Today was Team 5′s best day for riding.  We all had an awesome night’s sleep at the LaQuinta Inn where Laurens negotiated us low prices and convinced the staff that we needed to have breakfast at 4:00 AM.  At this point, we had eaten around 4 PM, and decided that we didn’t need much for dinner that night.  We settled on pineapple and Reese’s cups so that we didn’t have to spend anymore time on “non-sleeping” activities.  We all were so tired and went to bed at 5 and 6 PM and did not wake up until our alarms went off at 3:30.  At 4 AM, we were treated to a DELUXE continental breakfast that was waiting on us when we went to the lobby.  We had waffles, cereal, bananas, bagels, juice, coffee, etc.  It was an awesome pre-ride meal and it was at 4:00 AM.  After a great start like that, we just kept the momentum up and rode like pros.

Today’s ride was great and we rode most of it on the shoulder of the road.  The shoulder was nice and wide, and it allowed us to keep out of the way of cars and to relax a bit.  Kerrie led our group the entire time and she is a machine!  She is an incredible athlete and she really stepped up to lead our group.  We averaged about a 15.4 mph, and rode about 77 miles.  This was the most miles that any of us had ever ridden in one day.  We felt awesome and could have ridden another 30!  I think the key was all of our sleep we had gotten the night before, the amount and types of food we had eaten, the road was smooth, and it was finally DAYLIGHT!  This was the first time our group has ever seen daylight on a ride, and we decided that even though we “wear our sunglasses at night”, today we would put in our dark lenses.

We took a few “natural” breaks along the way, since Kerrie decided today was the day that she would rehydrate.  We stopped about every 45 minutes so that everyone could “relieve” themselves.  The only difference this time was that it was not dark, so we had to be more conscience of cars! The communication today between the riders and the support vehicle was awesome.  We felt so comfortable and confident riding today, and again it was one of our best rides EVER.  Tom rang his cowbell for us anytime he passed and took lots of pictures of us while riding. The sunrise was spectacular, and we definitely felt like we were experiencing the best part of the day.  While riding through Louisiana we decided that it was important that we added “eaux” at the end of every word in honor of the creole and cajun Americans.  So banana became “bananeaux”, and river was called “rivereaux” etc.  It was pretty fun making up words for all of the every day objects that we saw.  We had a hard time pronouncing the names of the river and creeks that we were passing over.  Kerrie informed us that they were all Indian names….nothing like a little culture while riding!  It did concern us a little when we saw a sign that said the next river that we were crossing was called “Quicksand”…..

The only mishap today was when Kerrie got a flat tire.  It was pretty unavoidable since we had ridden on the shoulder most of the day, but we did a nascar style tire switch, and were back riding in under a minute.  Great teamwork from our team and the support crew.

Susannah rode like a champion today.  She is an incredible rider and rode like I had never seen before.  She really stepped it up to the next level, and showed her confidence and spirit for this ride.

Crystal decided that since we were “roughing it” and peeing outdoors, staying up all night, etc, she would forgo taking a shower until we reached Austin. (Honestly, she fell asleep at the last hotel, and didnt wake up in time to get a shower in!) That’s right folks, she has not showered since Monday afternoon.  The team hasn’t started complaining yet….

The highlight of the day was crossing the line into Texas.  Our cue sheet had us stopping and transitioning with Team 1 about 3 miles from the Texas border while still in Louisiana.  We decided early on that we were going to be the first team into Texas, and we were going to ride more than our alloted mileage. We finally stopped at about 77 miles and transitioned with Team 1 about 6 miles into Texas.  We stopped and took pictures at the Texas sign when we got there, and we felt like the paparazzi had descended.  I think we spent 10 minutes take pictures, posing, goofing off, etc.  It was awesome!

Today Crystal had her first massage with Rene. After some apprehension with getting a massage due to some previous bad ones with other massage therapists, the team convinced her that Rene was great, and she needed one to relieve her muscles.  She admitted, that it was so relaxing and nice and the BEST massage that she had every had.  She plans on booking an appointment with Rene when she gets back into town.

Team 5 is a very close knit group, and we all ride with yellow handlebar tape in honor of our loved ones that have been affected by cancer. The yellow tape is a constant reminder on why we are doing this ride, and it puts everything in perspective.  We ride together as a strong united force against cancer.

