2013 Midwest Tandem Rally-Ohio

Thursday, August 29 through Sunday, September 2, 2013

Thursday, August 29, 2013

We arrived in Fairborn, Ohio, early Thursday morning and were allowed to check into our hotel room at the Wingate by Wyndham for some much needed rest after driving 12 hours through the night. We then connected up with other MTR attendees that arrived early and went for supper at the Texas Roadhouse. A great start to this exciting weekend.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Morning Pre-Rally Ride: 45.90 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 3 hours 39 minutes, average speed 12.4

Arriving early had its benefits. We were able to gather with Kathi and John from Wisconsin and Sally and Gary from Missouri to bike one leg of the Miami Valley Bikeway system. We parked at the Beavercreek Station and headed east towards the Xenia Station. The weather was great and we were all excited to start pedaling.

Lunch was enjoyed at Roosters, an unusual diner along the bike trail. We would definitely return to this area to bike more of these great trails around Greene County Ohio.

Back at the host hotel, things were beginning to gear up for the opening of the 2013 Midwest Tandem Rally—Let the Rally begin! Organizers were rushing to complete their final tasks before registration was declared officially open. Dennis and I were visiting the vendor booths when we were asked to model for the local newspaper doing an article on this tandem event. We rode a tandem around the bike storage area wearing the official 2013 MTR jersey. We left our names with the reporter but never did find the published piece but it was fun to have had a glimpse of fame for just a moment.

MTR Day #1: 12.06 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 1 hour 3 minutes, average speed 11.4

At 2:00 p.m. we met up with Michelle and Alan Andersen to bike the official ice cream route. We stopped at Graeter’s for a quick and delicious ice cream treat and then continued pedaling through the town of Fairborn back to our hotel.

MTR is all about gathering with friends you haven’t seen in a while. We love to get everyone together to take advantage of every moment. The rules: Pick a time, invite teams to attend, get drinks and pass the hat for pizza. The party began at Veerkamp’s hotel at 6:00 p.m. We had a wonderful desk attendant at our hotel that offered use of the outdoor patio for our event and suggested we try the local pizza company—great pizza at an awesome price. Seven teams arrived and we all enjoyed kicking off MTR with this social event.

Saturday, August 31, 2013

MTR Day #2: 68.97 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 4 hours 52 minutes, average speed 14.1

The mass start began promptly at 9:00 a.m. and Dennis and I lead the group of 346 teams towards the countryside. With that many teams following you want to make sure you know where you are going and getting out of the parking lot can be a challenge sometimes.

Lunch was served at the Young’s Jersey Dairy under a large shelter. The use of our name badges again provided a very organized way to feed this crowd efficiently. We were blessed with wonderful riding conditions in the morning hours but by noon the temperature became rather uncomfortable. Our water was getting low and the sun was emitting some fierce rays. We arrived back at our hotel by 3:00 p.m. and gave in to exhaustion. Water was handed to us as we slouched to the ground. After regaining our strength, we gathered again with a few teams to return to Texas Roadhouse with plans of using our dinner discount tickets this time. Following supper, we stopped to visit with the Wisconsin COWs in their hospitality room then onto Kathi and John’s travel seminar—they always do such a wonderful job sharing their travels across the USA. We wrapped up the evening with a visit to One Eye Jacks where we joined six teams already involved in the celebration of another fine MTR day.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

MTR Day #3: 49.71 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 4 hours 4 minutes, average speed 12.2

With Saturday’s struggles behind us, we looked forward to another sunny day of riding. We did, however, break from tradition and gathered a group to bike the Miami Valley Bikeways instead of biking the planned route for the day. High temps were expected and we opted for the shade provided on Ohio’s wonderful trail system. We biked from the Xenia Station to the town of Dayton and enjoyed the beautiful RiverScape MetroPark.

Back at Xenia, lunch was waiting for us in an air conditioned building at the Fairgrounds. For a few more biking miles after lunch, we picked up the Ohio-to-Erie Trail out of Xenia.

This hard-working group of Ohio natives was partly responsible for making MTR 2013 a huge success. We missed them on route this year as their duties kept them from joining us. Thanks to all the Ohio MTR volunteers for making this a very enjoyable rally—not bad for this newly organized club!

Banquet day always gets us back to our accommodations early to fancy up for the main event—ha, ha. Actually, I offered my help to photographer, Miles, who was challenged with putting together the evening slide show. He repaid me with his thanks and allowed me to pick out a photo of my choice at no cost. The banquet meal was super and the variety was immense. Entertainment included a presentation by Tom Hinkle of the Bicycle Museum of America. He brought with him an antique bike display and educated us on many facts about bicycling over the generations—did you know that Schwinn never built a bike? Huffy was commissioned to build for Schwinn—very interesting.

