Donation chart for May 20- Pink is what we need
to sponsor, purple represents the sponsored miles.
Click on chart to enlarge

Maps and weather links

Here is a picture of the Tour Route minus the Canadian Section. You can click on areas of interest to enlarge.

You can track the weather in the region

where he is at:

http://ww2.weatherbug.com/

Audio blogs

Hi, we are getting ready to start an exciting new fundraiser called Enduro Tour divide. We hope you will join us on this adventure, which will last about two months
(including preparations) and cover 2711 miles. Please take part in the month before preparation by sponsoring Steve, choosing your type of miles and state, and placing an Enduro Tour sponsor poster in your window, car or workspace. Thank you for helping. listen

(We are trying out a system that will enable Steve to send his phone messages directly to his blog so that you can read or listen to them. )

Sponsorship Information

How to sponsor Steve's Enduro-Tour Divide

for Kidneeds -- Ride begins June 13, 2008

How much does it cost to sponsor a mile?

You can sponsor one mile or as many miles as you like.

Here are the options:

Breaking Away- downhill and flatter miles are $10/mile.

Easy Rider- moderate incline miles are $25/mile.

Hidalgo- Desert miles are $50/mile

Iron Giant- steep mountain climbs are $100/mile.

**All donations are appreciated.

Where do I send my donation to sponsor Steve?

Please make a check to:
Kidneeds, GCRCF,
and mail to:
PO Box 1324
Iowa City, IA 52244-1324

Please include how many miles you are sponsoring, the type and if you have a state preference. We will do our best to accommodate your preference. Donations are not refundable, even if Steve is unable to complete the Tour. You can include well wishes that will be passed on to Steve.

To make an online donation, please visit the Kidneeds’ website for information:
www.medicine.uiowa.edu/kidneeds (Will be available by Monday on Kidneeds, sooner here)

Make a donation in honor of a friend: when you send in your donation in honor of someone, please give us the honoree's name, address and mileage information. We will send them a note notifying them of your gift.

Steve is doing this for Jenna and all DDD patients.

We hope you will support him, and pass on this information to others. For DDD patients and families who have expressed an interest in helping with a fundraiser, this is a great way to help. We need many donors to reach our goal. Thank you to everyone for your support!!

DDD patients and friends- "Completing Stories"

Steve's journey of 2711 miles is for DDD patients. Steve, besides being a Prof., and a hero, is also a professional storyteller. Every choice we make creates a story- sometimes the stories are boring, exciting, triumphant or brilliant failures. But they are ours. Steve is setting out to create some stories about his trip and intrinsic to his story, is the story of how this trip will impact the lives of many others- me and you, for starters.

Kidneeds does not have any federal or state grant money or any major funding sources. 100% of Kidneeds money for research comes from the friends and families of DDD patients. None of them are professional fundraisers and in stepping outside their comfort zone, each person who has held a fundraiser has a story to share. Fundraisers, please share your fundraising challenges and unexpected, funny occurrences at fundraisers.

Fellow DDD patients, Steve wants to hear stories of your challenges with DDD and how you overcame them. He wants to hear how someone went the extra mile to help you on your disease journey. You don't have to leave your name if you don't want to. You can even email them to me and I'll get them to Steve, but I hope you'll let them be shared. Your stories become part of Steve's journey for the 2711 miles. He is looking to how each of us has overcame challenges for his inspiration and motivation to keep going when the road less traveled rises 1,000 ft in a mile.

The Kidneeds story is very like this journey. It is a road that many believed we couldn't travel to the end where a treatment lay. There were many reasons, the disease was too complex; no one was studying it, no one wanted to study it, the fact that there aren't too many of us to study and the bit about there being no way to fund research. The choice we all make is the same as Steve has made three times. We can sit on the sidelines and hope, or we can jump in and do our best to change the outcome. Steve could easily have stayed on the sidelines. It would have been the wisest thing to do for his own safety. But he didn't and 6 people are alive today because of his choice and his courage.

We are getting close to a treatment due to the extraordinary committment of the Kidneeds' scientists and the research participation of some of the patients. Steve has already titled the story of this journey "Completing Stories" because he wants to help us complete the Kidneeds' story- find the treatment. We invite you to become part of this story by sponsoring miles, getting others to sponsor them and sharing your stories. We hope you choose to join Steve, who is known for his courage to act on behalf of others. Because, the others in this story are the DDD patients and families.

