ROCK CF

DAY 3
Coldwater to Union
By 8:30 am we were all geared up and ready to head over to the Cole/Story Ford Dealership to meet our new buddy Dale Dandurand and the reporter from town. Jay parked the Flex in front of the dealer to attract some extra attention for Ford and the Ride.  I shared my story with the reported, took some shots and we were ready to ride…until we looked in the sky and check the weather report. Storms and more storms!
Instead of risking our lives we decided to hang in Coldwater for a few hours. At the Native American store we discovered there was a local bison farm. Having plenty of time to waste we hit the farm and learned about bison. Did you know cow’s are not native to the U.S.? Neither did I!

We left the farm with some jerky, bison burgers and a lot of knowledge about bison.

The storms passed and we hit the road at about 12:30. The sky cleared right up and we had a pretty smooth ride. It seemed hard getting through the day today..maybe because it was the middle day of riding. We found a great produce station, picked up some fruits and veggies and finally made it to the Union House B&B in time to start the grill for dinner. Jason grilled us up some nice bison burgers, grilled zuchini, sweet corn and fresh tomatoes.

Marylou went to bed and the four of us were left tracking this crazy storm that was moving through town at 100 mph. There was a lot of “rotation” and “electricity” going on and at one point we were under a tornado warning. Thankfully the storm fizzled out just south of us and we woke up to a beautiful morning.
Next stop New Buffalo.

DAY 4
Barb and Judy from Union House B&B prepared the sweeeetest breakfast of the century (I seriously waited all year for this meal). Just before we hit the edge of the driveway to start day 4 Kevin B. got a flat tire. Marylou and I had the tools so we did a little mechanic class and changed that bad boy out!

This was my absolute worst day of riding. It was way hillier than I can remember and the storm from last night left it extremely muggy. It was really hard on the ol’ lungs but there was no stopping so I kept on peddling! I almost can say it was a bit harder than the Irish Hills…hard to believe but pretty true. No whining here though.

Lunch was in downtown Niles where we sat next to a big group of the Red Hat ladies. The food was really good but the red hats made the meal better. While gearing up for the rest of the ride Kevin W asked if we could get a pic with the group of Red Hatters..No problem they said and we even got a $5 donation!

I don’t want to speak for the whole group but we couldn’t wait to get to New Buffalo. My mom & dad, brother Adam & sister in-law Marcy, friends Ron & Diane and Shawn & Aidan all drove out to see us and spend the night with us. They cooked up some of the bison meat to make the sauce for a nice whole wheat pasta dinner. The motel we stayed at was a little misleading though. It is called the “Grand Beach Motel”…some of us thought it was a “grand BEACH” motel but in fact the town is called Grand Beach. Lame. I think we are changing it to the Grand Pool Motel. The pool did get a lot of use though and it helped sooth some muscles.

After dinner we kept the “Ice cream everyday of the ride” going and hit the local shop followed by a little time at the Casino…in the name of CF!!
We’re almost there.

Day 5
We are here!!! The weather was the best yet and the roads were really rough but the awesome temps and low humidity today made for a great 60+ mile day into Chicago. We were anticipating 70 miles but unlike last year we didn’t get lost lost somehow we shaved some sweet miles off. We left the Grand Beach Motel without a real breakfast and didn’t really get a real lunch today either. A lot of banana’s, apples, Kashi Bars and Peanut M&M’s went down.

Jason, Shawn and Aidan followed us into Illinois and once we hit the Skyway the four of us hopped on the bike trail and they drove into the city to meet us at Grant Park. We ended up rolling into Chicago at 2:30 CT immediately popping some Champaign then chowing down on a Chicago dog. How nice is it to bike in a city where drivers are somewhat aware of what bikes are and that they are actually on the road?

The amazing Jaclyn and Glenn hosted dinner for us providing delicious chicken, cheesy potatoes, humus and a Rock CF/City to City cake!

I must say that this year’s ride was so cool and it really made me see the good of people. Three of my friends taking five days to ride 280 miles with me to help me and the other 30,000 with cystic fibrosis live longer and healthier lives. I LOVE it.

Get ready for City to City Ride 2009!!! Keep checking citytocityride.org for more info and oh yes you still can donate to this years ride..www.citytocityride.org.
Peace and Rock CF,
Emily

August 3, 2008
Day 2 is in the books. 50 miles today through the Irish Hills which by the way I am downgrading the “Irish Hells” title from last year back to the original Irish Hills. I must say we tackled those hills today, no problems! The marathon training and spinning definitely paid off this year.

