So, having said that I point you to my last video of the ride.  You can find it at LowCadence.com in the post, “Decompression.”  I’ve included all the video I could of the group as a whole.  Perhaps the remaining footage of Team Green will serve to remind everyone else of the experiences they enjoyed even if they don’t see themselves in the frames.

I am often asked, “Did you enjoy this year more than last?” Many times this was concerning the route. In answer to that specific question I answer, “Yes!”  The route this year was much more varied and enjoyable.  Sure, the climbing was a little tough in the beginning, but – at least for me – it wasn’t any worse than last year. This year, more teams got to experience the joy of climbing!

The Natchez Trace was great.  The walking horse country of Tennessee was some of the nicest riding I’ve experienced. It wasn’t until we entered Texas that the 2009 ride began to seem like the 2008 one.  I vote they do this one next year.

Now, as far as the other aspects of the ride… I can’t say that I liked one year more than the other.  For me, they were so different, they just don’t compare.  They were both wonderful experiences for completely different reasons. I enjoyed my teammates from both years. 2008 was a bunch of guys out to hammer the miles. 2009 was a mixed group that was just as serious about getting the job done, but not quite as strong as the previous team.

So, as I said in my blog post at LowCadence.com – in 2008 we gloried in our strength – and I loved it.  In 2009 we gloried in each new accomplishment – and I loved it. I would not trade either experience for the other. The two together complete a memory that will be with me always.

Read about my attempt to catch Lance and see video from the LiveSTRONG Challenge in the post “I didn’t ride with Lance” at LowCadence.com.

Team Green rode into that storm.  It’s name was “Rick”.  We rode through it.  It didn’t beat us, but rather built us up.  I guess it is true, what doesn’t break you makes you stronger.  Many parallels between these struggles and those of our courageous warriors whom we ride for, don’t you think?

Any way, I hope to put down into words my thoughts on that night when I get a little more time and the screen doesn’t seem so blurry in front of my eyes.  Until then, enjoy some video from that Day Four at LowCadence.com:  Have you ever ridden in the middle of a named storm?

Thanks for following us all online this year.

A quick hello from the “quiet” Jerry.  Raining in Huntsville, TX just hours before our next leg.  Had a great meal of Italian and sitting in a crowded Starbucks sipping coffee and blogging away.

Almost lost my bike today with a bad skewer connection on the Team Awesome van’s rack.  Led to Bo putting a sign on it that he found that read “Free Bike”.  Earned me the mantle of Calamity J.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for all your support.

LOVESTRONG, LIVESTRONG.

JERRY

I’ll be honest, I knew we had a good bunch of people for the “in-between” times. However, I wasn’t so sure how it would be on the bikes. I have been very pleasantly surprised.

Jerry – he is a BIG dude. Normally that translates into some problems climbing. Sure in that very steep first leg he struggled just a little, but he was right there with us. On these flat sections he is a God-send! He is powerful and because he is big, he punches a huge hole in the wind. I’ll ride behind him any day!

Meggan – I call her “Meg-a-watts”. She is my favorite wheel. Her cadence is like butter. Oh, we both share a sadistic attraction to climbing. I now understand why her nickname given by others is “Afterburner.”

Bo – again, I was surprised after that first night. Bo fell back a bit on that ride and I thought it might be the way it would be for the week. Now I call him “The Closer” or “Horse”. I found that by the end of the ride when I am feeling tired and I look back I find Bo right on my wheel. Then he is around me chomping at the bit heading for the barn.

Then there is Nikki. After her very hard fall that first night and the subsequent pain and stiffness, I would have expected to hear someone complain or stay in the safety of the vehicles. Nope, not her. Tape her up and prop her on the saddle. She IS going to finish this memorial ride for those she loves and supports. I’m not getting in her way!

Me? I feel like this is MY team. As the most experienced rider, I feel some responsibility to their safety and success. After finishing the century last night – three of the five on our team got there very first – I was beaming like a proud papa.

In case you are wondering, there is a video up of the day. You can find it at LowCadence: http://wurl.ws/zYai

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!!

It is amazing to be along on this journey.  Last year, I saw it all from the road.  This year I am seeing it from the team car.  Each shift I have ridden along with Anne to “birddog” the course and provide some comic relief for the riders.  It’s really been fun.  It has been great to be involved and not sitting at home feeling sorry for myself.  I took my first chemo treatment almost 2 weeks ago.  It’s about time for me to start loosing my hair.  I know it is about to happen, but when you are looking for small animals and transition points along the way- it’s easy to forget for a while.

We often say that this trip is not about the bike ride, it is about the cause.  My team is the perfect example of this statement.  When I can’t ride, I can’t share the workload.  Every member of the team has to ride a little bit harder because there is one less person to pull.  My teammates still have me stand in the rider pictures and watch out for me just like I am on the bike with them.  I wish every person who ever  has to get chemo could have an experience like I am having this week.  It just takes the sting out of having cancer.

So things change, but I am gettin’ by with a little help from my friends.

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!

We also had some good laughs on our drive to transition.  Laurens did some driving today and she now has a new nickname.  The Slayer and her new motto is I don’t count road kill, I make it.  I don’t know what got in hear but anytime a poor defenseless animal runs in the road, she aims the vehicle at it and speeds up.  I am not sure what the final count is but with Laurens keeps putting notches on her belt.

We are almost to the hotel for a needed massage and sleep.

ScottStrong RideStrong LiveStrong

Out.

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.

Our team has 8 members this year. Ron Jerina, Beth Rusch, Tedd Garner, Joey Sullivan, Robin Blackburn, and me, Laurens Flanagan. We have two incredible support ladies- Jennifer Jerina and Anne Garner. This ride doesn’t happen without the support personel. Thanks to Hertz, we are riding in style, a Ford Expedition.
As a repeat participant (more on that later), I must say we have a great team. We already have a few inside jokes (Beth) and Ron and Joey already want a McDonald’s ice cream.

Thanks for checking in on us. We will update often. You can also follow me on twitter- laurensflanagan.

AND- may the challenges begin- I think we are the first team to blog!

jd – team polka dot

So enough complaining! We are just a few days away. I have yet to pack my bags but I will hopefully have all of the maps completed tonight (yes I am the idiot who gently persuaded Ron into a route change! Blame me!). The bus should be ready to roll today (fresh from being serviced by a Childers Automotive, Steve Childers is a survivor! So he will have a magnet on our van). The vans and the trailer should be good to go on Friday and I think I am nearly complete with raising my money (Woohoo!).

Last year I posted a picture in the bus of my wife Susan and our son Trey. I wrote across the picture “Why I ride”. I will post the same picture this year but plan to add a few more. I plan to include one of Jackie Whitted. Jackie was a rider and he is smiling down on us today proud that we are doing this ride! If other riders want to include a photo in the bus, let me know. I will be happy to bring the materials to hang these pics.

I think the most important thing is not the ride. It is the people who are affected or will be affected by cancer. My personal reasons are close but we all have been affected by Cancer in some way or another. At 3am when I am going into the bus to get a cup of coffee and say I want to go to sleep (It happened last year), I will probably look up at that photo, get my cup of coffee and tell myself that I came on this trip to ride in support of this cause and finding a cure. Then I will get back on the bike and remind myself why I ride!

I think it is important to think of those people next week as we ride. We have all been affected by Cancer. I must thank all of those who have supported this cause! Without our donors and our supporters we would not be able to do this ride and provide a little help in this huge fight. Once again, this isn’t about how great of shape we are in (and I am not in shape, my team will thank me for that (or vice versa at some point). It is about the cause and those who are fighting and those who fought.

Thank you all of my (our supporters). Thank you Susan and Trey (why I ride!) !

JOEY SULLIVAN

LiveSTRONG  RockON!!!

Renee’ Killian-Zeiger

Hi Austin gang and all the followers who cheered us on as we made our way through to Austin.

First and foremost, I want to thank each rider whom I had the privilege to work on during the ride.  Matt T. got some extra lube from my tears while in Bogalusa, LA during a visit from Punkin’.  She was an incredible 72 year old lady who stood by the massage table telling her story and how excited and thankful she was that we were all doing our parts in this amazing adventure/journey!  I had to keep wiping my face I was crying so much.  Secondly, I can’t thank Team 3 enough (including Stacy C., Keith H, and Reuben H.) for rescuing me in my time of need on Wednesday night in Navasota.  You guys rocked my world!! I had been awake for a long time at that point (I think only a few hours of cat napping at best since Saturday night 10/18/08) and then stayed awake for the rest of the night in the Team 3 van watching Ron J., Dennis Z., Beth R., Toby C., and Rene Mc., ride the 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift (I got to watch my man, Dennis!!).  What an honour!!!  I still get teary just thinking about it.  We finally arrived in Austin after launching Team 4 with Ron Jerina and Rene McCurdy hanging with T4.  Well, I don’t have to tell you the story there.  Everyone has already written much about those two hanging on for more riding.  I think I was awake for more than 36 hours and was exhausted, in Austin, I kept bursting into tears and finally took a 2 1/2 hr. nap Thurs. afternoon.  The journey was not over with yet.  Sunday………….now that was a day to always remember.  I chose to ride the 45 miler and was rocking and rolling along, minding my own business, when passing a rider (there were hundreds everywhere) and I heard…….pppppssssstttttt………I looked over and it was Keith Houston (one of our three medics), riding all by his lonesome.  He said that he was alone, a slow guy per his words, and I said, “No worries”, I will ride with you.  Little did I know at that point, that 15 miles was his longest distance.  Did I forget to mention that Keith is a brain cancer, testicular cancer survivor!?  I told him I would pull him in the rest of the way.  He pulled me too!  Keith and I had a blast!!  We were rocking and rolling!  I do not know at what point, but we heard what we thought was an ambulance so we got over to the right side of the road.  Well, low and behold, it was Lance and his entourage!!!  Keith and I were minding our own business when Lance, Taylor Phinney, a few hangers on, a personal State Trooper escort, and 2-3 motorcycle medics finally caught up with us!!!!  Lance rode with us…………..about the distance of a gnat’s eye lash.  Taylor Phinney was pulling Lance and that little (and I do mean little) group blew past us like we were not even rolling.  If you have never had Lance PASS you, well, I can’t even explain it.  When you see Lance riding with the peloton in the Grand tours, all the others are chasing and are hanging on somewhat, but this was something you had to truly witness yourself.  He even stood up after passing us and DANCED ON THOSE PEDALS!!   Huh!  I was even close enough to Lance to see the sweat dripping off the end of his nose!!!!  So at this point, whatever Lance left on the road out there somewhere around the hill country out from Dripping Springs, TX, Keith H. and I picked up and took off.  We starting turning and burning and for about the next 4+ miles, we were cruising along at better than 24 mph.  A number of riders were complaining about the “hills” on the 45 miler.  These were not even as steep as some of the north Greenville county roads we ride on around here. So no worries here.  That was exciting to say the least!  Now I know there are a number of people in Greenville who have had an opportunity to ride with the “Lance man” when he has been here, but this……………………you just have no idea how fast that man really is.  I finished ahead of Keith H. and when he got to the bus, he was cryin’ like a baby.  That was the longest distance Keith had ever ridden.  He was just INCREDIBLE!!!  I am SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO proud of you and your new PR.  You ROCK, Keith Houston!!  Dennis and I also got to meet and talk for a while with Kevin Livingston (former pro cyclist) at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop (Lance’s bike shop on Nueces in Austin). Cool place!  Kevin L. was a most gracious and great and kind guy.  DZ and I hung out for a while (the place was rocking) and I could have stayed longer!  Wanted to go back Sunday, just did not have time.  Do I want to do this again next year.  Well, here is my dilemma.  Do I take care of the group with massage OR do I ride!?  Well, I can’t tell you just yet, you will have to wait and see.  I will have to figure out how to help all you folks if I ride.  Stay tuned for my decision.

Last but not least, this is probably one of the MOST memorable experiences of my life.  To have been a part of the initial group to make this trek was just……well I can’t even come up with a word to describe how truly fantastic it was.  Some last comments to some folks on the trip.  Susannah…..uh oh, I think I am about to start crying again! For all your words of tenderness, kindness, love and hugs on Thursday in Austin, I love you!  Laurens for your hugs on Thursday as well.  Lisa B. and Kevin D. for being there for me on Thursday as well.  For my husband, who truly knew how much of my heart and soul I left along the way to help all of you because it was just the thing to do.  IT WAS AND HONOUR AND PRIVILEGE!!  Again for Team 3′s help, you were amazing. For Ed, your comment about being the “Unsung hero”.  We all did this because………..well it was just the thing to do.  For my dad, who passed 14 years ago.  For Jonathan Pait for your beautiful tribute to this “Whole thing”!  I did not mention everyone, but you ALL counted just as much as the next.  You all have become so near to my heart.

