Hill, Holliday fields team for Rodman Ride for Kids

Don Rodman, the founder of the Rodman Ride for Kids, met Dave Gardiner at the Camp Harborview Fundraiser over the summer and asked him to build a cycling team for the Rodman Ride.

Dave obliged. His first task was to recruit teammates Bryan Sweeney, Scott Hainline, Joe Berkeley, and Mike Sheehan. 

Job two was to design custom team jerseys. The fine folks at Mt Borah turned his concept into a finished jersey. As this was Dave's first century, we shall focus on his challenges.

The first one arrived when Dave met his friend Steve at a parking lot. Steve wanted to travel together to Foxboro, so Dave parked his car in the garage and handed Steve his bike. Steve put the bike on the roof of his car. Hoping to save a little time, Steve went to drive into the parking garage to get Dave.

The giant "Boom" sound Dave heard wasn't a three car crash or a petroleum truck exploding. It was Steve peeling the bikes off the roof rack when they came into contact with the ceiling of the garage. Steve's bike suffered a loss of bar tape and a left shifter and brake. As Dave's bike is significantly smaller than Steve's, it too suffered some abrasions, but for the most part, was rideable. 

As Dave had an extra jersey in the team kit box, he was going to have Steve suit up in Hill, Holliday colors. But following the vicious attack upon Dave's bicycle, the offer was rescinded. Steve rode in his yellow jersey.

Having ridden the Rodman Ride before, I knew what was going to occur, so we started very close to the front so the people who love falling over on top of other people wouldn't be able to do so on us. At the gun, the man informed us we had to wait because we were in the second wave. We rolled through him.

The front group did what the front group always does. We wound it up to around 23 miles per hour and found a comfy spot in the middle of the pack. 

Around mile 75, we hooked up with another group. At that point, we had been averaging around 20.8 mph according to Hainline's Garmin.

And one cannot mention Hainline's Garmin without bringing up the fact that Hainline's equipment is so fancy it is beyond Sweeney's. He has a sweet Cervelo RS with custom parts. He even busted out race day white tires.

The scariest part of the ride is when the 100 mile group merges with the 25 mile group toward the end. You have guys hammering and kids on dump-find bikes weaving. 

We avoided any collisions, finished strong, and enjoyed a post-ride barbecue.

In the year 2010, there should be a new, Ultegra bike in Dave's future. Ultegra is coming out with the next generation of components and it's a great combination of performance and value. 

For the first time in 25 months, I was able to ride without the weight of Burns & Levinson on my shoulders. Even though my form was a bit off, I floated up the climbs and could hang with all of the big dogs. 

It's a great feeling to ride with friends on a nice day. The next day, the weather was miserable, and it would've been a 100 mile slog in the rain. Yes, we could've done it. But I can't say I would've preferred it.

I hope you are well, the sun is on your face, the wind is at your back, and you are as happy as a male Labrador retriever with a duck's wing in his mouth.