Ride Guide- July 2024

Roots & Routes of New England

Ride Guide: July 2024

This monthly newsletter will contain information and tidbits to help you prepare for the 2024 Tour des Trees. For more information, visit www.treefund.org.

Registration ends July 30!

Just a few days remain to sign up for this year's ride. We have 75 riders so far and we know there are more out there that want to join us! Make those last second calls to your friends and get them out with us! The deadline to sign up is July 30.

As we get into the last few weeks before the start of this year's Tour, be sure to familiarize yourself with all the pre-ride details and ride details by heading to our Resources Page. https://treefund.org/tourdestrees/participant-resources

Are your travel plans booked? Check the Travel Logistics document.
Do you know how you are getting your bike there? Check the Travel Logistics document.
Do you know everything to bring? Check the Packing List.
Have you ordered your jersey and apparel? The deadline is August 5.
Non-full-time riders: Do you know where you'll be meeting us? Check the Detailed Itinerary.

Important dates:

Registration: Now until July 30

Jersey Order Deadline: August 5

Event Dates: September 22 to 28

Pre-ride Fundraising Deadline: September 22

Rider Fundraising Deadline: October 1

Campaign Ends: October 2

Jersey and Gear Orders:

If you have not yet done so, you must complete your order by August 5 on our Voler site. See link below. If you need your email instructions resent, please email Jonathan and he'll get you your info. You should be able to log in directly on the site or create a new account with the email you registered with to claim your credits.

https://www.voler.com/custom/ordering/li/48101

Other Orders and Requests:

After registration ends, Jonathan will send out an email to all participants asking for clarification on names, rider plaques, arrivals, departures, meals, roommate requests, and other things that we'll need to make sure we have everything right and to make sure all our plans and numbers are accurate. Be on the lookout for those messages soon.

Virtual Buddies:

New this year, we asked all of our Virtual Tour des Trees participants if they would like to be paired up with a rider buddy during Tour week to help them feel more connected to the in-person ride. After registration ends, we will be asking all of the riders if they would like to be a "buddy" for one of our virtual participants. This will entail reaching out via email or text and sharing photos and/or your thoughts or summaries with them about all the goings-on throughout the week. Keep an eye out for that email but think about it now, how you'd like to show off the ride this year and encourage them as they do their miles from home.

Pay-Your-Way:

For our riders that are able to pay-their-own-way for fundraising, we ask that you get your donations in before September 22. This saves us time and helps us to more accurately report on our fundraising totals after the ride. You can make a donation directly to your fundraising page or mail a check to the TREE Fund office, 1755 Park Street, Suite 200, Naperville, IL 60563. For all riders, the fundraising deadline is October 1.

Stay Engaged:

We want you to connect with our other riders! Get motivated and stay in-the-know. Be sure to add your name to our Strava group and like our TdT Facebook page.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/507320

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tourdestrees

Welcome New Riders!

We love to see new riders join our awesome group! Here are four more first-time riders that have signed up in the last month! Please join us in welcoming:

Collin Crecco (Ocean City, NJ)

Paige Centauro (Boston, MA)

Maslin Mellick (Denver, CO)

Sarah Lilley (Milford, CT)

New Website Tips

We are glad to have a brand-new fundraising site this year which should help our riders communicate with and draw in their supporters throughout the campaign. Since it has some features that we didn't have on our old website, we wanted to pass along some tips on how to use and take advantage of all the features.

Thanking your donors:

Hopefully, between now and the end of the Tour, you'll be receiving a bunch of messages saying that a donation has been made to your fundraising page. Whenever you get a donation, if you like, you can email your donors directly from the website, thanking them for their support.

When you log into your Participant Center at www.tourdestrees.org, there is a "Thank Your Donors" option. From there, you can either send an email created from scratch or, if you get writer's block, use the template email provided on the page and customize it, as you see fit. You are able to email all of your donors at once or you can email them individually, so this is a great way to keep them updated on what you are doing as you make your final preparations for the Tour and share messages during the week.

We have a fundraising goal of $410,000 for this year's Tour and we know this group can get to that mark! Keep up the good work, everyone, and let's show 'em why tree research and education is important to us!

Safety First!

Once again, RoadID has provided our group with a nice discount on their products to help keep our riders safe during their training and during our ride. Use the link below to get a 20% discount on RoadID identification tags and accessories. It will ask for your email and name and direct you to a code to use when you order.

https://roadid.com/?rfsn=6533527.e07ed7&of=6X8Y4

Virtual Tour des Trees at home

Can't make it to New England this September but want to support TREE Fund? Participate in our updated Virtual Tour des Trees at home!

Participation in the Virtual Tour des Trees at home is simple and ready to fit your goals. Once registered, all you have to do bike, walk, run, or swim 425 miles by August 30 and fundraise. There is a tiered fundraising goal level this year, with levels at $425 and $1,000 raised.

Participants who hit their mileage goal and fundraise at least $425 will earn a credit for an official VTdTah Endurance Shirt from Voler. Participants who hit their mileage goal and fundraise at least $1,000 will earn a credit for an official VTdTah XC Jersey or Endurance Air Hoodie from Voler.

For more information, visit the Virtual Tour des Trees at home page.

Thank you to everyone that has recently signed up for the virtual event: Mathew, Amy, Greg, Kimberly, Orville, Ray, and David!

A Note From Our Tour Director, Paul Wood:

The Tour de France is now behind us, so it's time to turn our focus to getting ready for the Tour des Trees 🤗

Depending on when you read this, you will be approximately two months away from this year's Tour des Trees, which, if you haven’t been particularly disciplined in your training, now is the time to make sure you truly get focused.

Last month, I presented the general guidelines for developing a plan that will best prepare you for the Tour. Please take a look at last month's Ride Guide. https://tinyurl.com/338u3wmb. Below is an updated version.

Build Endurance - Gradually increase your long rides each week, focusing on Zone 2 or an intensity you can maintain for the duration of a Tour des Trees stage (6-7 hours). Include at least one long ride each week and steadily increase its duration.
Consistency - At this point in your training, it is vital that you are consistent. Aim for 4-6 days of cycling, mixing longer Zone 2 rides with more intense sessions to improve endurance and recovery capabilities.
Back-to-Back Rides - Practice back-to-back long rides on weekends to accustom your body to consecutive days of exertion.
Recovery - Prioritize rest and recovery, including adequate sleep and active recovery days. Your body needs time to adapt to the increased training load.
Nutrition and Hydration - While the support team will help you take care of this critical element during the Tour, make sure you have a plan to manage the nutritional and hydration demands of your training.
Cross Training - Consider cross-training activities that incorporate building a strong core to reduce discomfort and risk of injury during this period of increased training load.

Next month, I will travel back up to New England for a final review of the course taking the opportunity to cycle it with a few of our fellow Tour des Trees enthusiasts and route designers. In next month's Ride Guide I’ll publish a review of the specific demands of this year's route along with important observations from the experience.

Ride On!

Paul Wood

Tour Director

Black Bear Adventures Bicycle Tours

pwoodbba@gmail.com