Yesterday I crashed… and it was only 10 miles into our ride… it was painful, I was royally pissed (not very awesome of me) and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to ride today.  I woke up this morning in a place that is like home to me… raised my arm and shouted to Bo, “Look… Look… I can lift my arm!”  Well… I did it once… it hurt… really bad but only broken legs and arms were going to keep me off my bike today (or a missing bike…).

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!

Bo here posting as Nikki in the hopes that some of you will actually read this if you don’t know it’s me. Team Awesome is holed up in Tupelo, MS for the night, trying to stay up late so we can be on a good schedule for tomorrow’s 6-midnight shift.

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!

Ron and team yellow here.  We just came off our 6pm – 12am shift.  Weather was much better than last night but it was still cold.  We transitioned with Team Green in Columbia, TN after they turbo’ed it on their shift.  It was sunny and 64 when we left and within an hour the temperature seemed to have dropped 20 degrees.  We pulled over and put more layers on and took off into the darkness.  It was a little hilly the first couple of hours then we hit the Natchez Trace Trail where the road turned into a cyclists dream.  It has been freshly paved and was as smooth as glass.  No wind just us and the trees, animals and stars.  It was a great ride because we were in no hurry tonight.  We enjoyed each others company and because there was no traffic on this road, we were able to talk a lot.  With about 1-1/2 hours left in our shift we had Team White pass us cheering us on and how can I make this family friendly…we had a full moon go screaming past us.  Not just once, it turned around and came by again.  It was the fullest moon I think I ever saw.  It was difficult identifying the orbiting body but we finally did.  After recovering from the moon sighting on a new moon night, we had fun talking back and forth with the bus doing movie quotes and singing songs.  You have to do something when you are on a road that has nothing on it but trees and fields and it’s the middle of the night.  We pulled in the transition spot hearing the loud cheers from Team White, packed and racked and are on our way to a hotel in Corinth, MS.

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.

Well the polka dot team is resting tonight. It has been a long cold day but we are ready for a warm great ride tomorrow. Looks like it will be close to 70 when the polka dot team rides out.
I cant tell you how much I love doing this ride. This is such an amazing experience. I love coming in to transition and finding out how the other team faired. And they are always so happy to either see us or maybe just happy to be off the bike. I will take the one that sounds best… happy to see us. Then as we come in the other team is cheering and doing the same thing for us. LOVE to hear those HOLLAS!
To keep the team spirit alive the Polka Dot Team has been polka dottaying the cars…. Polka dot here…Polka dot there…. Polka dot you every where!!! We have managed to get the Yellow team, the Massage crew, and Green team. You never know what kinda of polka dot you will get… So far the Yellow has recieved ribbons on the door….Massage crew…. you must take care of them they got a ribbon and polka dot cookies…. the Green team got dotted with stickers on their cute faces and hmmmm do i smell another dottay brewing??? who will we strike next… Stay tuned and we will keep you posted.
Getting back to the business… Riding… Being strong… Honoring….Remembering…. the cold air we went throught today, I was kindly reminded that it is nothing like a day of chemo. So Off we ride into the the high noon sun (dont worry mom I will be covered up well) to the break of dawn we come…. 6 pm we stop. Or goal will be to make it to 100 miles to try to make up the distance we lost today. Hey teams… have you hugged your drivers lately? what about those fellas in the bus behind you… dont just show them your tail. Give em a hug. they need it.
Love to all…. BE SAFE…. remember….we are all in this together. XXxxOOoo Jeni Shu, polka dottay!

This is team Awesome coming to you live from Sunny Chattanooga where I got us “da Phat” hook-up with da-Doubletree (where I lived for nearly 10 months in the past 2 years).  Eating a nomalicious breakfast and getting ready to take on a new day.  Looking forward to it… Yesterday however was a whole different story…

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.

It’s the yellow team here- We are in Seneca headed for our transition point. We are well fueled after our dinner at Mellow Mushroom. We tried to have a Fat Tire Beer, but Anderson doesn’t serve alcohol on Sunday.

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!

Today was a pretty fun day. I took the day off from work to help with the van shuttle. Seven of us went down to Atlanta to pick up the vans this morning and many people showed up to help out with final prep of the vans.
It was a long day, but very fun. I was able to get to know my fellow riders and support people a little better on the ride down.
The excitement in the air was thick as we got the vans ready for departure. Stickers on the vans to identify team names, magnets in remembrance of those who are gone from us and of those who are survivors and installation of roof racks.
Putting the magnets on the vans really brought home the reason why we are doing this thing. Seeing the names of those people who are remembered by their loved ones was really incredible. I brought home some magnets so I can remember those people for whom I ride as well.  I’ll post them on the Team Polka Dot van on Sunday.
Everyone was a little wired because of the taper, but the energy was just incredible. This is going to be a great adventure, and yes, we are ready.

jd – team polka dot

Yes, I can honestly say that I am not in the best shape. I have a nagging back injury. The cold rainy weather has my joints hurting and to top things off I really do not like to climb (unlike some of the other members of this ride to Austin)> I must ask one question of Mr. Jerina. Who was the person (or idiot) that convinced Ron that we need to ride a few climbs and we need to take a more scenic (Mountainous) route ?
continue reading "2009 Ride to Austin is growing near"

Those medics David P., Reuben H., and Keith H., what troopers you were.  You guys spent more time on your shifts than you were supposed to.  Arthur (I don’t know your last name), our bike mechanic from Great Escape, I think stayed on the bus the whole time…..you are the bomb!  Ric Shepard who was the bus mechanic, did not get to ride his bike much kept that “Special bus” moving.  Especially when thoughts were that it decided to quit somewhere in Texas.  Rick did the job and got that ole’ thing rolling again.  Team drivers, you went far and above your limits, but you kept on going till the very end, you never stopped!  Last but not least to Joey and Big Joe Sullivan for having the “in” to get the bus for our group to use.    Support dedication in sticking with it till we arrived in Austin was “THE BOMB”.  Thank you to the Hincapie clan for helping us out.  You were instrumental in our ability to get to Texas! 

LiveSTRONG  RockON!!!

Renee’ Killian-Zeiger

My last post and then back to the business of my clients at Greenville Therapeutic & Prenatal Massage in Greenville.

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