Everyone knows I love my birthday. Always have. When Chasse was trying to talk me into signing up as support for the Ride to Austin this year, I had all sorts of excuses as to why I couldn’t do it. One was that it was my birthday week and how could I give up all of those opportunities for celebration so that I could lose a lot of sleep, drive 1300 miles, and take care of some crazy cyclists that I never met? Well, something kept telling me that I needed to really consider this thing and whenever I hear that little voice that I always know is God talking to me, I try to listen.  Boy, am I glad I did.

It all started when I went out to the Jerinas lake house in the summer.  I didn’t really know what to expect, but I left there knowing that I had just met some very good, very passionate people.  Every meeting, training ride and event from that time on only confirmed my original impression.  All of those who have known me for long know that I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.  I know that God was at work when Chasse asked me to do this just as He was at work on me when I agreed to do it.   And now, He’s been at work this week as we have made this journey across the country all working together to fight this disease that has plagued all of us in one way or another.

When Team Yellow arrived this morning, it was an incredible moment in time.  We were all so emotional and all I could think is that I’ve known most of these people for less than 6 months (and some much less than that) and yet I’m standing here crying with them, hugging them and loving them.  It’s amazing what can happen when people come together for a common cause.  It’s obviously what I needed to learn for my 43rd birthday and I’m so thankful for the lesson.  God, once again, thanks, I got it.

Lars, the Towel Boy here…logged on as Renee. This is my first chance to post ’cause it’s my first opportunity to gather my thoughts in front of a computer. Having been one of the riders last year, I knew what an awesome experience it was to spend so much time on one of those little bike seats with some amazing people. This year, I switched to the other side of the fence to participate as a support person, to help my wife Renee provide sports massage to the riders when they finished their legs of the journey. Well, let me be perfectly clear up front – I’ll take riding the bike any day! I have so much greater respect for the support staff for all the behind the scenes things they do to make this event so successful. From the van drivers and team “parents” (Sally, Dawn, Betsy, Loren, Jen, Anne, Jessica, Kim, Mike and Don) to the medics (Reuben and Keith), the mechanics (Arthur and Bob) and the massage therapist (yes, you dear), they work tirelessly to make sure the teams are where they need to be when they need to be there, line up places to stay, coordinate logistics with the other vehicles, find places to eat, etc., etc., etc. My heartfelt “THANKS” to all of you for all you do!! You’ve heard a lot from and about the riders themselves and I certainly don’t mean to slight what they endure – and the riding conditions this year were much more challenging than last year – but, guys, can I pleeeeze have a spot on one of the riding teams next year ’cause this support stuff is way too hard!!!

Dennis

How can I sum up this experience? All week we have slept very little, drove hours to transitions points, and then geared up for our six hour shifts. Funny how the hours of being upside down were filled with so much laughter, hugs, and memories I will carry with me long after I get home.

Today’s ride greeted us with rain…lots of it. We started in the dark and looked forward to our first ride in the light. Not even 2 hours into the ride I was bonking and with that all of this weeks emotions flowed out and could not be stopped. I cried.. a lot… as I thought about all of those that helped make this possible. I did not want to let anyone down and just like that Joey and Ron pulled me back in and with their love and support I pushed forward.  Having Laurens join us brought the tears back.  I love this girl I love that she is such a fighter.  It was Laurens that brought me to this group of amazing people..now family.

This is what our team was like all week. If any one was suffering or needed an extra hug we just knew to do it. Anne and Jennifer were amazing and I know without a doubt that we could not have done this without them. Tedd (double D), Ron (karaoke king), Beth (queen of one-liners), Joey (route master) and Laurens (the slayer)  could not have been a more amazing team to be on.

Today my Aunt passed away from Cancer. As I said in an earlier post she had a “mean cancer” (her words) but she was thrilled to know we are fighting for her and all others that have been touched my this.

Thank you Ron for dreaming something so big and then allowing us all to be a part of it.  You are amazing!!

Relentless Forward Motion.

