How to Survive 75 Miles, Or the Miller Lite Ride 2010

Cross-posted from Daily Mile/Facebook/Twitter:

My body hates me right now. I can't post much as I am possibly going to keel over at any moment. But I have to just give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated money to my ride (over $1500 raised) or even just gave me encouragement in person, on Twitter or on Facebook. My friends and family totally rule. Honestly, there were some re...ally hard moments today. This is the longest I've ever cycled in my LIFE. But the thought of all the people that believed in me kept me focused and motivated. I have to thank add a special shout out to the #fitmke crew without whom there's NO WAY I could've done this. Without you guys I would not be MUCH lighter than last year, when 50 miles was the maximum I could push. I would not be in the best physical shape of my life without having connected with all of you. I have to thank my FUEL Milwaukee team this year: Maggie, Randy, Robin, Gary, Jeff & Lynn. And especially the latter two who waited at the finish line to cheer me on as I crossed. I may feel beat physically, but I'm just so grateful for the support and encouragement I want to give the world a hug. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

It took five and half hours.

Also, with running mixed in, my Daily Mile summary for the week is 89 MILES. You don't even know how incredible this is for me. I don't think I've ever done anything that physical in my LIFE.

You, Me, AJ Bombers & the Arts...TOMORROW night!

Just a reminder folks, this is it, GO TIME.

In 24 hours I'll be wrapping up my stint Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers. If you haven't already blocked your calendar from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. TOMORROW (Friday). Here's five reasons why you should.

5. Celebrity appearance! The one, the only, Michael L. Arnold, a.k.a. Dad, will be making his first social outing in Milwaukee in three years. Don't miss an insight into where the heck I came from!

4. FREE transportation! AJ Bombers is conveniently located at Water & Knapp, right on the Route 15 bus line. Even more convenient? Tomorrow, in honor of 150 Years of Public Transportation, the Route 15 is FREE all day!

3. World-Famous Food! Food Wars on the Travel Channel filmed at AJ Bombers today, so its burgers will soon be out on the basic cable scene. Order one and wash it down a cold one -- proceeds of your beverage going to the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts.

2. Fabulous giveaways! Throughout the night I'll be "auctioning" off prizes including shirts, Brewers tickets, Milwaukee Iron tickets and of course, tickets to United Performing Arts Fund member groups.

1. Great cause! Hopefully I've convinced you that this means a lot to me, but I'm sure the arts mean something to you as well. I'd love for you to leave a blog comment as to why YOU support my efforts.

Can't make it out for the party? You can donate online here.

Hope to see ya at AJ Bombers!

why ride wednesdays: entourage

I'm going to use the Wednesday posts building up to the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts to briefly touch upon my relationship to the performing arts and why I'm motivated to ride and raise a significant amount of money for them.
  
The Milwaukee Rep's Entourage: Support the arts, support your friends.

My dear friend Heather has been involved with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's Entourage program for almost as long as remember knowing her. This program is designed to get young people into the theater and offers a nice socializing opportunity before and after the show to check out local restaurants, chat with friends, or meet new ones.

Over the years, my friends Ben and Kate, who I introduced to Heather and Entourage, have since become involved in the planning committee. I really try and get to at least a couple of the events each season, because not only am I supporting the arts, but I'm also supporting an organization that values getting young people involved in planning events around the performing arts. How are you supposed to stop the "graying" of the theater if you don't consult young professionals on how to attract other YPs? The really great thing about the Entourage volunteers that I know put in a lot of time, but I don't think they're required to put in a lot of money (unless that gang has secret trust funds that I'm unaware of). I give the Rep a lot of credit for engaging people for a committee without having dollars tied to it.

This outlook also transfers to keeping the prices extremely low for the performances - just $15 for play tickets and the social event.

This season I had the pleasure of seeing both Happy Now? and  Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak as part of the Entourage program. One was a relationship dramedy and the other a slapstick mystery. This group definitely mixes it up, which is really important in showcasing the diversity of the theater company. With an exciting 2010-11 season on the books, I'm sure I'll be thrilled at the lineup the Entourage team throws together for next year.

Hopefully you've enjoyed this insight into why I'm so passionate about the arts in Milwaukee. Perhaps it's motivated you to online here for my ride efforts?

Or you help me raise money in as super fun way on Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

thank you tuesday: 25%

A HUGE thank to those who have donated so far to my Miller Lite Ride for the Arts fundraising efforts. I'm already 25% of the way to my goal with $380 raised.

