Bike MS Staff seeking spare bicycle parts

The Bike MS committee & staff are in need of spare bicycle parts that you might be willing to donate. We're looking for seats, bars and wheels. They will be used for a promotion/fundraising project that will be revelaed at a later date. If you have anything to donate, please e-mail april.brownlee@nmss.org. Thanks!!

This is the weekly ride schedule, as posted on the Old Tascosa Cycling website. As you know, due to the cost of liability insurance, the National MS Society is no longer able to provide training rides in preparation for Bike MS. Luckily, there are a number of great training opportunities to get you geared up! The weekly ride schedule is below. In the coming months, the Bike MS staff will host some events in conjunction with some of these rides, so stay tuned for more information.



Monday - Gander Mtn, 6pm start. No drop, which means nobody gets left behind.
Tuesday - Hammerfest. See the Hammerfest thread. The opposite of the Monday ride - be prepared to suffer and then get dropped.
Wednesday - Gander Mtn, 6pm start. Similar to the Monday ride with a brisker pace.
Saturday - Hollywood Theater, 1:30 start. Long ride. 50 miles early in the spring, building to 80 in the summer. If the route is too long, there are plenty of opportunities to cut the ride short and many people do.
Sunday - Gander Mtn, 1:30 start. Moderate pace, about 30 miles.

The ever-present panhandle wind is a big influence on the routes. During the summer months, the wind is out of the Southwest. The strategy is to go into the wind at the beginning of the ride and have tailwind on the way back.

Gander Mtn rides typically go west on the I-40 frontage road, out and back. There is also a northern route that includes Old Soncy when we get really tired of the I-40 frontage road.

Hollywood Theater rides go south and west from the theater. The route varies week to week and often is a game time decision. Plenty of opportunities to see Canyon, Happy, Buffalo Lake, and Umbarger.

***NEW***
Sunday - Flower Picker Ride. A very leisurely afternoon ride around the neighborhoods of Amarillo. Diane Broady has offered to lead these rides. The first one is March 21st, 1:30 PM start at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School. You can park in the parking lot. If you have any questions you can PM Diane at Tyme or post to this thread.

Monday and Wednesday rides will officially start after Spring Break (Mar. 22).

The Monday and Wednesday rides will move to 6:30 the first week in April when we have more daylight.

Thanks OTC!!

We're sending a shout out and a big THANKS to Old Tascosa Cycling for the $1,000 check we received from the Outdoor Element raffle. Thanks to everyone who made that happen and everyone who contributed!

Bike MS/Walk MS Team Captain Kickoff Party

Thursday, February 4
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Press Cafe, inside Trinity Fellowship Church

Join us for:

• door prizes
• fabulous "fun"draising ideas
• recruitment tools and ideas
• guest speakers
• how to pitch support for your Walk MS/Bike MS team to your boss or company
• snacks

Friends and family welcome!

Special thanks to Tiffany Carter & Press Cafe for the treats and meeting space!

See you there!

Old Tascosa Cycling Annual Banquet

The Bike MS Staff was out and about this weekend at the Old Tascosa Cycling Club's annual banquet. We were happy to see everyone, excited about the new officers, and grateful for past leadership.

Old Tascosa Cycling is a great supporter of the National MS Society. In fact, they're selling raffle tickets for a $1500 Outdoor Element gift certificate, with part of the proceeds coming back to the National MS Society.

If you'd like to buy a ticket, call April at 468-8005, ext 26 or stop by our office, 6222 Canyon Drive, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Thanks, OTC for your continued support!

It just takes one person to inspire hundreds. Become a Bike MS team captain today.
Click here to JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Bike MS Specialized Contest!

Enter today to win one of 20 Specialized Bikes!

Enter here:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/forms/bikems/specialized_contest.aspx

Why do you ride?

If you already haven't, JOIN THE MOVEMENT July 24 & 25, 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AISST1eXHVk&feature=sdig&et=1264580733.64

And join us on Facebook. We've recruited 246 fans in just two weeks. Help us spread the word and reach our goal of 1000 fans in 6 weeks!

Join the Bike MS 2010 Committee!

The kick-off meeting of the Bike MS 2010--The Wild West Ride committee is set for Thursday, February 18 at 5:30 PM at the National MS Society, 6222 Canyon Drive, Amarillo.

If you'd like to join the committee, we welcome anyone, cyclist or not, who wants to help advance the ride to new heights. Contact April Brownlee at 806-468-8005, ext 26 for more info or to join the movement and be on our committee.

Saw this on Craigslist today....

The Human Performance Research Laboratory at West Texas A&M University is seeking participants for a research study dealing Maximal Oxygen Consumption (VO2max) in cyclists. The study will consist of one testing session lasting about 1 1/2 hours where you will fill out three surveys and perform a VO2max test on a Veletron Cycle Ergometer. Blood pressure and cardiac changes will also be monitored throughout the test. All test results are completely free to you, VO2max is an excellent indication of how "in shape" you are as a cyclists. If you are interested in participating in this study please contact the Human Performance Research Laboratory at (806) 651-2374, or you can contact me at (806) 681-7127. My email is jgordon@wtamu.edu. Thank you in advance for your interestin this study and we look forward to your participation!

Josh Gordon
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Head Technician, Human Performance Research Laboratory
Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences
West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX 79016
(806) 681-7127
(806) 651-2374
jgordon@wtamu.edu

Announcing our NEW Training Tools: Free to Bike MS Participants by Training Peaks

We know training for an event like Bike MS has it’s ups and downs. But now there’s a new tool to help you have the ride of your life, It’s TrainingPeaks, the official training software of Bike MS!

TrainingPeaks, includes custom cycling training plans created just for us by Joe Friel, the official coach of Bike MS! And best of all, access to this amazing, interactive website is FREE to Bike MS participants.

With Training Peaks you’ll get:
TrainingPeaks is the ultimate training log and food diary developed to help motivated individuals achieve health, fitness and peak performance.
TrainingPeaks customers span the entire lifestyle continuum from elite athletes to first time competitors and everyday individuals looking to take control of their personal nutrition and fitness goals.
In addition to using our custom plans for FREE, our cyclists can purchase additional pre-built training plans, pre-built meal plans, or find a professional for expert training or nutrition advice and motivation. They can also upgrade to the Premium version and use the VirtualCoach, mobile app, more reports and custom planning.
TrainingPeaks.com is compatible with over 80 different devices like heart rate monitors, GPS devices and power meters. Including those from Polar, Garmin, Timex, Suunto and more. Users can also build routes, track their progress with interactive reports and share their experience via Facebook and Twitter.

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Select a training plan, create an account and log in here: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/

$2.10 in 2010