MS 150 update

All,

I’ve got a few things to update you on regarding the MS bike ride

Members – We’re off to a great start – we already have 23 riders signed up for the team with six of them new riders. That puts us at nearly 30% of our goal with 12 weeks to go! Welcome to Nick Cable, Ann Franke, Paul Gabriel, Robert O’Malley, Marc Wolman and Sabrina Wolman. There will be prizes for recruiting so ask your friends, neighbors, relatives, coworkers, etc and help the team grow.

Training – Two of us made Saturday’s training ride in the rain. It actually was very nice since it stopped almost immediately but I’m hopeful we can finally get to better weather next weekend. Let’s make it a 9:00 start at Prairie Elementary in Waunakee again next Saturday for 20 – 33 miles depending on interest of the group.

Fundraiser – Dave Barger is working on reserving a gas station for three dates before the ride for car washes. We’ll need 8 washers to confirm for each one with a 2 kids = 1 washer conversion ratio. Plan is to wash cars from 9 to noon on June 3, June 10 and July 29 at a Shell station at 3401 University. Please email me if you’d like to participate. Any funds raised will be allocated to the washers that work that date so this will be a great help for those of you that need help getting to the minimum.

We’ve secured one new corporate sponsorship for sure and probably two more. This is a relatively easy way to increase your fundraising so please take a look at it. I’ve got the sponsorship benefits on the website for your use. As in the car wash, any funds you raise will be allocated to your totals which will instantly get you to the yellow jersey level of fund raising.

Website – I’ve corralled someone that knows what they’re doing to revamp the NBC 15 Sonic Streamer website so check back soon to see how it looks. Should be good timing as I did an interview with Leigh on NBC channel 15 that’ll air Friday that will plug it.

http://www.sonicstreamers.org/

Looking for a recumbent bike for this year’s ride?

Check out Steve Mcmahon's listing:

FRAME, Custum Burley light gauge ChroMoly boom tube FORK, Burley TaperGage ChroMoly
HEADSET, Cane Creek STS
CRANKSET, Cyclone Precision forged 30/42/53
BOTTOM BRACKET, Shimano UN50
FRONT DERAILLEUR, Shimano Sora
REAR DERAILLEUR, SPRAM ESP 5.0
SHIFTERS, SPRAM ESP 5.0
GEAR CLUSTER, SPRAM 11-32 8 spd
HUBS, Shimano Deore 32 degree
SPOKES, DT black
RIMS, Weinmann Zac 19, black 20" front, 26" rear
BRAKES, Shimano M420 "V"
BRAKE LEVERS, Shimano M420
PEDALS, Clip
HANDLEBAR, Alloy Arc
STEERING MAST, Burley Megadjust alloy
GRIPS, Velo Dual Density
SEAT FRAME, Burley Megadjust Chromoly
SEAT BOTTOM, Custom by Corbin
COLOR, Cobalt Blue

Please call Steve McMahon for further details.
Phone, 715-836-9377
E-mail, swmcmahon@sbcglobal.net

Car wash, anyone?

A car wash is a great way to get over the required $300 per cyclist hurdle. We could probably raise $500 per event at a local Shell station on University Avenue. This could be a biweekly event from 9:00 – noon so it wouldn’t eat up your whole day. Most importantly, it would definitely help out our team!

Lots of things are underway

(Originally emailed April 3, 2006)

All,

Only April and lots of things are underway in preparation for the 2006 Bike ride. We have 7 riders confirmed already with several new riders verbally committed. We’re off to an amazingly fast start! Feel free to use our new team website to sign up for the team at www.sonicstreamers.org You can click on get involved and follow the join team link which is the second link on that page

First thing to point out are some fundraisers.

Friday April 7th. The Arboretum Music School is putting on a faculty recital at the Waunakee Village Center at 333 South Madison Street, with all proceeds to benefit MS. Dinner is at 6:00PM, recital begins at 7:00PM, cost is $18.00 for adults and $8.00 for children under 12. The dinner will be an Italian theme. Short notice I know so please check your schedules and let me know if you can go. I can get plenty of tickets.

Various – Car washes. Dave Barger has offered to organize car washes to benefit the team which could be allocated specifically to those that work the event. For those of you that need extra help raising donations, this would be a great way to get over the required $300 hurdle. He said they made $500 the last time he was involved in one at a location at a Shell station on University Ave. We could make this a biweekly event from 9 to noon as an example so wouldn’t take up the whole day and could really help out the team. Let me know if you can get involved.

Madison Marathon – Not actually a fundraiser but the organization has asked us as well as other local bike organizations if we could provide bike escorts for the top runners. The event is on Sunday May 28th starting at the Alliant Energy Center. I thought it sounded like a fun way to get involved. Let me know if you’re up for a very slow bike ride with 4,600 runners!

Corporate Sponsorships – The deadline for inclusion on the event wide brochure has past now but there are still society-wide benefit levels available as well as team benefits. We have several companies that have sponsored $1,000 or more to be included on our team jerseys and we still have approximately one month left before I need to order them. Corporations may have more interest this year as a celebrity plans to join us. TV news anchor Leigh Mills of channel 15 in Madison will be joining the team along with some of her friends and plans to do several stories about MS, the ride and her preparations for it. I’m sure she’ll be sporting her team jersey full of corporate logos in at least a few of these stories. Let me know if you have any ideas of corporations we should approach or need any help. This can be a very easy way to raise significant amounts for MS so please give it some thought.

More to come….

Ken

Spring is just around the corner

(Originally emailed February 14, 2006)

With a warm January and spring around the corner I can’t help but get excited about the upcoming cycling season and the MS 150 bike ride. The Sonic Streamer team is registered and five riders have already made the commitment so things are underway. My reason for starting early is that the deadline for including corporate logos on the bike brochures is looming close at March 1. I’ve found that offering MS Society sponsorship opportunities to be very helpful in obtaining corporate sponsorships. Of course, these corporate contributions will count toward your totals. People often ask how I raise so much and this is the key. I have two companies that sponsor me for $2,000 or more and others at $1,000 or more. To help, I have what I think is kind of exciting news. With a little technical help from my brother, I’ve written our very own website at www.sonicstreamers.org

There you’ll find lots of resources including team brochures, business cards to hand out, corporate sponsorship summaries, team sponsorship benefits, etc. There are also spots for pictures from past rides, testimonials from those we ride for about how MS has affected their lives (please feel free to send me your own so I can add those), our existing corporate sponsors and more.

Of course, there are also links to donate, sign up for the team and volunteer. I encourage all of you to check the site out, use what you can and offer any suggestions to me. I’ll keep working on it to make as many improvements as possible as we go along. Please also take a minute to sign up for the team so one of us don’t have to hound you.

Speaking of others, I have been soliciting support in order to make our contribution greater this year. Mark Kruser has agreed to help me with training rides and Christin Harding is going to help with recruiting, etc. If you have the time, I’d welcome additional help and suggestions.

All for now

Ken