Richard Sachs Raffle Drawing!

The winner of the Richard Sachs raffle drawing was chosen today: Nick Zatezalo of Dunwoody, GA, will have a Richard Sachs frameset custom-made for him. Here's a video of the drawing:

Congratulations to Nick!

Jerseys!

We have a final design for the Wheels North jerseys that will be worn by our riders!

The design features Vic and Ray, the original Wheels North riders, in a photo taken moments before starting their 1909 ride. Our Wheels North sponsors are featured on the back.

Training for Wheels North

Several Wheels North riders--Willie, Peter, Mojo, and Eric--used yesterday's Davis Double as an opportunity to train for Wheels North. Everything was there: heat, distance, and terrain.

Here's a video we made of events on the ride:

Davis Double Report

We're 90 miles into the Davis Double. The big climb is next!

-- Post From My iPhone

Sachs Raffle Closes--$10,000 in Tickets Sold

A major fundraiser for Wheels North and the Histiocytosis Association ended just minutes ago with the last of 100 raffle tickets being sold for a custom-made Richard Sachs frameset. The sale of raffle tickets grossed $10,000 for the Histio Association!

Thank you to Richard Sachs for helping make this raffle possible!

Sella Anatomica Saddles

Our shipment of saddles from sponsor Sella Anatomica arrived today. Here's one of them, ready for use in a double century ride next weekend.

Four Wheels North riders will be using Sella Anatomica saddles on the ride. Watch for their reports!


-- Post From My iPhone

Donate with PayPal

We've added PayPal as an option when using our online donation pages. Donate securely without providing your credit card info!

The Wheels North online donation page is HERE. To donate to a rider, use the Search function to find their fundraising page.

Welcome a New WN Rider

We have a new Wheels North rider: Warren Jones will joining us for the ride to Seattle. Check out the Riders page at Wheels North for more info and (coming soon) a link to Warren's online fundraising page.

With Warren, we now have 12 riders signed up for the trip to Seattle. One more rider is seriously considering it ...

Why We Ride

An email arrived today that I wanted to share. This is why we ride.

Good Morning,

My name is L_____ M_____ and I have luckily tripped across your fundraiser as I was doing research late one night. My beautiful 5 yr old daughter, has recently been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Granuloma/Histiocytosis and just finished her first round of radiation after 2 vertebra collapsed. She is multi-focal, with lesions in other parts of her skeletal system, but doing well with the help of an amazing doctor. I am finding out that there is so much that we don’t know about this disease and because of that her future will be full of tests and treatment. And yet we feel like the lucky ones- there are many other children out there fighting this same disease with much tougher situations. What a wonderful thing you and your organization are doing to help them!! Thank you so very much!

I have always wanted to ride the Seattle to Portland ride- but as a mother of 6- I haven’t figured out the training schedule yet. So this ride is not an option for me - but I am wondering if you are looking for volunteers. I have a large family and many friends who would love to help support if there are things we could help with on this end. If nothing else- I would love to bring my family to the UW to welcome you in.

But again, thank you so much for the insight, the planning and the vision! We are so grateful!

Much gratitude,

L.M.

Sella Anatomica Joins Wheels North

Saddle maker Sella Anatomica has joined Wheels North as a sponsor! They'll be providing saddles for some of our riders, who will doing a 1,000-mile road test.

Sella Anatomica makes a unique line of saddles featuring the company's patented flex slot. More info is available here.

Thank you to Sella Anatomica for helping make our ride a success!

Two Months to Go!

The start of Wheels North is just two months away! On July 4, 2009, we'll be standing astride our bicycles in Santa Rosa just as Vic and Ray did 100 years ago. And as it did for them, Seattle will beckon to us with the promise of fun and adventure.

With ride day approaching, the Wheels North riders of 2009 are busy training and raising funds. We're also continuing to work on arrangements for the ride--the lodging, transport, and publicity that will be needed to make the event successful and fun.

