The official Dancing Deer Baking Company Blog

Recently, I did a training ride on a tandem bicycle to Connecticut. Scott Chamberlain, who works for my ride sponsor, Belmont Wheelworks offered to take me on a training ride to visit my father in Old Lyme. Scott rides about 300 mile a week (year round) and has no car. So a little 200 mile jaunt is his idea of no sweat and an interesting adventure. Dad is failing rapidly and I needed to get down there ASAP but also needed to book some miles and try out some new technology (GPS, Flip Cam, Jawbone, en-route rechargers, etc.).  I figured we’d fly down there in 6 hours total travel.  How could we not?  I arrived at his barn late because I needed to swing by work and celebrate some Deers’ anniversary days.

Very important stuff. Hats, etc.  Fun.  



Scott is Mr. Safety on the road so he’d geared up with fat tires and a cushy, bouncy seat for me.  It all looked great and I thought how amazing it would be to ride 200 miles and not have a sore back side. Turns out I’m not comfortable with extreme comfort. Gerard of Grace Bicycles in Holliston was our hero.  Sweet guy.

Gorgeous sunny brisk day, great riding, lots of remarkable little details.  How lucky were we to find Chuki’s General Store? An unlikely pack of Dancing Deer Maple Oatmeal cookies was sitting there on the counter and Judy (very delightful) behind it. When I introduced myself she nearly fell over because she had just been reading the directions from our Gingerbread House kit and had enjoyed my line about paying no attention to the directions and just improvising because it always works out for me. I bought two lovely handmade soaps for Josie and Joelle (my Dad’s friends/caretakers) and decided, after some deliberation, not to go for any of the hunting gear in the glass display case.

A LOT of business can be done on the back of a tandem while still maintaining pace.  Hands free! Checked in with daughter Eleanna (college student at F&M) and son Dimitri at various points down and back ..



 Also checked in with some cows in a private moment.

Incredible scenic route – even when looking straight down [small video of the feat pedaling and shadows on the road].Turns out there is about 8,000miles of climbing to do on the scenic route (Mt. Washington is only 6,000)



Last couple hours were in the dark with headlights. Almost hit a Deer!!  Couldn’t fly down the hills - too dangerous. God I hate using my brakes.  Happily it wasn’t my job or the Deer population as well as the people population might have gone down a few head that night. Cranking through the dark felt fine but I suspected we had left Kansas.

Flip cam was almost out of batteries by the time we arrived at 8:30 PM for dinner with Dad. Somehow the team had kept him awake and somehow he was able to sing every word of  “Daisy, daisy, give me your answer do, I’m half crazy . . . . .. but you’ll look sweet on a bicycle built for two” even though he wasn’t really able to speak more than a word or two.  The last visit a couple of weeks ago there wasn’t much conversation but when asked, he flowed out the first two lines of the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.  Dear, sweet, brilliant wonderful man. Almost gone.  We have agreed to let him go. He misses Mom. Wouldn’t it be so very cool if it worked out that the universe reunites great lovers somewhere out there?

Scott hadn’t complained – not a single word, but on the front of the tandem he’d taken the brunt of the wind and cold and I was so busy with Dad that I missed the fact that Scott had almost shrunk away to nothing on arrival.  He’d gone seriously hypothermic so we wrapped him in warm towels and poured hot tea in him. He came back!  However let it be noted that I couldn’t buy my way on to that front seat. Absolutely no way.  Legend has it that Scott’s never actually ridden on the back seat.

Sister Lid’s house was the Inn. Her husband Lex accompanied us in their hot tub with view of Great Island, the CT River estuary where I spent many happy days as a teenager.  It’s where – god what was his name?? knew him growing up and he was such a hero – anyway that guy who figured out that it was DDT weakening  the Osprey eggs. Save the Osprey!  Stop DDT!  Right there in Old Lyme. Read "State of The New England Environment" here.