We made it safe and sound with only some minor crazy happenings. We had an adventurous two mile stretch down a 1 laner. One side of the road was being repaved leaving one lane open to traffic. We (Kevin W.) decided to brave it cruising down some great brand new blacktop. All was good until a steam roller started veering toward me and Kevin. I gave the driver an “are you serious” look and hand gesture while he was just inches away from my tire. Kevin was forced off the road into gravel but made a serious recovery back on the road. Fancy work Kevin!

We had awesome panini’s at our favorite Jonesville spot followed by some great ice cream. That left us 17 miles outside of Coldwater, our 2nd stop. We cruised pretty darn fast into Coldwater, checked in to our hotel where a gift certificate for dinner was waiting for us compliments of Dale from the Ford dealership. We went for a nice swim, walked to dinner, cruised in the Flex and now we’re turning in for the night.
Calling for an early morning tomorrow so we can ride over the meet Dale and the Ford crew and meet up with the press. We “Synced” Dale through the Flex tonight and he announced that the whole week will be Rock CF week, so we’ll see support this whole week from those guys. I’ll post more tomorrow (hopefully) about day 3.

Rock CF,

Em

P.S. How sweet do our Rock Racing jersey’s look??? Oh and the Ford Flex is TOP notch.
Flex’ing it on Day 2!

Nice sunflower farm…I got a science lesson from Marylou on where sunflower seeds come from..

Take the Veggie Panini and a BIG scoop of ice cream.

Hey there!

We are in Saline after about 40 some miles. We stopped for lunch at Mac’s and I have to say that it was the best salad I’ve ever had…a little asparagus, zuchinni…man so good! The road was great, just a few people who think they are sweet in their gas guzzlers but other than that everyone feels great. We are going to head into Clinton and hopefully go 10 miles past to give us a head start on tomorrow’s Irish Hill’s. Dinner at the Clinton Inn tonight then back to Saline to sleep at my cousin’s house.

Thanks to every single person who came out this morning for the group ride!! We had roughly 30 riders and far beat my expectations. LOVE to you all…keep checking on how you can get into the whole ride next year. Apparently we sold most of the City to City tee shirts that we had left. Nice! Thanks to Mom, Dad, Carrie, Shawn, Robyn, Cory and Erin, Alison, Steph, Linds, Reba, Aaron and everyone else who helped put this thing together.

Stay tuned for pics of the send off and the ride..hopefully they’ll be up tonight, tomorrow for sure.

Rock CF!!

Emily and the crew

July 29, 2008

How about FORD Motor Company signing on as City to City’s newest sponsor! Ford has donated a Flex to be our support vehicle for the whole stretch to Chicago. This awesome new car will surely generate a lot of buzz as it rolls down US-12 through towns small and large sporting logos for the ride and Rock CF. Ford dealers along the way are jumping on board to help Rock CF too:

-The Clinton Tecumseh Ford dealer arranged for us to have dinner at the great Clinton Inn on Saturday night. We love free food..and the support from the crew at the dealership.

- “Emily Schaller Rock CF Day” has been declared for Monday August 4 at the Cole/Story Ford dealer in Coldwater. On Sunday Dale Dandurand, his peeps and some media will greet us as we arrive in Coldwater. With his declaration of Monday as “Emily Schaller Rock CF Day,” Rock CF will recieve profits from each car sold that day! Come buy a new car!!!

- Three Oaks Ford Mercury LLC will greet us along with some media as we make our final stop before Chicago in New Buffalo!

*Also a huge thank you to Shelly and my gals at the Metro Detroit CFF for donating food and beverages for the group ride on August 2nd…big help my friends!**

Donate and/or register to ride at www.citytocityride.org

Rider check in starts at 8 am.
Send off is 9 am.
Helmets are Mandatory!!

Ride course will be posted soon!

July 15, 2008

I’m back after a great weekend of riding up north with a clever new title for the blogs; “Emily’s Post.” This name was given to me at the General Store on Old Mission. Kevin/Coach, his wife, Marylou and I stopped in there for the best sandwiches ever while we were on our 45 mile training ride Friday morning. After eating these incredible sandwiches Kevin came up with the idea to use the name “Emily’s Post” as my blog title and I think it works perfectly, so here is Emily’s Post #1!

While up north I competed in my first ever Duathlon on Sunday which is a 3.1 mile run, a 12.2 mile bike ride then another 3.1 mile run. Race morning I woke up at 5 am got my vest and nebs in then hit a little yogurt and banana for a pre race breakfast. We drove about an hour to Interlochen where the race was and got set up in the transition area. Coach was also in the race with me and his wife completed her first triathlon that day. The main event that day was the trithalon (I don’t swim!) so that had over 700 people while our duathlon only had 60 people.

