On Sunday, May 12 the VeloRaptors again participated in the BORP Revolution ride in Santa Rosa, making this the 18th straight year of participation and fund raising.
BORP provides recreation and competition opportunities for disabled children and adults, including adaptive bicycling, wheelchair basketball, and soccer, etc. VeloRaptor participation started in 2006 when the board of the VeloRaptors learned that thieves had stolen specially adapted bikes and trikes from the BORP facility.
Since then, VeloRaptors have participated in every Revolution ride and this year the club’s fundraising total was the third highest amongst the participating teams. We raised nearly $21,000 through 83 contributions. This included funds raised by our Annual Bike Wash event on May 4 hosted by Pauline Fox, as well as registrations from 5 riders, and pledges made to individual riders. Moreover, Steve Goldenberg was the second highest individual fund raiser for the Revolution. Overall, our contribution to the Revolution ride formed a significant portion of the total amount ($240,000) raised by the event.
Riders this year were L-R, Steve Goldenberg, Steve Blair, Pauline Fox, Paul Lettieri, Fred Morse.
The letter below illustrates the appreciation the BORP organization has for the VeloRaptors.
May 29, 2024
Dear (VeloRaptor):
Thank you so much for being part of this year’s Revolution Ride Roll and Stroll. We raised $80,000 more than last year! A huge factor was some stellar fundraising from teams, with two teams, Special Need for Speed and the VeloRaptors leading the way.
Although Special Need for Speed currently holds the lead at $26,459.19, that was with 28 members. In terms of per team member fundraising, the VeloRaptors soared! You all are true champions raising $20,718.72 through 83 donations, which combined with the team’s registration fees, brought in $20,918.72 in support of BORP.
The REV is our most important fundraiser of the year, supporting 20+ weekly programs across 10 adaptive sports and rec activities. Your fundraising keeps BORP going strong.
Once the pledges and sponsorships are fulfilled, we will have raised more than $240,000 — more the 20% over our goal. That makes a huge difference as we plan for our next fiscal year.
We hope you had a great time and are looking forward to next year. Stay tuned for an announcement about the date and location.
On behalf of the entire BORP community, thank you for all you have done to make the 22nd Annual Revolution Ride, Roll & Stroll a huge success!
In community,
Emily Seelenfreud
Executive Director
BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation
3075 Adeline st., Suite 200
Berkeley, CA 94703
BORP (BAY AREA OUTREACH & RECREATION PROGRAM) • 3075 ADELINE STREET, SUITE 200 • BERKELEY, CA 94703
Tel: (510) 849-4663 Fax: (510) 849-4616 • Web: www.borp.org Email: info@borp.org Twitter: @borp.org
We recently took a Wednesday outlier ride on Palomares Road, and sixteen riders showed up to to enjoy springtime in the East Bay Hills. We actually saw water in the creek and several areas of damage to the road, giving evidence of the recent storms.
VeloRaptors were out and about over the weekend January 28-29, in spite of the weather!
Saturday, VeloRaptors and Oakland Rotarians once again did the Martinez-Benicia Two Bridge ride. We rode in and out of foggy patches, and it so happened that the Carquinez Bridge was in fog. But, we found the sun, hot coffee and fabulous pastries at the One House Bakery in Benecia!
On Sunday, Dale put on his annual Soup Kitchen. Moreover, the 49rs were playing for the NFC championship vs the (Philadelphia) Eagles.
Seven ‘raptors rode from Montclair out to Alamo, despite the cold and rain. Several others took the more ‘sensible’ method and drove out to Dale’s. All were rewarded with a plethora of hot soups waiting to be consumed. Thank you Dale for helping us survive the weather and the Niners shellacking.
Our Wednesday ride was cancelled due to the incessant rain. Many of the Wednesday riders still needed their hit of caffeine, pastry and great socializing.
