Part 1:

Hooray for awesome hotel staff!

Our first night (Sunday) due to the good heart of the general manager at the Doubletree in Chattanooga, TN we were offered rooms at the employee rate of $29/night.  It may not seem like a big deal, but every $ we save on the overhead of this trip is another $ that goes to cancer research and survivor advocacy!

Today was no different… The Hampton Inn we found last night in Tupelo, MS was nice enough to offer us the federal rate but could not go any cheaper without a manager on site.  So, this morning after we’d already been charged $70/room, I spoke to the front desk receptionist, Bridgette and explained to her what we were doing and asked if there was any way to get a further discount.  She proceeded to call the general manager to ask if that would be possible.  30 minutes later we received a call to our room saying they had already adjusted our rooms down to the employee rate of $29/night.

TeamAwesome with the awesome Hampton Inn Tupelo staff

And tonight… we had a very good idea of where we’d end up, Natchez, MS… so who did we call? No… not ghostbusters, but the Hampton Inn.  I spoke to the manager, explained what we were doing and she didn’t hesitate to offer us rooms for the employee rate, $29/room.

I look at the generosity of these folks as a testament to the fact that cancer touches everyone, and if you’re just willing to ask, people want to be involved and help out in any way they can!  So thank you Bill Mish, Stephanie Browning (& Bridgette), and Janelle.  I’ve always been loyal to Hilton properties and this has only reaffirmed my reasons for sticking with them.

Part 2:

Hooray for awesome Team Awesome teammates!

First things first… today aside from riding the priority was laundry… Loren, Megan, & Jerry got up early and headed to the local laundromat to wash our stinky riding gear… It was not only nice to have clean clothes again… but riding in the van was no longer filled with the stench of dirty cyclists.  You three rock!

Our shift today ran from 6 pm to Midnight.  We had a smooth transition with the Polka-Dot team close to 6 pm… Transitions are such great times to catch up with the other teams and cheer them on… you cheer for them as they arrive and they do the same when you depart… and the Polka-Dot crew absolutely killed it today… riding more than a century during the “Happy Shift” (noon-6) which got our hopes up.  After all, Megan, Bo & I had never completed a full century.

We rolled out to cheers from Keith, Reuben, Rene and Dennis (towel boy), along with the entire Polka Dot crew and our support folks… it was exciting and I was more than pleased to be starting my first full shift!!  We headed off into Jackson, MS commuter traffic… Bob Kramer started out riding with us as well to help pull in the daylight… which turned out to be a great thing since in the first few miles… Jerry’s rear wheel went “soft”.  Bob took a look at it, pumped it with CO2 and we were off again… for another 1/2 mile when it decided to no longer hold air… aside: if you’ve read about the polka-dot outlaws you know that for this shift we couldn’t have a lead or follow vehicle… so no NASCAR wheel changes… and at times no radio and no other cars for miles around us.  Bob thankfully had another CO2 cartridge and Jerry had a spare tube… in less than 5 minutes he had the tube changed out… and we were off… for real this time!

This slow start was a bit of a downer for the group, along with the fact the support vehicles had to leap-frog us… our goal of hitting a century was in jeopardy.  Traffic was steady for the first hour or so but man… the Natchez Trace Parkway is smooth… clean… and has little wind.  Animals were everywhere… and when I say animals, I mean deer… lots and lots of deer.  We saw a few cross the road ahead of us… and it was at first kind of neat… then there were more deer… and then… out of no where, no more than 10 feet in front of Jonathan 1 deer jumped in front of him and crossed the road, then another!  I thought we were going to have a Matt Lauer moment on our hands.  Alas, Jonathan is a great rider and wasn’t phased… He just kept pulling.  Everyone kept pulling.  Which brings me to how awesome my teammates are.  They pulled me through this shift… without them I definitely would not have made it.  We paced it out on the road and I hugged wheels… pulling some… but really relying on my teammates for support and strength.  Negative thoughts would pop into my head regarding how I couldn’t keep up with them and wouldn’t make it… but Megan, Jonathan, Jerry, & Bo were there… when I was gapped, they’d slow up for me to catch onto someone’s wheel.  I thought of my list and why we were riding.  I thought of Scott Shuey’s bike on our support van and his rear light leading the way… and kept going.