Robin Blackburn – Team Yellow

So it seems like for the most part everyone else has handled the play by play of the last 24 hours.  A quick recap….peddle…praise Renee….eat…stuff yourself in a a van….cry like a baby.    I am beat but feel great.  It has been an amazing week.  This P3C3 team is amazing.  Sure we have all gotten a bit cranky and there have been some differences of opinion over the last 5 days but I can not think of a better example of team work.  42 People grabbed there bikes hopped in vans and pulled out of the Cancer center in Greenville SC.  We had no idea what was ahead of us and to be honest it didn’t matter.  You don’t get to choose what type or when you fight cancer.  You don’t get to stop if you are uncomfortable.  Resting when there is still a fight to be had isn’t an option.   If our Survivors and Warriors can push through we can too.  True this week was a challenge.  We had to push ourselves beyond our limits, but I promise you there isn’t one person among us that wouldn’t hop right back on the bike and keep rolling if it would help push this fight further. 

It is an honor to wear the P3C3 jersey… It has meant the world to me to ride for Kim….I am grateful to my team for pulling me. 

RJ, Reed and Ridge.. you are very lucky men.  

Tebbets, we missed you and have been thinking about you all week. 

John Cash  Thank you for making this possible for me… you are truely an inspiration.

Tommy  Thank you for the honor of riding for Kim…

Mum,Dad and Leah thanks for believing I could do this.

Jack and Alli I looked at your picture whenever I was tired.  I kept peddling!

Kim and Scottie… thanks for the help on the hills… i love and miss you both.

Nap time!

Kathy

Well everyone has arrived by God’s guidance and grace!!!!!  What a sight to see Laurens leading the Yellow team into the arms of the waiting teams. Tears and pent up emotions flowed and are still flowing………

First thing, word up everyone one for Kim Stancil’s birthday today – everyone send her a message! (I think she will remember this one!)

Ok, for the Pinkly adventures of yesterday:  we had the honor of being the inaugural team crossing into the Texas state line after crossing an approx 1 ½ mile bridge into the state.  After stopping for multiple photos we then had the pleasure of multiple miles of Texas rollers – no wonder Lance won the Tour!  Some people have a personal trainer; I have a personal pacer – thanks Arthur who was always there to pull me back into the group after the lovely rollers.  My tough moment came about 5 hrs into the ride when I started to bonk but remembered our team motto “shut and ride” and that we hoped to go 10 more miles before we took a break! Well, I sucked it up and took a Hammer Gel – big mistake. I spent the next 30 minutes on the bus holding a barf bag – but hey this old girl recovered and finished the ride with the gang hauling at a 20+ mph pace!!!!!

Pink out and on the town!

I am crying my eyes out. The yellow team just pulled into the parking lot at the Hotel just outside of Austin. Laurens was finally able to ride this morning. She is honestly an angel. She rode in first with her head down I could tell it was very emotional for her. Hell we were all crying. I don’t know how she stayed upright on the bike. If it were me I think I would have fallen. We and I mean we are just all moved by cancer. Incase you have no Idea what I am talking about I just finished a ride to Austin Texas on my bike with 39 of the BEST people ever. What ride. Our team rode through snow, frost, mountains, sub zero wind chill, Winds at 25 mph, 2 100mile rides back to back, Rain from Hurricain Rick I mean the kind of rain that hurts…. we swam through roads on our bikes we rode in the dark, we road in the sun and I will do it all over again knowing that I am making a difference for people like Laurens who is beating cancer. She just went through CHEMO and road her bike almost 2 hours to the hotel. She is getting ready to lose her hair and she road her bike 2 hours to the hotel. She is an angel. I will not complain about this ride. I had a love hate relationship with the ride. It was the most wonderful thing I have ever done other then giving birth to my children. It is right up there. Cancer sucks… Yup it does. Cancer moves people to do things they would never imagine doing….on so many different levels. Thank you God. Thank you for the skin you gave me. Thank you for the people that have effected me in ways that only you can show how precious life and friendships are. I will not WILL NOT ever take my body for granted. It is a gift. A gift that should be cherished. Because you never know what the future holds until you allow it.

There was a “tropical storm” that blew into ‘Texas last night…called Team Awesome. 