Last but truly not least, Ron Jerina for your vision, (and Jennifer Jerina for being the woman behind the man) for all of the people who donated to Dennis and myself in the name of trying to wipe out this senseless dis-ease from our lives.  God bless you and thank you!

Dennis and I hope to see you soon!

Renee’ Killian-Zeiger

You can also read about my experience during the ride here.  What a great week!  Now we’re all headed out tot he airport to fly home.  I’ll miss you guys!

I was enjoying my ride and my legs were feeling pretty good on the descents and level roads, and I was averaging just over 17 mph, good for a guy my size!  I hear a siren, and knew that there were a couple of crashes.  So I thought they were ambulances.  NOT !!!  A couple of motorcycle cops cruised by me on a straight, slightly descending road, and I suddenly realized….. YES  YES   YES  !!!!!   LANCE !!!  Lance and Taylor Phinney pulled up to my left, and Lance actually glanced at me…  I was suprised and said ‘Hey, Lance !!!”  He nodded !!!!  and of course then dropped the hammer, and he and Taylor rode off like a locomotive.  No wonder they called Lance and US Postal, ‘Le Train Bleu’  !!!!  I was happy to get my Lance glance.  I also figured out that since they caught me at mile 55 of my ride, they must have already finished his 45 mile loop and was on their second loop!  What fantastic athletes.  Well, I finished my ride in under 4 hours, which was my goal, and I was very happy.  A great ride for me, and teh 65 miles made my total for the week at 395 miles.  I shoulda rode an additional 5 miles….!!!!!

Later I was fortunate to go to the stage where Lance was speaking, and afterwards I was even more fortunate to meet him and get his autograph!!!  A coupe for me….  and I told him of our team and our efforts, and he said he knew of us.  I was proud to be part of this……

And as a great finale, we all had an impromptu dinner in the atrium here at the Embassy Suites, then we walked to Lance’s bar, Six, and had a nice time.  Then home and to the airport bright and early.

What a trip.  Memories for a lifetime.  Thanks P3.

John S 

Quite an eventful ride as it turned out – first I stopped to help a rider who took a curve too fast and flipped off a bridge – looks like some facial fractures and she was starting to go into shock when the EMT arrived, say a prayer for her.  They also had a lot of cattle crossing guards you had to ride over – must work great because I never saw a single cow!  Lots of supporters cheering along the course which is always great.  When I passed one group tailgating, my keen eye saw a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Crème, so I turned around grabbed Lisa and told her to follow me.  We rode upstream for a moment and then joined the nice folks for a shot of Bailey’s and a donut – best rest stop ever! 

Well I finally had my first fall of the trip, I wiped out in the port-a-john and almost did a face plant in the urinal!  Cleats don’t work well on slippery floors! 

We have one last function tonight which is a party at Lance’s bar, so we will see how it goes…..  But overall one of the most incredible weeks of my life!  However I miss my hubby and kids and want to go home!!!

          A quote is sticking in my head from the Livestrong donor dinner last night which sums up this week and my heart:

“Cancer may leave your body but it never leaves your life”

Chasse

Livestrong

I could not have found a better team to be a part of than Team 4.  How in the world can 5 people who barely know each other, let alone have ever ridden together, put together such a fantastic team?  We all bonded so well, each of us offering our personalities and strengths to the Team.   We rode well together, almost from the start finding our place within the peloton, and using that to cover many miles and many hours.  We shared limited space (all of us in the van, including Lisa and Mike), without nary an incident… unless you count the many hilarious events we shared.  Our inside jokes will forever be burned in my mind ( ‘ANIMAL!”…..  “SH_T-G__D__N!”…  “Hampster… PULL, CHASSE !”…… “WHERE THE HECK IS THE ROUTE?”…. you name it, we laughed. Laughed. And laughed some more. 

Austin has been a place of fun, too.  Since arrival, we have eaten a celebration dinner together and some enjoyed the .. ummmmm.. evening ‘festivities’ of 6th Street in Austin, arriving back at the hotel shall I say, at one-ish. 

This morning was the first LiveStrong event, the Run for the Roses 5 K.  More than 3000 people ran, walked, rolled, and even uni-cycled the course.  Yellow was everywhere.  People cheering. People screaming.  Giant smiles on lots of faces.  Grimaces of those who crushed the run for personal bests, or for just finding the ability to finish.   THe walkers, dogs, kids, babies, and the bike-taxis with kids from the local Children’s Hospital.  My gosh, what an event.  How it takes your breath away.

Then, back to reality.  Back to the hotel for laundry.  Yep.  I figured that it was time to stop smelling like I have been on a bike for a week.  OH!  I WAS on the bike for a week.  No WONDER I smelled.  Well, Lisa, Ray and I tossed our smelly stuff into the washer and dryer, and it is so nice to pull on a shirt that smells nice!  Then we all had a nice afternoon of whatever the person wanted.  Joe, Ray, and myself did an impromptu bike tour of Austin, shaking off our legs to be ready for tomorrow.  We saw a HUGE bike shop ( I found a great light bike jacket. And it FIT !!!  YES !!!  AND.. Ray talked the bike shop into an additional 10% more off the 30% already off the jacket.  Now, if you haven’t figured it out already from following the blogs, I am sort of a big guy. BIG.  And if I find clothing that fits, I usually have to buy it.  So to find a bike jacket I like, and that fits, and looks good…. I buy it.   YAY !!!    We went by the convention center where LiveStrong was set up, and I was able to snag a photo and an autograph with Chris Carmichael..  the guys and I then rode up to U.T.’s campus, and realized that Texas is playing Oklahoma State this afternoon….   WAY TOO MUCH traffic to deal with, so we turned around and headed back to the hotel to rest up for a nice dinner tonight and rest for the Ride for the Roses.  Hopefully, we will have the ability for our group to be recognized by Lance.. ya’ll keep your fingers crossed.  We all put in a lot of heart for the cause. 

Well, off to my bed to put my feet up and watch football, or perhaps to channel surf!!!  Ha… old habits die hard !!!  Talk to you tomorrow !!!

Thanks again for tuning in and following us… 

Big John

Well, there is still much to write, however, I have to be careful, because every time I get still, I start fading.  I actually went back to edit and finish this blog and just nodded off..no lie!   Tomorrow morning is the 5K and I am helping with a wonderful person that Dennis and I met this afternoon, Kim Crane.  Kim is an incredible cancer survivor that met up with Ron Jerina last year.  Ron is going to push her in her wheelchair in the 5K and a number of people have offered to help.  I volunteered to help as well and am excited to be able to to do so.  It is early to be going to bed at 8:35 p.m. but I can’t seem to keep my eyes open and my typing is getting slower so I am going to call it a night.  Got to get up early in the morning.  To the Zeiger family and friends who have sent us good wishes, keep em’ coming.  By the way…………………can anyone recommend a good massage therapist, I am in need of some hamstring work.  It started cramping this morning on our ride in to Austin.

LiveSTRONG, ROCKon

Renee’ K-Z

p.s.  I love all my new massage hogs……23 was the last count I think!!!!

 As our shift came to a close and we arrived at transition, I felt very sad.  I was not ready to stop riding for all  those affected by this horrible disease.  Rene asked team 4 if they would mind if we could continue to ride with them and they welcomed us (thanks Kevin, Chasse, Joe, Ray and John S).  I continued to ride and silently rode each pull for those affected by cancer.  I rode for another 30 miles with team 4 then got in the bus.  I asked Rene if she wanted to rest for a while and she said no so she kept on and on and on.  With about 8 miles left before we reached our hotel in Austin, I got back off the bus and finished the last leg of our 1500 mile journey with team 4 and if you can believe it, Rene.  She rode for 12 hours and logged over 150 miles.  She is one tough cancer survivor.  It was an honor to ride the last leg of the ride with team 4 and having  2 cancer survivors (Chasse and Rene) lead us to the end to our other cheering P3C3 teammates.

I am looking forward to riding with the whole P3C3 group tomorrow into downtown Austin for our encore ride.   I am looking forward to the Livestrong Challenge this weekend and seeing some old friends and meeting new ones.  I am looking forward to planning next years ride.  But most of all, I am looking forward to donating all the money we raised to our charities so they can put it to good use and find a cure for cancer.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey with all involved with this ride.  I could not have asked for better teammates (Beth, Rene, Toby, Dennis, Jennifer and Stacy).  We had a great time together.  Thanks for making this week one of the most memorable weeks I have had.  Thanks to Kevin for pouring his heart and soul into P3 and all his help making this ride, that people said was impossible, a huge success.  Thanks to Mike McCurdy who kept the world informed of our doings.  Thanks to all of you who were with us in spirit and sent us notes everyday on our blog.  But most of all, thank you Jennifer for all your love, support and help in this event that was just a dream one year ago. 

I hope everyone here in Austin enjoys the weekend at the Livestrong Challenge and gets as much out of it as I did last year.  Until next years ride…

The rides were long (a total of about 315 for Team 3), the pace was frequently high, the riding conditions were often not the best and schedules were crazy but I can honestly say this is one of the most wonderful things I have done in my life. And the amazing part is we haven’t even started the ultimate goal of our trip – the LIVEstrong Challenge. We are really looking forward to sharing in the struggles, the challenges and the triumphs of those who fight their battle with cancer every day. And, hopefully, we can share a little understanding, a little comfort and a little encouragement to those we encounter as we bring our stories and your monetary contributions to the LAF organization in our Challenge To Conquer Cancer.

Team 3 – you ROCK!!! Thanks for bringing me along for the ride. We WILL win this battle with cancer!!!

THe day started of windy, cold, and moist.  I think we each approached the day with a different attitude.  We were tired. Dog tired.  Tired of biking.  Tired of being nice.  Tired of riding all cramped up in a minivan.  But as usual, you tend to mire yourself in your personal problems and forget why we ride this ride.  Cancer survivors that ride, like Chasse, don’t forget.  They have done much harder things. So you shut your mouth, get on the bike, and ride!  Ride to honor. Ride to remember.  Ride.

We awoke to cold winds at 4 am.  We had a hearty (hearty?) breakfast of egg sandwiches and egg bagels, constructed by Chef Mike and Chef Kevin, with the help of a microwave and a bowl and fork.  I, of course, added my usual cherry Pop-Tarts as a supplement. Yum. Now we piled (again) in the van and headed towards the Transition with Team 3.

Once we met up with Team 3, the ride started out in fairly good fashion… but where do we go???!!!!  We again started unsure of our route, but soon rememdied that, and took off.  Renee and Ron from Team 3 apparently had not had enough, and rode with us.  Ron eventually took to the van, and later on in the morning got back on his bike and finished with us, but Renee….  Renee…..  Renee eventually rode 12 hours today, 6 with her team and 6 with us. She probably ended up riding 150 + miles on the bike today.  Not bad for a cancer survivor.  Go get ‘em Renee. 

As we rode, I began to see what a toll the ride took on me.  I had very little ability to focus, think, and concentrate.  I was not sure why, and several times wanted to get in the bus.  But I endeavored to perservere.  So I rode on. Team 4 +2 rode on.  We then noticed something unusual.  It brought new life to us, and I believe helped us go on.  SUNLIGHT! ! !  By gosh, real live, honest sunlight.  Now, there were clouds all around, and it was cool, but sunlight!  You must remember that for the 15 hours of riding we did before today, only around 1 hour was in the light… sunset in Florida / Alabama!!!  And now, we get our chance to ride in the light!  WOW !  I believe it helped each of us to go on.

The weather stayed cool until we rolled into Austin.  The wind stayed active all day, mostly side winds, a bit of headwinds and tailwinds.  The terrain was mostly flat, but begain to show long, rolling hills as we continued towards Austin.  The traffic also became very heavy.  But with the protection of the van and bus, we moved steadily towards out goal.

As the hours passed, we stopped a few times to take on food, fluids, and we steadily made progress.  Suddenly we noticed that the amount of businesses on either side of the road, and we rode into Austin.  The city of Austin had not ONE ‘Welcome to Austin’ sign on our route in, so we didn’t stop for a photo op, and rode steadily on, looking for our hotel.  Finally, we found our street, and turned.  We rode past a cheering Joe Julian shooting photos of us, and then saw a big crowd of P3 riders and personell awaiting us with cheers and bells.  As I mentioned earlier… there were lots of hand shakes, hugs, smiles, tears, and relief.  All five teams arrived in Austin with no injuries, no real problems, and success with the ride.

I was not part of the dream of this ride, but know of its origin.  I was one of the first to commit to the ride, and am proud of that.  But thanks need to go to the following people:

Kevin Dunn
Lisa Barwick
Ron and Jen Jerina

The cyclists who committed to the ride: Forming Teams 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The drivers, mechanics, medics, and support personell who went along.