Back to Dad and a delightful morning. He was a bit brighter and more able to respond. Hospital bed and wheelchair arrived. DNR bracelet the day before. But still he has his wit. I asked if he understood I’d ridden down from Boston on a bicycle and he answered ”Yes it made my bones creak.”  Wow -  full sentence and charming too. Strange thing.

When Mom was finally losing the battle against colon cancer, having defied gravity (medically speaking) for eight years beyond the best hopes, I was training for what was going to be my fastest and probably last marathon. My knees were pretty much shot.  I’d drive down to be with her and get up early in the AM to do the 18 mile loop over the bridge through Old Saybrook, around past Katherine Hepburn’s house and back.  I was doing amazingly fast intervals but the long runs were tough. I used to ask strangers on the road to pull my leg out for me - something had stopped working in my hips.  Too much pain. But I kept running. I lived on ice and gave myself frost bite a few times.

Nasty.  Mom died the day of the Mystic Marathon.  Just as well I didn’t run it.

Coffee’s Store, once not quite a deli but always a hang out, is now a slick country grocer with in-house bakery and fancy coffee and...Dancing Deer Cookies!  Still in the Coffee’s family and there was third generation Rich Coffee. My apologies to the other lovely person I met who is in the video – I missed getting your name.  I’m such a novice!  Loaded up with paninis (very yummy), fancy juices, expensive dark chocolate bars and batteries!

I was determined to fly home at a faster pace. I had planned on a 6 AM start to get back to pick up Dimitri from school but opted for more time with Dad who can only manage an hour or two of visit at a time. I arranged for a friend to get D from school but I was still looking for shortcuts.  One of my ideas was to take the half mile advantage on my GPS vs. Scott’s.  He did say, politely, that he thought we should stick with the known route but I was all for shaving and exploring. He was the pilot but I was in the commander seat so we went with my brainy notion.  We climbed 1000 feet of additional elevation and traveled through the valley of the 19th century then landed on dirt roads and a rutty, muddy fantastically gorgeous detour through the woods.  Very smart of me.

Cool gray day.  Never warmed up. Panini’s on a windswept hill in a farmer’s field.  Frogs in Wyndham.  And then the afternoon of pedaling which basically was never going to end. Darkness came.  Every one of those hills was still there in CT and MA as well.  How about that? Then the rain came. Scott and I were having a fantastic time and every stroke was a power stroke! Still confused about why then, we were going so slowly? Actually Scott pronounced  himself done somewhere well before the finish line but no one told his legs which just kept churning.  I stopped chirping for a while so as not to annoy him but I don’t think it’s actually possible to annoy Scott as long as he’s on a bicycle.  Great sport. On the other hand if it’s not going to work out with a riding buddy, it’s not going to work out BIG time on a tandem.

No such problems here.  Pulled in to his barn at 9 PM.  I jump in my car and I’m guessing Scott was through his hot shower and two beers before I arrived home and ran in to find Dimitri for one very big hug.  

Today I leave to drive the support vehicle, a 25 foot RV, down to
Atlanta with all of our supplies and bikes.  It seems like just
yesterday when I walked into Dancing Deer to meet Trish for the first
time.  How time flies.  There is still so much to do… get VIPs like
mayors to join us along the route, coordinate with bike groups,
communicate with shelters, make sure all our technology works…the list
seems endless.  My mind is racing all the time thinking about all the
details.

It should be quite entertaining packing the RV.  We have four
bicycles, eight cases of donated water from Glaceau Smart Water,
kitchen supplies for cooking, bike repair and maintenance equipment,
clothes, bedding, and food.  I was told by the RV rental agency to
bring a garden hose and a nail file.  It’s clear the garden hose is to
fill up the water tank, but I have no idea what the nail file is for.
I’m sure my list isn’t complete.  I know I am missing some things.  I
don’t know how we are going to fit it all in, but where there is a
will there is a way.

