Challenge to Conquer Cancer - Cycling Relay to Austin, TX » Dustin

Oh my god did you hear what happened to Dustin

Dustin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:38:22 +0000

As we pulled into transition with the Dots last night everyone came up to me to make sure I was ok. Then when we got off of the bikes with the yellow team they asked the same thing. So here is what really happened yesterday. I was short of breath on the am ride Monday and I woke up Tuesday and I was not any better. Now with my cancer background you would think that I would have learned to not ignore this type of thing, but that’s exactly what my plan was. A few hours later and we are at lunch and I’m whining about my chest to my teammate and good friend Beth, and she couldn’t help herself when she saw EMS workers sitting next to us in the restaurant. She strolled over to them and told them I was a cyclist and I was short of breath. The EMS people were so happy to have something to do that they hopped up to take my Blood pressure etc. It was a little high but I think it was from embarrassment of having these dudes checking my vitals in public place with everyone pointing and saying “what do you think is wrong with that guy over there”. So they said I need to be checked out and asked if i want to go by ambulance! I finally decided I will go to the walk in clinic by car if everyone will let it go ( but for the record I think Beth knew I was just a little spooked at this point). Once I’m at the walk in clinic in the middle of god knows where my BP was back to 110 over 80 and all was good. It turns out it was an allergy in the air in this part of the country and he sees it all the time. The entire medical staff at the clinic wished me luck and even said they are not turning it in on insurance and sent me on my way with a prescription for an inhaler. So to wrap that story up it was no big deal at all.
By the time we made it to transition I think the story was Dustin had quadruple bypass surgery and has to have a leg amputated and it looks like he may even have the bubonic plague. So hopefully this sets it straight.
After its all said and done it was much to do about nothing, but it is great to have such good friends and teammates. Its just another example of why they call us the P3C3 family.

I thought about NASCAR today

Dustin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:20:40 +0000

I am not a Nascar fan at all, as a matter of fact I have yet to pull of a conversation with anybody about Nascar that did not make me hate the sport even more. I guess it was the lack of oxygen I was getting to my head or maybe its just something about being in Tennessee today. I could not stop thinking of a similarity between the C3 ride and the biggest thing that has happend in auto racing.

As most of you know the P3 family lost a very important member this spring and his name is on the back of each of our jerseys. So inevitably the more time you spend behind someone, the more you think about the void in our team.

When Dale Ernhart passed away unexpectedly in a race, he was nearly seemlessly replaced by his son Dale Ernhart Jr. Dale Jr possesed the same amazing natural talent that his father had. Not just any talent it is the kind of talent people cant help but notice. Everyone thought Dale Sr. was the best but apparentley that apple didnt fall too far from the tree. People could’nt help but cheer on Dale Jr. as he went on to be one of the stand out names in all of proffessional auto racing.

Last month we all cheered as Taylor Lyles took the spot as the state time trial champion in his first year of cycling. And as we see this young talent hit the road in his fathers spot this year on the Austin ride. You cant help but notice that Taylor has a stronger look in his eyes than he ever has, a new determination to not only finish this ride, but take the spot as the rider that is a leader, fighter, and yet has a understanding and compassion for why we are raising money. He has been a class act all season long and it is obvious that once again the apple didnt fall far from the tree. Taylor it is great to see you driving the black number 3 car. (or ride the black Scott bike)

Good ol rocky top tennessee

Dustin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:47:42 +0000

Day one is in the books. When I started the C3 training I was not as atttached to this ride like I was last year. I don’t know what the reason was but it just wasn’t there for me. But that all changed as I stood infront of the cancer center and introduced my oncologist to the crowd of people there to send us off on our journey. That was followed by a very emotional send off that was topped off with a painfull goodbye kiss from my baby girl Carlee. Suddenly it all came rushing back. The love for cycling, the hatred for cancer, and the excitement to be with my C3 family.

So we were off and by that I mean up, then up some more. The climbing wouldnt let up until we made it to our transition point. We gladly got off of the bikes, loaded in the van and spent the next few hours telling dirty jokes instead of sleeping like we should.