The companies, businesses, and people along the way who donated goods, money, and time.

More that I probably do not know about, and I may forget about.

The Greenville Hospital System Oncology Research Institute and Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong Foundation.

And NONE of this would have ever come to pass without the real reason for the ride in the first place:

Those people who fought cancer, beat cancer, succumbed to cancer, and the families and people involved in cancer care.  You are the reason we ride.

Thanks for allowing me the honor of riding for you, each and every one.  I will be back.

Now, however, I will finish my Mountain Dew, savor my full tummy, and am already thinking about the activities for the next couple of days…… As soon as I can figure out the way to do it, I will be putting some photos on the website and link to Flickr.

Take care….. thanks for listening !

John Siddens
Greenville, South Carolina 

:: Challenge to Conquer Cancer Ride – Team One Day Two

:: Challenge to Conquer Cancer Ride – Team One Day Three

Throughout our ride we had a cancer survivor.  What a lady!  Just think, being a cancer survivor, riding from Greenville to Austin, and most of all, putting up with an all man cycling team riding in a van designed for people of 120 pounds ( Just for point of reference, I was the smallest male there and I weigh 170#).  On team 3, there also is a cancer survivor – and what a tiger she is.  She ended up not only completing her 6 hour shift before us, but rode the other 6 hours with our team in order to come into Austin.  What a sight to see both of them in front of the pack leading us to the finish to be cheered by all the others. All I can say is that I was blessed to ride both them.  God bless and keep you both.

As we view the world through the eyes of the media, most of what you hear is bad news.  Ever hear good news about anything?  The truth is totally opposite of what you see and hear.  No matter where we went or who we talked to, they would do whatever they could to help.  It is such a great feeling to know that the world is mainly good! Examples abound in the text of the blog.

- A church congregation stopping the service to great and cheeer our riders

- People running down our vans in order to give donations to the cause

- People honking showing support for our riders

- Discounts for hotels and meals

- With lack of cell phone service (Verizon), people would volunteer there’s in order to do what we needed

The list could go on forever.

Also in talking to people you never met, you find that somewhere, they have been touched by the devastating disease of cancer.  From 6 year old cousins with liver cancer, 28 year old sisters who died of breast cancer, nieces, nephews, sisters, husbands, wives and the list goes on.  Cancer may never be eliminated from our bodies as it is believed to exist within us, but can be controlled.  This is the cure we all strive for!

In closing, I would like to thank all our support crew.  We could never have ridden without you.  My teammates were great!  Assembling 5 independent riders who didn’t know each other, put them together, expect them to function as a team and then have them get along.  We did!

Most of all, I would like to thank my wife, Patty, for without her, I would never had the opportunity to do this.

God bless all the survivors – those that have conquered cancer and those that must live with the aftermath of its devastation.

More updates to come!

Livestrong! Booyahh!

Livestrong

Chasse

We left Brenham TX this morning after being treated to egg sandwhiches made by Kevin and Michael in the hotel room.  There was no 24 hour breakfast, and at 4 AM, a microwave turned our eggs into egg sandwhiches.  It took us a while, but we finally figured out how to improvise. 

We met team 3 in La Grange, TX.  85.5 miles later we arrived in Austin, TX.

We’ve made it and we appreciate everyone’s support via the blog!  I’ll write more later.

Love to all,

Lisa

I planned a nice long blog, but my stomach calls.  After we arrived and many hugs, high fives, smiles, and cheers were exchanged, Team 4 checked in and now plan a nice BIG lunch…  REAL food.. mmmmmmmmmm.

Back to you later.

John S

I enjoyed visiting with p3ride group as they rode through Bastrop today
Conne McMahan
In Beautiful Cyclist Friendly Bastrop, TX

She also took some pics for us, they’re posted with our other pictures on flickr.

So we settle into a nice easy tempo of about 20-22 mph, just cruising, the roads are nice and flat and everything seems A Okay. At our first turn onto highway 96 everything changes. We immediately see the team 5 girls getting a massage at the side of the road (old gas station) and realize that we have a stiff crosswind. This road continues for almost 35 miles. So I did what any overbearing (non-designated) team leader would do, I taught the boys how to ride an echelon (I wish I had photos, i am the proud father of a team that can now ride a true side to side echelon!). This kept our team up in the 20′s and the 20 mph crosswind really was not fun (nor was the highway that stayed busy with logging traffic, though the log trucks did come by offering a little wind relief).

We all knew the forcast called for evening rains so at the refill stop (gasfor bus) we decided to push on and get through the rain (or at least get ahead so the next team would be able to enjoy their rain ride). This was where the madness starts because the first half was actually very serene compared to what was coming. The road began to get a few little climbs and the team starting riding a fast paceline with 27+ mph tempo. This was starting to hurt my legs but it felt kind of good. We then took a turn off of 96 and passed through a town and then began the last 45 miles of the ride. THis is where the madness officially began because the team had 2 hours to go and we decided to push on to highway 59 a little more than 13 miles beyond the official transition. Our ride was highlighted by a construction stop of about 10 minutes which stiffened up the legs and was promptly followed by a downpour of rain as we began moving again (still pushing hard though). With one hour to go tempo was in the 24+ range with some strong rollers and sporadic heavy showers, this just seemed to egg on everyone as the tempo kept increasing. At the 15 to go mark, we were about 30 minutes out from transition, I am guessing the team rode 13.5 of those miles in 30 minutes and the hills kept getting steaper. Rob topped one climb and just looked over and said, “I’m done” though he kept pulling through without any issues (I have said that several times in this ride so far, so I know how he feels!).  We finally rolled into the town of Shepard TX and teams 2 and 3 were there to meet us. It is a cool feeling to have that many people waiting for the transition.

A few tidbits: The support crew kept me in stitches today. Keith has quite a sense of humor as does Johnny Boy who actually claims he saw the elusive teradactyl today (actually it was huge bird, I mean huge).  Jonathon kept up his video work and is starting to put together Jonathan’s road kill diaries for a future viewing. His latest Youtube video should be up soon, and you will nice that I (Joey) seem to take advantage of making faces at the camera every chance I get. This latest video shows the who deal, it is cool! We did get our first official armadillo sighting today.  The support people rock, without these guys we would be in trouble. Thomas, John, Keith, Reuben, David, Arthur (who is currently annoyed with me because I keep breaking wheels, only 2 today though), Rene and her crew (who absolutely made my day with stretches and working that gunk out of my legs, I needed that and it would be an issue without you and your crew!). The bus crew has kept me in stitches on the radio, those guys seem to have fun with our team (probably with all of the teams but I think roadkill watch has kept them laughing with us).

This has been a fantastic ride so far, and today we make it to Austin, still a few more rides to finish out the week but all is great! I must thank everyone for their well wishes and support. This is about awareness, raising money for those we love and want to get healthy and it is about Living Strong!

Team 1 has had a fantastic ride, an oddball mix of people (5 totally different riders, 2 main support people, Thanks guys) and the coolest attitude I have ever seen in a group tagged together to ride. Everyone has stepped up to the plate and kept it going strong. Thanks guys! 

Booyahh Livestrong!

After a great six hour sleep, a terrific breakfast, and lots of water and powerade, we got on the bikes.  I felt great the entire time.  I remember very clearly the high I felt the first time I ran 10 miles, and this was just like it.  We covered 60 miles (our estimated distance) in about 41/2 hours.  With another hour of ride time left and just 3 miles to the Texas state line, we decided to go for it.  Seeing that “Welcome to Texas” sign and riding up to it has been the highlight of this trip.  Rene our massage therapist (and a GREAT one at that)
even had yellow wildflowers waiting for us and we had our own paparazzi there to take dozens of pictures.  We still were not at 12:00 and so we went on about 10 more miles, confronting a supreme example of road kill (Publix doesn’t even have meat that fresh) and our first and only flat, which was exchanged for a fresh tire in record speed.  Finishing the day at 77 miles, I really wanted to keep going to ride my first century,
but my team convinced me that today was not the day for that (I’m still pouting).

I know I couldn’t have done it without Kerrie pulling, Crystal shouting encouragement from behind, and Laurens guiding us all from the back with help from Joe’s warning honks and Keith’s navigation.  And I still don’t think my team knows what that did for me.  I ran my first marathon in January of 08, and as an adult-onset athlete, I was thinking that was the pinnacle for me and what would be next.  I was afraid that there might be nothing left, and that at 40 I would be washed up even before I had begun.  I needed the challenge of a ride like this day’s and to know that I still can meet those challenges.  Now I am ready for the next one — I am no longer afraid of failure or letting myself or anyone else down.

I have met many incredible people on this adventure, but I have listened to two women’s stories with particular attention.  I wrote in a previous blog my reasons for doing this ride, but one I neglected to mention is another fear — of getting this dreadful disease we are fighting against and dying a horrible death like my grandmother and uncle.  The two women who (unknowingly, until now) have helped me overcome this fear are Laurens and Janet.  Listening to how these remarkable people met the challenge of cancer, fought the fight, and are learning to live new lives affected by their disease and treatments has been encouraging to say the least.  Would I want to have this disease?  Of course not.  Would I welcome the challenge of cancer the way I welcomed the challenge of this ride?  Of course not.  Would I automatically assume that a diagnosis of cancer means the end that my grandmother and uncle met?  NO.  I am NOT AFRAID of cancer.

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

We are exhausted from a 30 hour wake period.  After our transition last night, we decided it would be best to get as close as possible to the next transition point.  Not to mention it was 6 am in Nowhere, LA.  There would be no check in at hotel until at least 1 pm.  Plus, we wanted to get our bodies back to a normal sleep pattern,  So it made sense to get in the car and keep driving.  I was wide awake and took the wheel for the next 3 hours.  I have no idea how I managed to stay awake or why my body was allowing it. I’ve found that my body tolerates much more than I give it credit for under normal circumstances.  This is indeed the challenge of a lifetime for me.  It is properly named Challenge to Conquer Cancer.  We’ve all been challenged in so many ways, but I nothing compared to the challenges that cancer patients and survivors have conquered.  That is why we are still in excellent spirits . . . this is bigger than all of us.

The team is ready to eat, we’ve had a cat nap.  Just a quick few thoughts that I wanted to share -

The medic team is AWESOME.  We’ve not needed them for anything major – but they have been incredible instrumental in getting us where we are today.  They navigate, drive the bus and generally provide the team with moral support.  I can’t imagine this trip without Rueben, Keith or David. They are wonderful.  They’ve also had the hardest time getting sleep and rest . . and still remain positive and upbeat.

The trip has gone AMAZINGLY well by my estimates.  Sure, we’ve had some bad roads, and some detours to make, but it has been a GREAT trek for all the teams across 5 states considering the magnitude of what we are accomplishing.

Staying properly nourished has been a challenge.  When we can eat, there is nothing open. When we should eat, we just want to rest.  When we are hungry in Nowhere, LA there is nothing to eat.  I learned very quickly to eat whenever you had the chance because you don’t know when you will be able to eat again.

Cell service . . . we had very little of it last night, and this was something we didn’t anticipate (at least I didn’t).  It made for a challenge to get the transition set up. 

Rene Z and her support team Janet and Donna are troupers!  Renee has made every effort to make sure the teams were taking care of and keeping them going on this long journey.  They have had little sleep and they are finding out too just what our bodies can tolerate .

We were so excited (me the most) that we had a laundry mat on site at our hotel today! I was beside myself, but I think it was because I was deliriously exhausted.

 Just some quick thoughts, I’ll write more soon.  I’m going to get left at the hotel (and miss my chance to eat)if I don’t get dressed now!

Lisa

Having that little voice in my ear made me think about the people who helped me through my journey with cancer. My friend, Edie, told me to call it my journey- because it was a journey. Little did I know that people would be so supportive. A lady that I worked with, but didn’t know well, brought dinner to my house every week for 6 months. I wasn’t hungry most times, but the fact that someone remembered me was all I needed. She is now one of my best friends I remember one time I wanted to give up. I had taken 4 rounds of chemo and had just taken number 5-Taxol. I had a reaction to something and had a rash all over my face and shoulders. To add insult to injury, my face was swollen and I had lost my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. I really didn’t feel bad, it just wasn’t fun looking in the mirror. I couldn’t drive and my husband (remember he was only my boyfriend then) was working. He called Dr. Gococo, my oncologist, got me an appointment and even had someone from his office pick me up to go. Dr. Gococo told me I was fine and that I would be okay. He was the greatest cheerleader. I remember telling Will I was quitting chemo-it just wasn’t worth it. To say the least, he didn’t let me quit. He knows how to make me just mad enough not to give up. I am glad I didn’t give up. Again, it was the voices of support that kept me going.