Arcade Snacks has generously donated the candy for the Gingerbread
Houses we will be making with the families in the shelters along the
way.  We will need 20 ounces of candy per house, and there will be 180
houses built when we are all done, which means we will need 225 pounds
of candy.  That’s a lot of candy!  The Gingerbread House Making Kits
will be shipped from our production facility to the shelters before we
arrive.  I thought we were going to have to bring the candy with us in
the RV.  However, Lissa, Dancing Deer’s Operations Manager, just saved
us from that fate.  I had no idea that she planned all along to ship
the candy with the kits.  Thank you Lissa!

More from the Ride Central later.

This just in from a new Deer fan in Georgia.  Thank you, doctor, for celebrating motherhood…


This is the first time I have ever heard of Dancing Deer Baking Co. I had delivered these two beautiful babies (twins—a girl and a boy!). Their mom and dad sent a lovely thank you package from you. It was so good, I looked you up on the web and here I am telling you that this was just a small reminder of why I do what I do. I love my patients and I love being in their lives and being a part of such an important part time of their life. I enjoy seeing the daddy’s face as he sees his baby for the first time and getting to hold his baby. I love getting to know my mommies and helping them through the marathon of birth. Not only obstetrics, but in gynecology, I have the privelege of being with women (and girls) of all ages and developing lifelong relationships. All this in a box of cookies!!! Thanks!

Trish talks cycling with Daniella at Belmont Wheelworks, April 13, 2009.

Wheelworks jumped in without a second thought as a major sponsor of my 1500 mile/15 day ride to fund scholarships for homeless mothers.  (April 22 to May 6, 2009).  They’ve been amazing and fun in every way. It’s a big team and they’re all terrific. They brought in Trek, Asssos and Garmin in a heartbeat.  And they believe in me!  Why?  I don’t know but I’ll take it.  Sure helps me be confident that I’m not crazy and/or feel confident that my craziness is good. Principle Clint Paige is there for every question and also the ones I forget to ask.  He gets the title of Mr. Steady and Clear.  Front of the house Recumbent and GPS specialist Scott Chamberlain has put in a ton of time figuring out various technical things and also taken me on training rides.

See www.dancingdeer.com/ride  for a blog of a 225 mile tandem expedition we went on. He’s Mr. Can Do and Safety.  And Bike Sales Chieftain Rob Delisle, tall, dark and handsome (honestly he didn’t prompt me with everyone of those appellations. . .) is Mr. Funny and Positive. He seems to think this Ride is no sweat as long as I keep the wheel side down.  Erika Gerking helped me figure out the gear. I fundamentally dislike clothes shopping. She made it easy. So she gets the title of Ms. Copasetic and Helpful. Every single person I’ve run in to there has been delightful.

I was connected with WheelWorks as a sponsor by Louder Than Words founder Rich Polt, who is a huge cycling enthusiast and runs a communications agency which only takes on clients with a social mission or double bottom line. 
Of course when WW said yes to my sponsorship they didn’t even know that I’d already been a loyal customer for years.  Walked in one day around 2002 and on their say so, bought a Bianchi which was an upgrade from the borrowed 20 year old (wonderful) ten speed my friend and FABULOUS cartoonist and cycling guru Dan Wasserman had loaned me. I’ve been on a bike since I could walk, but Dan brought me in to the 21st century. See http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/outofline/

Anyway, when I told him I was ready for my own bike and asked what to get he said “Just go to Wheelworks.  You’ll end up with the right thing.”  A few years later I got in to Mountain Biking and they helped me buy something that was just right and didn’t kill my budget.  It’s tempting to get carried away when surrounded by the very coolest stuff.  When I was ready for a road bike upgrade I walked in planning to buy a new wheel set for the Climb to the Clouds Ride the next day and walked out with the bike of my dreams – a Trek Madone racing bike for women.  What a ride I had that day!!  It was so crazy to go on a 108 mile elevation ride on a new saddle, let alone a new bike but it worked perfectly.  Impulse buy. No regrets.  Exactly the right bike for me.  We are pretty much one unified happy machine.  I didn’t have a chance to get back for the free tune up/fitting within the specified time.  Over a year later I came in for some help and Rob looked at the ticket and said.  “No charge.”  With a smile.
It’s always a joy to be at WW. 

