Gems of Hope - "GOH Ride" Bike Ride

The 3rd Annual GOH Ride (Gems of Hope Bike Ride) will be held Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 8 a.m. Bikers will ride a 20 mile loop from Greene Square Park to Ely on the Cedar Valley Trails finishing at Parlor City by 10:00am. Optional 'turn-a-rounds' prior to 20 miles are acceptable!

GOH Ride

• This year, riders may purchase a 'bike bib' ($5) to honor a loved one and businesses may purchase an advertising 'mile marker' sign ($50) which will be placed along the trail for all to see!
  
• Start/Stop 1: Greene Square Park, 10 a.m.
  
Stop 2: Sokol Park Pavilion
Stop 3: Jersey's
Stop 4: Ely Turn-around
Finish/Stop 5: Parlor City

• An optional best poker hand card game will be offered along five checkpoints enabling the rider to draw a card to complete a poker hand. At the final stop, the rider with the best hand will receive the Tour de Cedar Rapids prize basket!
  
• We will ride rain or shine and will abide by the rules of the trails & traffic laws. Helmets are required. All riders ages 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Gems speakers are available to attend your company/club's meetings to inform and sign your members up for this great May event; held during the Bike to Work Month!! To arrange: email or call: 393-9681. Pass the word along!

Riders must abide by traffic laws. Approved helmets are required. Trail support closes at 10:30 AM.

Riders who are 14 years old and under must be accompanied by an adult.

[/i]Gems of Hope[/i] was inspired by Tory, a 9-year old living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While her mother was in treatment for cancer, Tory wrote daily notes of encouragement, leaving them wherever her mother might see them. The pair also attended art therapy classes together. Tory's mother recognized that the love behind the notes and the opportunity to create art, as well as the information she found in her reading, were valuable components in her recovery. She joined two friends, also affected by cancer in founding a non-profit organization that would extend these components to others.

Gems of Hope promotes what medical research now supports: developing one's spirituality can encourage feelings of optimism and hope, and thus, healing. Gems of Hope was founded to share hope with others.

Helen G. Nassif Community Cancer Center
St. Luke's Hospital
Mercy Medical Center
John Wollner, MD
Vision in Motion

Please visit our website at www.gemsofhope.com
Gems of Hope Office: 319.393.9681