My whole point of my post is this-don’t ever give up, don’t ever, ever give up!

At one point we encountered a very bumpy road. It was by far the worst road we had seen yet.   Uneven pavement on both sides so we really had to stay in the middle. I was in front continuously describing the road as we went. At one point, I said something like “stay in my line”.  Laurens complimented me on knowing cycling jargon.  I felt like a team leader on this shift.  Thank goodness for the great lights on our bike.  We could have never managed the dark rides without them.

During our 6 hour shift, I saw my teammates transform before me.  I witnessed the true definition of bonking.  One of our teammates was fine one minute and delirious the next.  One slowly became very tired and quiet.  She went to the bathroom, ate a banana, and suddenly came back to life.  One was great one minute, and emotionally exhausted the next.  I was constantly observing them.  Myself, I felt pretty good.  I was able to step up this shift and help my teammates achieve our goal and then some.  I felt a real sense of accomplishment knowing that I contributed as a teammate, and not just a rider.  This day was a real turning point for me: I think I have become a cyclist.

After our shift was over, we immediately directed Tom, (one of our support guys), to take us to the nearest Waffle House.  I hadn’t eaten since Monday at 4:00 PM, and it was now Tuesday at 7:00 AM.  I couldn’t wait to get a double cheeseburger.  It was so good.  I didn’t care that it was really breakfast time.  My body didn’t know time…it only knew hunger.  While at the Waffle House somewhere in Mississippi, in walks our massage therapist Rene with all of her assistants.  They travel to the teams to give massages after the ride.  What a  welcome sight!  Rene set up her table in the parking lot at Waffle House and gave us all recovery massages.  It was awesome and crazy at the same time.  By the way, I had my eyes closed and almost fell asleep not knowing all the traffic passing by probably wondering what was going on!  It doesn’t matter the location of a massage as long as it was good, and it felt SOOO good.  Thank you Rene Zeiger..what a gem of a person! Rene had to raise money just like we did to accompany us on this trip.  You see, it is not about the bike.  It’s about the message we are spreading.

Fast forward, Tuesday night 10:45 PM in Lake Charles. LA.  After spending most of Tuesday we had lunch (I guess it was lunch??), got a hotel room, and attempted to sleep before our next ride at 6:00 AM.  I fell asleep at 5:00PM, couldnt hold my eyes open any longer, and now I am awake.  We tend to catch sleep when we can.  This will be our first daytime shift.  More traffic most likely, but more daylight.  Continue to pray for us and for all of those stricken for cancer, we are riding for you!

Kerrie

Now, let me lead you up to our departure.  I noticed where another blogger mentioned Nowhere, Louisiana.  Boy was this right.  We travelled from our nice hotel Lisa mentioned in her blog to the netherworlds of mid-southern Louisiana.  Flat.  Did I mention flat? Flat as in pancake?  As in griddle?  As in FLAT? I forgot there are places where the sky keeps going on forever.  What a difference from the mountains and rolling hills of the Upstate.  We seemed to roll on forever past farming towns and areas seemingly recovering from the hurricanes.  We pushed on to reach Morganza, Louisiana, a thriving village of 859 people (as of the 2000 census).  One gas station and a cafe (Not Your Mama’s Cafe) in one building, the only thing open as of 830 pm.  We stopped with trepidation, assuming we would be fed to the nearest Cajun’s alligator.  However, we were stupidly and laughingly wrong.  We ate FABULOUS food at the Cafe, met great locals, who donated some helpful information (can you say “The ferries are closed after 9 pm! You can’t go that way tonight!”, some stories of cancer in their familys (thanks Chuck and Lisa), and allowed us free reign of their gas station (lucky Chasse won 5 whole dollars on one lottery ticket.. me.. as usual I donated $3 to the Lottery).  We contacted Team 3 and found that we needed to move on to find them, so we packed up and moved on.

We chased Team 3 down somewhere down the long, lonely stretch of Louisiana 190, transitioned with them and took off.  Less than one mile later, Kevin, who was leading, yelled, “ANIMAL!” and swerved to his left.  Now who the heck yells ‘ANIMAL’ while on a bike?  Who the heck knows what to do if someone DOES yell ‘ANIMAL???!!!’  Well, obviously not me and not Chasse.  A split second after Kevin yelled it out, I ran SMACK DAB over what was probably an armidillo…  and of course Chasse, tucked in right behind me, hit it, too.  Well, I am not sure what happened to that animal, whatever it was, because we were so shocked and amused at the same time, we began laughing uncontrollably.  Now, not to slight the poor injured or killed animal, we felt sorry for it, but imagine someone not saying, “Gravel!” or “Rock!” or “Bump!” but “ANIMAL!!!”  My gosh we giggled for what seemed like an hour.

So, then the ride settled down to a rhythmic humdrum of each of us pedalling in unison, taking in the night, its sounds, its smells, and its darkness.  We travelled some pretty harsh roads, actually veering off the course because of the gravel road it turned into.  But despite the occasional grumble about Louisiana needing some of the P3C3 funds, and the crappy roads, we pedalled on.  We actually stopped because of some small bladders (hear that Ray !!! LOL ), some udating of Chamoix Butt’r, battery changing, etc but made pretty good time.  We did a time trial for a while, ripping up the road at a blazing 21 mph (sorry Chasse!) but that was one time.  The morning approached and the miles seemed to become longer and longer, especially as the Transistion approached.  But we finally saw some blinking yellow lights in the distance, and came upon some fabulous ladies representing Team 5 chomping at the bit to get going.  GO TEAM 5!!!!!

Once gone, we packed up, headed to the nearest filling station – yes filling station – for massages from Renee…  now THAT must have been a sight to behold by the locals !  I’m suprised the local constable didnt come by and cuff us all !!!!  We then hit the local Waffle Shop for  some tasty and filling waffles, eggs etc.  We again found that the cook and waitress both had family members affected by cancer, and they gave us $20 of their hard-earned money and filled out two magnets..  It is amazing how many people along the way have stopped to look at us, and once they get past the disbelief and shock of what we are doing, share their stories, and often give money to us….

Now we have arrived in a town north of Houston, Texas…. Brenham or somethning… you kinda loose the towns after a few days of riding, no sleeping, and long drives in the van.  Anyway, the hot tub awaits us… then a brief rest or sleep in the Best Western, a nice Mountain Dew (nectar of the Gods !!!!), and our 6 am shift awaits!

Thanks to each of you who follow us in this effort, and we hope you are inspired to do something within your own skills and means to fight cancer and it’s terrible effects.

Soo, once again I bid you farewell, and until I have energy again to blog ….

John S

Hey…a shout out to Rob Dempsey of HIS Radio who has dedicated his time to ride on the P3C3 and cover the event from the road on his Blog

Rob interviewed me and broadcast it on HIS RADIO…I love sharing my story.

The reason that I am doing this event is to inspire others that have been told that you only have months to live and prove that a statistic is just that…it doesn’t take away your passion for life, your soul for God, or your body’s will to serve and survive!
Though it is Duke’s motto…At Duke…there is hope. there are great physicians, nurses, advocates, family members, policy makers and survivors who are making cancer a national priority, a personal war on cancer and I am honored to get to know several on this ride this week. I know that we have touched many lives throughout this journey in each town that we have ridden through.

Team 5 is the all-girls team and has quite a story to tell about their journey.

I hadn’t eaten much on my long stretch but the armadillo road kill at least didn’t tempt me! On another note, we found it interesting that Georgia had a lot of road kill, Alabama had none, and Mississippi had little. The team discussion was focused on rumors of ‘Bama BBQ…I can say that ’cause my family is from Alabama.

My wife has been posting other blog entries on the Brain Tumor Awareness Organization blog for me since I haven’t been able to.
Well, catch you later!

So why am I on this ride?  Well, for those of us who are healthy and blessed, it IS our duty to listen to God’s call in regards to our time, talent and treasure.  So many have suffered and battled this dreadful disease, it is time we all do something about it.  You would not believe the stories of folks we have met along the way.  One in particular for me is Mason Eson, from Georgia.  His mother pulled up next to me as I was waiting for Team 3 in the van and told me Mason (now 9) was diagnosed with Lymphoma at 18 months, treated successfully and fully recovered.  She handed me $10 and I wrote Mason’s name on a magnet and placed it on the van.  Turns out he is a bulldog fan, so I drew a “G” logo on his magnet too and he just lit up….if he only knew I was a Gamecock fan….

I am also on this ride, because I have such amazing and capable people that allow me to devote my time to outside causes.  Are you kidding me?  They love that fact I am gone and out of their hair…no pun intended.  Seriously, my Spa Team (The Spa at West End) is the best staff in the world and as we joined together to support the P3C3 cause, many of them wondered, “why this one Stacy?”  (They really think I am crazy half the time….)  Well, over this last month one of our girls was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, just having her first radiation treatment last week and another one, a preliminary diagnosis of ovarian cancer.  Besides that, each of us has had at least one relative or friend touched by this dreadful disease. 

So I am riding for “my girls”, Mason Eson, all of our loved ones and all the Cancer Warriors out there.  And, most especially for my healthy son Tradd who I pray will grow up to continue to be so, along with having a strong character and drive to “make a difference” in other people’s lives through the time, talent and treasure God gives him.  If only each of us did this….it would be a better world and probably cancer free!

So, I’m not sure if that answers why I am on this ride, but I AM ON THIS RIDE, we all are on this ride and I will cherish this memories for a lifetime!  I’m so proud of all the riders, support team (whoop, whoop), sponsors and all of you out there who are praying for us and bloggin us.  We love it!

LIVESTRONG!

Stacy Coulter, Proprietor, The Spa at West End

I have never been to the moon but I have seen video and pictures and can see the surface on the moon is pretty rough.  They need to put a sign on the road we were on that says “Welcome to Nowhere, LA where the roads are worse than the surface of the moon”.  For 25 miles we were dodging craters and road kill.  Everything on my body was hurting from all the bumps and holes we were encountering.  We were not able to go our normal lightning fast pace and we had to pull over several times to let traffic by.  Because the ferry to take us across the Mississippi River was broken down , we were taking a 47 mile detour to a bridge south of the route.  With  all the stopping for traffic, our slower speeds and our detour we were falling behind schedule.  After 25 miles of crater dodging, we finally found some smooth roads and our spirits we lifted.  Rene’s knee was feeling great and the pace picked up.  Since we were falling behind the bus decided to take us on a short cut to make up some time.  We had a team meeting and decided on a route and continued our ride.  We found the bridge to get us over the Mississippi River after stopping again to ask for directions.  It was cool crossing the river in the dark.  The lights from all the chemical plants,refineries and the skyline of the big city of Somewhere, LA were neat to see.  We continued our journey in the night and the roads were half way decent.  The temp was starting to drop a little and Beth started getting cramps in her quads.  We pulled over so we could all relieve ourselves and Beth put on her leg warmers to help with the cramps.  Two hours to go and we were getting a little tired so Rene and I decided to entertain the group.  We started singing Christmas carols.  The only one we knew all the words to was Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.  We made up words for all the others or combined words from 2 songs together.  When we ran out of Christmas carols, we moved on to 80′s music.  We noticed the more we sang, the further ahead Dennis went and the further behind Toby and Beth dropped back.  I really don’t know the reason for this because I know I am a great singer.  It must of been Rene singing off key or do I have that backwards????  The last few miles on Hwy 170 were great.  It was flat and straight.  We saw more roadkill and one live possom and did a sprint just to get the heartrate up before we got off the bike.  We hit the transtion right at midnight.  Knocked out 82 miles.  Team 4 was excited to see us and ready for their tough shift from midnight to 6am.  We talked for a few minutes, racked the bikes and took off to find the hotel.

