Tour de France Event Photoshow!

[jrobertson98]

Hi everyone-

This is the photoshow from our club's TDF Event that I coordinated! It was so much fun...but I'm glad it's over!! And...so is my husband!! :rolleyes: It was a loooong 3 weeks with a lot of planning!
But everyone had a blast and it went off without a hitch!
Turn up your sound and enjoy the show!!
JR

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/mt5qp9zR

[sandy]

That was so friggin cool. What a well planned event! I love Pierre and Yvette How old are they? I have a couple around the same age.

[SpinBob]

Jrob, we've missed you, but I see you've been busy. Great show!

[jsejt]

Great Job, I enjoyed it. :)

[like2bike]

That was AWESOME! What a great event--you must be so proud! JR where did you hold this event? Man, the planning you must have done--I take my hat off to you and your team. Your participants must have absolutely LOVED it. Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us. Wish we could have been there with you, but this video makes it almost like we were!

[jrobertson98]

Thanks guys for all the kind words!! Yes...a lot of planning and work, but worth every second of it because everyone really completely enjoyed and appreciated it from the bottom of their hearts!! One thing that took a lot of time was changing the stages each week on the bulletin board! I started about a month ahead of time, ordering pictures to hang in the room and getting the profiles enlarged and printed off to post up each week! And...of course doing a new playlist and profile each ride!! And the 2 hr. finale ride set to the slideshow...yep...that took over 2 weeks! I timed the slideshow to go exactly with the music and what we were doing, hills, time trials, etc!! It all went perfectly and I couldn't have asked for more!!!
Pierre and Yvette are husband and wife, from France and are 80 and 83 years old!! They're amazing inspirations that we are honored to have in our indoor cycling program! They added so much to our event because being from there they've done many of the mountain rides at one point or another! They are still outdoor cyclists, and are both Senior Olympic Gold Medal winners in cycling!! Amazing people I am honored to call my friends!!:D
Wish you all could have been there!! Glad you enjoyed the slideshow!
JR

[like2bike]

I am certain they feel the same way about you! :)

[Funhog]

Jennifer,

I'd like to highlight you and your program at my Tour de France session at WSSC next year when I talk about different clubs' programs, how it was set up, management and instructor involvement, member response, after-event party, etc! Make sure to keep good notes for me!

Jennifer

[yvonne]

what a wonderful experience this must have been! i found myself smiling from ear to ear as i watched the slideshow! you've done a fantastic job!

our club used to do a big event each year, and it got to be too much for the coordinators. the members really seemed to miss it, so i committed to bringing it back next year! your success is making me excited already!

Well done!

[jrobertson98]

I wanted to post this on both sites to make sure everyone got to read it!!:D


First and foremost...I want to give a BIG HUGE PUBLIC THANK YOU to Jennifer Sage for sending me some awesome pictures of the switchbacks on Alp d'Huez!! I used them on our 20 minute climb to the top!! I also used the info. you posted (which was awesome again by the way) about doing switchbacks either on the inside or outside of the turn and changing the steepness! I loved it and I had members say that along with the pictures on the slideshow, that as I was explaining it made it truly easy to understand and get the feeling of really going around the turns! They said they actually felt like they were climbing to the top of a real mountain! They loved it....thank you thank you thank you!! And...all the trivia you sent me...used it for "TDF" trivia questions on our easier flat days!! They loved it and we ALL learned something new!

I also forgot to mention and it didn't make it in the photoshow to tell you all about the chart I made for the members. Next to the bulletin board with the profiles posted, I had made a chart (kind of like a kid's chore chart) and had each of the stages listed by date! The first time a member did a ride when the event started they listed their name down the left side, and then each time after that put a smiley face sticker on the column under the date of that ride! That's how we determined our yellow jersey winners! Our male and female members that attended the most rides! It was tough because we had about 40 members that were there almost every ride!!