TEAM 5: Crystal, Kerrie, Laurens, Susannah, Tom, and Joe

As we got into the countryside we decided to perfect our drafting skills, with Kerrie “Powerhouse” Sijon leading the way. The girl has legs of steel! And to think she used to be resistant to the idea of having someone three inches off her wheel. Way to go Kerrie! We used our new cold-weather shoe covers and hardly felt the cold (yeah, sure). In between potty breaks (behind the trailer, in the bushes, behind a tree, but NEVER in a bathroom) we admired the shooting stars and beautiful moon.

A special highlight was crossing into Mississippi at 3:20 in the morning. Never thought we’d ever do that! We all jumped off our bikes for a quick picture at the “Welcome to Mississippi” sign and then proceeded on the route.

As we came into Mississippi, things started to go sour. Even with Tom ringing his cowbell for us like a farmer calling his heifers (we all decided that we needed some more cowbell!), we began to get tired of rolling hills, major fog, bumpy roads, darkness, and cold.

About 4:30 am the first issue occurred: Susannah bonked and had to get on the bus, medic’s orders. Crystal, Kerrie, and Laurens pedalled on, but soon hit a surprise: a impassable gravel road. On the bus they went for about a quarter of a mile until the road became ridable again. Soon after that, Crystal’s frustration reached a new high as she lost concentration and fell off her bike — bruised palm, bruised hip, bruised ego. Soon after THAT, Kerrie followed suit (she really just wanted Crystal to not feel left out, and became the only blood injury of the day).

You would think that once we reached the suggested transition area, even if it was 15 minutes early, we would want to quit. But no. The Fab Three (at that point) wanted to go on to get in all six of their allotted hours, cold, darkness, and injuries be damned. We ended up making great time and finishing ahead of the game, further up the road than what had been planned.

After yet another Waffle House visit, Rene Killian-Zieger gave us GREAT massages (in the parking lot, no less) to flush out the lactic acid and get us going again. We stopped one more time at McDonald’s for FREE iced coffees (thanks to Joe’s connections) and beer-for-lunch at a Chili’s, where we used the last of Anna from Atlanta’s gift certificates and once again had great service.

We are looking forward to our first DAYLIGHT ride and touring Louisiana and Texas by bike.

Pedal on!

Susannah, Crystal, Kerrie, and Laurens

The air was so quiet and still, and we had no wind at all. We did encounter one item of road kill which was a large snake. We talked about it for a good 20 minutes before moving on to the next topic.

At one point, Kerrie decided to update everyone on her riding situation: her helmet was too tight, it was hard to chew gum with her helmet too tight, she needed to tuck in her shirt, her feet were cold, her legs were cold, her hands were cold, she needed more layers, she couldnt feel her feet, etc, etc, etc. This prompted her to immediately remedy all of these situations by suggesting a shopping trip for today.

After scoping out a Panera, Target, Bike Shop, and Chili’s in Mobile, AL, we have a shopping “necessity” list which we will take care of today! On our list we have included shoe booties, head covering, gloves, tights, wool socks, blankets, etc. We are definitely having some fun!

We are really meeting some awesome people along the way. Our waitress at Waffle House was named Pam, and she was a hoot! She told us that when she goes by “Pam” she is in a good mood, and when she goes by “Pamela”, she is NOT in a good mood. She was a “Pam” last night, so we were all happy! (It was 1 AM at this point.) We played some music on the juke box at the Waffle House, and handed out bracelets. Pam was a cancer survivor and was touched by what we were doing. It was really neat to see the waitresses putting on their yellow bracelets while we were leaving…they waved at us through the window and we could see them on their wrists.

Tom, our trustworthy, dependable, reliable, and safe driver, was relieved of his driving responsibilities after we saw that he needed a break. Our volunteer driver slept for the next 5 hours, while Kerrie and I (we did just get done RIDING for over 2 hours) stayed awake and drove 4 hours to Mobile. We sang loudly and decided that sometimes the women have to take charge! We made it safely and Laurens and Susannah took over laundry duty while Kerrie and I went straight to bed. We are recovering today and will post another blog after our ride tonight. We will ride from midnight to 6:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time…we did get confused when we crossed into the central time zone!) We love you all!

Crystal

Let’s start from the beginning. After riding three exhausting miles out of town, we were so famished and needed to refuel at Panera. (We backtracked about 5 miles into Greenville to find the Panera) While we were there, we saw some of our supporters and told them that we had such a good adventure and decided that it was already time to refuel. Lauren’s husband Will dominated the conversation. After changing clothes, we decided that it was time to hit the road….

