It's been a week since most of us have ridden, and even longer than that for others! It's "back to school" time for Team OMS, and after a summer construction project at school fraught with a number of mishaps, our jobs are a bit overwhelming right now. Here are some pictures of what I'm up against in the library, and every other team member has a similar challenge. Needless to say, we'd rather be riding! Tomorrow volunteers from the National Honor Society are coming to rescue us, so maybe we'll get to ride this weekend.

<- E.L.F. and friends

Who are we anyway? Are we Team OMS or Team ELF? We're both! (Two, two, two teams in one, as they used to say on the old Certs commercials) Team ELF is the team Ms. Russell has been riding with for the past 8 years. Why "ELF"? This team, which has now grown very large, started in the Mount Laurel School District as a tribute to a well-loved supervisor who has Multiple Sclerosis. Her name is Eileen L. Flynn, so her initials are E.L.F. Hence, Team ELF! So when you see your Tabernacle teachers wearing bike jerseys that say "Mount Laurel Schools" across the front, don't panic! We haven't left the district, we've just made some new friends! It makes things a little easier for us to be part of a big, well-established team as we're just starting out, and we accomplish more when we all work together. You'll probably begin to see more pictures of our ELF friends here on the blog as the ride gets closer and we begin to practice together more. And if you're out watching the ride on September 16th and 17th, you'll see lots of Elves. Give 'em a big cheer-- that's your team, too.

Here we are at the "Super 50/50" booth at the Trenton Thunder game after 7 long innings of "working the crowd" and selling 50/50 tickets. We sold 1217 tickets! That means a lucky Trenton Thunder fan went home last night $608 dollars richer and we received a check for the National MS Society for $609. All of our riders are working hard to meet or exceed the minimum $250 we've each pledged to participate in the MS 150 City to Shore Bike Tour, which is now only a few weeks away. Our Trenton Thunder fund-raiser puts us closer to our goal. Thanks, Thunder! Thanks, fans!

What's going on out there? Yesterday when Mr. Shinn, Mrs. Scola and I were riding, a deer came flying out of the woods and crossed the road right in front of us. (It headed right for the spot where Mrs. Previ would have been!).

This morning, it happened again on Powell Place Road when Mrs. Scola and I were heading back from Chatsworth. Two good-sized deer moving very fast burst out of the woods ahead of us. Yikes! How do you protect yourself against something like that? I feel like I need way more than just a bike helmet!

--Ms. Russell

This is the first time we've ever seen Mr. Shinn put air in his tires! But it's one of those "guy things," so we're sure he probably checks them all the time, right Scott? One of the things we've all learned this summer is that it's a whole lot easier to pedal when there's air in the tires!

--Ms. Russell

Even though we're all riding together, Mrs. Previ's rides always seem to be more exciting than anyone else's. First there was the flat tire (see July 27th post). Today she crashed in the elementary school parking lot when she didn't get her feet out of her new clipless pedals in time (note the bumps on knee and elbow)-- at least it was at the end of our ride. But the piece de resistance... and you're not going to believe this... was the day she got hit by a deer! Unfortunately, I'm the only one who was not an eyewitness, but I heard the scream. On McKendimen Road, a deer came flying out of the woods right into the front tire of Mrs. Previ's bike. No one was hurt. Mrs. Previ didn't even fall off her bike. What a trooper!

Never a dull moment on the road with Team OMS!

Here we are at the MS Society's "Rookie Rider Expo" in Philadelphia. We got to meet lots of other new riders and some MS Society staff members, learn some things about bicycle maintenance, buy some new gear, get some fund-raising ideas and, of course, eat! It was interesting to see so many bike riders of all ages, shapes and sizes; everyone is excited and looking forward to the ride!

--Ms. Russell

As we rolled into Medford today, Mrs. Previ got the first flat tire experienced by Team OMS. Mrs. Cipollone and I (but mostly Mrs. Cipollone) changed the tire and replaced the tube following the instructions Mrs. Scola read from the box the new tube came in. It's a dirty, greasy job... but somebody's got to do it! It looked like everything was fine, but only three miles down the road, the tire went flat again. We left Mrs. Previ and Mrs. Cutts on McKendimen Road and then went back to pick them and their bikes up in the car. Over root beer floats at Conte's, we did discuss the fact that if we had been out in Chatsworth or somewhere farther away, we would have had to deal with the situation differently-- like change the tire again and hopefully get it right this time! The culprit turned out to be a piece of glass that was wedged in the tire, which had punctured both the original tube and the replacement making it necessary for Mrs. Previ to replace not only the tube, but the tire as well. The bike shop took care of the repair!

--Ms. Russell