Rene Z had our rooms waiting for us at the American Best Hotel or something like that.  You would think it would be easy to find the hotel in Nowhere, LA where there is only 1 traffic light and no Waffle House.  Well, it was not.  We started by going the wrong way.  Then we programmed the address in the GPS and it took us to roads that did not exist.  We stopped at a gas station to ask for directions (believe it or not, it was my idea…I know I broke a man rule).  The gas station dude did not know where it was and it wasn’t in the phone book.  Somehow we finally found it around 1:45.  We unloaded the car and got to our rooms.  At this point I am starving.  pb & j and Clif Bars only hold you over for so long.  So myself, Jennifer, Toby and Reuben decide to go grab a bite to eat.  Again, this should be an easy task, wrong.  We passed a BK a couple miles up the road and headed to it.  We were all excited when the sign said drive thru open 24 hours.  Pulled up to the speaker and she said pull to the window.  We did and she said her computer was down and she could not take or order.  I asked if the grill worked she said yes so I asked her to take our order down by hand, cook our food, add up the bill with her fingers and toes and key it in later.  She said she could right it down but it would take a long time because she would have to walk back to the kitchen (all 12′) and tell the chef the order.  We argued for a while and I left BK empty handed.  At this point Grumpy Ron was coming out.  We found a 24 hr Walmart and I sucked it up and went in there to try and find food.  We found cold sandwiches but they did not look too good.  We found out there was an IHOP about 10 miles south so we hopped back in the van and continued our quest.  We found the IHOP and our spirits were lifted.  I thought IHOPS were open 24 hrs a day.  Wrong again.  Wendy’s, closed 1AM, McDonalds, closed.  Grumpy Ron is out in full force.  By this time it is 3am and still no food.  We find another BK and it is open, yea.  Order my food and scarf it down in a hurry.  Grumpy Ron is starting to retreat and we make the journey back to the hotel.  Rene is still awake and believe it or not there is wireless internet in our hotel in Nowhere, LA and she had the blog up.  We sat up a read  the blogs from the other teams and all the well wishes sent by everyone.  After all the reading Grumpy Ron is totally gone.  It is now 4am and I am ready for some sleep.

It is amazing how much your prayers and well wished lift my spirits.  Please keep them coming.  I know we all love to read them.  Our team has the hard shift today.  12 midnight to 6am that should bring us close to Austin.  Everyone on the entire P3C3 team has been great especially the support team.  They are always willing to do whatever we ask them and get us where we need to go safely and I cannot express how much I appreciate that.  This has been an awesome journey from the day we decided to put this together up to this point and I know this weekned is going to be incredible.  For all the folks we are riding in memory of, we miss you.  For the ones we are riding in honor of, keep up the fight.  We are going to win this battle.

Until next time…

Yes, we were late again to transistion – but who needs six hours anyway?  I pulled the whole team the whole way – go me, go me……..  (OK Dana is typing this and made it up)

Got going somewhere in LA, and kept going somewhere else in LA.  No cell reception, no stores, no gas stations, could have used a mountain bike rather than a road bike – but hey who’s complaining?  Not us, we had a great day.

Kristen had her regular breakfast – ate all the way to transition in the car.  Passed our first armadillo – cute as could be, even when he was dead   Met Pumpkin before we left – (see team 1′s blog), got interviewed by the newspaper in Bogalusa, when asked how he knew we were coming, he said “it’s a small town, not much going on”  LOL

We rode really hard b/c King Arthur made us.  He wanted to average 25,…..we should have let him

Lots of logging in LA, some not as successful as others.  How do you get a huge overturned logging truck (full) out of a ditch anyway???

BTW, here’s a joke…..How many P3 cyclists can you get in a stollen Walmart shopping cart?  We got 3, but John was in it so make that 4 b/c he counts as 2…… Thanks Rick for being our cart theif – it really helped pass the time while we were waiting for Waldo – helped with the luggage too.

Why do we write our blogs from end to start?  Must be lack of brain cells?  So here we are, after midnight at the Sheridan in downtown Baton Rouge and instead of sleeping, we are reading everyone’s blogs…only after a great dinner of Pizza and beer at Schlitz and Giggles – silly name, great pizza!

How do you spend $140 on Pizza – I guess there was some beer in there…..don’t worry, we’ll be at transition on time, we know what you were thinking – c ya tomorrow

I’m sure there will be more to come. Thanks Jonathan!

A few corrections, on my last blog I used the term MS, it stands for Mississippi. I hope it did not get miscommunicated, if so I am sorry. Also, I must say once again, that the support teams have been fantastic. This is definitely a team effort and the riders have a hard job but the support people have an even tougher job. I am not sure I could go on the bus for a 24 hour shift or longer as in the case of Arthur who seems attached to the bench seats in the back.

I keep seeing a few of the magnets on the back of our team van. There are several but one in particular seems to keep me motivated. It is for a 1.5 year old child dealing with cancer. I also see a few magnets for Susan. These are easy reasons to support the cause. I watch Susan live with it daily, so I keep the mindset that there will be a cure for cancer.

Keep the emails coming and for tonight, booyahh.

Livestrong!

We started a bit slow. The gals from team 5 looked beat. They rode awesome! That midnight to 6 drag is rough and they have some tales to tell. The only hard part for me was that they (and all others back to team 2) told me that the roads were nice and flat. After our first 6 hour run (mid to 6 on Monday AM) we were looking for some flat land because we needed it. So, we go about 10 miles that are nice and flat and then the rollers began. They were not bad but just enough to start the pain cycle in the legs at every hilltop. The rest of day stayed this way so we did what team #1 does, we hit it hard and furious. Our average while riding was about 21 miles per hour. We jammed through several sections at 24+ mile an hour speeds and even had the line running at 28+ several times. I don’t ride this hard during race season (maybe this will be my lesson about getting in shape!). It was a fantastic effort on the part of the team. Everyone made their pull and the momentum just kept on rolling. It was Booyahh!

Booyahh! I began this chant after the guys would make a strong pull. It came to mind when Matt was mimicking Bobby Bouchet from the Waterboy! Booyahh just came to mind. Now, a few little mindless thoughts from Joey. Today, the 3 theme kept coming at me. We had some technical issues this morning with the radios so I put on a radio and now we have the ability to talk to the bus. THis is good and bad becuase everytime I asked for mileage to the next turn I got the response of 3 miles. Yeah, i know it should have lost it’s humor but we all still laugh about. There are 3 guys on our team with specialized bikes. We have crossed into 3 states (GA, AL and LA, possibly MS but I was too sleepy to remember this morning).

Strange sightings today. Of course roadkill, we actually were looking for specific things we have not seen yet, not much luck (no armadillos yet) and not teradactyls but we did see a sasquatch sign as we rode throught the sasquatch national forest. I saw a roadsign that said “slow” 20mph” then looked down and realized we were rolling at 28 mph. It was cool! There was a wheelchair sign on a road, and when I looked up there was a guy in the middle of the road doing doughnuts in his electric wheelchair. It was kind of odd, he gave us a big MS hello and we just rolled on by. The roads varied from great to bairly tarmac. My rear wheel broke near the end of the day after one of these roads, I think the hub blew a bearing because it was making a nasty sound. Stll rolled but nasty noises!

We ended in Bogalusa LA> The people were incredibly friendly. A local came up to talk with us and then called the newspaper. I got interviewed and more people kept coming by to see what these weirdo bikers were doing. Her name was Pumpkin. She introduced herself to Rob and he replied ” I’m patch” so I am going to start calling him patch. She did not get the humor but she was incredibly nice and friendly. we met a lady named Deloris Hopkins at the pizza hut. She told us about the town history (lots of cancer due to chemical plants) and was incredibly nice. This was a great town with great people.

I must give a loud booyah to Keith, Arthur, Thomas and John. They were the support today. They are great, and still have a lot of humor even with little sleep! The support van was also there at the end of the day. Rene totally took care of my aches and pains, Matt also as he hogged the table saying he is injured! In fact, she took care of the whole crew. It was fantastic and her helpers are also great. Janet Rigdon helped on my legs which are feeling the pain of a few days of riding. 

Jonathon moment of the day: Rob asked the waitress if they were going to put cheese pizza on the buffet, Jonathon says ” If you want cheese pizza, take the pepperoni off” It was a Jonathan moment, hilarious as usual. We have a great group of guys, a lot of cut-ups and a lot of fun. By the way, jonathan just posted a video of the ride today on youtube. I am probably making faces at the camera as that is what I have made a habit of doing the past few days.

Long post, long day, great effort, lots of positive energy, lots of leg pain, but once again a great day!

Livestron! Booyahh!

Team 4 is making their way to the next transition point.  We think it will be near Morganza, LA.  We are on I-10 now, Big Joe is driving. 

Last night’s trip from Pensacola to Mobile was a good one.  Thanks to my well developed navigation skills (thanks daddy); I found a route that would take us directly to Mobile.  If we pulled this off, it would make up the mileage that has lost along the way here and there and put the trip back on track.  We took Highway 98 from Pensacola all the way to Mobile.  The van (me and Arthur the mechanic who I kidnapped from the bus) led the way.  Keith and Michael were on the bus and we stayed in constant contact using two way radios.  I led the team for safety reasons.  It was dark.  The roads were pretty good for cycling, most of the way was I nice shoulder.  The team was working well together and Joe commented several times on the great rhythm the team had.  The team logged 92 miles overall.  Team 4 had made up the mileage and made the targeted transition point.

The transition point in Mobile was to be at the Union Mission Church over “the bridge”.  Now, coming into Mobile, there are a lot of bridges.  So as we closed in, we had traveled over at least two bridges and I was concerned that maybe there was confusion about “the Bridge”.  I was in contact with Team 5, and confirmed that the landmark was “the bridge”.  It was dark, and as I mentioned, there were a lot of bridges.  So we kept on course following the GPS device.  It just didn’t look right, there were industrial plants, a two lane road and it looked like we were headed to no mans land.  Where was this bridge?  I left the team as they kept pedaling with the bus following.  I drove ahead and finally! I see this “bridge” that was to be the landmark.  And indeed it was a bridge.  There it was; a suspension bridge, appearing to be a very small version of the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston.  Now I got it!!  The meaning of the word “bridge” was clear now.  I radioed back to the bus that we were on track and as soon as we crossed over the bridge, we were at our transition point.  I told Michael to warn the team that this would be a nice little climb for them.  Not exactly what you want at the end of a 90 mile trip, but they were “on” and I knew they had it in them. 

The transition was successful and only 15 minutes behind schedule.  Team 5 was ready to go and you could tell that they had mentally prepared for the night shift ahead.  They were upbeat, full of energy and more than excited to start their 12 AM to 6 AM shift.  We cheered them on as the left the parking lot.  It was inspiring to see the 4 women on team 5 head out into the night, fearless and determined. 

Team 4 had reservations in Fairhope, which we had passed 20 miles back.  Kevin, bless his heart, decided that it would be really cool if we stayed at the Grand Hotel in Fairhope, AL.  Based on the location of team 3 earlier in the day, we did believe that Fairhope would be the transition point.  So earlier that day, Kevin called ahead and talked to the general manager, explained our cause and needs, and acquired 3 rooms at a rate of $99.00 each.  I have to admit, last night, Motel 6 would have suited me just fine (and probably the others as well).  As we drove for what seemed like forever back to the hotel, I was convinced that making these reservations was a bad idea.  But in the end, it was a nice stay and I was able to take a run along side the bay before we departed.  Chasse was happy to take advantage of the Spa amenities at the Grand Hotel.  Ask any member on team 4 about Chasse’s massage.  I think that the team is talking to her now. J

It is 6 p.m. and we’ve made contact with the bus to determine their location so we can plan our 12 a.m. transition.  The van ride has been quiet, I think we are tired.  I’m going to get the team motivated and mentally prepared for the 12 am shift.

I’ll try to make more updates.  I’ve found that the 24 hour off periods don’t give you as much time as you think!  I’ve learned a lot about each of the team members, their stories and their reasons for being here.  I will write about that soon.

I do want to say, this is quite the adventure.  It is fun, challenging and rewarding. It is not your typical vacation, but I am glad I am here.

We are …. LIVING STRONG

Lisa

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

Not having days as days and nights as nights really plays tricks with your body. Breakfast is supper and supper is breakfast. After being awake for over 24 hours, I realized that my little sister, Jeanie, does this every other day. She is a surgical resident at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is a great resident and will be a great surgeon. I am very proud of her.

It is now 9:34 EST and we are headed for Lake Charles. My team wants beer for lunch…

Laurens

So far, coordinating the logistics of transition points seem to be the most stressful and challenging part of the trip (for the support team). 

WIll write more soon!

Love to all

Lisa

One interesting thing to me is that we have had a (nice!) lack of dogs chasing us… but of course I guess dogs sleep at night!  LOL !  BUT, while rolling throught a small town approaching Daphne, Alabama, a dog suddenly awoke, saw us and began a sudden, viscious barking and growling.  The owner must have been sleeping, too, because he suddenly screamed: ” Sh__! G___mn! What’s going on!? Who is out there?!!”  We all began to laugh hysterically… knowing that one man’s dog may be TOO GOOD of a watch dog..  LOL.. still makes me laugh to hear the guy cuss and scream out all in one sudden breath…

We had ANOTHER ‘unofficial’ police escort last night.  Do we look like we need police???  But we like it!  While pedalling through Daphne, Alabama… there were a series of stop lights about half mile apart.  We noticed a sheriff sitting at a left turn lane at a stop light.  I figured he was watching for speeders.  But he suddenly sped up, and raced ahead of us to the next light where he did the same thing.  We realized that he was watching the intersections for us, and actually blocked one intersection for us as we rolled through.  Mike thought that he may have had a crush on Lisa !!! Cause he kept near her van, which was leading us!!!!  LOL…  Anyway, he eventually turned around, and sped of with blue lights blazing to confront some law-breaking citizen.