Thanks,
Jenna

Quick Links

** Kidneeds' website:
www.medicine.uiowa.edu/kidneeds

**Steve's blog:

**The Tour Divide Website
http://www.tourdivide.org/the_race

**Where to go to track Steve in Real time and see when he is at your mile:

**http://earth.google.com/intl/en/tour/thanks-win-updater.html

** news and TV links to Steve's heroic rescues:

Videos of preparing for the fundraiser and ride

We are learning how to use the tools for the blog and appreciate knowing which you feel is most interesting. Here is our first video

Jenna, Kidneeds and Steve

Hi, this is Jenna! I want to introduce you to my friend Steve McGuire who is doing an awesome fundraiser to help find a cure for a disease I have called Dense Deposit Disease. Steve will be beginning his 2711 mile ride June 13th and before that happens, we want to include you in the preparations. When he begins, we want people all over the world to be cheering him on and tracking him to see when he rides their sponsored mile. All the money goes to Kidneeds. 100% of Kidneeds' money goes to research DDD.

Kidneeds-www.medicine.uiowa.edu/kidneeds
My parents started Kidneeds in 1997 because a doctor told them that nothing had happened on this disease in 40 years and nothing was going to happen for another 40 years barring something unforeseen. They decided to be that unforeseen factor. But that was the beginning of the story. The big part of the story has been the thousands and thousands of people who have made something that was considered almost impossible to do...possible. We are getting close to finding a treatment.

Steve calls this adventure "Completing Stories" He wants to complete the ride and will be telling the stories of the trip around the country. Even more, he wants to help me complete the Kidneeds story by raising the money for research. I mean, how lucky am I to have a friend like Steve!?!
THE MEAN PACKING JOB

Here are some pictures of his fully packed bike and I wish my mom wasn't here taking pictures of how little his packs are for a 27 day journey (since I pack way more for a week trip without bringing food!)

In this little front pack, Steve is carrying all his food supplies,

water chlorination pills, bear spray, flashlight, maps. He will be carrying a camel pack for water.

He cannot get outside support for the ride, so needs to be ready for snow, desert heat, heavy rain, bears, mountain lions and being by himself for a long time.

The bag in the back of his bike contains his tent, sleeping bag, blankets, emergency gear, bear spray, camera, podcast system, clothes, shoes.






Check out the thin leather seat. It is a Boyd and has metal rivets in it. Steve says that it breathes and is extremely comfortable. I'll have to take his word for it, because I don't see much padding there.




Steve created this Logo for the fundraiser. We hope you will donate and sponsor Steve's miles. We will give you a copy of the Logo with the words
Going the Extra Mile
Off Trail Support Team
under it. We would love to have signs in windows all over the town to identify everyone who is cheering him on. Guess I'll close. Please keep visiting the blog for more pictures and information.

Enduro-Tour Divide Fundraiser

The Enduro Tour is a new fundraiser for Kidneeds that is being done by Steve McGuire, with your help.

Who is Steve McGuire ?
Many good people frequently go that extra mile for others.
Steve is going 2711 extra miles for patients with Dense Deposit Disease(DDD), like me.

Steve Thunder McGuire is a Professor of Art at the University of Iowa. He wears many hats
teacher, storyteller, father, husband and bike and adventure enthusiast for starters. He is also my friend. And he happens to be a hero to many people for being in the right place at the right time AND having the courage to jump into the Iowa River to save people's lives 3 different times. (links to stories)

Steve will be biking the Tour Divide from Banff, Canada to the border of Mexico ,beginning June 13th, to help fund research to find a treatment for DDD. It's a rare kidney disease I have, that often causes kidney failure, especially in children. He calls it the Enduro-Tour Divide Ride. I think Enduro-Curo Tour Divide would be good. Either way you can find information on the Ride at: http://www.tourdivide.org/

Steve's goal is to raise $50,000 by having people sponsor miles for him.
*You can choose one mile or 1,000 if you wish.
* You can choose downhill miles, moderate inclines, steep mountain or scorching desert miles.

See SPONSORSHIP page for more information.

Thank you for helping find a treatment!! Jenna