An Amazingly Wonderful Wedding Day!!!

Our Wedding Day Tandem Ride ~ after the ceremony!

We had a beautiful day with family and friends!! We are very grateful to have such good people in our lives.

We're off to pick up a box to travel with for our honeymoon, so I haven't time to write right now, but I will soon!! Here are a few photos from our Wedding Day Celebration Ride!

Getting Ready for the Big Day!

It is pouring buckets outside! It's our third consecutive day of nothing but rain, but still that's better than last week's seven days without electricity. Our wedding day is Saturday, and I'll take the rain now if we have to -- just to have a lovely Saturday.  : )

So much going on in attending to all of the many small details in getting ready for the wedding!

My ex - Katie's father - dropped a bomb on us the day before yesterday. He had agreed back in May in an email that was sent to me and my daughter's court appointed GAL... "What also was mentioned was the week of your honeymoon and me wanting take Katie on your days. Of course i will take care of my daughter."

Well, I guess that was his way of gaining some power to enable him to cause havoc in my life this week. Here is the actual complete message I received from him via email on Tuesday of this week: "Katie tells me your getting married this weekend  i am not going to be able to take her  so you will have to make other arrangements."

Nice guy. He really cares about his daughter and wanting her to have some continuity in her life.

Anyway, we have put together a route for Saturday afternoon's celebratory cycling ride. It will bring us around a horse farm and then over to scenic Route 49 and back. About 20 miles total.

It looks like this might be a relatively small gathering for our Wedding Day Ride & Backyard Cookout & Bonfire, but that will be fine. It will be a good opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of friends. If you'll be joining us, please just send me a quick email so that we can plan for food. I know life gets hectic for so many of us these days, and it's hard to keep on top of everything, but knowing this much in advance will make things easier for us on the big day!

Dave and I have not yet purchased our plane tickets for the honeymoon. We're still not sure we can make it happen, but we've been going over the details for our dream get-away to California.

Last night we phoned two couples in the San Francisco area who have offered to host us next week through the Warmshowers.org web site. WarmShowers.org is hospitality site where cyclists offer space in their homes to host touring cyclists. Now that David's son has left for college, we will make space available in our home too, so that we can return the favor to other traveling cyclists who might be in our area.

It was exciting to speak with our prospective hosts. Their willingness to acquaint us with their area and share their slice of life has given us a sense of excitement (and gratefulness for their generosity!). We hope to spend a couple of days at a time with different hosts. One couple we spoke with are retired and they are still quite active, as they regularly plan cycling adventures far away for themselves! Now, that's the kind of "retired" we would like to be someday.  : )

Please RSVP! : )

I have a backup of blog postings in my head, but we had no power for a full week as a result of Hurricane Irene. Dave & I have been busy catching up with our to-do list around the house now as well as getting ready for our big day on Saturday!!

We've received a few more RSVPs for Saturday's ride & back yard cookout & bonfire. If you are coming, please drop me a note by email (karenmetchells@gmail.com) so we'll have an idea about how much food to plan. If you'll be bringing a dish to share, let us know that too so we can have a good variety for all.

Our ride route will be posted sometime today. The highlight will be Route 49 by the Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm. The scenic views are incredibly beautiful with far stretching acres of farmland meeting up with blue sky. So far, the weather for Saturday looks to be perfect!!

The group ride will depart from our home at 295 Pine Hill Road in Sterling at 4 pm, and we are planning to light the grill at 6 pm. If you wish to bring a non-riding spouse or kids, feel free. This is just a casual gathering, a chance to join us in celebration, relax, and share good food! Hope you can make it!!

Two Schools of Thought

We have discovered that there are two schools of thought when it comes to hosting a honeymoon fundraiser.

Some of the feedback has been wonderfully positive and supportive. But some has not. At different points in time, we've been considering letting go of the whole idea... the negativity from those who consider the event to be of poor taste has left us feeling uneasy and yes, even embarrassed.

But then we'll hear from friends who are excited about it and they say it's a fantastic idea, and they'll be coming! That has gotten us excited about it again.

The wedding day has been in planning for over a year now. This is not the first time around for either of us, and so we've decided to keep our ceremony small. It's not about the big party, it's about the promise Dave & I are making to each other. Neither of us has had it easy, and we've surely learned from mistakes of our past. We have a true commitment and heartfelt optimism for each other and the future we will share together.

The idea of incorporating our favorite pastime -- cycling -- into our special day has been there from the start. We have been considering having each of us ride into the ceremony on single bikes, and leaving together on our tandem. I love that idea, but I'm still mulling over how that might work in my dress and heels.

Dave has continually expressed a desire to invite friends who we  ride with (NBW & TCC members, as well as the newly established CTTC - CT Tandem Club) for a celebratory group ride on our wedding day. I really wasn't sure how that could be coordinated, because our finances are tight (especially now, since I was recently laid off from my position as Marketing Director for an automotive group in June), and there was no way we could accommodate more people at the location of the ceremony... plus, we did have a desire to keep that part small and intimate.

Fast forward to June of this year, when I am suddenly and unexpectedly out of a job. We had already placed a deposit on our our venue and confirmed the plans as we discussed a year prior. We were making ends meet adequately prior to my job loss, but with the abrupt decline in our combined income, we realized that covering the expenses of even a small wedding was going to be extremely tight.

