LPC R4L 2011 - Day 1 Recap

Greetings LPC Friends!


Our devotions for our day yesterday were from “Jesus Calling” and went like this “Trust me and refuse to worry for I am your strength and your song. You are feeling wobbly this morning, looking at difficult times looming ahead, measuring them against your own strength...” I believe God wrote that with us in mind don’t you!

We started the day with a great breakfast at the Holland Center (thanks Gary and Diane)! Thanks also to the many family and friends that came to see us off. 

Yesterdays ride went really well. We had a crash less than a mile from leaving the center which is the only thing we found humorous about that incident. God was already hearing your prayers as this occurred with no serious injury when it had the potential to be so much worse.  Throughout the day we stayed together at a steady pace and experienced Gods hand leading us to speak with others as to what we were doing and we’re constantly rewarded with kind words and sometimes gifts!

At a BP called Bonnie’s Place people took pictures of us and asked to follow our blog and gave us a case of water for the road.

At our lunch stop while Carolyn and Lyla were setting up lunch the Schwann Guy pulled up and gave us ice cream for dessert!

A bag of Apples at a fruit stand.

All unexpected blessings that gave us the boost to keep going.  We talked last night about how not only to look at the destination but be aware of the people and places that God puts in our path and when he puts them there don’t run them over!

Last night we had a great dinner and time of fun and fellowship thanks to our favorite waitress Brooke at Texas Roadhouse.  Then early to bed because those 5:30 am alarms are going off before we know it.

We are writing this as we sag through Kokomo this morning until daylight and hopefully sunny skies greet us at our drop off point. Thanks so much for your prayers especially to hold off the rain because it didn’t start to rain until we were all loaded up and back in the vehicles. 

We will continue to update the blog as time allows.

Blessings, 

Team Ride4Life

Update From The Road

We are working with fairly unreliable WiFi. We will try to do a post this afternoon / evening. We're doing great. Getting ready to take off for the day.

- Ride4Life Team

LifeRide 2011 Recap

What a great day! We are so blessed to have such quick access to so many of the beautiful areas God created in the places we live. We are also so blessed by the many people who are on board with the ministry of the Lakeshore Pregnancy Center. Thank you to the LifeRide participants as well as those who donated snacks and supplies as well as set them up. We appreciate you.

We started off from the Holland LPC office at 6:15 with breakfast and began riding at 7:00. Thank you Gary and Diane Feenstra for preparing breakfast for everyone.

It was a cold day and we encountered some headwinds as we pedaled to the Allendale LPC. We still made great time and got to Allendale at the planned time. After warming up a bit and grabbing some snacks, we made our way to the Grand Haven LPC. Upon arriving at Grand Haven, we were all quite pleased with how quickly the day seemed to be going and how nice the route was. The next leg back to Holland was a local favorite for many of us who regularly ride along Lakeshore Drive. It was beautiful scenery mixed with a healthy number of moderate hills that teased us a little as we thought ahead to the hills and mountains we would encounter on the way to ORlando next week.

The day ended as planned and ahead of schedule at the Holland LPC office. Thanks to our SAG team who made sure we had everything we needed along the way and surprised us with lunch upon our arrival.

Keep following as we continue to post the happenings of the Ride4Life team.

Grace + Peace

THANK YOU!

We wanted to send out a big THANKS to all of our supporters. Some of you are friends or family of one of the Ride4Life team members. Some of you are longtime supporters of LPC. Some of you are local businesses who decided to make a monetary or gift in kind donation to the Ride4Life team. Who ever you are, know that we are constantly grateful for your support. You are the other side of the coin. Without you, we could not make this happen.

A special thanks to our team jersey sponsors who enabled us to look like a team with our race cut Louis Garneau cycling jerseys. Thanks to Grand Rapids Bicycle Company for providing the customized jerseys to us at a very reduced price. Thanks to Wierenga Asset Management , Duca Tile & Stone, Controllership Services Incorporated, Holland Cycling & Fitness, and J&H Oil for sponsoring our team.

Special Thanks also to Velo-City, Zeeland Schwinn, and Holland Cycling & Fitness for the gifts in kind via discounted bicycles, gear, and servicing, making these items more affordable for each member of the Lakeshore Pregnancy Center's Ride4Life team. Thank you too for making yourselves available to our team in various forms as we prepared for this cross country trek.

LifeRide 2011 Update

There are a few changes to what has been previously communicated about the 2011 LifeRide on Saturday, September 17.

This year's LifeRide will only consist of a single loop which will be a Metric Century (~63 miles). The Ride4Life team and anyone else interested in joining us will meet at the Holland LPC office (click HERE for directions). Breakfast will be served at 6:30AM and we will roll out at 7:00AM sharp, heading toward our Allendale and Grand Haven offices.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED for all non-R4L team members.

Online Registration is coming soon. Keep checking back here.

$50 Registration includes breakfast, SAG vehicle support, hydration and snacks throughout the ride, and a t-shirt. There will also be a limited availability of LPC Ride4Life Cycling Jerseys for purchase ($50 each, first come first serve).

If you have any questions, email derek.owens@lpcenters.com

After The Holland 100

We officially completed the Holland 100 (or 107 as it turned out to be). Great job team Ride4Life! It was nice to get the team together and ride. Here are some pictures from the day that will introduce most of our team members as well as a visitor or two.

Left to Right: Derek Owens, Jason Craner, Sherry Hoppen, Mary Wortley, John Wierenga, Bob Flanders, Mark Congrove, Cheryl Dryer, Betty Geurink, Carolyn Doyle, Barb Meekhof, Don Wickstra. Unable to be at the Holland 100: Bonnie Gruppen.

Gearing Up for Holland 100 + LifeRide

The Holland Hundred is soon approaching. This is an annual ride put on by the Macatawa Cycling Club. The Ride4Life team will cycle the 100 mile loop on July 16th. This will be the first full team ride. Pray that each of us is adequately training for this distance, that we will mesh well on the roads as a team, and that our efforts are a light to the people we interact with along the way.

Our next official team ride will be at our LifeRide event on Saturday, September 17 which will include a 100 mile loop for the Ride4Life team and any interested cyclists who can go this distance with us. Life Ride will also offer plenty of shorter route options for everyone from families to avid cyclists. So grab your bikes, family and some friends and help the Ride4Life team raise awareness and funds for the Lakeshore Pregnancy Centers.

For more information about joining the Ride4Life team or participating in this year's LifeRide, email derek@lpcenters.com