Hey Everyone,

I'm very excited to have an opportunity to ride the Dairyland Dare (www.dairylanddare.com) on August 15.  It is going to be an amazing experience and there's no guarantee that I will finish - but I'm going to try.  It is a 300K bike ride through the hills of Wisconsin - yep, that's 188.9 miles!  I want to do this in memory of someone I never met, John Olin.  John owned the Higher Gear bike shops - on the North Shore of Illinois.  He died suddenly on June 9. 

I heard of John through my cycling group - Andale (said in Spanish :) - a wonderful group of guys started Andale and welcomed in a couple of women this year - thank God!  Many of the riders got their start with John and also bought their awesome bikes through John's encouragement and expertise.  Linda and I were fortunate enough to participate in a memorial ride for John a couple of weeks after his death.  It was amazing - hundreds of riders took over Sheridan road (with no police support!) and road 40 miles in John's honor. 

Why the National Kidney Foundation?  A few years ago John donated one of his kidneys to a friend who needed it.  Here are a few excerpts from an article in the Chicago Tribune written by Trevor Jensen about John and his donation...

"The transplant took place on Oct. 22, 2002. Within five weeks, Mr. Olin was back on his bicycle. Miller's (the friend who he donated his kidney to) life was rejuvenated, and his friend's attitude toward his organ donation allowed them to maintain their friendship without any awkward moments.

An aggressive but inclusive rider, Mr. Olin always was recruiting new members to his cycling groups and was the first to drop back to help a rider who was struggling, said Scott Sims, who had ridden with Mr. Olin for many years.

Able to infuse others with his enthusiasm for bicycling, he became popular in the North Shore bicycling community. A couple of customers staked him to his own shop and thus was born Higher Gear."

Thanks so much for supporting me on this awesome adventure.  What I ask for most of all are prayers for John and his family.  If you would like to donate to the National Kidney Foundation, that's a bonus.  No donation is too small. 

Ride On!

Ruth (Rudy)