In looking over everything, the honeymoon part of the picture was not going to happen. We had always dreamed of a cycling vacation of some sort, but with obligations of work and kids, we've never been able, and this realization was disappointing.

I started doing a little research online, and I came across the concept of a honeymoon fundraiser. The way it works is that a couple can set up a page online and friends and family can offer support. You can read more info about this at http://www.gofundme.com/honeymoon-registry.

I've attended Jack & Jill parties for other couples in the past, and we all know of gift registries where couples and expectant parents specify a wish list of sorts, and it seems to be pretty common and socially acceptable now-a-days. I couldn't see how this was much different.

But rather than simply asking for monetary support, it dawned on me that we could hold an event by incorporating the group ride with friends on our wedding day -- as we had always envisioned. And a back yard gathering with a bonfire afterward seems like a perfect way to wrap up the day.

It also occurred to me, that if Dave & I are taking part in wedding day festivities and then riding, our ability to put out a fantastic spread with a variety of foods for our bonfire gathering might be limited. We'll certainly have hot dogs & burgers for the grill and a salad or two I can make ahead of time, and marshmallow toasting for smores -- but wouldn't it be great if we incorporate a potluck aspect into the event? That way, we can all share good food and have a wide variety of dishes to taste. Encouraging deliciousness can be awarded with prizes.

Making a donation is not mandatory. Cycling is not mandatory. Bringing a dish is not mandatory. No one will will be approached with any kind of pressure. It's not about that. If friends want to offer support, it will be greatly appreciated -- but by no means is that the sole objective.

Well, that's how the idea evolved. I hope in explaining more about our event and our intentions and the reasons behind it, it is better understood.

We are passionate about cycling. It has absolutely changed our lives for the better. And we've found that others who share in this pastime have been some of the greatest people we've had the pleasure to know! If you are able to come to Sterling, CT (near the CT/RI line) on 9/10/11 for a 4 pm cycling ride with the bride & groom (20 miles in duration) and/or a 6 pm gathering of friends around a bonfire -- Please join us!!

It's getting closer!!

A reminder about our Wedding Day Honeymoon Fundraiser
Ride & Cookout to be held on SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 @ 4 PM...

Help us celebrate our Wedding Day as we raise money for a cycling honeymoon!

The route will be 20 miles of some of the most spectacular views in eastern Connecticut for riders of all levels. The ride will depart from our home at 295 Pine Hill Road in Sterling, CT, and it will wrap up with a backyard cookout & bonfire gathering in our backyard.

If you don't know us yet, come get to know us and meet up with other cyclists too! Non-cyclists are welcome to participate too! The
cookout and bonfire will start at 6 pm. We are accepting donations online at http://www.gofundme.com/TandemTeam-Honeymoon

Since we are also culinary enthusiasts, bring a dish to share and prizes will be awarded for the best main dish, side dish & dessert!!

While a monetary donation is not required, we are hoping for a donation of at least $20 per person to support our goal. Money collected will go towards our airfare to California, lodging and food, and rental of a tandem bicycle once we get there. We would love to ride a tandem throughout the wine country of Napa Valley. Details on the fundraiser ride route will follow soon and will be posted here.

This is sure to be a great event for everyone! Please RSVP by visiting our donation website in advance or email us at
Karen@SocialPowerline.com to let us know you will be coming!!

Our First Ever Tandem Rally!

Dave, Karen & Katie with the Tag-a-long on the Tandem

The Eastern Tandem Rally was held on August 5,6, and 7, 2011 at the UConn campus. There were over 100 tandem and triplet bicycles all gathered at once for a mass start on Saturday morning, and it was amazing!! The people were very friendly and they arrived in Connecticut from all over the country and even other parts of the world. We really enjoyed learning from other riders and sharing stories and experiences.

One of the greatest parts of the Rally for us was bringing my daughter, Katie, along. The farthest distance Katie had ever ridden with us before the Rally was 18 miles. But with the sights and the activity and interesting happenings all around us, she rode 32 miles on the tag-a-long bike attached to our tandem!! Yea Katie!!!

To see more photos of the ETR 2011, click to our ETR Album on Facebook!

ETR at Storrs, CT

Katie really enjoyed the Rally and she did over 30 miles with us!

Rise & Shine!

My view looking over Dave's helmet from the stoker position!

Sometimes it takes planning ahead to squeeze in enough riding to make a difference in our overall fitness abilities. We both want to be more fit and lose weight. If we can lose weight, cycling will take less effort, and we'll be faster -- that's the part David really likes!

We've been getting up very, very early now ~ as soon as the sun is up ~ at least 3 times a week to allow us to squeeze in a ride of sizable duration when work and additional responsibilities would otherwise eat up our day. In spite of the loss of sleep, these rides are sometimes really spectacular!

The sunshine glinting off of dewy blades of grass gave one recent morning an unusual freshness and glow.  That same morning, a family of wild turkeys was standing all across one roadway, and cleared to make way for us as we approached.

With the morning exercise, we find we have more get-up&go throughout the day as well. It's definitely a win-win situation... I just wish we could do this all year long. I realize that our days will soon grow shorter and coldness will settle in. Until then, we'll take advantage of the opportunity and the beauty of the rural roads of Eastern Connecticut!