We’re back! … but there are lots of memories. Perhaps this little collection of clips will help keep those memories alive until the next ride. Right now, I just want to enjoy my family!

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!

Well, well.  What a week.  I am sure you will hear lots of that from my fellow P3C3 members!  Yesterday, I cheered for the runners in the 5k..  but today I took up the challenge and rode the LiveStrong Challenge, despite my sore legs and sore butt and sore neck and sore back and sore everything!!!!  No, really my legs felt okay, and my neck was better.  Amazing what ibuprofen can do for you…  anyway, I chose the 65 mile route, figuring that the 95 was simply out of my legs’ reach.  We lined up, and my hopes for a glance of Lance diminished when I realized he and the Ride for the Roses riders were WAY up in front of us.  So I settled down for a really great ride. The weather was excellent, a nice 64 degrees and cloudy skies. We took off and I was able to keep up with some of our awesome P3C3 riders.  I stopped at a couple of Power Stops and suddenly I was alone.  Well, I found out that the others took a – mmmm – incorrect turn, and did the 95 mile route… OUCH !  The others did the 45.  I did catch up a couple of times with other members of our group, and it was fun to see them ride.  I was able to get several great pics of them, and will post them on FLickr whenver I figure out how!!!!!!    Anyway, the course was rough.  I will not ever talk bad about SC roads again!   The roads were rough, gravelly, and fairly hilly, but never too much. 

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 

     We participated in the LiveStrong Challenge bike ride this morning, what a great way to end an incredible surreal week.  We had options of riding 10, 45, 65 or 90 miles today – I had signed up to ride the 65 mile loop but my cramping calves said otherwise, so I rode the 45 mile loop, bringing my total mileage for the week to approx 360 miles!!!!!!!  We apparently rode one of Lance’s training routes with a few rolling hills – no wonder he won the Tour!  I missed Big John and the boys pulling me! 

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

Arrival into Austin was satisfying if not elating..  Austin is a very nice city thus far.  I enjoyed our short trip from our arrival hotel to our host hotel (Embassy Suites). We rode two by two (as you can see by Jon’s video) and were led by two reps of the LAF.  We even had a few people in Austin cheer and clap as we rode past.  I felt very proud representing the P3, Greenville, South Carolina, and Team 4.  We rode into the hotel and had a fabulous celebration of champagne and beer! We toasted the accomplishment, and again shed smiles and tears for the feat.

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, the time has come that I think I am coherent enough to write.  So here goes.  If I start to ramble and babble, I have been doing that for 6 days now so please forgive.   I am still missing so many hours of sleep that I am a little loopy.  Massage therapy is something that I did not start till…..uh…..middle age.  I would never have thought I would be interested in working on a persons feet, gams or gluts, but I have such a passion for helping through massage therapy (especially sports massage) that I surprised myself at how much and how long I was able to keep going on this amazing project. I haven’t actually sat down to figure it out, but I think I hit the majority of team transitions and did sports massage.  I wish I could have hit all the transitions.  For me this Ride to Austin in a mommermobile (mini van) has been interesting to say the least, but we (Janet; cancer survivor, Donna; volunteer, and the occasional medic: Reuben or Keith) rock and rolled and at times seemed as if we may go postal on each other.  But somehow, we all wound up in Austin, no thanks to Keith’s stupid GPS!!!!  (Sorry Keith, you know I love you my friend)  I now know why I just don’t care to go any place I can’t figure out by map.  That GPS took us down backroads and places that (I am not joking ), can NOT exist on the planet.  One night while attempting to locate a transition point (I do not even know what day or which team at this point, and maybe I really did not even know then) with Janet driving and per GPS coordinates, we found ourselves on some road, and I say that loosely, that was actually restricted!  NO LIE……Janet saw the sign!  Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that sez, Paddle faster, I hear banjo music…..well I think that it applies here, just not with water craft but with the mommermobil.  Pitch black, there were lights in the crop fields.  Maybe a close encounter was about to happen…..maybe it was Area 51, I don’t know but the three of us, Janet (driver at this time), Donna, and I were getting a little more than concerned, Keith doesn’t even count at this point because it was his GPS that got us there.  All he kept saying was, ”keep going”.  We did see blow up Halloween paraphernalia, Mr. Pumpkinhead and Casper the friendly ghost, along the way.  I don’t even know how we got back on track.  Anyway, that poor ole’ massage table saw some interesting places to be set up for sports massage like Waffle House parking lots at 7:00 a.m., abandoned gas stations….get the point?!  I do not think that I have EVER been so stinking tired in my life.  I really do not even think that I ever got any sleep, just tiny little cat naps and I have never been so honoured to do my part in this thing called the “Challenge to Conquer Cancer”. I worked on some dirty, stinky, sore, cranky cyclists, but I can tell you that when they got off my table, they were smiling.  I have seen some massage hogs in my time, but this was ridiculous.  Those boys and girls just kept on saying, “Can you work on my hamstring…..my butt hurts, can you help my shoulder, what do you think is up with that pain in my quad…..Ouch!  That hurts……my lower back is killing me……What can you do about this pain in my neck………what is going on there!  Oh, the list just goes on and on, but I have had a blast working on you kids.  I even have had two massage virgins on my table during this trip.  Okay, don’t get the wrong idea, that just means that those people have NEVER had massage.  Thanks Rob D. and Crystal M. for trusting me with your owees, (is that a word in the dictionary?). Even Donna (volunteer), and Janet (cancer survivor) got in on the act of learning massage so that we triple teamed some of the cyclists.  Those cyclists were in heaven.  Some of the boys and girls just did not want to get off the table.  Jonathan Pait and Matt Tebbetts (Team 1), you guys are true massage hogs to the max.  Ed Hernando (Team 2) actually fell asleep on my table in Florida somewhere in front of a Beef O’ Brady’s on a very busy street.  Talk about tired!  John Harris was still having issues with his tissues even last night.  The sore, tight, and general achy-all-over list is still growing.  I seem to be still on duty, of my own choosing though.  I just can’t walk by some of the kids without asking them if they need some work.

