Adventure Team Youth Resilience Program – March 2024 Update
Important Dates March 1, 2024 – Online Training Opens April 27 and 28, 2024 – Leading Adventure Summit May 4, 2024 @ 12:00 pm Eastern Time – Youth Registration ADVENTURE BIKE CLUB 2024 TIMELINE 3.13.2024 Adventure Team – Marquette: Join us at Ore Dock Brewing Join Adventure Team – Marquette next week (3.13.2024) at Ore Dock Brewing Co. from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Meet and mingle with current volunteers and staff Short presentation/overview of who we are Q&A Everyone is welcome Potential volunteers ParentsGuardians of youth Sponsors Adventure Teams: How we’re doing. Where things stand. As the number of Adventure Teams continues to grow we’re working to increase our operational capacity and efficiency. This spring, we rolled out a new database to help aggregate data in one place and get stuff done through automation. Implementation is going well, but like anything new, we’re bound to run into some bugs. We’re working to address them daily. If you registered to volunteer and haven’t received your invitation to Sterling for a background check, or if you’ve got all of that done, and you’re waiting for an invite to the LMS, let us know: julie@906adventureteam.com. Update: As of 9:06 pm last night, all 400 volunteers who submitted volunteer forms have been sent an invitation to Sterling to do their background checks. Anyone who has gone through and passed the background check was sent an invite to the LMS. We’re launching two new teams this year: Adventure Team Dickinson County and Adventure Team Grand Rapids. Both teams are working toward their fundraising and volunteer goals. Looking ahead to 2025, we are talking to three more potential teams (Kalamazoo, Mi, Ludington, Mi, and West Bend, Wisconsin). Momentum is growing. The community is strong. Volunteer recruitment has been strong, but we are always looking for people who are dedicated to the mission. The number of youth we reach depends on the number of volunteers who commit to helping us create more resilient, independent, courageous kids. If you haven’t signed up yet – get er’ done! If you know someone who would be a great fit – tell em’ we need their help. We need doers. Adventure Team Staff: We’re here to support you Youth Adventure Teams/Communication/Questions (Volunteers, Families)Julie Cunningham julie@906adventureteam.com Sponsorships, Grants, DonationsLeslie Phillipsleslie@906adventureteam.com Accounts Payable – Financeadmin@906adventureteam.com Gear Store Questions store@906adventureeteam.com Director of AdventureTodd Poquette todd@906adventureteam.com April 27-28, 2024 ::: Leadership Summit We offer volunteers two ways to train: Online or in-person. Both are great, but you can’t beat the experience of spending a weekend with a hundred like-minded folks. I can tell that as of this morning there are only a few spots left. Register There are less than 20 spots left Online Training must be completed by April 21, 2024 This is an important date to have on your radar. If you plan to complete your training online it needs to be done by April 21, 2024. Here’s what we’ve learned over the past ten years: a lot of people wait till the last minute, so we’re moving the completion date up a couple of weeks to ensure we have enough time to have all of our ducks in a row on the backend before youth registration opens May 4th, 2024. Volunteers get a chance to register their children on May 3, 2024 – as long as they’ve passed the background check and completed training. We’ll provide a code for you to use and you will have until 9:06 pm on May 3rd to register. Please note: You will not be able to register early if you haven’t completed your training. Get your training done.
