Exciting News!

The Red Cross Ramble is fast approaching. We are working on all the details, both major and minor, here in the office. Our fabulous Red Cross Ramble Committee met last night and that won’t be the last time! A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of our committee members! We couldn’t do it without them!

Now, on to the exciting news! The Red Cross Ramble has been approved as a recommended training ride for the BPms150!! We are very excited to be associated with the BPms150. There is a long list of requirements to become a recommended ride. One of which is a track record of putting on a successful, top notch ride. We are thrilled that the cycling community is taking notice and recognizing that the Red Cross puts on a fantastic ride! We’re referring not only to the Ramble, but to the Tour du Rouge as well!

We hope you have registered for the Red Cross Ramble to be held on 10/30/11. Just click on the logo above to register. While you are there be sure to register for the 2012 Tour du Rouge!

Registration for 2012 Tour is NOW OPEN!!

Registration for the 2012 Tour du Rouge to be held May 6-11 is NOW OPEN!

On 8/1/11 registration opened for all alumni riders. Today registration became available for everyone! We are limited to 175 spots this year and fully expect to fill every last one. Word is spreading about our fantastic ride and the cycling community is quickly figuring out that the place to be in May is somewhere along the Gulf Coast with a Red Cross Hummer cheering you on!

Be sure to reserve your spot now! Go to our registration page to get your name on the list!

Speaking of registration…..while you are at it, be sure to register for the Red Cross Ramble! The second annual Red Cross Ramble will be held on Sunday October 30th, 2011 at the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, TX. This is a one day ride with four different routes, ranging from 25 to 100 miles.

Not only is the Ramble a great ride, or so we’ve been told , it’s also a wonderful way to get an idea of how the Red Cross has earned a reputation for putting on an exceptional ride. Many of our Tour du Rouge alumni riders will be there. This is a great opportunity for those of you considering the Tour to get it straight from the horse’s mouth! (Rusty! Insert Sienfeld joke here!) Our great alumni riders will have on their Tour du Rouge jerseys so you can’t miss them! You can ask them any questions you may have and get an idea of how wonderful the people are that ride from Houston to New Orleans, all for the Red Cross!

You can reach us here if you have any questions about either rides and we hope to see you on the road!

Day 2 Beaumont to Sulphur

92 miles from Beaumont to Sulphur. Sounds like a breeze, for those of us riding in the cars!

The weather was promising this morning. Slightly cloudy, not too hot and a little breeze. The riders were all feeling pretty good after a successful Day One of the Tour. The first leg of Day Two was very smooth.

Our Fabulous Riders Getting Ready to Go Over the Bridge

The first big challenge of the day could possibly be one of the biggest of the week. The Pleasure Island Bridge. All of the riders gathered at the base of the bridge in order to cross over as one large group. The local authorities were so supportive of our group. They closed down the bridge for us so that our riders could be sure to cross over safely. Have we mentioned how much we love the authorities in the areas we are lucky enough to cycle through?!

It's All Downhill After This

We are quite a sight when all of the riders are riding together as a group! Needless to say, going down the hill was much more enjoyable than going up! Just after the bridge we stopped at the first rest stop of the day. The American Red Cross Orange Chapter hosted our first rest stop at Riverfront Park at Pleasure Island. After the bridge our riders were happy to see them.

It was VERY windy on the other side of that bridge. The cyclists were riding along the coast for approximately the next 35 miles into a strong headwind and they took a beating. There was a pot of gold at the end of that wind tunnel though!

The wonderful employees at the Apache Corporation facility at Holly Beach hosted a lunch for all 90 riders and crew. They spent their entire morning grilling sausage so we could all have Cajun sausage po-boys. The riders were thrilled to have their first taste of cajun country!

Our Wonderful Hosts at Apache

After lunch the riders were blessed with a tail wind that was almost as strong as the head wind they had been fighting for the past two hours. All the riders finished  strong and were smiling when they crossed the finish line.

The first two days have been challenging, but the alumni riders assure us all that things get easier from now on. They must be right, because most of them are back for their third Tour!

It’s time for us Red Crossers to head off to bed. It’s an early morning again tomorrow but we all love every minute!

The Countdown Has Begun!

The Tour is only three days away! That made me a little nervous to say out loud! We are REALLY busy here at the American Red Cross offices getting everything ready for our fabulous riders. The amount of detail involved in getting 74 cyclists ready to hit the road is a little overwhelming. But it’s really fun as well!

The 2010 Tour du Rouge Riders

This blog will be available for our riders and crew to post updates along the way. 526 miles over the course of six days! That’s just amazing to me and I am sure there will be plenty to share with friends and family.

Well, back to work (if you can call it that). I am personally so excited to be going along with the crew this year. The countdown has begun!!

-Leslie Schulze – crew