So shout outs today to the following folks:

Chris M. - Fellow biker extraordinaire. Support his ride for childhood cancer research here.
George B. - My favorite former boss and employer branding expert.
Paul C. - We planned conferences in another life, but bonded over a shared love of rock n' roll. Best source for live in studio recordings I know.
Greg & Angie Q. - The funnest couple in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. I'll put money on that.
Ellen P. - One of the coolest women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and who inspires me to be a better person.
Marty B. - Twitterer, runner, app reviewer, another inspiration.
Sarah A. - My YNPN marketing co-chair and all around awesome woman.
Jane S. - Generous tweep.
Sarah S. - Twitter and #fitmke rockstar, future push up coach. You can win a date with her too!
Kristen G. - 1/5 of the Five Point Filter. Sailor and music geek. Fabulous.
Marley D. - Dear old friend. Kickass lawyer. Not-so-dirty hippie. Amazing chica.
Madeline G. - A person doing truly unbelievable things. You must check out the work of CORE/El Centro organization she founded.
Caroline A. - Grad student doing great things in the community.

Thank you all. You're incredible.

Want to be on the honor roll? Donate online here.

Or help me raise money in as super fun way on Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

Mileage Monday

I'm using Mondays to keep you all posted on how my training is going. I'll be reposting some stuff from Daily Mile so if you follow me there, you can probably skip these posts.

As I mentioned last week, I'm trying to really intently train for the ride this year, so no skimping on workouts. Here's two of my biggest accomplishments from last week:

Sunday - 54.1 miles (biking) - Well I didn't really mean to end up in Cedarburg...

Picked up my road bike yesterday and had planned to take it for a 25 mile spin today. I was especially nervous as I got pedal clips for the first time and am terrified of falling. The guy at the shop yesterday said to take 2-3 days to get used to them, but that wasn't going to jive with my schedule. I practiced quite a bit in Juneau Park, going from tree to tree yesterday, and felt fairly confident when I started this morning.

To my surprise, I think I have the move down! And wow, it really does make a difference in your ride.

I was also a little nervous going back out there after so many months of running and just casually biking. But really, this was like going back to an old friend. We picked right back up again where we left off. And this time I had the strength to keep pushing and explore whole new territory.

My goal last year was to find the Interurban Trail, and today I finally did. I couldn't stop then and pushed myself about 11 miles up it until I hit downtown Grafton and thought that I should probably turn around and head back (all I was running on was a strawberry rhubarb muffin). The weather, the sights, the smells, they all were just too nice to NOT be out there all day.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of biking is watching the scenery change. On nice days, I love watching people in different areas of the region take it all in. I especially love that the people in the poorest neighborhoods always seem to be having the most fun and enjoying life, while in the richest area there's nary a soul to be seen. I love watching the cultural shifts from perfectly coiffed white children playing soccer on their manicured facility in Cedarburg to Latino families playing a pickup game of the same sport in a Milwaukee County Park to African-American kids playing hoops on school court in Riverwest. Just getting to be a silent passerby whizzing through the socioeconomic fabric of Milwaukee, well it's one of the coolest parts of being on two wheels.

That and the very cool part of the ominous clouds holding off for my entire ride. I look forward to my next adventure!

Saturday - Rock N Run - Mile Pace of 8:53

Not my best run mentally, even though I did fine physically. Really confusing set up and apparently the organizers were unaware of the lacrosse game going on at Hart Park, so the whole route had to be changed and we lost .7 of the 3k. It was hot, I have blisters and my allergies were in full effect. At least I had a group of great friends to go with and we had a super fun day afterward. Plus the proceeds all went to United Way & UPAF.

Total mileage for last week: 60.04
Total workouts: 6

You can continue to push me by clicking the link to donate online here.

Or make me hustle more and attend this event on Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

Training for the Arts

As I mentioned in this post, I'm really taking training seriously this year. I want to kick 75 miles in the butt. I appreciate the donations thus far (Tuesdays are going to be my "thank you" days, so stay tuned folks) because they literally got me out of bed this morning.

As I posted on Daily Mile, I did NOT want to get up at 5:30 AM to go to the gym. But spin class is on the calendar as a necessary activity for this endeavor. So I went. It was really difficult, but I went. And it was great. And got me through my day. So thanks everyone for keeping me motivated.

Tomorrow my "training" activity is the e Rock N' Run in Tosa, which actually has proceeds going to UPAF, so two birds, one stone.

Of course, you can always donate online here.

