Road Cycling - 2004 Tour of Hope

I did the 2003 Tour of Hope and was hoping to do this year's version. Has anyone heard anything about this? It is scheduled for October 9th (which is only 2 months away). Since this is a fundraising event I would think they would get the word out so people can raise money. The only thing I ever heard was getting a survey a few months back about what I liked and did not like about last year's ride.

I did the 2003 Tour of Hope and was hoping to do this year's version. Has anyone heard anything about this? It is scheduled for October 9th (which is only 2 months away). Since this is a fundraising event I would think they would get the word out so people can raise money. The only thing I ever heard was getting a survey a few months back about what I liked and did not like about last year's ride.

They just opened registration for the 2004 ride. If anyone would like to donate to this great cause please do so at the attached link.

https://secure.laf.org/Donations/TOH_Donate_amount.cfm?sid=200089143

If anyone is doing this ride, I would be interested.

Thank you.

They just opened registration for the 2004 ride. If anyone would like to donate to this great cause please do so at the attached link.

https://secure.laf.org/Donations/TOH_Donate_amount.cfm?sid=200089143

If anyone is doing this ride, I would be interested.

Thank you.

Any updates?

Are you reffering to the Ride for the Roses or the Tour of Hope? The Tour of Hope is going to be in DC I'm pretty sure on Oct 9th. You will have to have allready met your $100.00 donation and signed up for the Ride for the Roses. Then they are only allowing 100 riders in for the that leg.

The donation close date for the Ride for the Roses is the August 27th. You'll have to have raised the $100.00 by then this link has a list of important dates.

https://secure.laf.org/Peloton/pp_dates.cfm

The Ride for the Roses is to be run on Oct 17th. Should be a great days ride hope to see you all there!

Since we are plugging our own donation links he is mine:)

https://secure.laf.org/Donations/Donate_amount.cfm?sid=200147492

Are you reffering to the Ride for the Roses or the Tour of Hope? The Tour of Hope is going to be in DC I'm pretty sure on Oct 9th. You will have to have allready met your $100.00 donation and signed up for the Ride for the Roses. Then they are only allowing 100 riders in for the that leg.

The donation close date for the Ride for the Roses is the August 27th. You'll have to have raised the $100.00 by then this link has a list of important dates.

https://secure.laf.org/Peloton/pp_dates.cfm

The Ride for the Roses is to be run on Oct 17th. Should be a great days ride hope to see you all there!

Since we are plugging our own donation links he is mine:)

https://secure.laf.org/Donations/Donate_amount.cfm?sid=200147492

Actually it has nothing to do with the Ride for the Roses. For the Tour of Hope you have to pledge $50 and then raise another $450 for a 25-30 mile ride. For the Ride for the Roses you pledge $50 and then have to raise only another $50 for a 100 mile ride (could do shorter if you want). Of course either way you are raising money for a great cause but why are the 2 so different; hardly seems fair.

Lenny my understanding of the Tour of Hope was that the LAF had a designated set of riders that are riding accross the country. They are allowing 100 Peleton members to join them in selected city's. Is my info incorrect?

Lenny my understanding of the Tour of Hope was that the LAF had a designated set of riders that are riding accross the country. They are allowing 100 Peleton members to join them in selected city's. Is my info incorrect?

That may be true but there is a recreational ride on 10/9 for the first 1500 people to raise $500. Last year it was a lot of fun and exciting when the cross country team drove up. It was suppossed to be 62 miles but then because of construction it was cut to 40 miles. This year it is only 25-30 miles.

I meant to raise $500 and to be only be able to do 30 miles is not so great. I am committed to doing it but I will travel 5 hours from NY to be done with the ride in 1 1/2 hours or so.

That may be true but there is a recreational ride on 10/9 for the first 1500 people to raise $500. Last year it was a lot of fun and exciting when the cross country team drove up. It was suppossed to be 62 miles but then because of construction it was cut to 40 miles. This year it is only 25-30 miles.

I meant to raise $500 and to be only be able to do 30 miles is not so great. I am committed to doing it but I will travel 5 hours from NY to be done with the ride in 1 1/2 hours or so.