Our goal was to make it over the Mississippi River into Louisiana to complete our full century… and with an hour to go we were getting close to the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway… our goal was in sight… it was as if we acquired new legs and everyone kicked it up a notch.  The mile markers on the Parkway continued to decrease until before we knew it we were exiting… 5 miles to go to the Mississippi River!  News was coming over the radio that we’d be transitioning before the river and we said no way!  We needed that extra push… a full century has been a goal for Bo & I for a long time and what better time, place, and cause to accomplish it… plus we knew we could do it with time to spare!

As we approached the river there was a huge parking lot and I thought some of my teammates we telling me to turn off… thinking that was the transition point I slowed up… only to hear, “No… go… sprint zone… go!!!” from my hubby.  So I took off and started climbing up to the bridge… I reached our support van and was yelling “Go! Go! Go!” as I was about to overtake them.  My legs were so exhausted but I looked up and could see the sign, “Louisiana”.  We did it… we made the state line… my teammates could have easily caught me… they could have jumped ahead and made it to the other side of the river while I was still making it to the top of the bridge, but they pushed me, they cheered me on… they were that extra strength in my legs pushing me to make it.  On the descent Bo joined me and we rode into the transition point with 101 miles behind us.  Our first century and we did it together with our Team Awesome on the Ride to Austin. Team Yellow was there cheering for us as we arrived. It was amazing and I know I was grinning from ear to ear.

So thank you to my awesome teammates.  Without your help and support, there’s no way I would have been able to complete this 6 hour shift, much less a full century!  I am truly blessed to be riding with each of you for this amazing cause!!

Nikki, Meggan and I just completed our first ever Century. We hit mile 100 as we crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana. For me personally, it’s a goal I tried to hit earlier in the year and missed out on. I’ll keep this short and say that there is no other way that would want to complete any such milestone, in the company of such amazing people, in the name of such a worthy cause, and in honor of so many who have fought and are fighting this horrible disease.

Thanks to my Team Awesome crew who pulled me down the Natchez Trace on a gorgeous fall night:

Jonathan: for your calm leadership on the road, keeping us together, and keeping me calm when things aren’t going right

Meggan: for being the diesel engine that drives the Team Green Train down the road with your maniacal pulls off the front

Jerry: for keeping it light, singing good old rock ‘n roll tunes in the paceline and having the largest slipstream this side of John Siddens

Loren: for being insanely detail oriented and getting us to where we need to be

Betsy: for unbridled enthusiasm and willingness to make things easier on all of us spoiled riders

Nikki: for being the toughest chick I know, banging out the miles like a champ on only one shoulder

Team Awesome is truly awesome. I can’t think of a group of people I’d rather be riding with.

As for me, this Century’s for the ones I lost in the past year: David Beadles, Roger Mitterling, Jim Williams, and my Uncle Buddy. I miss you guys.

We first hit my favorite coffee shop in Chattanooga, Chattz, then headed off to try and find team Polka-Dot.  TN is beautiful country… but rather hilly… It seemed like every twist and turn in the van was meant to make me question if I should be riding.  At each switchback I’d tense up and the pain would make me wince.  But then we made it to Spencer, TN and decided to change into our riding gear at the local library.  That’s where we met Denise.  A woman fighting breast cancer. We added her name to our van and things started to come back into perspective.

It made me think of my buddy David, to whom Bo and I dedicated this ride. David Beadles was a friend of ours from Grad School who was diagnosed with skin cancer last year.  Early thirties, seemingly healthy, married with a beautiful little girl and a rock-star at his company.  By the time he left us in September 2008, there were painful spots of cancer popping up all over his body.