We then rolled on into Fairhope, Alabama, and realized we were passing our hotel!  We caught up the 30 miles we were behind when we started!  So we rolled on, and about an hour later, rolled through the industrial port area of Mobile, Alabama.  A last climb over a BIG suspension bridge (GO, CHASSE !!!) brought us in to the Transition area, where Team 5 was ready and roaring to go.  We drove BACK 20 miles to our hotel, and fell into bed, tired, happy, and awaiting the dreaded midnight to 6 am shif tomorrow.

LIVESTRONG  !!!

John

Livestrong!

I’m looking forward to our first night ride 6-12am. I hope my knee will stop hurting. It seems to only hurt on the bike. But I’m thinking positively-I’m going to be healed. (cause we’ve had allot of JC along the way) Seriously though- we have all been really blessed. Thanks Again, for all the support and prayers.

LIVESTRONG!

PS:  Laurens.. we did NOT get lost… we simply wanted to tour Barnesville, Georgia thoroughly!!!  We got a might, ummm, confused for a half hour, but simply found our way back to our proper course !!!!!!!!

GO Team 5   make us proud.

Good night…  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz

John

I was aked a couple of weeks before departure, could I drive the bus? Sure, I can drive a bus. It’s not TOO much bigger than my suburban….WRONG, not to mention it’s pulling our snazzy new trailer. Needless to say, I’ve been losing a little sleep over having to drive that monstrosity. Back to our departure. All bus drivers for the teams were asked to ride the first leg on the bus to get some ON THE JOB TRAINING. I ended up staying on for the first 3 legs so I got to see the first 3 teams do their three hours on the road. Team 1 started us off strong, even left the parking lot without the bus (their van was with them). Learned to swing wide, try not to bottom out and scratch the new trailer (well John took care of that one early coming out of BILO). We’re on the road and catch up with the riders. Things went great and we made it to the first transition. We all took a pit stop at the INGLES, and the bus got refueled and thank goodness it wasn’t me driving. Team 2 set out, again without the bus (they had their van). We got up to almost 60mph trying to catch up. We thought we were already lost. We pulled over at a church and asked what road we were on and they told us, “Oh, we saw some riders go through here a little bit ago” Back on the bus and away we went. Team 2 was riding fast. Alot of this stretch was 2 lane and the traffic behind the bus was backing up. We ended up having to pull over 3 or 4 times to let them pass, some with happy beeps, some with not so happy beeps (and some interesting hand motions). Our nice little 2 lane road then turned into interstate with traffic coming in from the left AND right. I’ve never experienced that kind of stress in my life and remember, I was on the bus. These riders took it all in stride and we finally saw exit 4A (couldn’t have be 4B that was 1/2 mile earlier). We safely met my team (3) in the parking lot of a lovely church. I jumped out of the bus, tripping all over myself to hug these brave riders. Their simple comment, “that was fun. Thanks for being behind us”. Amazing. This group of cyclists are just amazing. OK, it’s go time for my team! Again, THEY leave without the bus. Can you tell everyone was excited? Now I’ve already been on the bus for 6 hours with no lunch….who could eat with all of this stress? (I did have some cookies and a muffin, thanks Julie S!) The ride was great, good terrain, nice roads. Still lots of traffic. Lots of beeping (of both kinds again) and lots of passing. But the bus is keeping em safe. We were in constant contact with team 4 who was anxious to get on the road. Kevin kept calling me and asking “where are you? Plug this address into your GPS and it will tell you what time you will get here.” Lesson learned most GPS systems aren’t accurate on back roads. ANYWAY, we finally hook up with them at a church. When we got there, I thought they were holding a service for us. Everyone was outside waiting for us to get there…kind of cool. Renee (our AWESOME massage therapist) also met us at the church to give the team their much needed rub down. Toby cracked us all up by holding his chap stick tightly in his hands like a security blanket as he got his massage. I will try and upload the photo soon. He did it again today (day 2). He is very attached to his chap stick. He even offers it to us when he thinks we’re feeling down. I digress. Back to Sunday night. We leave the church and finally find a dinner spot around 9pm. It’s a Chili’s. We try and work our fundraising magic and the manager responds by gladly giving us the “Senior Citizen” discount of 10%. We smiled and thanked him and I quickly asked for a kids menu. I needed Reed or Ridge there to open it, because I had a hard time figuring it out. (It did have 2 crayons folded into a fancy shape) We then traveled to Rene’s cousin’s house arriving at 12:30am. We visited and tried to go to bed around 1:30. We woke up this morning and she had cooked up quite a spread. It was great. We didn’t have to drive too far this morning to pick up Team 2. We found them and cheered them on. They also rode into Florida with us. It was a beautiful and rare site to see 2 of our wonderful teams sharing the road. Our team was ready for their first 6hr leg. It was a gorgeous day. We couldn’t have ordered a better one. Again, roads were good. YEAH a little less traffic today. Not nearly as stressful as day 1. And I’m not driving the bus. One of our medics, moderately sized Dave, (I had referred to him as Big Dave cause he’s tall like Ron, but he didn’t like that name) is driving for me. He’s my new best friend. We chat on the bus and figure out that he will be coming off the road with us and wants to come to Pensacola with us. Our van does have an extra seat so we got us a new teammate for the day and night. After much confusion with 6 different people giving different details to one another, we find team 4 for the transition. DARN, we were 3 miles short of 100! Beth and Ron were so mad at me. Toby was glad we were in. His shoulder was giving him trouble. Our medic, David Porter (that’s his real name) fixed him up with an ice pack and bandage. Stacy and I were in charge of getting chocolate milk for the team as they got their SECOND massage in 2 days. We do understand that this hasn’t been the case for everyone, and we think that ours are over. They were cetainly good while they lasted! We had already figured out that we were taking over team 4′s rooms in Pensacola. Chasse told Ron “Don’t worry, they changed all the sheets…except one and we’re not telling ya which one”. We headed toward the hotel and decided we wanted dinner before 9pm tonight, so we stopped at OUTBACK. We checked in with the hostess and she actually asked, “do you need any kids menus?” Everyone looked at me for my response. “No, I’m gonna eat good tonight”. We sat down thinking it was 7:45 and Happy Hour was over (7pm) But…bonus…it was only 6:45 and 3 of us ordered 2 margaritas a piece before it was over. We all ordered lots of yummy food. I did get the 6oz special and my new best friend (moderately sized Dave) said “I didn’t think you were getting a kids meal”. We get to the hotel and had to do our own laundry and it cost us 4 quarters and it’s hanging all over the place. I came back up from the laundry room and 3 of our teammates were missing. I had a nighttime reading of our wonderful blog to the remaining teammates. Then the other 3 came in and told us that the ocean felt great! Can you believe it? That was after they sat in the hot tub.  Note to self: pack suit in 2009. We are having a great time. P3C3 team: thanks for doing what you are doing. I miss seeing the folks from team 1 and 5. Susannah, it was so great talking to you today. You guys are on the road now…it’s 1:29 SC time…I need to go to sleep. The rest of my team already has. I’m sure they are dreaming of our first ride in the dark tomorrow. I think we are slated to be in Louisianna.

Thanks for all of the mail on the blog. It has given us such motivation, inspiration and joy. Thanks for taking the time to read my long entry!

Goodnight,

Jennifer

And is team 3 short a rider, because they can’t find Dennis.

We finally made it to a hotel where we will be staying longer than 5 hours, more expensive because we are paying for the whole night rather than the hourly rate – 4 1/2 hours last night didn’t quite cut it.  Just a long nap in our books.

So backtracking, yesterdays ride started in Hartwell and we rode south to Athens.  Along the way we passed some interesting sites, among the most memorable was the rode kill.  first was the bloated cow carcass, a lovely specimen, but needed some help from Renee to loosen up….

Next was the headless dear, luckily on the opposite side of the road, and lastly the unlucky and obviously slow, red fox – poor guy…..

We’d like to thank Ronnie J for routing us on the Athens by-pass, who knew the indy 500 was in Ga???

Got to Dothan Ga (aka Duluth Mn) at 11 pm and asked for a 4:30am wake up call, why was the manager giggling when he called to wake us?  Thanks to our hotel manager (Quality Inn) who gave us a great rate, woke us up on time, had our breakfast ready to go, and was just very helpful.

By 5am, we tried to go to the waffle house – who knew they ever cleaned their grills – at 5 they were about to re-season them!!  So Micky D’s had to suffice, even though it was against Rick’s code of ethics.  By the time we made it to transition almost an hour late (after backtracking 50 miles) Kristen had already consumed over 1000 cal’s – which is why she pulled for 4 hours straight – you go girl!

A beatiful ride was had by all, great weather, roads and team mates,

A few special notes:  The staff at Chili’s in Conyers Ga, was so supportive and bought many magnets and came out to the parking lot to pose for a picture with the van.

The two ladies who passed the convoy today cheering for us even though we delayed them consideraby.

The final leg of todays ride across the florida border was ridden together with team 3 – we made a powerful statement with our sea of P3C3 jerseys!

Finally, because we are Renee’s favorite team (really, have you not seen her van?) we would like to give a special thanks to her and her crew – their talents and commitment are much appreciated (we appreciate those daily massages)

Also thanks to Renee, our van was filled with the lovely wafting aroma of biofreeze – great for clearing the sinuses…..

More to come, if we ever get to stop again…… and pictures too, if we ever get enough energy to walk the three flights of stairs down to the van for the camera….

We stayed the night at the Fairfield Inn and Suites.  They allowed us an early check-in and gave us the warmest welcome.  We know that cancer affects many people, and we were reminded of this fact again this morning. Two of the ladies who greeted us have mothers who are either battling cancer or have recently passed away.  We gave them all LIVESTRONG bracelets and added their mother’s names to the outside of our van.  We will post a picture of our van later. 

In about an hour, we will reload our bikes, bags and selves in the van and head to the transition point for tonight’s ride.  We are riding from midnight to 6am. Tom says we are “working the late shift”.  Riding at night is a new experience.  The bus is always behind us and we each have lights on our bikes.  We are ready for the cold- we shopped at Revolution 120 today.  Kerrie, Crystal and Susannah all purchased toe covers.  Our plan is to drive to Lake Charles after we finish in the morning.  We will update you on our progress.  Thanks for following us.  Laurens

Rob called his firend Mark Harris who is a contemporary recording artist and he took us to a late lunch. It was at this restaurant called Wintzell’s. It is a local seafood franchise that is fantastic. Mark introduced us to the owner who was great to talk with about our cause, and he is a big supporter of St Judes children’s hospital. He even gave us all T-shirts for visiting his restaurant. It was awesome! Mark Harris just performed at Fall for greenville just over a week ago.  It has been really cool to meet these people that support our ride.  I have been amazed by the hospitality that people have shown us on this trip.  

Tommorow morning we will be rolling out of the hotel at 4:30 to catch team 5. They reminded us today that it is mullet Monday!

It sounds like we are progressing fairly close to schedule. If it is off then only by a few miles and most likely is related to traffic down here on the coast. The teams should be out of Mobile AL tommorow and into Mississippi.

Livestrong! 

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

Susannah

Let me start from the sendoff @ GHS Sunday morning. It was so wonderful to see so many friends and family members to see us off on our journey! We left @ 9am on our bikes, rode about 3 miles, then got into our sag vans. First stop, Panera Bread on Augusta Rd for coffee and bagel. I’ve come to the conclusion that this trip will make me very hungry!!! My teammates have renamed me Kerrie “I’m so hungry” Sijon!

Then on to Atlanta for lunch @ On the Border (one of my favorite restarants) besides Panera! Our plan was to get to our bike transition area (somewhere around Columbus, Ga), get a hotal room, and rest before our 9pm to midnight ride. Those plans fell through (we are learning to adjust to plans as we go) . We decided to hang out at the Ga. welcome ctr and chill in the van before heading to transition area. Crystal, our IT professional, was able to access the internet in the parking lot so I wrote my first blog there. She was patient with me, insisting on typing my part for me! If any of you know me, you know I can’t type. I refused to let her do my work for me. I know my children would be so proud of me if they could see me doing it all by myself.

We decided not to eat a meal before the ride so we snacked. Thank you, Julie Spitzer for all the homemade goodies! They are yummy!