This ended MTR 2013 for us. We would be off to West Virginia in the morning on our 13 eastern states adventure. We said our good-byes to all except Kathi and John who would be joining us on this journey east.

MTR 2013 Ride Statistics

33 states and 3 countries were represented (USA—11 from MN and 17 from WI, Canada, Brazil) totaling approximately 346 teams

65 teams enjoyed their first MTR; this was our 8^th MTR

The state with the most teams in attendance was awarded to Ohio with 73 registered riders; Michigan came in second with 49 teams in attendance

Our Total MTR 2013 Biking Miles: 176.64

Upcoming MTR Locations: MTR 2014—Fort Wayne, IN; MTR 2015—Rockford, IL

MTR 2012 – Middleton, WI

Friday, August 31 through Monday, September 3, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012–Rally Day 1

We spent many months planning this event along with a host of volunteers from our Couples on Wheels (COWS) tandem club. Our club presidents, Joan and John Laabs did an outstanding job organizing committees and attending meetings with the Madison Chamber and a variety of others to make sure each aspect of this “Olympic” biking event was addressed. The time has now come, so let the show begin!

We left home early Friday morning for the 3-hour trek to Middleton, WI. We had a Post MTR Tour errand in the Dells prior to meeting up with our club presidents in Middleton. We arrived at the Middleton Marriott mid-morning and our room was ready. We were upgraded to a corner suite in this up-scale establishment and this was a real treat. The Marriott was a wonderful place for this event and the staff was at our beck and call throughout this holiday weekend. We lunched at Sofra’s Family Bistro with John and Joan and then boogied back to the Marriott to get ready to ride. We had a window of 2 hours free time to get our Friday route in before our 3-6 p.m. bike storage duties which were then followed by a 5-7 p.m. assignment at registration—just a little overlap here.

We biked with the Andersens for this hilly and hot 13-mile ride. We were so happy Alan and Michelle were sharing their first MTR with us this year.

A variety of volunteers worked many months to put together this Tandem Rally in Middleton, Wisconsin. Our Co-Chairs, John and Joan Laabs, designated the following committees to aid them in making this MTR a success: Vendors & Seminars headed by the Whites, Bike Storage headed by the Peters, Registration headed by the Jordans, Decorations headed by the Olsons, MTR Booklet headed by the Petersons, SAG and Finance headed by the Dobbersteins, MTR Post Ride headed by the Veerkamps and the MTR Routes headed by the Gabelts and Bill Hauda – It all came together this Labor Day weekend.

This busy day ended with a jersey purchase in the vendor area, supper at Claddagh’s Irish Pub with 9 couples and a visit with Michelle and Alan in our Marriott room. Lights went out in room 401 at 11:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 1, 2012–Rally Day 2
We were up early for a McDonald’s breakfast before attending to our Bike Storage shift scheduled for 7-9 a.m. Marsha and Bill excused us a little early so that we could join the mass start beginning at 9:00. Many tandems (approximately 425) were in line awaiting final announcements, the police escort arrived and we were off. We chose the 50-mile route with its 2200 feet of climb which took us to Lodi for a delicious lunch.

Tandem bikes lined the roadways as they were escorted out of the Middleton area towards Lodi. The weather was perfect and winds were minimal which made for a fun day of riding with this amazing mass group.

Dennis and I had little time to visit at the rest stops. We needed to get back to the hotel and collect photos as riders finished their miles for the day. These photos would be used in a movie to be run during the social hour on Sunday evening. Many stopped by to share their photos of the day’s ride and I was happy with the variety of shots received. Michelle Andersen was at my side lending support for this project.

This first day of mass riding was a delightful success with miles of smiles and colorful conversations as riders reconnected with tandem teams of years past.

Today’s route ended in downtown Middleton at the site of the Mustard Museum. Many were sampling mustard and purchasing their favorite flavor wrapped in our very own MTR mustard label.

After the riding was done, a special event was planned from 3-5 p.m. at the Capital Brewery. I sent my camera over with Joan and Kathi and the following was captured while I was busy collecting pictures for the movie.

A variety of seminars were offered this evening beginning at 4:00 p.m. My favorite topics included YOGA STRETCH FOR TANDEMISTS taught by Susan Pribyl, GOING WEST & GOING EAST by Kathi and John Johnson and finally the ABC’S OF TANDEM MAINTENANCE by Jack Goertz. Following the seminars, our group of 18 gathered at Spreckers for an entertaining evening meal. With us were the Johnsons, Andersens, Hughes, Solomons, Paulsons, Petersons, Whites, and Michelle & Steve.

Lights finally went out in room 401 at midnight after some work in preparation for the Sunday Social.

