Preparing for the Ride...

Believe it or not, our team of volunteers started thinking about our 2018 ride during the 2017 ride.   We mentally took note of what went well, what we think could use improvement, and remembered what you (our participants) have told us.   
A few weeks after our last ride (2017), we had a board meeting and discussed plans for the 2018 Ride.   We felt that starting at Martin's Moto and ending at Maple Grove was well received.  We also decided that we really like the route itself.   We set the date with Maple Grove, mailed out sponsorship letters, booked an interview with Y102 and started advertising months ago.  Marissa (one of our busiest volunteers) has been helping me stay organized, not an easy task I assure you.   She also has made most of our flyers and advertisements.  
Several weeks ago, Mark, Miranda and I started driving the route to narrow down the timing in hopes to get more assistance at intersections from the police and fire police in the areas we will be traveling.  We also wanted to make sure there weren't any issues with the route such as loose gravel on the road or road construction...   Well we live in PA and as you know, summer brings road construction and lots of it.  Fortunately we only ran into one major issue.   The bridge on Gibraltar Rd is closed.   This meant we had to make some changes to our route.   No worries though, Mark touched base with Exeter Twp police and they helped us make adjustments to our route and barring any emergencies in the area, during our ride, they said they will assist us at several major intersections.    YAY!!!! for Exeter Twp police!!!!    We still have a few intersections that are not covered yet.  We want to keep everyone together along the route and in order to do that, we will need additional blockers.    You can still participate in the ride and block an intersection along the way.  Or if you are not able to participate in the ride but still wish to help, we can assign you a spot and give you a brief window of time that we would need you there.  Please call Mark at 484-300-2800 if you can help with blocking!
Today we drove our new route and calculated the time it takes to get to each intersection.   The entire route took us 52 minutes and it is a really nice drive.  We will be going over a covered bridge again, so drivers of trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds or taller than 10 feet will need to separate from our group temporarily.   Please contact us so we can give you the details.   

As of tonight we are 7 days from the ride... basically it's crunch time.   We will be putting gift bags and registration packets together, picking up supplies and working hard in hopes of making this ride even better than the last.  In the midst of this we will be holding our first ever Raffle Preview.  This is an opportunity for you to view all the raffle prizes that have been generously donated to us.  You can pre-purchase your raffle tickets for your chance to win some great prizes like Philadelphia Phillies tickets or a signed Eagles photo, and Martin's Moto donated a pair of Riding Gloves too.  We have over 20 Raffle Prizes to give away.  So stop by 311 County Line Rd Gilbertsville (Dierolf Plumbing and Water Treatment) between 9am-7pm on Monday July 9 or Tuesday July 10th to see all the great prizes!   You can also register for the ride if you haven't already done so.   
In fact you will be helping us a lot if you pre-order your tickets.   We want to make sure we have enough of the registration packets ready for everyone!    Also the first 60 ticket holders  will receive a free Cinch bag in addition to the other gifts for participating.  
We can't wait to see you at our 4th "Share the Road" Event!