I woke up for day two and met a Joy. Joy and her husband were so touched by what we are doing they could not stop telling the 50 people they were with about the Challenge to Conquer Cancer. To have so many people come up to me to tell me something nice about the ride was a great feeling, It was excactly what I needed to start the day. If there were 10 thousand Joys along the side of the road I think we could ride straight to Austin without stopping. So we hit the road. I dont know if it was lack of sleep (John Siddens snores), or just a bad day but I really had to dig deep today. I could not catch my breath and that has never been a problem for me, so I was obviously not at my best but I tried not to show it. After the ride I was brought back to life by a great massage, some cold beer, and the best elixer of all more dirty jokes in the van. I dont know if there has been a clinical trial done on it but potty humor and laughing until it hurts could be just the thing that cures cancer.

this was only a test

Dustin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:16:37 +0000

well, I’m at the airport waiting to board up and head home. Today was the day I needed. Jerry and I were destroying the pack (3,800 riders) when at the 7 mile point my foot came loose I went to unclip my pedal and the entire pedal fell off! I tried to fix it by banging it with a rock but who knew that wouldn’t help. I sent jerry on his way and I had a decision to make, hang it up or ride with one foot. I looked around and thought about where I was, I was with a group of people who raised 4 million dollars to help people like me. So I looked down and relized I was going 18 mph again. I can not describe how baddly this hurt and I was going to have to come up with an exit strategy. I pulled into the first sag stop just to have a mechanic tell me to hang it up for the day because it was too dangerous to ride with one leg. I told him I was going to find the next sag vehicle and ride in and of course i couldnt do it I kept pedaling. I got to the 20 mile exit and i was deep in thought about the year and I couldnt turn off there either, I was all in now and I was also sure that i was a retard. I got to the next sag stop and the mechanic had a flat pedal he could put on and i was very gratefull for anything. Well great news because that was worse than before because my clip from my shoe was slipping off of the pedal and 2 times i kicked my chain and it came off. So im at the side of the road in serious pain, covered in chain grease when a support vehicle pulled next to me and told me I probably needed to load up. I just could not see how i was going to cross the finish line in a van so I said no. I looked at the clock and realized I had to get moving. I was giving it what I thought was everything when a rider came up behind me and asked if I was the “one with a broken pedal” I told him yes and he said “I heard people talking about you earlier, you’ve got alot of heart.” That was all I needed. I rode in the last 10 miles harder than I have ever ridden. I turned the corner at the finish line and I heard my name over the loud speaker, I heard the annoncer tell them where i had come from and how I got there, I pulled into the survivor lane to be greeted by hundreds of cheering people and it hit me… this will be one of the best moments of my life.
Thank you to everone who supported me with words, gifts, golf tournaments(todd), and most importantly hope. I know we are winning this fight and I know next year we will all stand shoulder to shoulder and show how we have chosen to liveSTRONG.

I did all of this in a day?

Dustin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:22:23 +0000

I thought the ride would be the hard part but come to find out that was the easiest part of the week so far. I am just coming in from the Lance Armstrong survivor reception (and yes i have great pics). And I am mentally exhausted and it has nothing to do with the long night of checking out the Austin night life. But let me tell you a quick list of what i have seen and experienced in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday morning we rode into Austin as a group and myself and the other survivors led the way into downtown Austin. As i got closer i rode in silence while I thought about what a year this has been. I am 2 weeks away from the anniversary of my diagnosis, its been 6 weeks since I lost my grandmother (although she showed up several times this week, and i am wearing her necklace while I’m riding as well) I ordered a bike before I could even walk this last winter and now I’m 1 mile away from saying I rode my bike to Austin. It was indescribable the feeling I got when we came over the bridge and the first people I see are my best buddy Carlee, my grandfather, and my parents standing in the middle of the road as we pull in. Later last night we had our reception dinner (huge thanks to New Belgium brewery and Todd at Eagleshotz) and although it was completely unplanned people stood up one at a time and told their story on why they ride and I know there was not a dry eye in the house. But what I realized is I stopped doing this for me a long time ago. I am doing this with this crazy idea that we are going to beat this disease in our lifetime and I am with a bunch of morons who have the same belief.