Sunday, September 2, 2012–Rally Day 3
This morning began with a call for help. A detour was being announced for the medium and long routes because of road resurfacing. Dennis and I were biking the medium route from the remote start in Cross Plains so could offer help by making sure each rider leaving from this location had the route update. We finally began biking the route at 9:45 a.m. and had little time to visit at rest stops but we did get another wonderful lunch and a chance to get our picture taken with the Sauk City parade cow before heading back to the Marriott on an altered route.

We encountered many hills and lots of wind on route today but we were also surrounded by many friendly riders from many different states across the USA.

We were back at the host hotel by 1:30 p.m. to begin setting up for the production of the MTR 2012 movie to run at 5:30 p.m. during the evening social hour. Ryan from the Marriott was very helpful and knew what needed to be done to get the show up and running and promised he would be near when the doors opened to the live show. I was also thankful for the support of Gary Solomon—tandem friend and movie maniac. As the riders entered, many showed their appreciation with words of thanks and positive reviews. How special they all made me feel.

The MTR banquet was well attended with approximately 50% of the riders paying the extra $30 per person to enjoy the music, food, conversation and get the inside scoop on upcoming MTR locations. The evening was still young following the banquet allowing another gathering at Spreckers. We enjoyed winding down around the fire pit out on the patio where we discussed our future biking plans with the tandem teams we have come to call our close friends. As the evening went on, Dennis and I began to realize that we would not be able to bike our traditional sunrise ride on the last day of MTR 2012. We were exhausted and we still had the Dells Post Tour to attend. After a goodnight to all, we rode the elevator one more time up to room 401 and fell into bed for another good night’s rest.

Monday, September 3, 2012–Rally Day 4
As MTR 2012 was winding down, we watched riders getting ready to bike the breakfast route. Dennis and I met Joan and John at Sofra’s one last time before heading to the Wisconsin Dells to set up for the Post Ride. MTR 2012 continues to gather accolades as teams send their thanks for a well-run event. Way to go COWS!

MTR 2012 Ride Statistics

Riders of MTR 2012 represented 25 states and Canada (37 from MN and 55 from WI)

The state with the most teams was awarded to Illinois with 67 registered riders

A total 425 teams were in attendance as of August 31, 2012

Our total MTR 2012 ride miles: 96

Future MTRs:
MTR 2013—Fairborn, OH
MTR 2014—Fort Wayne, IN
MTR 2015—Illinois
MTR 2016—Quad Cities, IA

36th Annual Midwest Tandem Rally

Ann Arbor, Michigan
September 1—5, 2011

Pre-Rally Events (Thursday)
We reached Ann Arbor, MI on Thursday to prepare for the 4-day Midwest Tandem Rally. It took us 9 hours to drive from Minnesota to Michigan. We were happy to reach our destination at the Microtel by 2:30 p.m. eastern time. We drove downtown to find an Irish pub advertising authentic Irish food. We learned later that the pub was designed and built in Ireland and then moved to its current site in Ann Arbor. Following our lunch, we drove back to the MTR staging area to see what action was taking place at the host hotel. It wasn’t long before Kat and Greg Ellyson from Iowa tapped us on the shoulder. They joined us for a few cocktails and conversation. We touched base with a few of our tandem buddies still on the road travelling towards Michigan. Most riders would be arriving Friday afternoon.

9-2-2011 (Friday)
Rally Day #1: 16.44 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 40 minutes, average speed: 9.7

We were very happy to see all our riding buddies from states around the Midwest. Of the first to arrive were Sally and Gary McDaniel from Kansas City, MO—first timers to MTR. Their trip took them 13 hours. I still remember our 1^st MTR and how overwhelmed we felt until we were guided by a few seasoned MTR teams that made our event much more enjoyable. We could feel the rally excitement in the air as the registration room opened and the teams began to collect their ride packets. Following registration, we joined a group of 12 riders for a walk to Applebee’s for lunch. We were now well-fed and ready to ride.

We all gathered again to begin the first ride of this rally which took us up the Huron River valley through many parks towards a refreshing ice cream treat at the Washtenaw Dairy. The route through town was quite hectic with much road construction and vehicle traffic that was not excited to see us on the road. It was clear that football was the only sport of value in this college town.

Room 201 was a busy place back at the Microtel. We converted our suite into a hospitality room for COWS members to gather for a beverage and pizza. Couples continued to come and go through the evening until we were all socialized out. Lights went out in room 201 at 11:00 p.m. ending rally day #1 of MTR 2011.