Are you coming to Austin for the Ride for the Roses? This will be my first one, now that I'm living in Austin it's right in my back yard! Next Friday is LA's home coming parade should be a blast!

Are you coming to Austin for the Ride for the Roses? This will be my first one, now that I'm living in Austin it's right in my back yard! Next Friday is LA's home coming parade should be a blast!

I was planning on doing that but a started a new job and can only get away for the Tour of Hope in DC (since I live in NY). Just thought the logistics of flying there, packing up bike and finding lodging would be too much 1 week after this event. Would love to go though; maybe next year.

Anyone doing this ride?

Who is riding in this?

Anybody riding in this?

Anybody riding in this?

Hmm that might be a cool ride. What was the avg speed in 03? i.e. will I be able to keep up? :D I am going to DC the weekend before but maybe I can move the trip.

See www.tourofhope.org

It is not fast unless you want to run with the real bikers in front. I rode with a Trek1000 & sneakers at about 17MPH last year. This year I will be on a Trek2200 and plan on riding up front. There were plenty of people riding slower last year even on hybrid bikes. The route is only 25-30 miles.

However, to ride you must raise $500 for LAF.

See www.tourofhope.org

It is not fast unless you want to run with the real bikers in front. I rode with a Trek1000 & sneakers at about 17MPH last year. This year I will be on a Trek2200 and plan on riding up front. There were plenty of people riding slower last year even on hybrid bikes. The route is only 25-30 miles.

However, to ride you must raise $500 for LAF.

How was the route last year? I had been at the site earlier and they said they are still working on it. My last ride was 37 miles at 17 MPH avg but that includes warm up, cool down and a few good climbs and decents so...

I don't think the $500 would be an issue at all, should honestly be very easy. Do you get a T-shirt or anything saying you did it? :D Just looking for the perks not that that is what it is about or anything. I wish I could move my trip to DC to that weekend but wife says it is a no go but that we could go both weekends...I just hate the drive.

Well I am in too. Now to get on the fund raising. :)

The route was very flat. Only inclines were next to the Capitol building (short but very steep) and a little around RFK Stadium. Nothing significant at all. It is not meant to be very physically challenging just more recreational.

I still wish they gave you a choice of riding longer (or maybe riding the route twice).

You get a water bottle and t-shirt. The rest stops are also great. No cheap sports drink and pastries as I have seen on some of my rides. Since it is associated with LAF you get power gel, power bites and Powerade.

You also get a SAG wagon following the riders who all start at the same time so if you get into any trouble they are right there.

I will look for you there. I will be on a blue 2004 Trek 2200. I am not sure what I will wear yet. I might "go postal" and wear the 2003 Tour de France retro jersey from the last stage.

Well I signed up yesterday and I am at $560 and climbing for donations so I am there for sure. I set a personal goal of $1000 for this year and think I will get there if I can get my company to kick in some cash which I believe will happen especially considering that the President lost his wife 2 years ago to breast cancer that spread through her body.

With all of the riders there I am sure it will be hard to find another specific rider but I will be on my silver Marin wearing a jersey with names all over it. In my fund raising I told people that if they had a name of a cancer survivor or sufferer that I would wear it on my jersey with my father's name (father is a cancer survivor).

Maybe I will see you there.

John

How did you raise so much if you just signed up?

How did you raise so much if you just signed up?

Actually just hit the $700 mark. It is the power of the internet. :D I made a post on my golf forum and got probably $250 in donations from there so far. A couple of $100 donations from my boss and a friend of my wife's certainly helped. I emailed all 129 people at my work and got another $200 and supposedly others plan on making donations. I guess it helps to be a nice guy? I think $1000 is doable for me in the short time and I am aiming for $5000+ next year (assuming they do it again) especially if I can get some local companies to donate.

I can't wait for the ride. Did 41 miles tonight but was a little dissapointed in my speed (16.5 avg). I pretty much ran out of juice and was just trying to spin my way home.

You will be fine at that speed. Last year on the 40 mile ride there were 2 rest stops. There will certainly be people on hybrid bikes riding slower than that.

You will be fine at that speed. Last year on the 40 mile ride there were 2 rest stops. There will certainly be people on hybrid bikes riding slower than that.

