Ride IV Reason Blog

This is an important update wherein I must share a series of events that have unfolded over the last couple days and weeks which has resulted in the changing of the venue for the April event and for the remaining 36 and 40 hour long rides.  Due to unforeseen and certainly unanticipated circumstances at the Rush Copley Healthplex, the Ride IV Reasons April event and corresponding long rides will not take place at that facility.  A new venue has been chosen and I’m pleased to announce that the April event and the long rides associated with it will now be held in the space located next to Sports Authority and Grants Audio (formerly Lazarus Furniture/SteinMart) in the Aurora Marketplace at 75^th and Route 59 in Aurora.  The 36 hour long ride will be held there this weekend as planned.  The 36 hour ride will start at 8PM on Friday the 26th and conclude at around 9AM on Sunday the 28th.  The flyer is also on the website.   Special thanks to the Bonnie Management Corporation www.bonniemgmt.com  for assisting us in obtaining our new location and generously donating the space to us!  We are also in talks at the moment w/my good friends and colleagues at X Sport Fitness in Naperville, who’ve supported me and may very well partner with me for the April event!  Tremendous resources at our disposal and I’m excited at the opportunities that the new venue now affords us.    

 From a housekeeping standpoint, pls be mindful that we are not staffed with the volume of bikes we enjoyed at the Healthplex, but they are coming.  I have 4 bikes available first come first serve, but priority of use this weekend will be for those designated as pace and crew personnel directly involved in the operation.  Your patience in this particular regard will be appreciated.   I do hope that despite our obvious shortage of bikes, you all will simply drop by and visit our new space!  IF you have to wait a few minutes for a bike, pls feel free to chat w/me, assemble a playlist or meet some of the crew until a bike may become available.  Also, if you use a towel, pls bring your own…we have an obvious shortage of towels.  There are clean bathrooms, running water and fountains to fill water bottles. 

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the staff and management of the Healthplex for the training time they afforded me over the last several months. I was always mindful that I was a guest and simply treated my stay there as such.  During the almost 1000 hours of training time that I put in there at all hours of the night and day, I came to know many, many members and instructors who embraced the causes I was riding for and supported my training, participated in it and in many instances are now very good friends.  Many gave of their time and talents to assist in the long rides and many are now part of the crew who will be integral participants in the April event.  The following that I had at the Healthplex was unlike any that I’ve ever enjoyed in the past, perhaps cause my training has been ongoing there over the last several months.  My departure from the Healthplex is in no way a reflection of the otherwise genuine friendship and mutual respect that I have shared with so many.  I cordially invite all of you to the new venue.  I’ll see many of you this weekend and during the week, I’ll be there generally in the afternoons. If you’d like to come and ride w/me during the week, pls text me  and we can coordinate hooking up at the new venue. 

 Lastly, I’m going to simply remind all that the Ride IV Reasons campaign is in full swing now with the generous support of the Fox Valley United Way, the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and 95.9 The River and their host of sister stations in the area.  Donations have trickled in but now is the time when all can step up and see the value in the tremendous grass roots effort now coming together on behalf of Injured Marines and the youth programs of the FVUW.    The new venue will be the perfect showcase for this once in a lifetime chance to witness an extreme Guinness World Record setting event and support causes that I’m so very passionate about.  I’d simply ask that you support my causes and donate generously.  Sponsorship opportunities are indeed available.  I’ll be posting a similar blog entry shortly so that we can reach all our friends and supporters who make up our huge social network campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In.   In the meantime, stay tuned for additional updates and I hope to see you all this weekend!   Time for Maccianos and my little one Andy just called and is looking to join me….he apparently just got home from track practice and is famished….special thanks to Mark and Marcia and so many others for keeping me grounded the last couple days…..i needed it!   All the best my friends!   More later…G