These past few summers, I have been cycling with a team called “Spin.” “Pedal with Purpose” is the heartfelt slogan of our team, which is currently more than 75 people strong. We are all about supporting causes around the area, including Bike Works, the Rivkin Center, the CF Ride, the MS Ride and Cycle the Wave. Since its inception seven or eight years ago, the Spin team has raised a total of more than half a million dollars for these causes, and we also donate our time.
A highlight for me this year was when I had the honor of supporting Bike Works as they gave away almost 250 refurbished bikes to children who perhaps didn’t have a means to get them otherwise. I greeted the exuberant and excited kids as they entered the registration area for the “Kids’ Bike-O-Rama.” Then later I saw their delighted smiling faces as they wheeled their colorful new bikes away. “Great new bike!” I would say, or “What a great color!” or Awesome choice!” I could have stood there for days it was so wonderful. The day before, almost a dozen of my Spin teammates helped clean and put ribbons on all the little bikes. We all fondly remembered our own first bikes while we helped that weekend.
Refurbished children’s bikes ready for the 2019 Bike Works Kids’ Bike-O-Rama.
Our Spin team is led by John Duggan, a prominent Harvard-educated, West Coast cycling attorney. He is a handsome man (with an equally beautiful wife), tall and of Irish descent, who can be tough on us at times, but we all know he has a heart of gold. There are only a few people on the team who can keep up with his hammering cycling pace. The rest of us always remain challenged to get better.
John’s law practice is our primary sponsor now and GM Nameplate is another long-time sponsor. Alan Elser and Gerry Gallagher of GM Nameplate, along with John, collectively came up with the “Pedal with Purpose” concept years ago. The kind and caring Kristin Maynard, an excellent cyclist herself, has provided long-time communications support for our group. Our team includes people who are architects, commercial real estate professionals, marketers, finance professionals, a Pilates instructor, a judge, a heart surgeon, attorneys, executive assistants, nurses and many more. It is a good mix and usually ripe for excellent advice on all of life’s challenges.
Team members at Seward Park in 2019. John Duggan is front row, third from left.
Spin provides a wonderful social community for us, service to the broader Seattle-area community and keeps us all in good shape. Training levels are different for every member. Several (not me) are super hard core and ride several hundreds of miles per week with crazy amounts of climbing. Some team members have more than ten RAMRODs under their belts. Me, sometimes I am dropping some cuss words on the steep or arduous climbs. You can usually find a big group of us, no matter what level, sweaty and having beers at the Roanoke Inn on Mercer Island after our “Tuesday night ride” of 25-40 miles.
In addition to helping with the Kids’ Bike-O-Rama, our Spin team attended the Bike Works auction this past spring and donated a significant amount of money. Several people, including me, helped refurbish bikes at Bike Works, as well, and many continue to support this work regularly. Bike Works is always looking for more bikes to refurbish, children’s and adult’s, and you can donate your used bike/s at their offices during business hours.
About 20 of us also recently walked in the Swedish SummeRun/Walk to support life-saving ovarian cancer research by the non-profit Rivkin Center. A dear and very beloved member of our team was struck by this cancer a few years back and had the physical and emotional strength to survive it. Two of our kind Spin members host a delicious brunch at their home every year for our participants in this important walk.
Spin at the 2019 walk for the Rivkin Center.
Next up is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Cycle for Life on July 27. As a team, we hope to raise $25,000 this year alone to help find a cure for those struggling with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that damages the lungs and digestive system. More than 55 of us will be riding routes of 50-65 miles that day in the countryside of the Woodinville area to support this cause. It will be tough to miss us in our Spin jerseys, all determined to help this important cause.
After the CF Ride in 2018.
And in early September, we have the Bike MS: Deception Pass Classic 2019, better known as the MS Ride. Unfortunately, some Spin members have been touched by, or have family members touched by, multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease of the central nervous system. On top of being an incredibly important fundraiser for the MS Society, the MS Ride is gorgeous as it winds through Skagit Valley, past harbors and over Deception Pass.
A few years back, before my road bike days, I very proudly cycled 59 miles on the MS Ride on my mountain bike with knobby tires. I am not embarrassed to say I could barely walk afterwards. I was toast. This year, with my road bike, it will be so much better. We have a good group of us forming for the 2019 ride, which takes place September 7-8.
The writer the year she rode 59 miles in the MS Ride on her old, knobby-tired mountain bike. (The bike in the background is from a cycling buddy.)
Our team has also enthusiastically supported Cycle the Wave in the past. The Wave Foundation is dedicated to ending relationship abuse and sexual violence through education and empowerment. This used to be a women-only ride and men volunteered to support with things such as bike repair along the course. Cycle the Wave even enticed us with firefighters handing out candy at the rest stops. A clever marketing ploy that worked. This year I understand all are welcome to participate.
Teammates enjoying an outdoor concert after a Tuesday ride.
I could go on and on in this post about the good the Spin team has done as we Pedal with Purpose. And about the immense friendships, the camaraderie, the fun, the laughter. It hasn’t been perfect in every way, but nothing ever is.
I am sure I will remember these times for the rest of my life, even the cuss-filled suffering on some of the worst hill climbs.
My hope is that all of the important causes we support feel our positive impact. They often tell us they are grateful for all that we do. It is, clearly, a win for everyone.
