (Jason) did some riding as well. As I mentioned above, I was getting over (actually it was getting worse, I just thought I was getting over) a cold. For my health I kept my riding down to 20 miles. I rode early in the morning, the group ride in the afternoon and then five more at night (no thanks to the DDOT bus that tried to hit me!). But enough about me, lets talk about Heather and Joey.
Heather had goals. Last year she rode the most miles she has ever ridden in one day. In 2013 she rode 75 miles. This year Heather had her eyes on a larger prize. You need to know that her nick-name around here is “the hammer”. The Hammer ended the night disappointed. Why was she disappointed? She rode 85 miles. Now most of you are thinking, “That isn’t disappointing! That is downright impressive!” Please let her know that. Though, if 85 miles was enough we wouldn’t be calling her the hammer I suppose.
Joey needs a nick-name now. I think it will be “insane”. Joey came and started riding at midnight. Around 9am he disappeared and we didn’t see him for another 12 hours. Most of us guessed that at some point he went home and slept…nope. HE WAS RIDING THAT WHOLE TIME! Joey decided that sleeping just wasn’t a good idea. He did take breaks, but just rode all around the city. He even did a few laps through Elmwood Cemetery figuring the road conditions there would be good.
Joey rode 124 miles over 24 hours.
This is where I have to bring a Team Gladstone member back into the mix. Doug took some breaks, including one to do yoga in the morning. But Doug was here most of the day and totaled 124 miles as well.
So we have two record holders – Doug and Joey both put in 124 miles in 24 hours during Bike the Blizzard 2014. I thought I was tough riding 110 miles in 2013. Though in 2013, the average temperature was 20 degrees warmer. I’m in awe of all of our riders and how much they put in for Back Alley Bikes.
As a group we rode ~1,400 miles.
As of this writing we raised ~$6,500 for Back Alley Bikes educational programs which is crucial in January when we don’t have much money at all coming in. This definitely saved us from a financial hole we were digging.
A big thank you should go out to Carhartt for donating jackets and hats to our riders. Once all the donations from the ride come in I will be distributing that swag to our riders with the most distance and most dollars raised.
Final shout out to our friends in Pie Sci! We bought 10 pizzas for dinner that the riders that were still around munched on. It helped us make it through the last hours of the ride.
The final Thank You goes to YOU! There were countless donors. Even during the ride donations kept pouring in and your support is so crucial and important to what we do here. Thank you so much for making Bike the Blizzard 2014 such a HUGE SUCCESS!