Cover Indiana Bike Tour

[Jason Roehl]

Fellow Creekers,

On Monday, May 9, I will be embarking on the event that got me back into cycling a little over a year ago--the Cover Indiana Bike Tour. This is a 7-day, 360 mile ride covering mostly country roads in West-Central Indiana, starting in Lafayette, stopping for overnights in Crawfordsville, Terre Haute, Linton, Bedford, Ellettsville and Plainfield, with a short, 20-mile ride into Indianapolis on the final day.

This tour is in its 8th year of raising support and awareness for Habitat for Humanity--the charitable organization that builds simple, decent, affordable housing for low-income families who invest about 250 hours of "sweat equity" per adult member of the family. They then have a no-interest, 20-year note on a home that gives them roots in their communities, strengthening their neighborhoods.

I'm humbly asking for your support. The cost of the tour has already been covered, so every last penny you donate goes to Habitat's mission, whether it's $5 or $500. Here's where you can securely donate online (anonymity is an option):

Sponsor Jason Here (http://www.tinyurl.com/sponsorjason)

I should mention that I'm not doing this ride to "suffer for dollars". I enjoy riding, and I enjoyed the tour last year, though I did have to cycle through some pain being my first 50-mile-plus rides (each day is generally 50-60 miles), but that was nothing compared to the struggles future Habitat member families are currently facing each and every day to pay rent and put food on the table.

A family in need thanks you, as do I!

[Brian Elfert]

I applaud you for getting back on your bicycle. That is one tough way to get back into bicycling. I hope you did some training rides to prepare.

I am hoping to get my bike out of storage this week after five plus years of non-use. I have a pretty high bicycle that I used to ride a lot.

[Jason Roehl]

I definitely trained before the ride last year, Brian! The first couple days were pretty rough, but the human body is amazing in its ability to adapt. By about the fourth day or so, I felt great and was really starting to enjoy the tour. This year, I'm starting out in better shape, but the weather and my work schedule have conspired to not allow me as many training miles, so I may face some tough miles again this year, but I don't care--I'll be away from work for a week, and it's for a great cause. It's also good to remind myself of how good I do have it normally--the creature comforts are mostly left behind, and it's also good to see who is touring with me--last year there were two gentlemen in their 70's (74 and 78). They may not have been fast, but they finished every day. The 74 year old man even had an impressively high cadence, probably around 100 RPM, but to see him walk, you would have guessed he was 90 or so.

[Karl Card]

I tried to volunteer to help build some of the houses here locally but never got a call from them to participate. I then tried to help by shopping at the local resell store and then they started doing things in very different ways and lost a few customers, but personally I think they are overall a good cause, just maybe some local management needs changed or something.