Seven hardy riders braved the initial cool temperatures today and had a very nice ride. We actually had 8 total participants, as Rob did a short ride, but Mike M. came along to take his place. Chris S. gets honorable mention for showing up at L’Cajou to cheer us on.
We encountered a light sprinkle as we left Orinda and enjoyed sunshine all the way back.
Great start to November!
A new bike path just opened on the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge. 30+ VeloRaptors and friends made the clubs initial ride across the span.
Read more about the ride at here
The ride on Saturday, Nov 9, was a little different. The ride was a combined VeloRaptor/Rotary ride to Treasure Island. The start time was set for 10 am, hoping the fog would be burned off by then, but no such luck. The temperature wasn’t bad (52 deg), but the fog was thick enough that we couldn’t see the bay. Dennis showed up with his 89 Toyota 4Runner, and was impressed that Mark had a 92 version. Dennis didn’t ride, but decided to meet us at the restaurant on TI.
Seven of us pedaled out into the gloom from the Brickyard pavilion and stopped to give our respects to the Bridge Troll along the way.
I got a call from Dennis just as we reached the end of the bridge path. He wanted to let me know that the power was out everywhere on Treasure Island. While I was taking the call, the others passed me and headed up the Yerba Buena Island hill. Dennis decided to hang around the closed Mersea restaurant for a few minutes until we arrived.
We rendezvoused with Dennis at the restaurant, but realsized that one rider (Mark from Rotary) wasn’t with us. I called him and learned that he was at the nearby Aracely café where Carla (another Rotarian) was waiting to meet us. We cycled the short distance over to Aracely and found that it was open, albeit without power. As we rode up a group of firemen were leaving with what turnd out to be the last few cups of coffee. Fortunately, Aracely still had pastries and hot water for tea. We had had nice snack break and somehow Carla ended up volunteering to SAG for one of our rides!
The return ride was uneventful and several of us stopped for coffee at the Blue Bottle on Broadway. Herb brought Kate along on the ride and I learned that she teaches 6th grade math. I asked was subjects she covered during the year and our discussion led to me volunteering to come to her class and do a brief show and tell about my career. Basically, these kids have little exposure to career opportunities beyond service industries, etc. I think my 3 minute Rotary self-introduction can be expanded to 10-15 minutes and expose them to career paths in science.
-Steve Blair
Nineteen VeloRaptors did the Marin Headlands ride on January 12! We met at the foot of Market St, and then rode along the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf.
We made a stop at the Dolphin Club to look at the vintage boats, and watch the hardy Dolphin members emerge from the chilly water.
Then it was on to the beautiful Marina Green with fabulous views of SF Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge
Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge is always an exhilarating experience, due to being on this fabulous structure, crossing the Golden Gate, and the speeding cyclists, rookie cyclists on electric bikes, going in both directions, as well as the bridge maintenance equipment. Once across, most of the group made the long slog up the Marin Headlands, and posed for our annual picture at the top.
Then comes the truly terrifying descent down to Ft Cronkite. The scenery is fabulous, but the road is STEEP and NARROW with several sharp CURVES.
It was then on to Sausalito where the group splintered. Several riders caught a ferry back to SF. A few others cycled back over the GG Bridge, or cycled out along the headlands for a closer look at the ocean.
Six of us (3 Steves along with Paul, Kevin and Dale) pedaled our way to Tiburon and took a ferry to SF from there.
It was a fabulous day for cycling and riding ferries on SF Bay!
VeloRaptors have participated in the BORP Revolution ride for the last many years. This year we had a team of 13 riders, and raised over $18,000 for BORP. Steve Blair put together a brief video:
The VeloRaptors have hatched a subgroup of golfers. This group (termed the HackoRaptors by Kevin M.) had a great day of golf at Chardonnay in Napa, playing in the Orion Fund Charity Tournament. This tournament was founded by our own Pam H. and supports college students that are in a health crisis. The group pic shows our trophy, and bottles of wine awarded to us for having the most fun! Randy and Steve were named co-captains, for no particular reason.