I got one local bike shop to donate water bottles and gu-gels to every participant at the finale ride, another to donate (2) $25 gift certificates (given to our yellow jersey winners), and our local New Balance Running store (which I am sponsored by) to also donate (2) $25 gift certificates (given out to our "white" jersey winners...our newest gung-ho rookie riders)!!! It was great!!

Ang...thank you for your kind words!! I love my yellow jersey "best ebay buy" ever!!! The members loved it too and now they're scouring ebay!! hehe... Seriously...I only paid 9.95 for that jersey!! Yep...

I also wanted to say again that this wouldn't have gone off like it did without our wonderful instructors!! Having them onboard and behind this grand idea is what made it all work! They all have their own creativity and do what works best for them just wonderfully!

Thank you everyone for your positive feedback and excitement! I'm glad that our indoor cycling team was able to take a "shakey" and unstable sport and turn it into a wonderful event for everyone to enjoy! The sport of cycling has fallen victim to the "a few rotten apples can spoil the whole bushel" saying!! But it shouldn't have to! There are to many of those guys out there doing it right, and with pure and honest blood, sweat and tears!! To them...these true athletes...this is my deepest tribute!!

Ride on...

JR

[Funhog]

what a wonderful experience this must have been! i found myself smiling from ear to ear as i watched the slideshow! you've done a fantastic job!

our club used to do a big event each year, and it got to be too much for the coordinators. the members really seemed to miss it, so i committed to bringing it back next year! your success is making me excited already!

Well done!

Wow! I am excited to hear that. I always loved what Bryan and Colleen did at Frog's, so you are the perfect one to bring it back! So perhaps I can highlight BOTH of your programs! That is, IF I do Alpe d'Huez next year...

I have been debating whether to NOT do Alpe d'Huez at WSSC next year, even though it truly is one of my most favorite rides (along with Moving Mountains) for several reasons. I would LOVE all of you guy's feedback on this....

First, I've done it for about 4 years at least. Have you all not already gone? Or are there more who still want to attend?

Second, has the TDF gotten so much bad press that clubs don't care to do it at their clubs? Or, do we rise above that and still promote it as a great event to do at your facility? (I think so, but what do you guys think?)

Third, they want me to create new sessions each year. That means giving up some things. I have one new idea I'm going to offer, plus two new ones from this year that will still seem "new" next year. I wanted to do Moving Mountains in Spanish, but can't unless I give up TDF and ADH.

BUT - If I change the format just a little, to highlight other clubs' TdF programs, that might be fine to bring it back. Plus, I have lots of new stuff and new photos after going to the Tour again this summer! :grin:

What do you guys think?

Thanks for your feedback. (Maybe I should have created a new thread with this question).

[Moonsavvy]

Well that was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing, that was great!

[SpinBob]

Jennifer,
Patrick and I both did it in '06 and it was a great ride, one of the comments we made to each other this year was that we wished you would do a different stage, because ADH was so great the first time, we didn't want to spoil that memory. (I hope this sounds like a compliment and encouragement to try something new, that's the way I intended it. :redface:)

[jrobertson98]

Jennifer-

With so many choices of "which stage to do", which mountain ride, etc...for our 2 hr. finale event ride...we did a "Taste of the Tour" (think I got that title from somebody here:D...love it) doing highlights from throughout the whole 3 week event. We incorporated some time trials (both on flats and hills), nice flat fast sections, rolling hills, some Cat climbs and a shorter ADH section which is where I really concentrated on teaching the art of switchbacks (as explained by you)!
This way we were able to focus on the fun of each section that got these guys into Paris...appreciating what they have to go through to get there in one piece!!
I think the key for me on the finale ride was tying it all together with just the right music...which you always do beautifully! I concentrated on telling a story of the 3 week ride...the journey...the completion...the victory and sweet glory of success!!!

Maybe that would be a different twist on an already fabulous ride giving it a new feeling and angle?!

JR

[cfoam4me]

Awesome! Well done, thanks for sharing! :)