Now, on to The Rock, GA for the transition spot. We started at the local post office parking lot. The weather was quite chilly, low 50′s to start. I really thought I was prepared for the cold. I was mistaken. My hands and feet were frostbitten by the time we were finished at midnight. Today, I am heading to the local bikeshop to buy toe warmers. fleece gloves and wool socks. We have the midnight to 6am ride tonight. I will be properly layered. The ride itself was beautiful and quiet. The road was smooth, a bit hilly, but not too bad. The stars and moon were bright and the air still. Our team did awesome staying together. We talked the entire time like we were sitting around the kitchen table. Laurens, our seasoned team member, took control of the team and was so awesome. She’s the best. I have learned so much from her and she is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. God put her on our team for a reason. A cancer survivor herself, she displays true grit and tenacity. Our leader, without a doubt. Before we realized it, midnight had struck and we were finished. Our spot was another local post office, this time in Woodland, Ga. I was so glad to get into that warm van. Temp. at the finish–44. COLD!!!!!

After riding we decided to head straight to Mobile, AL. Waffle House, then Alabama. First things first! Crystal took the wheel @ 145 am for the 4 hr leg to Mobile. I was the navigator/singing partner since all the rest of the team was sound asleep. We had great CDs. Christi Craft, it reminded me of spinning class! It was long and hard but Crystal did great and got us safely to Mobile by 6am. Our hotel room was not ready yet so we hung out at Denny’s and ate yummy food again. Then, finally to bed for the first time since leaving Greenville. We plan to relax, shop, maybe see the ocean while we’re here before the midnight shift.

We have laughed so much much on this trip, like we’re little children. But we never stop talking about why we are doing this. It’s not about the bike. It’s the message we are trying to spread, one person at a time, one Waffle House at a time. We are handing Livestrong bracelets and car magnets to all those who will listen. People have been so kind to us. We are lucky to see such human kindness. Please continue to pray for us. We can definitely feel the love.

We love reading your blogs too. Keep up the good work!

Until the next entry,

Kerrie

The details: The midnight shift started a little frantic, we were able to get out on a fairly timely manner and it was cold. It was about 45 degrees and a little cross wind heading out of Woodland GA. We rode down highway 41 for a lot of miles (about 45 or so) and then tuned down a side road to cut over to highway 27. This was the roughest road of the whole trip for us so far. The other roads have been fantastic up until this point. The thing we noticed was the hills started to get longer and steeper. On 27 the hills got steeper and longer and we ran through a series of about 20-25 of these hills, you go up (out of the saddle) and then go down (seems like 1/2 mile to a mile from peak to peak with them getting longer as we started up 27). I asked the driver John how far to the next turn and his reply was about 3 miles. I must have misunderstood him because it was close to 30 mile before this road ended. We pulled into a gas station and found out our transition was about 3 miles away. Yeah right, about 6 miles later we finally found them, we transitioned at about 6:35 this morning. 92 miles later!

A few tidbits, our climbing in the last hour was 4900 ft, we never thought we would have this much climbing while heading through lower GA getting ready to cross into AL and then FL. We averaged close to 18 mph for the whole ride (6.5 hours). This part of GA was cold this night, about 45 degrees at the start and it dipped to mid 30′s for most of the night. The night was clear and awesome, stars were out and the moon was bright at the start. Waffle house seems to be the restarant of choice the past 2 days, I love my scattered smothered covered and chunked!

On the lighter side, I have noticed that some of my teammates are quite interesting. Jonathan seems to have a fascination with road kill (as does Matt) and he seems to be keeping a count and list of all he sees on the road. He also has put out some one liners that are hilarious, my favorite so far is ” wow, that Hotel has a drive through window, that’s neat” and my second favorite was while riding at 4 am we passed a house and the front window was open, he said “man that guy really needs to shut his curtains when he gets dressed”. Apparently there was a guy standing in front of the window in his skivies trying to get dressed. okay, i guess you had to be there, it was funny! 

This group has been a lot of fun. We are all tired and only 1 day in, our systems are still trying to acclimate to 30+ hours of no sleep but we have done well and still seem to be on track. This is a great bunch of guys to be riding with at 3 in the morning!

We get back to sunlight hours over the next 2 days, I am looking forward to it. I will post team 1 photos as soon as I can get them downloaded. 

LIvestrong

Mike the webdude here: We’re supposed to be able to see where the guys are in real-time (at least every 10 minutes anyway) but we have to reset the tracking device successfully every 24 hours and we’re still figuring that part out. The last point tracked was from 7:30ish this morning, now they are surely in Florida heading towards Pensacola. They’ll be trying to reset the tracker on their next break (Toby knows how to do it, he’s in the saddle right now!) Sorry Everyone!

They were in Geneva AL not far from crossing into Florida as of 12:20 PM Monday. Team 3 is in the saddle.

Once we get the GPS device reset I’ll let you know – then you can click here to see where they are.

Thanks Yak!!

We will be leaving in another 1.5 hours to catch the bus and sattle up for the next leg, i am dreading riding from 12 am to 6 am but it will be a true adventure and challenge. I am already preparing to tell the team that we will have a WH policy ofmaking a stop for coffee anytime we pass one (WH= Waffle House if you didn’t understand).  Weather tonight is to be in the high 30′s so we will be bundling up and trying to stay warm.

Right now the Red Sox are playing. Go BOSOX! Matt is excited as they have started well but are now in the 3rd inning.

I will quit rambling but taking off from the Hospital this morning was awesome. Lots of excited people and lots of positive energy. We need all we can get. Still a long way to go but the adventure has started and everything is going well.

Livestrong

Susan, sleep well tonight and give Trey a big hug for me in the morning!

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

Enter Ron Jerina. A close running buddy who’s more like a brother to me. The day he came back from Austin in 2007, his mind was filled with stories of his and Jennifer’s weekend. You see, he raised so much money for P3 in September 2007 he won a trip to Austin. He said the trip was not about running a 5k or The Ride for the Roses with Lance Armstrong. It was about the people he met. The cancer survivors and those there in honor/memory of their loved ones. He was so filled with emotion. During the Austin weekend he met a group of cyclists who rode their bikes from Calgary to Austin. Ron’s dad died of bladder cancer and he wanted to do something big to honor his dad. The idea came about to take a group from Greenville and ride to Austin. That was November 2007. All our conversations took place while running early in the morning. He asked me what I thought. When he asked, without thinking, I said yes. Now, remember, I am afraid of the bike and rarely ever ride. Go to January 2008, our first official Challenge to Conquer Cancer meeting. Here we go. Start training. Go to Donaldson Center and ride laps, learn gears and spend time on the saddle. Ron puts together teams. We start meeting at Mauldin Middle School for longer rides. Don’t forget the fundraising. I am so lucky to report most of my money was raised in the first month. I am so thankful for the generosity of my friends and family.

Now, why cycling? The reason is the Challenge to Conquer Cancer. It is about the ride, technically, but not really. The bike is the instrument but the heart and soul is the reason. On our team of four women, two are cancer survivors. All of us our affected in some way by this disease. We want to spread the word.

I still love running, but I’m starting to like cycling. This journey is my way of making a difference. On to Austin, one pedal stroke at a time. Please continue to pray for a safe passage and, one day, a cure for cancer.

Kerrie

Team 1 has finished their first leg and team 2 is now on the road. Team 3 and team 4 are in route to their transition points.  Team 5 transitions with Team 4 at 9 p.m tonight near Columbus, GA.

Team 4 (my team) has already encountered many supporters.  We stopped to eat breakfast at the IHOP in Anderson.  When we explained who we were (hard to miss us)  the General Manager, a cancer survivor, gave us coupons for IHOP to use along the way.  In the parking lot at IHOP, we sold magnets to inquiring patrons.  They were so happy to be able to write a name on a magnet that we will take with us to Austin.

Today was the first time I met Chasse.  She is the only woman on our team.  She is a breast cancer survivor.  She began riding a bike in 2002 after her breast cancer treatments.  Chasse is a physician at AnMed Health. She and I are going to get along just fine.  Her spirit is unbelievable and her determination is inspiring.  She is truly a delightful woman. I can’t wait to learn more about the cyclists on our team and why they are here.

I have a reprieve from driving at the moment.  Michael Clapp, the other support driver who will be driving the bus during the team’s cycling segment is in the car with us now.  It is close quarters in the van, so Chasse and I were sent to the back since we were smaller.  There 7 adults plus 7 bags, helmets, shoes and bikes on the top of the van.  Again, I will mention that we have index card size magnets splattered all over the car with names of cancer survivors and cancer victims.  Don’t forget the logos on the van too!  We can’t be missed!

So, that is the first report from the road.  We are headed to Columbus GA where our cycling segment will begin at 9 p.m. tonight.

I must say I’m proud to be associated with this group. There is A LOT of hard work that goes into making something like this happen. Thanks to everyone on the team, especially Ron and Jennifer Jerina, Kevin and Sally Dunn, and everyone else that put in their time and efforts to make this event happen.

If anyone would like to send our riders or support crew a message, I will be posting messages on the Messages To The Team page. Email me your message and I’ll post it for them to see when they log on every day. I’m sure it’ll help lift them up on their journey.

The raffle drawing for the Lightspeed Sienna bicycle took place this morning at the Greenville Memorial Hospital minutes before the team hit the road to Austin. The lucky winner is… (drumroll)

Missy Johnson!!

Congratulations Missy and thanks for everyone’s support!

Friday, we had a great turnout for setting up the vehicles and the bus. I don’t know who all helped out as many drove to Atlanta and back to pick up vans but there was a nice size group. After the van’s were picked up, we were able to get the roof racks installed and get the decals and magnets placed on the vehicles. The bus was another story. It seems like the bus is an enternal work in progress. We now have a bench seat in place with new coverings (and good storage underneath), and now we have an area designed to hold the water jugs and the coffee pot is to be delivered soon.  The only downspot of the day was the radio died on us so we are now concerned about 1555 miles of no entertainment (unless of course you consider Matt tebetts pranks entertaining, which they definitely will be (watch out team 5!!!). 

Saturday, Big Joe and I had breakfast, Matt Tebbetts joined us at Tommy’s Ham House. Then to the shop to work on the bus and get the radio operational. I must thank Justin (sorry but I don’t know your last name) for helping us get the radio working, it was as simple as resetting the system which is now working without issues. Thankfully, the support crews will be able to rest and relax with music and possibly some good movie entertainment even though their choices will be limited to guy movies that I have packed (hopefully others will pack a movie or 2 to help).  We also got some new lights installed today (Thanks to Tommy Satterfield with that help, amongst all of the other things he has done to help out with the bus). Finally, the support gear has been fully loaded along with a few pictures that I put in to give a suttle reminder as why I am riding.

Saturday night, pack the bags, go out with my wife for dinner and spoke with my little boy who is at the beach. I will be going 12 days without seeing my little boy. Sacrifices for good causes though I think Susan needs us to terrorize her on a regular basis (it’s part of her sanity!).

Tommorow morning, bright and early, I will be at breakfast at 6:15 and ready to pack the bus at 7:30 and riding at 9pm.  I will be trying to post on a daily basis. I think I owe this to everyone who has supported this cause. I believe in it and i watch Susan live it though we all live it with her. IT’s all about attitude!

Livestrong

How, one might ask, does one become a crew member on a ride such as this? For me it was a simple matter of the stars and planets falling into perfect alignment. On Labor Day weekend, I traveled to Greenville with my sons, Thomas (7) and Charlie (2) to watch the U.S. Professional Cycling Championships. On the morning of the road race, there is a ride called the Stars and Stripes Challenge, which also benefits the same two above organizations fighting cancer. We had planned to ride but my son Thomas crashed and broke his arm while riding his bike two weeks earlier. So instead of riding, the three of us volunteered to be course marshals at the only sharp left hand turn on the ride. It was a good experience and a fine introduction for my boys into the world of volunteering. Two weeks later, I received an urgent e-mail from the Palmetto Peloton Project, the sponsoring organizations for both rides, looking for a few last minute crew team volunteers. It seems that a couple of volunteers had dropped out at the last minute leaving them short-handed. I was already planning a 4 day cycling vacation that week. How hard would it be to do this instead and be gone for 8 days? My mother-in-law was coming that week for the boys’ birthdays and I wouldn’t therefore be leaving Janet home alone with the kids for 8 days. Janet said yes and the tallest hurdle was cleared. I thought about it for about 2 minutes, couldn’t find a reason why I couldn’t or shouldn’t go and called Kevin Dunn to tell him I was ready to sign up. Needless to say he seemed pleased.

So on a practical level, all the lights were green to join the challenge. On an emotional or spiritual level, it seemed as if I was being called to participate. The events in my life and those close to me provided a strong motivation to join an organized effort to conquer cancer. Let me try to explain a little further.