Unemployment, stock market plummets, foreclosures, and uncertainty.  We are familiar with these economic stories.  But, what about the economy bringing people together?  This is one story I’ve uncovered by simply living it.
 

Last June, I was a graduate student working toward my master degree in advertising, rejoining the academic world after four years of working in advertising and public relations.  Last June, I was also a bridesmaid.  A good bridesmaid helps the bride with everything she needs, from picking colors to tightening the obligatory corset.  It also means working with strangers for about a year prior to the event, otherwise known as the fellow bridesmaids.  This is where I met Kate.  Last June, Kate was an account development manager for a well-known market research firm.  We exchanged wedding-related emails for about a year and saw each other at the shower, rehearsal, and wedding.  We (and our “plus ones”) were assigned to the same table at the wedding, and we all chatted over wine and appetizers.  In leaving, we said we would do dinner sometime.

This past March, I invited Kate to my birthday gathering, where our mutual friend was also joining.  She and I hadn’t seen each other since the wedding and caught up.  The gist?  In present day, I have two degrees and no job, faced with a bruised advertising industry trying to get its bearings.  Kate was recently laid off, and considering the exciting (yet daunting) prospect of entering an entirely new field.  We are both Type A personalities, and needed something to stay busy.  I told her about a volunteer opportunity I was considering.  In my yoga class, a woman who I regularly chatted with said her sister-in-law needed help with a project at Dancing Deer (follow that connection map without having to read it twice).  Kate and I loved the cookies and the cause, so we volunteered.

Now, Kate and I come into the office about twice a week, helping Beth coordinate the Sweet Home Mother’s Day Ride.  We even drive in together.  In this experience, we have been able to work with some amazing people and help an important cause.  Sitting around a table yesterday, a big group of us started to piece together the connection map and our stories, and it’s amazing we all found our way here.

In this economy, I may have lost my 401K and ability to wake up before 9 a.m., but I’ve gained perspective, a purpose in something important, a great network of intelligent and fascinating people, and a friend.  Oh, and there is one more sweet perk – the brownies are amazing.

   

Whether or not it’s best for families to have two working parents is an important debate. However, for many of us it’s academic.  My mother worked for pressing economic reasons - family survival.  She and Dad, together, pioneered a new industry - recycling of bottles and cans on an industrial basis. The business idea took hold around Earth Day, 1970.  For years Mom, a friend and their kids had spent Saturdays smashing bottles in to barrels they’d drive in a pick up truck to the glass plant in Dayville, Connecticut. It was a nice thing to do but clearly not impacting global resource consumption.  Dad was the official entrepreneur and Mom was the inspiration, social force, the bread winner and the rock while the heroics of obtaining cooperation between consumers, municipalities, the solid waste industry and container manufacturers was painfully edged forward. Without her it could not possibly have happened. The four children (all girls) of this pioneering duo survived just fine. They are significant contributors to society and mothers of 10 terrific children. I write this as a second generation entrepreneur and single mother.

The U.S. Small Business Administration states that Small Business represents 99.7 percent of all employer firms.  According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, nearly half (48%) of all privately-held U.S. firms are 50% or more women-owned. This means that 10.6 million firms are at least half owned by a woman or women. These firms employ 19.1 million people and generate nearly $2.5 trillion in sales. The Center for Women’s Business research has determined that one in 11 adult women is an entrepreneur. The majority of them are mothers. Thirty percent of the entrepreneurs who engage with The Center for Women & Enterprise are single mothers.