Or attend on  Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

Bikes & The Arts

Here's a really great example of biking and the arts coming together to create, what I think, is a really lovely and inspirational video. Enjoy!



See, the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts really can affect more than just one day of me being sore!
 
Also, don't forget, you can support my efforts online here.

Or attend on  Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

It's On: $38/day in 38 Days

The recent failed (for now) battle for transit may have distracted me, but never fail, even though I'm disheartened, I can't eschew my fundraising committment to the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. While transit is a passion, so is biking and the arts, and funding for them is important to this community as well.

Time has flown though, and today I realized that there's just 38 days left until the big ride and I need to ramp up both my fundraising and my physical training.

In case you forgot, you can donate online here.

I'm still a huge believer in quantity over quality for fundraising because I think that everyone should feel good about donating, even if it's just $5. Of course, I'll be creatively adding incentives to entice those larger donations over the next 38 days.

So here's what's on the horizon:

FUN-draising Events & Challenges

Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM
Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers
Belly up to the bar during happy hour and get served by yours truly. Make me earn my tips toward the United Performing Arts Fund. The universe has actually conspired to make this a truly awesome night. Here's three reasons why the night will rock:

1.  AJ Bombers will be visited by the film crew of Food Wars on the Travel Channel next week. They probably won't be there while I am, but the aura of basic cable fame will still be lingering.
2. My dear old dad will be flying in from Portland for the occasion (well actually he was just going to be in the neighborhood for work, so he'll be stopping by).
3. The Milwaukee County Transit System kicks off its 150th Anniversary Celebration that day with free rides on the Route 15...which...you guessed it...goes right by AJ Bombers!

Week of May 16
Kisses for the Arts - More info coming soon, but the plan is for every $1 I get this week I will either eat a Hershey's Kiss (will be working them off in training) or kiss the donor. This could get interesting. Mark your calendars kiddos.

Week of May 23
To Be Announced - I'm "cooking" up a pretty cool idea on Twitter. I'll keep you posted as to what develops.

Week of May 30
Rocking for the Arts - Need to flesh this out, but Verge Music Festival is that weekend, so there will be some sort of challenge!

Training Plans:
I'm going to ramp up some intensive cross-training so my body will be ready to take on these 75 miles. I'm also doing both the Rock N' Run (Proceeds going to UPAF) and the Block Melanoma 5k before the ride as well. I am going to start the Bridge to 10k running program and get a lengthy bike training ride in every weekend between now and the ride.

Care to join me on a training ride? Mark your calendars for May 2 (25 miles), May 9 (35 miles), May 15 (45 miles), May 22 (55 miles) or (possibly) May 29 (65 miles).

Sound like fun? Keep watching the blog for more updates. And don't forget, you can donate online here.

weekend plans? stop by the bike expo

Yes, I'm running with the bike theme this month here at the Accidental Wisconsinite.

Today I'm pretty excited to go volunteer at the Wheel & Sprocket Bike Expo from 1-4 p.m. for the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. I also plan to peruse the accessories and at the very least get some new bike shorts since my XLs aren't going to fit any more!

Stop by the BFW booth (back by the service center) to learn about joining an organization that does incredible work for bike advocacy in the state. And for just $25 it's a steal to join! You can also visit booths for dozens of non-profits and charity rides. Including the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts.

Of course, if you can't make it today and want to get a headstart on supporting me in that ride, you can do so by donating online here.

it's that time of year...

You may notice the "new look" of the Accidental Wisconsinite. You may also notice that I have a new blog up. :)

I actually intend to do quite a bit of blogging over the next couple of months, because it's that time of year again...time for me to launch my annual fundraising campaign for the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts.

This year I'm going ALL OUT. Because of my recent fitness success, I'm pushing myself to the max and taking on the 75 mile route. Keeping with my $20/mile tactic, that raises my fundraising goal to $1500.

I am committing to blogging about my ride training and my ride motivation (performing arts) at least three times a week between now and June 6. Attending two fantastic performances at the Milwaukee Rep and the Milwaukee Ballet in the past week reaffirmed my dedication to this important cause.

Also, please mark your calendars for the evening of Friday, May 7. I've arranged with the fine folks over at AJ Bombers to guest bartend that night to support the ride. Come enjoy a delicious burger and let me serve ya up something to wash it down with!

Want to get a headstart on supporting me? You can do so by donating online here.

Want to join my team? Click register at the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts homepage and select "FUEL Milwaukee" from the menu. Password is "fuel2010".

Thanks in advance for your support in my efforts this year!