Yea I assumed I would be ok after one of your other posts. The area in which I live is anything but flat, that ride had 4 climbs worth talking about...of course that means it also had decents, but there is not much if any flats around here. Also was with just one water refill stop at the local airport.

I am looking forward to the ride.

They just came out with the route. You have to find a way to Bethesda MD to start at 8am. Then ride 20 miles and stop. At 10:15am all riders ride into DC together for the last 8 miles.

The riding in together seems cool but 20 miles and 2 hours to do it seems as if I will be waiting around for a while and the total distance is kind of short.

I am used to doing century rides so this may be a lot of passing slower riders and waiting for them to finish.

Why can't this be like the Ride for the Roses in Austin where you can pick your ride length?

Yea I saw that. Was there some sort of issue last year or something? Or are they affraid of bicycle bombs or something? :( I love how the email said if you were staying down town to take the subway to the start. I would love to see that, bicycles everywhere on the subway trains...LOL :D

So what time do you need to be at the start? I would think check in will take a while and showing up at 7:30 might be too late. What time you planning on getting there?

Last year it was the first year and there were some problems. But like I said the Ride for the Roses is run much better (maybe it is Austin, TX vs Washington DC and security).

It was going to be a metric century (62 miles) but then with construction and what not it was cut down to 40 miles. It started and finished at the White House Ellipse. It was like a real bike race. They had many bikes on trainers to warm up with (and for every mile pedaled Bristol Meyers donated money). They had power bites and Powerade/Dasani water to fuel you up before the ride. I got there at least 1 hour early to take it all in. There were not fund raising prizes last year though (just t-shirts and water bottles to all)

You had many serious riders to hang out with. It was very cool. I stayed in a hotel about 1/2 mile away and biked over meeting up with other riders on the way.

This year either you cram on the metro or take this shuttle (I am finding out if you have to stay at the JW Marriott to take the shuttle or just a nearby hotel). The metro early on a Saturday should not be so crowded. But you have to figure out which hotel is near the red line to get you to Bethesda.

I am hoping the "Dry-fit shirt" is actually a jersey as I am about to crack the $1000 number. :D I will be staying in Lorton, VA with my wife's brother so I have to figure out how to get there and how long it will take. Funny you are talking about Austin since I am headed there on Sat for a week vacation, my mother lives there now. :) Hope to do some riding while I am down there.

The shirt does not say jersey (I was thinking the same thing). If you go to the Trek bikes website you can see that there are some dri-fit shirts for about $40. I think this is what they are giving out but if they have the Tour of Hope logo it will be cool anyway.

They should sell some Tour of Hope stuff to raise money which is something they did not do last year.

Yea my father (who happen to be a cancer survivor) was asking me if I could buy him a Tour of Hope Jersey. Apparently he had seen someone at a race in his area with one on and wondered where he could get one. Oh well, I guess we will find out in a few weeks.

Anybody out there doing this ride?

I'm registered for the ride. Looking forward to it! I'm doing it in memory of my sister, who died of cancer earlier this year. If anyone would care to make a donation to sponsor me, then PM me and I'll provide you with the LAF URL.

Sounds good to me.

I will look for you there.

Last year was fun and I am hoping for the same this year.

Looking forward to seeing which USPS teammates are there.

I'll be the one on the black Kestrel :D

They are selling jerseys and shorts on Trek Website soon.

Chechu Rubiera, Pavel Padronos, Antonio Cruz and Damon Kluck will all be riding along with the DC riders. Pretty cool huh?

The maximum pace is only 20 miles per hour so hopefully many of us can keep up and actually ride with them.

I got my ride packet yesterday. I am #470. They even gave me a free Powerbar. Woo Hoo :rolleyes:

Due to travel and weather I haven't been riding much which stinks for many reasons but I hope to get a couple of good rides in next week before driving down to DC on Friday evening. This start and finish point deal sort of stinks. I am thinking of parking at the start and just riding back after the finish.

Edit: Oh and here is the Jersey :eek: https://store.trekbikes.com/shopping/product_detail.jsp?product_id=6052&category_id=620 :eek:

Last year it started and finished at the Ellipse, much better. I told them they advertise a ride around DC but most of it is in Maryland. Still to ride with the USPS guys should be fun.