One thing we're working on now is our support crew. We'll be fortunate in having several veteran support workers from the Big Fix--they will help make sure that the needs of our riders are met.

We're also ordering the limited-edition Wheels North jerseys--watch this blog to see the official design.

We're on Facebook!

Tell all your friends--Wheels North is now on Facebook. Check us out HERE

Join the Wheels North community and help spread the word to all of your Facebook friends!

See You at the Movies!

The special benefit screening of "The Bicyclists" in Davis, CA, is featured in the Davis Enterprise newspaper today. The Bicyclists will screen at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, March 30th. More info here.

Proceeds from the show benefit the Histiocytosis Association of America.

Because It's Important to Look Good, Too ...

... our friend, Jeff, at the Davis Barber Shop, will give one free haircut to any Wheels North rider who goes to his shop before the ride. (Jeff may also be joining us for Day Two of the ride to Corning).

Thanks to Jeff for his generosity!

Putting in Miles

The first day of Wheels North is about 120 days away (July 4), so it's time for our riders to think about getting in some miles. The first few days of the ride will be scenic, but tough, and we'll need strength in our legs to climb the mountains.

One of our riders, Willie Myers, took a big step yesterday with his first 100-mile ride. (That's Willie in the photo, about halfway through the ride.) In two weeks, Willie and fellow WN rider Eric Norris will be upping that mileage to 180 (or 300 kilometers). Later in the spring, we'll be doing at least one multi-day ride with days of 100 miles or more.

All of this to help make that that, like Vic and Ray, we reach Seattle under our own power.

Looking for Friends in Eugene and Salem

We'll be contacting the University of Oregon in Eugene and Willamette University in Salem next week as part of our search for lodging for our riders and crew. If you're reading this and know anyone at those universities (or other potential lodging places in Eugene or Salem) who could help us, please go to the Wheels North web site and email us. Thanks!

Video: A Visit to Geyser Basin

While we were in Seattle, we visited Drumheller Fountain, which was known 100 years ago as Geyser Basin, the center of the AYPE. Here's a video of our visit:

New Sponsor: Branford Bike

We're pleased to announce that bicycle retailer Branford Bike is a Wheels North sponsor. Branford Bike is located in Seattle, very close to the finishing point for Wheels North (and on the internet, at www.branfordbike.com). They'll be providing tools, workspace, and boxes to get everyone's bicycles boxed and ready to ship home after the ride, as well as fundraising prizes for the riders.

Thank you to Branford Bike for joining Wheels North!

Places to Stay

We're working diligently to find great places for our riders and crew to spend the night as we travel along Vic and Ray's route to Seattle. Here are a few places we're planning to stay:

-- In Winters, we'll spend the night in the Community Center building, near the 1906 bridge and across the street from Steady Eddy's coffeehouse (a favorite stopping place for Davis cyclists).

--In Weaverville, we'll overnight at Trinity High School.

--In Yreka, we'll overnight at Yreka High School.

--In Ashland, we'll spend two nights in the dorms at Southern Oregon University (haven't nailed this place down yet, but it looks good).

--In Portland, we'll stay in the group building at the Northwest Portland Hostel (great place in a super location).

--In Chehalis, a local church will be putting us up.

--In Seattle, we'll spend our last two nights as a group in the dorms at the University of Washington (also not nailed down, but looking very good).

Check back for more details--it's going to be a great ride!

Pashley Cycles Signs On As Supporter of Wheels North

English bicycle manufacturer Pashley Cycles has signed on as a supporter of Wheels North! They will be providing spare wheels, tires, and tubes for the Guvnor bicycle (made by Pashley) that ride director Eric Norris will be riding to Seattle (that's the bike we'll be riding in the photo).

Pashley manufactures a full line of bicycles at their factory in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Their Guvnor model was chosen because it so closely approximates the bikes that Vic and Ray used 100 years ago.