Well, it has been a great 4 months for the Almond Freikers. I think that I can say that there is no challenge too big for this group of youngsters. They not only showed us how committed they are to their own personal health and the health of our planet but they also taught us all how much fun it can be to do the right things. Congratulations to the Almond Freikers !

Year End Stats !

And what a year it was. The kids at Almond have changed the landscape in the bay area and maybe around the world with the effort they put in....

• 270 students registered
• 5,915 total round trips logged
• 9,000 total miles logged
• Almond was the #1 Freiker school in the nation!
• 6 tons of CO2 emissions where prevented from entering the earth's atmosphere.
• 850 gallons of gasoline were saved.
• 450,000 kid calories were burned.
• $9,000 were raised as a result of their efforts. This came in the form of a $3,000 grant to Almond School for Freiker next year, $3,500 grant to Egan to start Freiker next year and $3,500 grant to Santa Rita to start Freiker next year.

Freikers Arrive Safely Back At Almond School !

After a 9,000 mile whorl-wind tour of the entire United States, the Almond Freikers pulled into the parking lot on Wed morning, June 10th in time to celebrate the last day of school with their friends. What a trip it was too! The Almond Freikers left the Almond School parking lot on Monday, March 16th at 8:00am and traveled to the following destinations:

1. Chicago, IL
2. Pittsburgh, PA
3. New York, NY
   
4. Boston, MA
5. Lebec, ME
6. Baltimore, MD
7. Washington D.C.
8. Savannah, GE
9. Key West, FL
10. New Orleans, LA
11. Cliff Dwellers National Monument, NM
12. Los Angeles, CA

That was quite and effort and was accomplished in just 13 weeks of walking and riding their bikes to school every day. Imagine what could happen next year!

Year End Awards Party !

The Almond Freikers may have worked hard along the way but their were also rewarded for their efforts. Here are some of the Awards that were donated:

• 478 ice cream cones where handed out by Baskin-Robbins in Los Altos.
• 56 Spot Pizza coupons where awarded

• There were 12 riders signed up on the first week and never missed a day !

• There were a total of 56 students who walked or rode at least 75% of the time. This means at least 40 round trips out of a possible of 57.

• Here is a short video of the closing cereemonies...
  

Spot Pizza Coupons !

I tried my best but somehow this just didn't end up going as planned! 56 kids were awarded Spot Pizza Coupons. They were handed out to the teachers to be distributed on the last day of school. Unfortunately, not everyone got theirs. If your child completed over 40 walks or rides (see www.freiker.org) and did not get their coupon (Dalezilla still has not gotten his), let me know the child's name and teacher and I will try to follow up. It is too late to be manually entering rides at this point - everything is closed from and awards and coupons perspective. Sorry!

A Special Thanks To Our Sponsors !

The following sponsors have supported the Freiker program at Almond School this year. Some of them gave money and some gave merchandise but all have contributed whatever they could to to make this fun and rewarding for the students. If you are in need of any of the products or services that they offer, I ask you to shop with them first this summer.

Without the donations of the following 3 sponsors, this program would have never happened! I think we all appreciate what they have done for the school and I, for one, am a committed customer (and have been for many years).

• The Bicycle Outfitter
• Palo Alto Bikes
• Monta Vista Velo Cycling Club (MVV)
  

The following sponsors should be recognized for their more than generous donations. It takes a lot to fuel the Almond Freikers. Without pizza and ice cream they could never have walked or ridden 9,000 miles!

• Baskin-Robbins on State St. in Los Altos donated 475 ice cream cones!
  
• Spot Pizza on Main St. in Los Altos donated 60 large pizzas!
  

The following sponsors have given to the program in various and important ways and have made it just that much more special for everyone!

• Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SBVC) for all of the bike to work bags! These make great shopping bags as well.
• REI for donating some water bottles and gifts for the Bag-O-Goodies!
• Rick's Cafe for helping with some much need funding along the way.
• JambaJuice for helping with some much needed funding along the way.
• Specialized Bicycles for all those cute little Freiker water bottles!

And, of course, I'd like to thank the folks at Freiker.org for giving us such a cool program to work with and helping me get through the last 3 months. Great job everyone!

It's been a fun 3+ months for me and (I hope) for the kids at Almond School. Please say thank you to our sponsors when you are in the area - we need them all back next year :)

Mountain Biking in the Redwoods !

This week I skipped my normal MVV bicycle ride and went mountain biking in the redwood forest up by Felton, CA with some friends of mine. What a great day! The weather was perfect - cool in the shade of the trees, slightly warm in the sun. There are not many things better than riding a bike over twisty, turny, hilly, forested terrain. We left Felton around 9:00am and rode up through Henry Cowell State Park. You all know this area because it is the home of Roaring Camp Railroad. We road right over the tracks and up through the middle of the park.

Mountain Bike riding in this area is hard! I would not recommend it for the casual rider. You will either end up lost or hurt or both! There is lots of climbing on single track trails, you have to be able to jump over trees that have fallen across the trails, climb over washboard ramps, thread the needle between two tree with maybe 18" of clearance and navigate the sides of running creek gullies. But it is all good and all worth the effort!

We got to ride on trails which were named by the locals:

• Hobbit Trail
• Head Banger
• Slippery When Wet
• The Tressles Trail
• Steep and Deep

Here are my stats for the day:

• Distance: 19.8 miles
• Rolling Time: 2 hrs 36 min
• Elevation Gain: 2,800 ft.
• Ave Speed: 7.8 mph
• Max Speed: 31 mph
• No HR taken on this ride...
  
• Temp: 66 in the shade, 74 in the sun
• Calories Burned: 4,000 kcals
• MotionBased Map: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8456769

The Freiker Creed !

Well, my son helped me come up with a little slogan to characterize the Freikers at Almond. I'm not sure we have this dialed in yet so feel free to offer suggestions if you have any....

Neither snow nor rain nor heat of day nor the weight of a backpack stays these couriers from the swift completion of buzzing in on the Freikometer.

• I will register on-line to measure my progress...
• I only buzz in when I walk, scoot, skate or ride my bike...
  
• I will track my walks and rides faithfully to make sure none are missing...
  
• If there is a line at the Freikometer, I will wait my turn...
• If it is not buzzing, I will enter my ride manually...

For if I complete these tasks with God speed, I'm sure to receive a free Baskin-Robbins ice cream cone for my efforts !

Remember The Freiker Challenge For The Summer !

If you find yourself about to hop in your car to drive downtown - take a moment and ask yourself, "Is this errand something that I could do on my bike?" If the answer is yes, just do it! It's fun, it good for you and it's good for the planet. Besides, it sets a great example for the kids that are working hard at this already.

Well, folks, that's all for this year, see you all in the fall!

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Every Ride Counts!
Jon