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!!!!

We had so much love flowing through this site we broke it. I had to administer CPR, and we got er back online. Keep the love coming, too much LOVE is no longer a problem (online that is). Sorry for the inconvenience!

Team 3′s final shift is here.  The 12 midnight to 6am shift that has been dreaded by all.  I love to ride my bike but I was not looking forward to this ride.  It was cold, very windy and a chance of rain.  As we got out of the van and I put all the clothes I had with me on, I was thinking this is going to be a long night.  Our team took off into the darkness and my dread of the ride immediately turned into excitement.  Since we were the only crazies out on the road at that hour we road side by side and had the opportunity to talk more than usual.  We all went around and told the story of why we are doing this ride and how we got involved.  We told stories of our college days, our families and life.  The wind was very strong and a few gusts sent Beth sideways instead of forward.  It started raining but it was a sideways rain so only one half of my body got wet.  It did not rain for long, just enough to cool us down a little more.  The roads were much better than the day before.  As we were riding under a canopy of trees and bird started making noises.  It scared Beth and she said pedal faster there is a monky in the tree.  As usual she made me laugh.  As the night wore on and we took turns pulling, we started dedicating each pull to someone touched by cancer.  As you would come off from pulling you would say, this next pull is in memory of… or in honor of…  We would ride for our dads,moms, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles and friends.  Doing this kept us focused on why we are doing this ride. 

 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…

This is my first post since the ride started 5 days ago but will not be the last because there are so many amazing emotions and stories to share. First of all, I want to say thanks to all of the support people (drivers, medical, mechanics and especially the massage therapist (my wife)) who “rolled with the punches”, of crazy schedules, ridiculous conditions, changing routes and all the other issues that threatened to derail our quest. They were and are incredible and deserve all the praise they get. The next thank you goes to my teammates on Team 3 – you folks were a real joy to ride with and to live with over the last several days. Ron for doing a wonderful job of keeping the entire trip on track (and Jen for keeping Ron on track) and for being our leader on the road; Beth for being so steady on the bike, leading the paceline so often and for keeping us laughing on the van; Toby for being a great team player, for enduring a very painful shoulder without complaint, for being our communication link to the bus and a great “roomie” to boot; Rene for her inspiration to us all (not only is she’s our team cancer survivor but she rode 2 legs on day 5 to finish the day with 150 miles!), her  wonderful attitude and of course, her artful handling of our team “bling”; to Stacy, our team driver, for doing a fabulous job of getting us where we needed to be on time, every time, and for being our chief negotiator in the places we stayed and ate in getting us the best deals; and of course, to Jen for making sure none of the details were overlooked, and for keeping a wonderful outlook (on very little sleep) as the interaction between riders and traffic sometimes scared her out of her wits.

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!!!