9-3-2011 (Saturday)
Rally Day #2: 59.82 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 4 hours 16 minutes, average speed: 13.9

Our mass start today was gathering in the Hampton Inn parking lot and cueing to leave at 9:00 a.m. We were told there would not be police escorts this year so after announcements, the bikes began rolling out towards their chosen routes. The mile choices for the day were 25, 52 or 60. We chose the 60-mile route and we began travelling north towards the town of South Lyon.

We rode a combination of trails and roads today and had an opportunity to rest along the route at two designated rest stops. Lunch was served at the Island Lake State Recreational Area and was very well-run. Each rider was given a magnetic badge at registration that included our coded lunch choices for each day. We each cued up to the line matching our code, grabbed our lunch bag and found a seat to enjoy our meal—a very organized way to get 800 hungry riders through a lunch line with minimal complaints.

A=Turkey Cheddar G=Chocolate Chip Cookie D=Grand Traverse Club  P=Picnic

The temperature throughout our ride today was in the mid-90’s—very hot! We stopped often to visit along the route and to check on each other to make sure everyone was hydrating often. We enjoyed our travels through Island Lake State Park and Kensington Metro Park finally ending back at the hotels for a watermelon treat provided by Santana Cycles.

The Sunday evening MTR banquet was replaced by a Saturday evening picnic. The event coordinators took a chance on this outdoor event and it went pretty well. The weather held off just long enough to feed the crowd but forced us all to evacuate to dryer climate sooner than planned.

The picnic was held at German Park, a 5-mile distance away from our hotels, and began at 5:00 p.m. The cost to attend was $21 per adult and included many food choices served in stations throughout the park—Roast Pig, Smoked Texas Rub Brisket, North Carolina Pulled Pork, Kansas City BBQ Ribs, Memphis Style BBQ Chicken, New Orleans Shrimp-Chicken-Sausage Jambalaya, Farm Fresh Grilled Vegetables…just to name a few. Multiple salads and desserts were also available.

Veerkamp’s room at the Microtel was again offered for a gathering spot to continue to enjoy the company of our travelling friends from across the Midwest.

9-4-2011 (Sunday)
Rally Day #3: 54.44 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 3 hours 58 minutes, average speed: 13.6

Mile choices for today were 30, 52 or 73. Because of the possibility of rain and some hills, we chose the 52-mile route and started out from the Holiday Inn parking lot along with Sally and Gary. We were looking for some sort of mass gathering but since we saw none, decided to begin pedaling at 8:50 a.m.

We pedaled past some awesome smelling baked goods permeating the air near Dexter, MI and I instructed Dennis to keep on pedaling. Many were stopping for the delicious apple cider and donuts available here.

Our route then led us to Hell (Hell, Michigan, that is) and our second rest stop of the day. We met up with the Johnsons and Solomons here and enjoyed the photo opportunities available at this quaint little stop.

Lunch was being served on the banks of the Huron River at Hudson Mills Metropark. We gathered our preordered lunches and found a table where the 10 of us could visit while we ate. The weather was more enjoyable today with temps in the 70’s and with only a few sprinkles throughout the day.

After lunch, we pedaled back towards Ann Arbor via a bicycle trail. We seemed to have missed the big sign at the lunch stop routing around the bike path because of storm damage the previous night. Oh well, we are always up for an adventure and would have missed out on this one if we would have seen the sign.

An ice cream treat was awaiting us in the Holiday Inn parking lot following our ride today thanks to Co-Motion Cycles.

We thank the many volunteers we met throughout this MTR weekend. The Michigan MUTS did a tremendous job feeding, entertaining and caring for all riders enjoying MTR 2011.

Dinner was on our own this evening so we made plans to gather with a group following a 5:00 p.m. meeting Dennis and I were attending. The group chose the Conner Brewery in Ypsilanti where we could all sit and enjoy another meal together.

9-5-2011 (Monday)
Rally Day #4: 14.67 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 19 minutes, average speed: 11.0

Dennis and I had company this year as we biked our MTR traditional Monday sunrise route. Kathi, John, Sally and Gary agreed to rise early enough in the morning to bike as the sun was rising over the horizon. The route led us downtown towards the Michigan University campus for a short bike trip before completing this Ann Arbor rally. We found a Denny’s restaurant to stop for a final meal together and it was very good. We were treated well as we were the only group in the restaurant at this time in the morning.

Back at our hotel, we said our goodbyes then all went our separate ways making the 2011 MTR one for the history books. Thanks again to all volunteers and also to all our biking buddies for again making MTR a very memorable event.

Ride Statistics

Riders of MTR 2011 represented 24 states and Canada
347 teams were registered to ride

Our total MTR 2011 ride miles: 145

MTR 2012—Madison, WI

Tentative Upcoming MTR Locations:

MTR 2013—Ohio MTR
MTR 2014—Illinois
MTR 2015—Fort Wayne, IN