It made me think of my old Sunday school teacher Jan Dybdahl who has been fighting breast cancer for years and the pain inflicted upon her and her entire family as she has battled this disease.

It made me think of Laurens , who is a breast cancer survivor, was suppose to be a rider this year, however she got cancer again and is currently undergoing chemo… did I mention she STILL came along with us in the midst of treatment??

It made me think of Jerry Scroggins.  My coworker who was definitely brought into my life for a reason neither of us knew when we first met… maybe this is it.  Jerry was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer that has spread to other areas, including his lymph nodes… I remembered reading his caringbridge site post after his last chemo treatment and talking to him on Saturday as we were getting packed up and ready to go on this ride.  I thought about him mentioning how surprised he was regarding how painful Thursday’s treatment was… and how much pain he’s been in for the past few years trying to figure out what’s wrong.  He was trying to figure out a way to drive 9+ hours to meet us on the route… or to find ways to make it to Austin to meet the entire team when we roll in.  He’s lifting me up, praying for me… supporting me… What have I done to deserve all of this? That’s my job!  I’m the one who is suppose to be lifting him up, supporting him, praying for him, riding in his honor.

So… I would ride today come hell or high water.  Our wonderful medics got my shoulder wrapped so the pain was manageable and then went to find my bike.  With my crash the night before the mechanics grabbed it to give it a once over before our next shift… it was about 15 miles up the road so jumped in the van, got my bike… rode back to the team with Bob (one of our awesome trusty mechanics from The Great Escape)… jumped on the pace train my teammates were rockin and we rolled on…

At first it wasn’t bad.  I just got into my bike position and pedaled.  The flats and downhill were great because I really didn’t have to change my position, which meant my shoulder was okay.  About 1/2 way through our shift I could start to feel it getting worse… there were a few rollers and a couple of times where I needed to get out of the saddle… and that’s when it was really bad… and that’s also when I thought of my list.  Specifically I thought of Jerry… his words of encouragement to me on Saturday, “use my cancer, my pain to get you through.”  Jerry is fighting for his life.  It’s painful and scary.  My pain? My fight? It’s nothing.  He’s the reason we’re doing this.  So all those doctors who couldn’t find his cancer when he first started showing symptoms find it sooner.  So we don’t have to wonder, “will I be the 1 in 3 who gets it?”

I go to sleep tonight, praying for Jerry and all of those on my list.  Using their cancer, their pain, their fight to put things in perspective and keep me going.  In a few days my shoulder pain will just be a dull ache, but they will still be fighting for their lives.

So RideStrong P3C3 friends and never forget why we’re doing this… in the cold, in the rain, in the light, in the dark… we ride to pick a fight with this awful disease called cancer!

Today could not have been more spectacular for us. We had a little bit of consternation as we tried to track down Team Polka Dot for the 12PM switch. We’d been hearing horror stories all morning about temps in the 20s, brutal climbs, and bone-chilling descents, which really brought our internal whining about our “difficult” 3-hour shift last night into perspective. So, we were ready to get on the road and eat up some miles to do some justice to the suffering that teams white, yellow, pink, and polka dot had endured to get us where we were.

We hooked up with Perry, Jeni, JD, and Ed just in time to transition, and the look on their faces told the story: they were shredded by those three Paris Mountains in a row. I know that I was super-motivated to ride hard for them and really move the ball forward in our stage. Nice job, Team Polka Dot.

We set off fairly sedately, as we had some directional issues with unmarked turns (hey Tedd: where were all the Nellies?!), and Nikki’s bike was MIA on the Great Escape van. Before long though, Master Jonathan got us organized in a rotating paceline and we started gobbling up the miles. I can honestly say that I have not had a more satisfying group ride than I had today with the Mean Green Machine (aka Team Awesome). With a crystal blue sky, rolling Tennesee countryside and perfect riding temps (55-65) all day, we rolled down the road like a steam engine. Before long we grabbed Nikki, bum shoulder and all, and kept the pace set to “SLAY.”

