I'm Jerry's next older brother, Ron, #7 in the lineup.

I had serious FUN reuniting & riding with the Jerome Hatem Memorial Bike Team in my 2^nd Harbor To the Bay charity ride.  This year's 21^st & final ride was on Sep 23, a rainy trek by the end of the 60 miles.  We rode in memory & honor of our brothers Jerry (mine), Michael (Mark’s), & Jeff (Robin’s), as well as many others who’ve died too young, and yet had a BIG impact during their too-short lives.

I was lucky to see Jerry’s daughter Tamsin this June in Ohio, on her cross-country trek from NY to the West coast.  Tamsin & Tessa couldn’t team up with us this ride, unfortunately, but Tessa biked from San Fran to LA over 4 days this summer, in an event like H2B that raised funds for HIV/AIDS research!

Team Jerome grew to 16 riders & volunteers this year, all fast friends!

Many members of Team Jerome are from Aspen, where he lived for many years.  My first trip to Aspen was a few years before Jerry moved there.

In Sep 1980, I drove with a group of friends from OH on my first trip to CO.  We took bikes on the roofs of our cars, and rode on mountain roads as we toured the Rockies.  In Libby Flats, Wyoming, the winds were so strong that I coasted UPHILL for miles with the strong winds at my back, so strong that many trees there have branches only on the down-wind side of their trunks!

In Aspen, we camped in the woods outside of town by a creek.  I biked up the long, winding road to Maroon Bells, where we enjoyed the views.  On the relaxing coast downhill, I estimate I pedaled fewer than a foot-full of revolutions over ~ 5 miles!  Maybe too relaxed, though, as when I downshifted near the bottom, the chain went off the sprocket, the pedals stuck, & I flew over the handlebars, landing on my back and getting a few scratches.  The bike absorbed most of the blow.  We took the bike & its warped rim to a bike shop in town & they fixed it up, while I went to a lobby restroom in the Hotel Jerome and cleaned up.

Back home, I told these & other tales to Jerry and family.  Maybe it was these tales, or more likely the idea of skiing Ajax and the other mountains that lured him to Aspen.  Or it could have been the trip he took out West a couple years before that, when he and our older brother Rick spent several months on a crew planting trees in the mountains of Oregon.  I don’t know if they drove thru Aspen on their way back to Ohio, but he picked up the Western bug (Rocky Mtn Fever?).  Jerry’s daughters may spot some of those trees their Dad planted about 45 years ago when they’re trekking in Oregon in coming years.

I remember when Rick & Jerry got home from Oregon, Jerry was reading the Sunday paper & noticed some wooded land for sale in southeastern OH.  He suggested we check it out, as our brother Jim was looking for a place to build a log cabin home.  Not long after, our family bought it!  With a little help from family, Jim built his cabin there, and it's where he & Chris raised their family.  Soon after the cabin was built, our Mom & Dad built their retirement home just downhill, near some of their grand kids.  That’s the property where we had the Ohio memorial for Jerry in July 2019.

So many memories of those we love!

Most of my training rides are on the relatively flat Little Miami River Bike Trail, a former rail line.  But I learned last year that H2B isn’t so flat, so I’ve worked in a few hilly rides.  Cincinnati has plenty of hills (but nothing like the Rockies!).  From 10 miles on hilly streets to my longest so far of 111 miles on the rail-trail, I’ve learned the importance of drinking plenty of liquids.  Fortunately, H2B has rest stops every 15 miles or so.

Jerry rode in eight H2B events, with many of the same team mates that I get to ride along.  This was my 2nd (not counting 2 virtual rides during the pandemic).  The rain shortened this year's ride to the first half, for safety reasons.  That meant everyone got to ride those 60 miles (kinda) together, finally meeting our lead man, Tiziano, at the finish 🙂.

Remembering those who have gone before, as we keep on keeping on.

Learn more about Harbor to the Bay @ stage.harbortothebay.org

Donate in memory of Jerry @ https://stage.harbortothebay.org/profile/RonRidingForJerryHatem

Or on the Team Jerome page @ https://stage.harbortothebay.org/profile/Jerome/

Thanks for your support! (in any form)

Peace & Love,  Ron

2023 Training Rides

Date    Miles   Route
5/14     45     Little Miami Trail (LMT: relatively flat, shady Rail-to-Trail path)
5/29     60     LMT to Kings Mills & back 
6/17     88     LMT to Corbin & back
6/24     33     LMT
7/3      90     LMT past Corbin & back
7/22     44     LMT from Corbin to Beavercreek & back
7/29     33     city streets to hilly Mt Adams in downtown Cinci & back
8/6      47     LMT to Loveland & back
8/12     12     LMT to Milford & back
8/19    111     LMT to Xenia & back – an 8+-pt Buck crossed the trail about 10 yards ahead of me, near Terrace Park
8/27     10     hilly streets around home
9/2      30     city streets to hilly Mt Adams in downtown Cinci & back
9/3      20     city streets to Joan+Mike’s in HydePark – returned on flat Wasson Way Trail
9/9      30     city streets & WassonWay to Cinci Zoo & back
9/10      7     hilly trail to gym & back
9/16     50     hilly trail to gym & back, then LMT to new tunnel construction, & back – 72F, leaves are falling
9/20      8     hilly streets around home, shorter route, final tune-up
9/23     60     H2B23, little rain