POLAR ROLL PHOTOS – RESULTS, GEAR STORE AND MORE
SAVE THE DATE MS EVENTS 2025: FEBRUARY 15, 2025ULTRA EVENT 2025: FEBRUARY 17, 2025 GEAR STORE CLOSES 2.25.2024 VISIT STORE MS EVENT RESULTS view results PR-ULTRA RESULTS MS EVENT PHOTOS RYAN STEPHENS PHOTOGRAPHY Rob Meendering Photography Fresh coast exposures PR-ULTRA PHOTOS rob meendering PHOTOGRAPHY Fresh Coast Exposures
Happy Valentine’s Day, Polar Rollers
TEN THINGS BEFORE WE ROLL 1. MTB? NO. 3.8” OR LARGER. 2. SNOWSHOES REQUIRED? YES. 3. SHOULD I RUN STUDS? YES. 4. IS GPS REQUIRED? YES. 5. CAN I USE MY MTB? NO. 6. SHOULD I RUN STUDS? YES. 7. PACKET PICKUP? READ DA FIELD MANUAL. 8. RACE STARTS WHEN? READ DA FIELD MANUAL. 9. READ DA FIELD MANUAL! 10. POM HATS + COOKIES? IF YOU FINISH. VIEW THE MAP GEAR STORE OPEN NOW
IT’S TIME TO ROLL
IT’S TIME TO ROLL. This update is broken into two parts: Polar Roll-MS and PR-Ultra. If you don’t know what that means it might be safer to stay home. POLAR ROLL-MS This field manual provides the basic doctrinal framework of Polar Roll. Content discussions include fundamentals, culture, logistics, routes, maps, event partners, the mission, and more. The topics, gear recommendations, community code of conduct, rules, and logistics apply to all Polar Roll formats: Mass Start (MS), Expedition (EX), and Polar Roll – Ultra. The primary audience for this manual are Polar Roll participants, support crews, friends and family, partners and sponsors, and 906 Adventure Team staff and volunteers. Polar Roll is a winter event. Winter events are generally more dangerous. The stakes are much higher. Mistakes carry larger consequences. You signed up for this. Your understanding of the event and you preparation for it are your responsibility. If you are not completely confident in your ability to handle the rigors of this event you should stay home FIELD MANUAL GPX FILES LIVE TIMING GEAR STORE OPEN TILL THE 25TH HUGS + BACON SINCE 2015 PR-ULTRA This field manual provides the basic doctrinal framework of Polar Roll. Content discussions include fundamentals, culture, logistics, routes, maps, event partners, the mission, and more. The topics, gear recommendations, community code of conduct, rules, and logistics apply to all Polar Roll formats: Mass Start (MS), Expedition (EX), and Polar Roll – Ultra. The primary audience for this manual are Polar Roll participants, support crews, friends and family, partners and sponsors, and 906 Adventure Team staff and volunteers. Polar Roll is a winter event. Winter events are generally more dangerous. The stakes are much higher. Mistakes carry larger consequences. You signed up for this. Your understanding of the event and you preparationfor it are your responsibility. If you are not completely confident in your ability to handle the rigors of this event you should stay home. FIELD MANUAL GPX FILES DOT WATCHING STARTS 2.19.2024 GEAR STORE OPEN TILL THE 25TH
Ten more years for Tara
We started 2024 excited to celebrate our ten-year anniversary, but life had other plans. On January 19, 2024, an automobile accident claimed the life of our Adventure Coordinator, Tara Gluski. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her family, friends, and everyone who knew her. When we lose someone we love, it’s normal to ask what we could have done. I did it for a couple days and decided I (we) must do something different. We must move forward and dedicate our energy not to what we could have done but to what we can do – honor Tara, and ensure her memory, and impact lives on. To that end, I want you to know our team is ready to dig in and continue her work. Here’s a list of people stepping up, what they will be doing, and a way to contact them if you have questions or need help. Youth Adventure Teams/Communication/Questions (Volunteers, Families)Julie Cunningham julie@906adventureteam.com Sponsorships, Grants, DonationsLeslie Phillipsleslie@906adventureteam.com Accounts Payable – Bookkeeping Questionsadmin@906adventureteam.com Gear Store Questions store@906adventureteam.com Questions regarding Events (Polar Roll, The Crusher, Marji Gesick), New Adventure Teams, Organizational Inquiries Todd Poquette todd@906adventureteam.com Submitting EX event results: Send event results to this email Nicky Bates events@906adventureteam.com I sat down with Elizabeth Peterson on the TV6 Morning Show. We talked about Tara’s impact on our community, how we plan to move forward, and what’s planned for this year. You can check it out here. One last thing. At some point in the near future, we will look to bring another employee into the team to support our growth, not to replace Tara, but rather to carry on the mission with us. Adventure Coordinator, the title Tara held for five years, will be retired. There will never be another Tara, and therefore, there will never be another Adventure Coordinator. Todd PoquetteDirector of Adventure Ten more years for Tara… I want everyone to understand we’re gonna honor Tara forever, not just ten years. I want us to look forward instead of looking back. Let’s look at what we can do instead of what we could have done. Let’s lead by example. That’s what she always did. That’s what she would do if it had been one of us.