The jersey will be on sale in DC also (this is not what you get for free for raising over $1000). I need a small so I will have to wait since they are not selling them online in this size.

I got my packet yesterday also (I will check my number). Last year you got a Tour of Hope waterbottle and not a power bar. But you also only got a t-shirt (no baseball hat) and no fundraising prizes.

See you there.

I just started posting to these forums, and noticed all the Tour of Hope messages. I did it last year, and will be riding again this Saturday. I'm no. 735, the one on the red and white DeRosa, wearing the Sugoi jersey with the bulldog on it. I plan to writethe names of several people I'm riding for on my number, some who died from cancer, and others who are still fighting it.

Maybe I'll see some of you there.

Joanne

Anyone else parking at the start and riding back after the finish? :D All of my plans pretty much fell apart so this is about the only option I have left, LOL good day of riding though. LOL I plan on doing the ride and hanging out for some of the festivities then riding back to the Prep school parking lot, any companny would be great if someone else is doing the same.

I will be there.

They almost screwed up my shuttle ride from Downtown DC to the start. They say you can use the metro but it does not start running until 7am and that is from the first stop, so by the time it gets to Maryland it is about 10 minutes before the start. Bad planning.

The Ride for the Roses seems much better organized (even though I never did it).

Last year starting and ending at the Ellipse was much better. The trainers you can ride to raise money for research were there so you could also use them to warm up on a cold brisk morning. This year the trainers are only at the finish.

There will only be water and Powerade at the start.

It will be cool to ride with the USPS guys. Rest up on Friday night so you have all your energy.

I am at work and forgot my number but I will be wearing a red top, black long tights, black Trek Helmet and be on a blue Trek 2200.

See you guys there.

You should stay for the whole thing; it is very moving espically when the team arrives.

How do you know how to get back to the beginning from the Elippse?

My wife and I are looking to ride down there to support the cause this Saturday. Any idea whether "Da Man" himself will be in attendance?
Alex

You have to have already signed up and raised $500 each to participate in the ride. You can come watch and attend the ceremonies at the end. You can ride a stationary bike to raise money in a tent while watching Lance on video.

Yes Lance will be there. He is riding with the DC riders for a while then will join up with the cross country folks and lead them in to DC.

Thanks Lenny for the info, I knew we had to sign up and raise cash, I just mean't we would come down in support.
A

Your welcome.

See you there.

You should stay for the whole thing; it is very moving espically when the team arrives.

How do you know how to get back to the beginning from the Elippse?

That is the trick isn't it. I thought the route was a little more direct than it is and I was just going to ride the route in reverse but seeing the map I am going to go a little more direct. Don't have a route back in mind but I will map it out this afternoon or tomorrow.

I will stay for a while anyway...what do we do with our bikes between the finish and the end of the event? Is there some sort of bike check?

Grasschoppper - If you map a good route back I may ride back with you. I don't know the area so I can't map one. I don't want to do the original ride back, though. If you map a good one, maybe some others would come along as well - more safety in numbers.

Grasschoppper - If you map a good route back I may ride back with you. I don't know the area so I can't map one. I don't want to do the original ride back, though. If you map a good one, maybe some others would come along as well - more safety in numbers.

What is your definition of a good route? :D Honestly I don't know the area either so I am going to do something fairly direct. I have no idea if the area north of DC has bad neighborhoods or whatever. My brother in law lives and works in DC so I will get his input.

I will let you know.

Well, looking at the Route map on the website, it looks like app. 12 miles as the crow flies. Adjusting for streets, you're probably looking at 15 miles minimum. Maybe we could get somebody on this group who knows DC well to help plan a route?

At the finish, you can check your bike in a guarded/gated area with bike racks. If someone meets you there maybe they could bring you a lock but probably not necessary.

They will also hold a bag for you to change (could put a lock in there also) into regular clothes/shoes.

Last year you had no changing options. I rode with sneakers last year so I am not sure what people did with cycling shoes. This year I will change from my shoes to sneakers and maybe put on a warm up jacket.

Again they are not very organized. There are shuttles that take you back to the start but you probably had to sign up for them already.

Any fixed or singlespeed riders on this trip?

What is the course like? Are there many hills?