Our next stop was Atlanta, and we found an On The Border to stop at for lunch. After badgering the waitstaff for free stuff, we had an awesome meal thanks to Anna from Atlanta donating us coupons. Our driver Tom Cross is from Atlanta, and is an awesome volunteer for our wild group. We then stopped at Tom’s house and met his family and children. We took pictures of the family in front of the house and ate birthday cake. In 6 hours, we have only made it to Atlanta.

We then headed down the road again and decided that we should relax and sleep at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere in Georgia. Like I said, relaxing is difficult when you are excited!

We start our first ride at 9:00 PM, and ride for 3 hours. We are then going to stay awake and drive to Mobile, Alabama. This is going to be challenging considering we will have been up for 24 hours with just a couple of short naps. We plan to power nap, alternating driving, stop at a Waffle House, sing loud to our CDs, and tell stories and gossip.

Our plans are to sleep when we get to Mobile, and we will check in with another blog on Monday afternoon.

Please keep us in your prayers. We appreciate all of the people who have posted in the “Messages to the Riders” Post. They motivate us so much, and we love all of yall.

Team 5: Crystal, Kerrie, Susannah, Laurens, Tom, and Joe

I bought my first road bike less than a year ago in December of 2007. I was motivated to do something different besides running marathons, and after talking to my daddy, who is an avid cyclist in Seattle, I decided that I would give it a try. Not sure if I would really get into the sport, I bought a beginner bike from The Great Escape and went out on a few rides.

One day while running with Ron Jerina on an early Saturday morning at Furman, he asked me if I would be interested in riding to Austin in October of 2008. I thought to myself that this is the craziest idea that I had heard of. But then again, I do like a challenge! Since starting my days of running marathons, I think that anything can be accomplished through hard work and dedication. Even though I was a disaster on the bike (many falls, cuts, bruises, and choice words), I was determined to join in with the group to Austin and raise money for cancer research.

At one of our many organization meetings on Friday February 29, 2008, I got an upsetting phone call from my dermatologist. He called to tell me that the most recent mole that I had taken off was diagnosed as skin cancer (melanoma). I was devastated and cried in front of everyone. At that point, I really felt like I had a purpose for this ride and that I would prove to myself that I could accomplish this goal. I feel that everything happens for a reason: I was temporarily stationed in Greenville for a job assignment, I became friends with Ron Jerina, I bought my first road bike, and I was diagnosed with cancer. All of these things made me realized that I was destined to do this ride and raise money for cancer research.

I have become an advocate for sun protection (just ask my friends how annoying I am about sunblock), but again was diagnosed with skin cancer in July of 2008. After another successful surgery and a nice scar on my neck, I am again cancer free. My battle will continue as I see a dermatologist 4 times a year now, and am constantly living in fear that any one of my moles will be malignant again. Thank you to all of my family and friends for their support.

Cancer is an ugly condition that affects even a marathon-running, tennis playing, cycling 27 year old health nut. Yes, no one is immune from it. With the money raised from this ride, I hope we all realize that we are not only helping all of our loved ones that have already endured cancer, but we are also preparing a brighter future for our own health.

Team 5: I have become very fond of my team, and have enjoyed the emotional ups and downs, our many rides together, and of course, their friendship. Good luck to everyone on the ride, and be safe on the road.

Crystal

I also wanted to thank the Sag Support. Toby was great with our group and he was already hard at work putting Amber’s chain back on her rental bike less than 2 miles into the ride. I have a feeling he was thinking this might be a long ride! haha He also distracted puppies and dogs for us, gave us a friendly honk as cars passed, offered us lots of food and water, and even offered to go get me some french fries! (I sometimes struggle on the hills.) He was great, and we even forgave him for singing Madonna songs at the top of his lungs! Amber had a great time with the group and thought the ride was beautiful. It was great having her visit this weekend, and she wanted to thank everyone for making her feel so welcome. (Quick hint….I’m the one with the Clemson Jersey on in the picture!) Feeling a little ambitious at the Citgo stop, Kerrie, Amber and I decided to do an “out and back” toward Greer to add on about 10 miles. I was very proud of our group, and we keep getting stronger every week. Thanks to Ron and everyone else that helps to coordinate the weekly rides. As a new cyclist, this is exactly what I need to gain confidence to ride to Austin.

Crystal