Book Group: June 2015

Book: The Secret History of Wonder Woman
Author: Jill Lepore
Meeting: June 16, 2015 at Ginny's
Dessert: Raspberry cheesecake with fresh strawberries and blueberries

Don't pick this up for a light summer read. Although the story of the family behind the cartoon character is fascinating and kinky, Lepore's writing is more like a well documented thesis. The links to the suffragist movement in the early 1900s and Margaret Sanger's crusade for birth control kept me interested. I didn't know that Sanger's Birth Control Federation was the name of the organization that became Planned Parenthood. And how does she relate to Wonder Woman? Read the book!

Tour de Cure - Twin Cities 2015

The annual Tour de Cure ride for diabetes saw a few twists this year. 

(For a detailed explanation of daughter Heather's diabetes journey you can follow this link to last year's post on this blog:
http://aviewofaging.blogspot.com/2014/06/tour-de-cure-2014.html  )

Heather asked me to co-captain so I could help out with the details. I mostly jumped in crafting things to expand our logo identity. First I transformed my helmet using Outdoor ModPodge and then I did Heather's. Quite fun. I was glad they weren't tested in a downpour!

Working on the Pancremaniac helmet for Captain Heather.

Heather and I with our ModPodged helmets.

The logo (and inspiration for my crafting) was designed by Treden Wagoner. This photo of Pat and Bob shows off the logo quite well. I congratulate them on braving the cold weather to reveal the logo. I never took off my black shirt!

Pat and Bob look swell in their Pancremaniac jerseys.

Friends from Madison joined us again this year. Judy was raring to go but Jimmy was a little under the weather. Thanks for riding with us! 

Jimmy and Judy drove up from Madison to join the ride.

Pancremaniacs ready to ride the 45 mile loop.

The photo above of the group riding the 45-mile loop includes two new riders this year. On the left is Lee who was the most enthusiastic participant. He is a neighbor/friend of the Charles family who ride every year. The circle grows. And on his left is Rosey. She started a modest Facebook challenge asking for a $1 donation from all of her FB friends hoping to get the necessary $200 minimum. (She even offered to pick up the donation.) By race day she had raised over $850. You go girl!!!

The other new "celebrity" rider is Rebecca Young a T1 diabetic speed skater from Milwaukee (on the left side of the photo below). She has legs of steel. Here she poses at the head of the 29-mile pack with Heather and Scott Johnson. The community support was everywhere that day. GO RED RIDERS!!!

Rebecca (T1 speed skater), Heather, and rock star Scott Johnson. (Becca is in the trailer behind Heather.)

My final crafting for the year was Pancremaniac bottle caps given to all the riders. Won't you join us next year?  (Always the Saturday after Memorial Day, in Minneapolis, MN.)

Pancremaniac bottle cap magnets to thank riders.