Spin for a Good Time and a Great Cause

I will be leading an hour of bicycle spinning as part of the fifth annual Super Spin Saturday: Ride for Rosita Saturday, Jan. 24 at Theisen Middle School, 525 E. Pioneer Rd., Fond du Lac, Wis. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration opens at 8 a.m.

I will lead from Noon to 1 p.m. with members of the Red Hawks cycling team.

Participants from beginners to pros are welcome to spin for one hour or up to five hours. A limited number of stationary spin bikes will be available, however, participants are encouraged to bring their own bikes and stationary trainer or rollers. A limited number of Kinetic trainers will be available for use with your own bike.

Each participant will be registered in a drawing for his or her choice of a new Gary Fisher 29er mountain bike or a road bike. A variety of prizes will be awarded throughout the day.

Activities are planned for children, including computer simulated racing courtesy of Attitude Sports and Compu-Trainer. All children participating will be eligible for a $250 savings bond.

In addition to your's truly, hourly sections will be led by endurance coach and professional triathlete Heather Haviland, a six-time Ironman finisher; Oliver Clements, a doctor from Fond du Lac; Denny Yunk of Milwaukee’s CZ Velo cycling team; and Dave Hornung of Team Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Cyclery.

Super Spin Saturday is a fund-raising event to support United Hearts for Health and its health care efforts in Rosita, Nicaragua. The first group of Fond du Lac medical missionaries traveled to Rosita in 2003. The health care system they found was in a dire crisis. The hospital infrastructure was rotting away, the laboratory facilities were inadequate for diagnosis, dental equipment was inadequate and the infant and maternal mortality rates were — and remain — among the highest in the world.

Since 2003, a new hospital has been built and a new well drilled to provide potable water to the hospital and its patients. Fond du Lac health care providers have treated more than 600 patients in 2007 and 2008. Still, electric power is intermittent at best, parasitic infection in humans and animals is persistent and the lack of medications and supplies inhibit fundamental care.

Participants are required to pay $5 for each hour they ride and are encouraged to raise additional money through pledges. Prizes are available based on amount raised. All checks should be made payable to “United Hearts for Health/Holy Family.”

For more information, contact the Fond du Lac Family YMCA at 920-921-3330, extension 14. You can also download a registration form, including a pledge sheet, here.