2009 Chasing Daylight Tour Page

Please visit www.chasingdaylighttour.com for the new blog for the 2009 tour from Montvale NJ to Virginia Beach VA.

Ride Statistics

The final ride statistics are in!

Day	Distance (mi)	Calories	Ascent (ft)
1	44.88	2766	1698
2	70.16	4871	3486
3	91.46	6948	5026
4	72.90	4983	1807
5	97.53	7373	4759
6	72.86	5289	3864
7	79.77	6876	5166
8	71.80	5320	2992
Total	601.36	44426	28798

Fun Rider Facts:

• Total Ascent for each rider was 5.45 miles. Think of it as riding from sea level to the top of Mount Everest (29029ft).
• On average, each day we rode to the top of a 36 story high-rise... 10 times!
• To replace all of those calories, you would have to eat 148 slices of pizza, each.
• Each rider would have lost approximately 6 lbs of fat!

Fun Team Facts:

• If you add up the entire team's miles, we could have ridden across the country 4 times.
• Or the team could have ridden from the United States to China… and back!
• If you add up the entire team's ascent, we could have ridden half-way to the International Space Station.
• The team burned off the equivalent of 425 pizzas.

Most importantly, each person raised almost six-and-a-half dollars ($6.50) per mile ridden for the American Cancer Society.

The Ride is Over!

What a great ride with a great team. It was truly a great experience. We rode for 590 miles, climbed 24,000 feet and burned around 30,000 calories on the ride. We were in the saddle between 35 and 45 hours during the week. We saw spectacular scenery all the way from Vancouver to Portland. There was a great bonding experience with the entire team. The support from the volunteers was awesome. It was always great to see the roving support vans with the Chasing Daylight Tour sign on the side of the van. Hannah, Melissa and Rich were a great team. Here is what I will remember about each of the team members

• Moiz Shirazi breaking his rear derailleur in half on his way up a steep hill. His legs are too strong.
• Chris Young losing a bet with Michael Clubine and having to be referred to as Big Bird for the rest of the ride.
• Michael Clubine jumping in as our team navigator and setting up everyone's GPS units each morning and all his great pictures he took during the ride
• Arn Clubine moving down the road as a great inspiration to all the young riders on the team. Also I am sure the father/son ride with Michael was a huge bonding experience.
• Carola Paganini and Mark Yawman's perseverance on the ride. They spend the most time in the saddle. I am sure it took a lot of mental focus for them to get to the finish line. They are an inspiration to the entire team.
• Alicia Katsur and her huge improvement is cycling fitness from last year to this year.
• Jody Mortimore and Gordon Newman for always pushing the team at a fast pace.
• Mark Pennington and his cracked helmet after getting hit by an RV. The ride was a great way to end his secondment in the US
• Robert Shutt and his touch and feel navigation skills
• Tom Roy and his shiny new bike he had to buy in Billingham
• Gabe Youtsey always in the main pack. He has also made great strides in his physical fitness from last year to this year.
• Sean Harper and his great fund raising results.
• Conner Donnelly, Tim Whittler and Karissa Goodwin always riding together and riding strong.
• Jeff Waybright and his great commitment to planning and supporting the ride.
• Dan DeYoung and Lynette Richmond and their huge fund raising machine and their crazy ride to Bainbridge on Day 4 to ride with the Seattle office.
• Randi Rosen's powerful climbing ability
• Hannah Kook's relentless organizational ability and motherly instincts for the entire team
• Mellisa Muller's great smiling face always right behind the team ready in support van number 2
• Rich Fifield sitting in the back of the Hertz Penske van at the top of the hills with cold water for the team and the avocado slicer he had to buy.
• Fred Isaak and his great videographer skills after the crash and keeping with the team through the entire ride.

Talk to the riders you see in the office and I am sure they will tell you it was a once in a lifetime experience for everyone. In the coming months we will start planning for CDT IV. It takes almost a year to plan for the event. Given our success this year I am sure we will set our goals much higher next year. The tour will take on a different feel as we grow the number of riders but will still have the common goals of riding for a cause, living KPMG's core values, experiencing life at its fullest always chasing daylight.

Sept 20-Grande Ronde to Portland-70.6 miles, 2630 ft of climbing

Here we are on the last ride of the tour. Everyone is excited about getting to Portland. We gathered at 7 AM for team pictures. Michelle Lanouette from the Portland office joined us for the last day. The ride started out towards McMinnville and was mostly flat. We had a quick stop to refill water bottles and have a quick snack. It was cold but there was no wind and luckily no rain. After that we headed out through the wine country of Willamette Valley. The roads were smooth and rolling. At about 40 miles a long climb started. It was the last climb of the ride. Rich was waiting for us at the top of the hill with cold water. We rode down the other side on a very long downhill (around 4 miles) into a small town where we stopped at a great coffee shop for coffee and scones. We lingered much longer than on previous days.

After that we left on the last 20 miles. The maps were difficult to follow in some places with lots of name changes. The traffic got a lot heavier with lots of stop lights for the last 10 miles. That made for a slow ride into town. Finally, we crested a small hill and rolled down the road into Portland. We all regrouped at the River Front park for a celebratory high five. We road a few blocks to the Bridgeport Brewery for lunch. There wasnt much drama except for a few flat tires.

Sept 19-Tillamook to Grande Ronde-78 miles, 4020 ft of climbing

We left Tillamook at 8:30 and it was cold, around 42 degrees. We took a 13 mile detour along the Three Capes Scenic Route. It was spectacular scenery. The water was glass smooth and there were a lot of fishermen in boats fishing for salmon. We cruised through Oceanside and Netarts then arrived at the bottom of a long 1,000 ft climb, the biggest of the ride. It was long but through nice forests. We connected with another biker who had been on the road for 4 months after starting in Vancouver, biking to the tip of Alaska and back. He was headed to California before returning to Vancouver. You meet a lot of interesting people touring on a bike. The support van was at the top of the hill and we took in some much needed water. After that it was a fast ride down the hill to Neskowin.for lunch where the support team had hot clam chowder for lunch it was very good and warmed us up. It was hard to leave the lunch break but with our muscles getting cold, the longer we waited, the harder it would be to get going.



The ride con tined on old highway 101 that winds up and down through a really big forest. Bike touring often takes you off the main roads through old towns that were once large before the new highways were built. We saw one car in the 10 miles it took us to Otis. After that we headed out highway 18 for 18 miles to Grande Ronde. It was mostly flat, although the road climbed at a very slight grade up to 700 ft so it made us work a little. The only hotel we could find was at an Indian Casino. We checked in, got cleaned up and met for a surprisingly good dinner at the casino restaurant.



A few of the team members tried their luck on the blackjack tables but most of us crashed in our rooms with one more day to go. It was a very good day for the team with no problems. After 7 days the team is very organized. They are excited about finishing the ride but also a bit sad that it's almost over.