No more than 4.5% of venture capital however, goes to women entrepreneurs. Only a small minority obtain commercial financing for their ventures.  They largely bootstrap growth with credit card debt, friends and family support, hope and stubborn determination.  Child care is still terribly sparse in economically challenged areas, where women entrepreneurs are likely to be devising their path to economic freedom through entrepreneurial pluck.  They are met with a bittersweet mix of respect and disapproval by families who manage to keep one parent at home for the children.  School conference days are a challenge and without networks of support, it just wouldn’t be possible to get from one end of the week to the other.

My extraordinary mother died recently of colon cancer. I honor her every day as I imperfectly balance work with the needs and joys of my children. Mom didn’t get to all my track meets either. Looking back, it seems a small price to pay for the life lessons she taught me about hard work, generosity, determination and a belief that the world could be a better place through the individual efforts of someone with a heart and a mission. As a business model, the practice of weaving my personal commitment to socially responsible decision making throughout the fiber of Dancing Deer is clearly working for our brand, our employees and our customers. I believe that the ties between the individual values of management and the actions of an organization are inextricable.  That can and should be a good thing.  The Golden Rule is an invaluable compass. Mom showed me how it works and I use it daily. Whether I’m navigating the challenges of mothering or company-building it’s powerful stuff. What mother doesn’t understand that?

Trish Karter is co-founder and CEO of Dancing Deer Baking Co

As a new member of the Dancing Deer team, I asked Trish how she could possibly have time to prepare for a 1,500 mile bike journey while running the day to day operations of Dancing Deer.

“I have a habit of jumping into ridiculously ambitious or gnarly things just believing I can make them happen/figure them out.  I usually do.  Sometimes I pay the piper.  And so it was with training for this 1500 mile ride.  I absolutely did not have the time to do it. Business is really challenging and I was already overcommitted on many fronts, plus there were some life issues running in parallel with the business ones.  But I came up with a solution.  I have a lap top set up both at home and in the office on my stationary trainer.  Perfect multi-tasking.  Here’s how it works.”

View the video to see how it works. Can’t say I wasn’t impressed!

Bless your heart! Hey, we traded emails a couple of weeks ago. The route really isn’t safe from Atlanta to Athens. Hiway 29 is pretty busy but you definitely can’t ride your bike on 316 from Lawrenceville to Athens. No way you’d find any local cyclist on 316. It’s Ga’s equivalent of the New Jersey Turnpike. Cars usually go about 75 miles per hour. Unless you have a motorcade with you best to take old highway 29 (just continue straight instead of turning right on 316). That is busy too but far better than 316. Good luck y’all.

Al from Athens, GA

With many, many thanks to Nancy Brown.

 

My name is Beth Wald and being the Director of the Dancing Deer Mother’s Day Ride is my dream job.  I’ve been on board as Director since mid-February and have been having a blast!  Don’t get me wrong, it has been a lot of work, but all very rewarding and fulfilling.  When my sister heard about the job, she called me immediately and said, “this job has your name written all over it.”  I’m an outdoor enthusiast who has ridden my bicycle 3500 miles from Portland, Oregon to Flagstaff, Arizona, ran a homeless family program for the City of New York prior to moving to Boston, have run the Boston Marathon to raise money for charity and know what it means to push your body for a cause you believe in, and founded and operated a company that made a real difference in people’s lives. 

Since arriving at Dancing Deer in mid-February, the Dancing Deer team has welcomed me with open arms.  They are great group of people producing a great product in a company that has a real social conscience and the goal of making a contribution to the world.  If every company were like this the world would be a very different place, and you can be sure that the economic fallout that we are all experiencing would never have happened.


This project is a real labor of love for me and brings together so many things that I believe in and have worked for in my life.  Trish is an amazing person, doing an incredible thing for a cause she is completely committed to during the worst economic crisis of our lives.  As excited as I am for the Ride to start, I already know that I am going to be very sad when it is all over.