Since my 1/2 marathon I haven’t been able to run a lot of miles because my IT Band in my knee has been jacked up. So I was a little nervous about running the race but thought the biking in between would give me some relief. My first 5k was 28 minutes..not too shabby since I didn’t want to over do it and be tired the rest of the race. I had a quick transition into my bike gear then rode that leg in 45 minutes. Another quick transition sent me out on the run course for the 2nd time and my legs were like j-e-ll-o! Ok I’ve never run right off of a serious ride before so it took about 1/2 mile to get my legs in order. Once those were in order my knee started going nuts and throbbing. Since I was in race mode I was not stopping (probably should have)!! I ran through it those last two miles and finished in 1 hour and 48 minutes beating my goal of 2 hours. I was very very happy and think I have found my new favorite race!!! I spend two days hobbling around knowing I need to take a rest from running for a while. Perfect timing because we the City to City Ride is in two and a half weeks!

Visit www.CITYTOCITYRIDE.org to register and to donate!!

Rock CF,
Emily

An 18-year-old high school senior, Mandie Rudd seems like a typical teenager, busy with sports, school, and hanging out with friends, but in addition to normal challenges of life, she deals daily with the chronic condition of cystic fibrosis (CF).

Mandie makes staying compliant and healthy a priority. Waking up early to squeeze in treatments and multi-tasking while doing medications are some tips she offers to other busy teenagers. Besides sticking to her medical routine, Mandie exercises to keep her lungs strong, playing on her high school volleyball, basketball and track team.

A firm believer in giving back to the community, Mandie and her sister Natalie, who also has CF, have participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Great Strides®, a national run/walk that raises money for CF research, volunteered for Limbs of Hope, an organization which donates prosthetics to individuals in need, and is a Wish Ambassador for Make a Wish Foundation. As a Wish Ambassador, Mandie helps make wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses and was also a wish recipient, traveling to Thailand with her family to ride elephants and explore the jungle.

Mandie’s wish now, which she is very close to fulfilling, is going to college and working in the field of dentistry. Getting into the college of her choice has been her proudest accomplishment. Mandie’s advice to other teenagers with CF who want to go to college and pursue their interests is to be consistent and on track with their medical routines and to embrace CF as something that you just have to deal with. She describes CF as always running by her side, pushing her to train harder in sports and in pursuing her goals.

Heroes of Hope Living with CF recognizes individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) who live full and productive lives while managing their healthcare needs. To date, Heroes of Hope has honored nearly 50 outstanding individuals with CF in more than 35 states. Heroes of Hope recipients inspire others through their outstanding accomplishments, dedication to health maintenance and contributions to their communities.

Learn more about Mandie
Click here to access Mandie’s personal Heroes of Hope
Web page. www.heroesofhope.com

July 10, 2008

I am pleased and overjoyed to announce Rock Racing as our newest sponsor for the City to City Ride! Rock Racing is a professional cycling team founded and sponsored by Rock and Republic a high end clothing line, that just so happens to produce my favorite jeans.

Rock Racing is providing the four of us riding to Chicago with their awesome racing jerseys to wear each day. Let me just say that these are the coolest jersey’s ever and the whole Rock CF and Rock Racing match is perfect.

Please read more about Rock Racing, they are awesome. We can’t wait to wear their jersey’s from Detroit to Chicago! Pictures will be posted asap.

July 8, 2008
The link below will take you directly to the page that is accepting donations to help support the City to City ride featuring Emily, Kevin, Kevin and Marylou who are all cycling to Chicago from Detroit.

http://www.active.com/donate/rockcf

(oh we actually get into Chicago on August 6th..we’ll change the logo ASAP)

If you want to help ride for a cure, registration is now open for the 25 mile portion of the City to City ride presented by Rock CF, Pure Detroit and Wheel House Detroit.

You can register at www.ACTIVE.com and type “City to City Ride” in the search OR check out www.CITYTOCITYRIDE.org for more info on the ride and a link to registration.

We are seeking sponsors and donors to help us make this our most successful ride yet! You can donate on this site at the Donations page or at the Active.com/donate/rockcf page.

Also we are in need of a support vehicle for the four of us riding to Chicago. We have the driver and crew we just need a bigger vehicle. Last year we used a truck but we need something bigger to hold more gear, food/drinks and my super sweet medical equipment. My dream is a Sprinter Van but I can’t find any to rent, something compatible to that would work. If you have any leads please email me emily@letsrockcf.org.

If you or anyone you know is interested in donating food for the group ride or anything else for the riders please get in touch with me. Volunteers will also be needed the morning of August 2nd in Campus Martius to help with the group ride.

Rock CF,
Emily