When I was 29 years old I lost my mother to liver cancer. I had just returned from my honeymoon with my wife Linda and we learned that my mother had to cut her trip to Maine with my father short due to intense abdominal pain. They flew back to Atlanta where she received the diagnosis of liver cancer at Piedmont Hospital. This was a woman who hardly drank, ate very healthy and started doing yoga in the 70′s. She would later travel to the Mayo Clinic for surgery that offered some hope. She never recovered from the surgery and died one month later on September 11, 1986. It was a loss that our family wasn’t prepared for and our family would never be the same without her. To this day we all miss her greatly.

Fast forward to 2008, twenty two years later. Linda and I have been divorced since 1994. We have a beautiful daughter, Mimms (20), who was named for my mother who she never met. She inherited her incredible artistic talent from her though. Mimms is a junior at UGA majoring in graphic design in the art school. The week Mimms finished her Spring semester at UGA, she found out her mother, Linda, has Stage IV breast cancer. This is hardly the news my daughter wanted halfway through college. Before her diagnosis, Linda made some major life changes to prepare for the next chapter in her life. Her children were all grown so she sold the house we lived in and Mimms was born in to move to a smaller townhouse in a co-housing community in East Lake. She quit her job and went back to school to receive training for a new career. She is one of the healthiest persons I know. She has been a long-time vegetarian, she eats mostly organic food and she tries to avoid sugar. Her beverage of choice is water or herbal tea. How or why she developed breast cancer I do not know or understand.

But she has it and she is trying her best to get healed from it. She had chemotherapy early on. In August, she had a mastectomy. After that she underwent radiation therapy and an alternative vitamin therapy. Her spirit is strong and she is fighting the disease as best she can. We all are praying and hoping that she can be healed. It is a tough battle but if anyone can win it Linda can.

So when the Palmetto Peloton Project e-mailed and asked me if I could help try to conquer cancer, I couldn’t say no. I want Linda to live longer. I want my daughter to have her mother with her as long as possible. I want to help raise money so that a cure for cancer can one day be found. I can’t think of a better reason to drive a bus 15 miles an hour for 6 hours while 4 strong beautiful women ride their bikes towards Austin. I am looking forward to an incredible week. I will try to keep you posted on the challenge.

Dennis’ bike is fixed, Kristen had her wrist checked out and it is swollen and sore but not broken, John is inspecting his new Rock Racing outfit again to make sure he didn’t put any holes in it and I now know what 2 + 2 equals and am hobbling around with a swollen knee but doing good.  Planning to ride in the AM and see how the body does.

These little bumps in the road are what makes the journey we are on so memorable.  Thank God we are all OK and are able to continue.  It is great getting to know all involved and I look forward to making a difference in this battle against cancer with you.

LiveSTRONG!

Blessings,

Jeni

It started from the parking lot at Donaldson again tonight, everyone…(all 5 of the brave souls….bless their little hearts) were ready to ride!!! Soooooooo, with everyone doning rain gear, even though it had stopped, we took off. Riders included Kristen, Rene, Dennis, John, and Ron J. They looked so sharp. Should have seen John Harris in his ROCK RACING gear. Now……has John been to the doping tent yet to be chequed!? You know, those Rock Racing guys have a rep to maintain. Sorry, sidetracked. So….off they ride, into the wet rainy night. Approximately four miles into the ride there was a detour, (for real), and riders turned right and shortly came to the railroad tracks…Yeah, can’t you just see this one coming. Rene Mc. did a Lance Armstrong and took the lead over the tracks and fishtailed…….what came next……oh boy!!! The following four went down like dominos, on top of each other. I slammed on the brakes, jumped out and ran over to four bodies lying on the wet slick tracks and rail ties. UGH! John, Dennis and Ron just laid there and Kristen was about 5 feet away on her knees, clutching here wrist (of the arm that was just broken) saying I think I broke it. Well, she didn’t. It took a few minutes for everyone to self evaluate. All have bumps and bruises, all will be sore tomorrow, and the next comment that was made once everyone rose from the road was………..(Ron J’s) well, I think I’ve had enough for tonight, let’s go get pizza and beer. Everyone agreed and so after evaluating bikes, correcting dropped chains….Dennis’s bike did not fare so well and has to go to the bike emergency room tomorrow morning, everyone remounted (Dennis in the SUV) and started off for the parking lot. We get part of the way back and I get motioned to turn around because Kristen has dropped her battery for her light. Sooooooooooo, here we go, back to the tracks, in the dark, to attempt to find her black battery pack in the dark. We searched with bikes lights and my headlights, stopping traffice in both directions! WE ROCK!! We all looked for about 10 minutes and decided to call it a night, only to get back to the parking lot, making plans for where to eat and Kristen sez…….HERE’S MY BATTERY PACK! It was hanging off her top tube back by her seat post! What a dork!!!

The pizza was good, conversation funny, and what started out and ended was not so bad. For those of you who HAVE NOT joined at night or have not ridden in the rain, no fear. I learned early on in cycling that there are “Them that have fallen, and them that haven’t”. If you have been riding long enough, you will hit the deck. It is just part of the sport. So have any of you done the bike scooting boogy and received the asphalt rash!

Ride on you “Night Riders”!

Renee’ K-Z

From me, Renee K-Z, I have to say that after SAGGING a number of times with you folks, I feel so honoured that I get to be a part of this event, (jealous that I am not riding), however, I will be rubbing you all so that you will feel better for your next leg. I know for some of you that may sound a bit…..strange, so if you do not know by now, I am your massage therapist for the trip.  SPORTS MASSAGE anyone? Each time I have sagged, I from time to time get a little weapy watching you all ride.  As cyclists, you all know what an absolutely BEAUTIFUL site it is to watch a group cycle.  Last night was NO exception.  Watching the group ride along in the dark was so humbling knowing the reasons behind it was AWESOME!!!  Each of you riding, especially Kevin and Joey S., could have been home with family or doing something else.  Instead, you were out “Working” for the cause. I personally watched as my father pasted away 14 years ago.  He was diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer and a mere short 6 1/2 weeks later, he died.  That’s right, 6 1/2 weeks from his diagnosis at a mere 61 years of age.  SO, that being said, I have a vested interested in this.  Dennis and I signed on in April, when Kevin Dunn (brother-in-law of Dave Pate, Sally’s brother, Furman grad and track member with Dennis) told us about this event.  We did not even hesitate to say yes.  So here we are and what a great group we are coming to know.  Soooooooooooooo…..God allows you to be present for specific situations and if you are willing, you get to just jump in with both feet and hang on!!!  Whewwwwwwwww!  What a ride this is going to be!  Thanks for allowing me to be your MT (massage therapist) and your SAG.  I am most happy to SAG at any time.

God bless you all!!

R K-Z

At my age, any list of those memorialized or honored is long and distinguished.  My involvement in the Palmetto Peloton Project and now the Challenge to Conquer Cancer is for each and every one of them and of course you, and your loved ones, our warriors.

I first rode the Palmetto Peloton Project in 2005.  At 66, with an artificial; hip, I opted to do the metric century.  Two-thirds of the way through I was having tire problems and Kevin sent me my personal SAG/mechanic.  Virtually everyone had finished except me.  I was riding a Hy-bird bike at the time and never realized what 62 miles in the northern Greenville hills required. Nevertheless, throughout the ride I repeatedly reminded myself of the pain and suffering that those afflicted with this dreaded disease, had and/or were enduring.  My agony, compared to theirs was insignificant. I continued on. I was the last one through each SAG stop.  My wife had been waiting for me for some time, since I told her I would be finished in about 4 1/2 hours.  At one point Kevin asked her if she was sure that I was “all right out there”. My wife, June,  romantically responded by saying “He’s either going to finish or die out there. He’ll never quit”. She was absolutely correct. I would never quit because of those, on whose behalf, I was riding.   Everything had been packed up except a couple of chicken sandwiches and a few bottles of water, saved for me.  Six and on-half hours later I came rolling in to the cheers of my wife and Lisa . As they say, “It’s not how fast you ran but that you finished the race”   I can’t  explain the exhiliration I felt coming down Broad St. knowing that what I had just accomplished was not for me but for everyone that I honored and memorialized.

I’ve continued to be an integral part of this cause and this year has been no different. Unfortunately each year my list requires that many, who I honored, have to be memorialized and new names have to be added to my list of honorees.

This year for example we lost three who had been previous honorees. One was very dear friend and past neighbor. We intended to visit her in Schenectady, NY, on our recent vacation.  Unfortunately she passed two days before we arrived. Her son currently lives in Houston and will be joing us for the Livestrong Challenge, in Austin,  on Sunday, October 25th.

Once again my sincere appreciation to all of you that organize, support and participate in this worthwhile cause.  I also extend my heartfelt respect and admiration for all of you that have battled this dreaded disease. I’m confident that ultimately, God will have a special treat for you.

I’m honored and humbled to share this Ride to Austin’s preparation and experience with each of you. I look forward to the continuation of our friendship and mutually rewarding relationship.

Sincerely:   Joe Julian

Our children go to school together, and there are four families at the school involved with the P3C3.  With approval from the principal, we are hosting a LiveStrong Day at the school.  In the weeks before the day, we are selling yellow wristbands and taking donations.  On the day itself, Sept. 26, we will have everyone wear their bands and wear as much yellow as they can.  We will have drawings at lunch for giveaways such as P3 water bottles, LAF stickers, etc.  We are also collecting names of those affected by cancer within our school community (family and friends) and will make a “Chain of Awareness” with names on yellow links, which we will display at the school’s FAll Festival in early October.  Also at the fall festival we will sell yellow bands and P3C3 car magnets.

We are also planning on talking with the children about the LAF, P3C3, and cancer awareness through the guidance or PE classes.

Everyone at the school can participate and support “their” riders and volunteers.

Hope this gets some fundraising ideas flowing.  If you would like a copy of the letter we are sending home, email me and I can send it to you.  You would only need to change the name of the school and the people participating.

Thanks!

Susannah Hogan (Team 5 — the Peloton of Pulchritude — which means “beauty”!  Ha!)

Lots of Dr. visits.  Challenging to say the least.  Stress test ( could have done that At work -seriously), Blood Test, Urine test, GP visit, Dermatologist, Skin Cancer Specialist, Oncologist.  And yes ladies and gents I was even told to take a pregnancy test.  That should have been part of the stress test….. UGH!  what a week.  I managed to build up enough stress after the stress test to push out a 6 mile run on Sat. and 70 miles to Clinton and back.  Sunday I road with another group 30 miles.  Not to bad. I must say I am really not sore at all.  Tired… very tired.  But a good tired.  My Biopsies are sore, but they will be fine.  Healing is always the hardest part for me because, well I can’t slow down.  I can for a day or 2 but that is it. 

I am pleased to see you all have been kickin some tail with these rides.  Hope your tails aren’t too sore.  because OUR tails need to get the money in!!!!  gosh it is so close …. right around the corner. I just spoke with Kevin and he has enough to worry about then us comin in short. So here is your antioxidant chick kickin your rears in gear!  Get movin on the money!  Kevin also said we need 3 drivers.  Keep putting out feelers for these.  Ok. My Rah Rah is over.  Hope to see you all soon.  Trying to work out sitter for this weekend. Would love to ride with you all, but will have to see what the Dr. Says. 

Send Sally some prayers.  Out. for now. Jeni

Toby, Jeff & Dennis (Left) Ray (Right)

Look how great everyone looks in their new jerseys!

Hard workin folks in the consession stands.

Bob & Jen, (left) Cystal & Jeff

“This weekend we are excited to bring 1,000 current and potential leaders to the LIVESTRONG Summit at the Ohio State University. These leaders have been selected from across the country because they care about cancer issues and are willing to champion the cause in their communities. They will be inspired and empowered by renowned keynote speakers and hands-on training sessions, so they can return to their communities with the necessary tools to support the Foundation’s efforts to make cancer a national priority.”

Hopefully, I can stir up some PR for our group and ride!  See you next ride!

(The 6:00am crew…seconds before I fell!)

Then around mile 55, I came to an intersection and was not quite sure what direction to go. I slowed down and was riding in circles while I waited on the group behind me. I’m not sure what my excuse was…but I fell- hard. (again on my right side) I don’t have any scrapes or bruises, I guess I’m a graceful faller and/or I have a little too much “natural” padding. Oh well- ya learn from your mistakes… right?

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

Can you guess who is who?

Something we are going to start doing is taking a collection before each ride for gas money for the sag vehicles.  Please bring a few dollars to throw in the hat.

 Bring plenty of fluids and fuel for the ride.  Sag support, please bring a cooler with ice to keep our goods cool.

 Also, don’t be alarmed if you see Crystal in 2 places at the same time tomorrow.  Her identical, and I mean identical, twin will be joining us tomorrow.

 See you guys tomorrow.

Download the C3 Jersey Design (pdf)