EX KICKOFF – MS UPDATE
2024 Polar Roll: Here’s where things stand When I sat down to write this update we were supposed to get 3-10” of snow. it went south of us. As it sits today, the trail orgs have not had enough snow to groom. That should change. I just don’t know when. We’re supposed to get hit by a system this weekend. We’ll see what happens. Expect conditions to be enhanced (the way we like it). The goal is to give ya some new looks this year and change up the routes, but so far, at least, the weather has given us a big FU. We’ll open with EX routes on NTN. When we have enough snow, we’ll add a couple of routes in RAMBAland. There is a new EX15 on NTN. It’s a miniature version of the long. A lil’ bit of FU and a whole lot of fun. The EX30 might look the same, but it’s not. It’s going in the opposite direction, and we adjusted the route. It’s a great ride. Updates will be provided weekly via blog posts and in the group on Facebook. EX: What it is. What to expect. EX events are intended to be done solo or in small groups. You have the flexibility of picking who you do it with and when. Unlike the mass start routes that are groomed for a specific date the EX is open for 60 days. Conditions will vary. Be prepared. Expect some hike-a-bike. We’ve come up with our share of bad ideas over the last ten years, but the EX format ain’t one of them. Mass Start events aren’t for everyone. This format offers those folks an alternative. It’s another way for us to get more people off the couch and “into the game”. Not to mention, it’s a helluva lot easier to do events that flex with your schedule, and there’s something special about going out alone and doing hard stuff. Also, when you do hard shit (like 906AT events), it inspires others to do the same, and you’re supporting eleven youth Adventure Teams around the Midwest. Refer to the “recommended gear” in the PR24-MOD Field Manual (see below). GET THEM GPX: Where to get them. How to read them. GPX is required for all Polar Roll events (Yes, MS too). EX events do not offer course signage. MS events do, but “signs fall down, bears eat them, and people move them”. You are responsible for your navigation. PR24-EX15-109… It’s not just a bunch of numbers. PR24 = Polar Roll 2024EX15 = EX route, 15 miles109 = January 9th, the creation date It’s pretty straightforward once you get used to using em’ for a while. All mass start routes will begin with MS. The ultra file will have “ultra” in the extension. On that note, if you go to RIDEWITHGPS right now, you’ll see the file we uploaded is called “PR23-ULTRA2132023”. That is last year’s route. We uploaded it as a reference until the final route is complete for 2024. FIELD MANUAL: You need to read it. Here’s why. Excerpt from PR24-MOD1:This field manual provides the basic doctrinal framework of Polar Roll. Content discussions include fundamentals, culture, logistics, routes, maps, event partners, the mission, and more. The topics, gear recommendations, community code of conduct, rules, and logistics apply to all Polar Roll formats: Mass Start (MS), Expedition (EX), and Polar Roll – Ultra. The primary audience for this manual are Polar Roll participants, support crews, friends and family, partners and sponsors, and 906 Adventure Team staff. Polar Roll is a winter event. Winter events are generally more dangerous. The stakes are much higher. Mistakes carry larger consequences. You signed up for this. Your understanding of the event and you preparation for it are your responsibility. If you are not completely confident in your ability to handle the rigors of this event you should stay home. Listen, we’re here to have a good time just like you, but we can’t ignore the facts. All of this stuff is dangerous, and if we’re honest, that’s kinda why we like to do it, but each of us needs to own the decision to show up. No one is gonna be out there to save you, for EX or MS events. The Field Manual has everything you need to know. It’s your responsibility to read it. You are responsible for your choices, preparation, and outcomes. DOWNLOAD Complete the Endurance Trilogy The Triple Crown consists of three of the toughest events on bike or foot. From the grueling singletrack of Marji Gesick, the relentless wilderness of The Crusher, or the unpredictable weather of The Polar Roll, 906 Adventure Team events are no walk in the park. Athletes that complete one from each of these three events below are granted lifetime entry into our Hall of Pain and are eligible to attend our annual “secret event.” You do not have to complete all three challenges in the same year, you just have to complete one of each sometime in your lifetime. When we came up with the idea for the “Hall of Pain” back in 2019 we thought we’d be lucky to get 50 people to do it. We were wrong. Today, there are almost 240 people who have completed the “Trilogy”. That’s f$%*&@! crazy. You can too, and if you manage to do all three before October, you’ll be able to join us for the first “Secret Event”. Good Luck. You’ll need it. 2014-2024 TEN YEARS OF DOING HARD THINGS Some people dabble in testing themselves. They like to do something hard, check it off the list, and talk about it for the next twenty years. Other people commit to living outside their comfort zone, for life. They constantly look for new challenges. They don’t rest on what they did in the past. Every day is a new opportunity to prove themself, and inspire others. Here’s to the next ten years and the challenges ahead. One day at a time. One