Gratuitous proud husband moment: I gotta give props to my wife for EATING THE ROAD ALIVE with a bad shoulder and not once batting an eyelash. It’s that type of heart that reminds me why we’re doing what we’re doing on this ride. Way to go babe, you did the entire P3C3 crew proud!

Anyway, I could keep babbling about how awesome Team Awesome’s ride was, but I don’t have the words. 85 miles later Team Mellow Yellow, caught us, took the baton and sailed on. Hope they had an awesome ride as well. Keep riding strong and safe everybody, and check out Jonathan’s video of our day if he ever gets it up!

Not 100 Yards from the hospital, big Jerry flatted… and we had our first NASCAR styel wheel change thanks to the Great Escape Mechanics.  We waved good-bye to team Polka-Dot at the Bi-Lo parking lot, got everything together and jumped in van to scout out our first transition.  It was at this point, that things began to go in an odd direction.  5 Cyclists stripping down with towels wrapped around their waists, applying chamois butter etc in the middle of dinner time traffic at the McDonald’s drive-thru in Seneca (a very popular place I might add)… was rather entertaining for the onlookers and Jerry was able to garner some tips (aka Donations).  Unfortunately Jerry also got his hand slammed in the door of the van… incident #2.  We still managed to meet up with team Polka-Dot and have an incredibly smooth transition and rolled-out right on time.

Things were going fairly well in the late afternoon sun until we had to pull over and let some traffic through.  Pulled into a church lot that turned out to be small loose gravel and my bike decided it no longer wanted to stay upright.  I went one way… and the bike went another (Incident #3).  Fortunately I wasn’t going too fast but my shoulder took a nice pummeling.  I ended up in the bus for the rest of the ride… (GRRRRRRRRRH)… But Team Awesome powered on as the sun went down, along with the temps… then it got hard!

And it kept getting harder… and the road, kept going up… and up… and up… Shout-out to Special “K” Weinacker our wonderful SC State Women’s Cat 4 Champ for setting up a cheering section not far from the GA State border… so… Team Awesome got their first State Border crossing under their belt and powered on.

Now I had a bit different view of the ride… from the bus… watching the cars pass by… and come way too close to my teammates, but they killed it.  It was freezing, dark… and lots of elevation gain.  From the bus we all of the sudden saw Bo jump out in front and start sprinting… and then his arms went up in the air in George Hincapie winning the US Pro fashion… and then we realized… we’d just entered the city limits of Clayton, GA.  On this ride… when you’re that cold… and traffic is high… and the road just keeps going up… it’s the small victories that count.  Like in life… you gotta take the good with the bad… and really take advantage of those small victories!

The team highlight was near the end of the ride at the following shop where we pulled off to let more traffic by, “Antiques… & Men Stuff Too”… don’t worry, we got a picture and it will be forthcoming.

We hope we’ve front-loaded our shifts with the all the adversity and mishaps and are really looking forward to our first 6 hour shift today from noon-6.  Conditions look Awesome… Of Course… because that’s how we roll… and because we’ve got the awesomest support staff one could ask for in Betsy & Loren.  So this is Team Awesome signing… until next time folks!

- Nikki, Bo, Megan, Jerry, Jonathan, Betsy, & Loren.

A few weeks ago Bo and I had not raised $5000 of our $10000 goal.  We were trying to figure out which one of us would stay home.  We made this commitment to honor the memory of our friend David and it was absolutely killing us to think that we wouldn’t be able to fulfill it… and now we sit $500 away from our goal… and we are going to fulfill our commitment!

If not for the Grace of God… the goodness of those around us… our fellow riders helping us out… family, friends, friends of friends of friends donating… We are going to Ride for David… and Jerry… and Laurens… and Jan… and Aunt Mary… and Pat… and Crystal… and Janeen… and Maura… and Uncle Bud… and Uncle Buddy… and John… and Helen… and Jim … and Betty … and Roger… and Scott… and the list goes on.  That’s what sucks… the list goes on… like it never ends… every person we talk to has more people to add to the list… We need to shorten the list!  You in?