Raise One For Anne Tour: 2026 - Announcement

 

 

First of all, yes, I'm bringing the blog back. I've neglected it for four years, but prefer it to posting on fb or ig. 

With that out of the way, what is our Raise One For Anne in 2026? 

TL;DR

• 7 events over 4 consecutive weekends
• Varying levels of challenge
• Website for donations to Epilpesy Foundation of America: LINK

In keeping with tradition, it's totally different than anything we've done since we started this in 2018. For our challenge, we are making a homage to cycling Grand Tour season. Which will be in full swing, by the time we start. The Giro d'Italia will be over and men and women pro cyclists will be prepping for their respective Tours of France. The Raise One for Anne Tour will recreate the types of stages one would see in a grand tour with seven rides over four weekends. 

 Seven rides?

Ride 1 (June 27): The Grand Depart with the Keybank Gran Fondo in Grand Rapids, MI. We will be riding the 80 mile distance. While this ride is not free, it is well supported, has marshaled intersections(including a police escort for the start of the ride), and a great after party. Oh, one of the rest stops is at a park just North of Grand Haven, MI. The view of Lake Michigan while grabbing a snack and filling up bottles is worth the 40 mile ride to get there. Many grand tours have taken to starting in someplace other than the race's home country. Lisa and I are having this stage to give our Michigan friends a chance to ride with us. (You know who you are. Sign up!)

Ride 2 (July 3): A Individual Time Trial. Time trials are the race of truth. How fast can you go by yourself? The full ride that day will include a ride from and to a nearby trailhead plus a group ride of the route for warm up and recon. 

Ride 3 (July 5): The Mountain Stage (route at the link) No grand tour is complete without a challenging day in the mountains. But we live in Ohio so, we're settling for some challenging hills. 3100 ft of climbing over 100 miles will include The Corkscrew with 16% gradients as the final climb of the day. This ride is part of the Columbus Outdoor Pursuits one day ride series. A small donation(see COP link) will allow you to be covered by COP's insurance for the day. This ride is a great challenge, especially for us flat landers. 

Ride 4 (July 11): The Sprint Stage The fast men and women need to have their days in grand tours too. Not everything is for the climbers. This will be flat to rolling terrain ride with a sprint around Westgate Park at the finish. Can you time your sprint to beat the others?*

Ride 5 (July 12): The Roleur Stage The sprinters are the fastest over a short distance. Mountain climbers are self-explanatory. The roleur is a punchy rider who maybe isn't the fastest on the flat and can't hang on really long climbs. But over punchy/rolling terrain, they are a threat to win a stage and take the day.*

Ride 6 (July 17): The Classic Stage Sometimes the terrain is flat to get from city A to city B, and there are no mountains in the way. To help put a sting in the legs, race organizers will make the stage long. In this case, we will be riding 130 miles over some mostly flat terrain. 

Ride 7 (July 18): The Finale In grand tours, the last stage is mostly processional and it's all about celebrating all the days it took in the saddle to get to the last stage. There might be a sprint at the end. The route will be one that we use often for weekday training rides. It will feel good to spin the legs after long ride the day before. Snacks and beverages will await finishers.  

* We aren't really racing. The goal is to finish and be safe.

More details on Rides 2 - 7 will be published later with start times etc. 

What do we ask of you?

Join us. Have fun. Make a donation to our fundraiser. We've raised a little over $47k since our first ride(s) in 2018. We would love to far surpass the $50k donations mark this year.