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photos by carl heilman

2006 inaugural ride

andand

As the rain let up, allowing some light to penetrate the clouds, the riders started arriving at the North Creek Ski Bowl Pavilion. In all, there were 128 cyclists participating in the FIRST-EVER ididaride! Adirondack Bike Tour, plus 2 terrific volunteer bicycle sweeps, Paul Abess and Bert Weber.

Everyone was talking about the weather…as it had been raining hard all night long. Kim Fisher, Ride Director, and I were getting drenched as we put up the signs the night before. Admittedly, we were getting more and more depressed, unwilling to speak about it. We parted saying to each other, “it’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.”And fine it was. For about seven hours, the rain held off and the day provided the cyclists with a hazy and warm day. As the last bikes rolled in back at the finish, the rain started up again. It was a fine day. CONGRATULATIONS to ALL of you for taking this chance with us and DOING THE RIDE!

Here’s the “skinny” on the 2006 inaugural “ididariders”:
           
37 Females, 91 Males
Age range: 11 – 78
Geographic: MA, MD, NH, NJ, PA, VT, and Montreal, Canada
           
24 Volunteers made it all happen that day – Many, Many Thanks!  Special thanks to the ididaride! organizing committee:
Paul DiCresce, serious bicyclist and race participant, provided a great deal of technical assistance in the early days of organizing the ride.
Dick Carlson, SAG wagon driver and radio dispatcher, made sure everyone was safe and returned to the après-ride party.
Kim Fisher, RCPA member, whose brainchild this whole ride was. Kim, a native Adirondacker, wanted to organize a bike tour to raise money for RCPA. She saw it as a way to get people to understand the recreational significance of the area and deepen their appreciation of the need to protect these magnificent resources. Kim was the ididaride! Adirondack Bike Tour Ride Director and I hope you all got a chance to meet her out on the road. She is also the t-shirt logo artist – that was her watercolor!

Comments after the ididaride!           

“GREAT time! Thanks so much for all you did to make it happen. It was lots of fun. … By the way, I’m already in training for next year’s ride!”           

“We had a great time and hope to do it again next year. Thanks again – it was a blast!”  (from the “lead car sweep”)           

“Just want to applaud you and your group for putting together a great event this past Sunday. With the weather starting out a bit questionable, it did end up being a good time and a wonderful experience. I look forward to seeing the pictures the photographer took.”           

“thanks so much for providing such an excellent bike tour. The ididaride was our first organized bike ride, and certainly the longest ride we’ve ever been on, and it was a blast. All of you really did an amazing job with everything, the food and beer was phenomenal.”           

“Just wanted to tell you that you guys did a terrific job with the ride! It was really fun and well organized. We hope you guys plan on doing it again next year ‘cause we’ll be there!"

“I just wanted to tell you what an enjoyable event the ride was yesterday. A scenic, challenging course that also had plenty of bagels at the stops – how could things get better? The food at the end was delicious and the band was a nice touch. I hope the event went well for the RCPA and

that you’re considering doing it again next year. It was a lot of fun.”

“The shirts were terrific.”

THANKS! TO OUR 2006 SPONSORS

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