I woke up this morning and did the Livestrong challenge 5k and once again all of the survivors and warriors crossed the finish line arm in arm in-front of 3,000+ people and we showed them how united our team is. I was even stopped at starbucks 30 minutes later and had a woman say how she saw us finish and how she could see how special our p3c3 group is. Then came the survivor reception, and I could go on all night about how cool it was but im too tired. However during a Q&A part with Lance someone asked if he was in fear of his cancer returning. I almost couldn’t look up because I didnt want to hear the answer because Lance had the same as I did and I know i am always in fear, but he could not have put it any better than when he said “I know my chances of a re accuring cancer is much greater than most people’s, but I stay physacly healthy and I am not sitting idle waiting for it to happen either i am fighting back in the mean time”. And just like that its game on for me, if it was bad before its going to be terrible now. Im going to go to bed and get up early to do the Livestrong 45mile race, Im going to beat the shit out of my bike and my body on the ride, and Im going to go back to Greenville tomorrow and show the world how to liveSTRONG. I’m not a cancer survivor anymore….I’m a cancer fighter.

pink….it does more than you think

Dustin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:10:57 +0000

what a ride today. it started by reading the post by the yellow team that were very cool to see what they had done the night before. then we loaded up to start our transition and god almighty if you could bitch about something our team found a way to do it.The first hour was not any better until we hit the texas border we hopped off our bikes took pictures and headed on our way. I realized instantly that we were in a perfect paceline moving at 18mph and life was good.

we stopped at a gas station in east jesus texas and a woman walked up and asked what we were doing and she was so excited she donated to the cause and as we left, her and her daughter followed us for 10 miles just to see us ride. Today was the first day we have ridden in any traffic and it was great! we felt like rock stars, nearly every other car and truck even fisherman in a lake were honking, waving, giving us thumbs up ( a entire different finger than I am used to seeing on a bike). It was so encouraging to the entire team that we kept going faster and riding stronger with each mile. We were pulling into Lufkin tx and the rain started. We had expected that to slow us down but we turned into a well trained team (other than Arthur the pro who fell like a real winner) we were riding at 25 mph, in traffic, in the rain and we looked like a first class race team. We got off of the bike and got a massage and drank some great texas beer. We are a strong team, with great support. We are in the van now laughing and telling stupid stories. What a trip! Well Kerrie is telling me to get off of the computer, so im out.

I think today is tuesday….ish

Dustin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:11:17 +0000

what a ride today! I went in hoping for 75 miles on the nachez trace trail and the pink team finished up with 90 and would have gone more. We transitioned with the white team at 6:00 this morning and we were once again freezing and bundled up (think of the Christmas story kid just on a bike). I was ready to ride but i was dreading another cold start until the white team pulled in and they were led by the 70 year old Joe Julian and suddenly the whole mood changed. After we greeted and we were getting ready to start our leg I asked Joe how does he do it and he replied “I did it for you, and I did it because I can”. His genuine commitment to the fight was inspiring and that was just the begining. We were once again riding silently down the dark road when Chase pointed out Scotts bike. Scott was one of our warriors whose battle ended just a few weeks ago and we transition his bike to the rack with each team on the road. Anyway through the dense fog and and cold you could only see the rear light of his bike, it was a constant reminder of why we are doing this.

Then the sun came up and it was like the green flag was waved. The pink team (plus Arthur from the Great Escape) hit 21 mph and never let out. We came together in a perfect pace, communicated well, and had a great time. The warmer the temp the faster we rode. I felt stronger at the end of this ride than I have ever felt at the end of any ride.

We loaded our bikes, got our massage (thanks Renee and towel boy) and went to find food after we realized it had been 24 hours since we sat down to eat. We drove 45 miniutes to crap hole mississippi, and ate ate the mexican restaurnt that was the towns namesake. And of all the places on earth the yellow team walks in just long enough to take advantage of our clean van windows by covering them with window marker.

Everyones mood is great, the weather is fantastic, and we have brought alot of attention to our ride. We are 40 people who are showing the world how to liveSTRONG.

please excuse the scattered thoughts no sleep and tight quarters dont make interesting stories.

It seems like i have something to do today

Dustin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:45:59 +0000

T minus 2 hours until we meet at the Cancer Center for the big send off. I know I should have gotten way more sleep last night but I feel like an eight year old kid on Christmas eve. What a difference a year makes. Who would have thought last October I would be a cancer survivor getting ready to ride a bike from Greenville to Austin. What a great way to honor and remember the people who fuel this fire in all of us to fight back.

I want to thank each person who saw my goal of $8,000 and not only said its possible but laughed as we flew by it….nearly $13,000 I am humbled and forever grateful.

This will probably be my last nice blog because looking at the weather the rest of my post will be filled with tons of colorfull language.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Dustin Retherford