Our night shift from midnight to 6am started in Huntsville, TX in a light wind and rain, and it would only intensify.  By 3am the rain was blowing in stinging sheets and the wind made holding a straight paceline very difficult.  This was doable, but about 4ish the wind made a dramatic shift from south to north, and like passing through a refrigerated curtain the temperature dropped noticeably, the chill set in, and the rain was pelting us with force from 20 to 30 mph winds.

We soldiered on, with our field general, Jonathan, leading the way.  We quickly learned that an eschelon formation would help us to deflect  the strongest winds, and though new to working with each other, we fell into it like a seasoned team.  Riding with The Green Cycling Machine has been a living, learning experience that I will always cherish.

This ride also started out differently, as we took time during our Prayer Circle to dedicate the day to specific and special people.  I thought of my brother Dave, who survives leukemia and is now also focused on healing other health problems.  I thought of my Dad, taken 24 years ago but never forgotten.  My aunt and uncle, my Mom and younger brother, Chris, and all the friends whose lives have been connected with me through this Herculean effort.

My highest praises to the folks of the P3, especially Ron and Kevin, who I met after only a few days of moving to Greenville, and who opened my eyes and heart to a whole new way of living and contributing to life.

Lovestrong.  Livestrong.

We have arrived in Austin!  We are now heading out the front door of the hotel to welcome the Yellow Team, the finale of the trip that will bring us together for our parade into downtown as the P3C3!

Jerry

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Saturday morning when I was awakened by crying next to me. We were in Austin, TX. We were on a trip that my husband had won for being one of the top P3 Fundraisers. It was in October of 2007. It was a foreign sound to me in that early hour. We had lost his father two years prior (April) to bladder cancer. It was only the THIRD time I had ever heard him cry. He was a pro at keeping things all bottled up. He was always in control and appeared to be fine on the outside. But on this particular morning all of the pain he had kept inside poured out. We both were so angry at cancer but we were meeting such incredible people our perspective changed. We met so many people that weekend that were so passionate about life, it jolted us back in to living ours again. Coming to the LiveStrong Challenge that year put us on a road to recovery that has been quite a ride. It was that night that we sat down with Kim Chrane and Kevin Dunn at a dinner table and starting talking about a relay ride from Greenville to Austin.

I admitted in an earlier post that I didn’t think we would ever find enough folks that would agree to take 8 days off of work, sit on a tiny bike seat for 6 hours, or ride in a vehicle for 1300 miles. Ron, Kevin and Kim KNEW we would.

Our journey here last year was incredible and everyone on it is a part of my heart. This year has proven to be incredible in a new way. It seemed strange to me leaving Greenville this time with some of our teammates from last year waving goodbye to us. I wasn’t sure if we could duplicate the bonding that went on last year, but oh how we have. When you are on a trip of this magnitude, you can’t help but get to know the people on your team. Our team is unique in that we have lots of returning members: Ron, Beth, Laurens, Joey and me. So we all knew a little bit about what to expect on the trip. It didn’t take any time for Tedd, Anne and Robin to blend right in. All the riders have been doing alot of training together and Anne and I are Iron wives together (Louisville 2007) so we have that bond already. The reason the definition of TEAM is on our jersey is because I wanted it there. It is such a key ingredient to this trip. I have been so touched by all of the teams who are posting here. It sounds as if they have had the same experience bonding and gelling as a team as we have.

Our midnight to 6am shift touched my heart in a way I didn’t know possible.  My sweet husband’s voice came over the radio advising the team that they would be dedicating each pull to those for who we ride.  I was in the bus behind them watching as they worked together.  Beth had a dedication where she wanted the team to kiss the sky.  In unison all five riders raised a hand to heaven.  I was both touched and saddened as Joey and Ron named so many family members.  Name after name, sometimes multiple names at a time kept coming over the radio.  Tears welled up and spilled over as I looked at my watch to see that they had been doing this almost THREE hours.  How could these five super- people still be calling out names?  At one point I saw Tedd reach out for Robin’s hand.  My heart swelled up with pride as I watched and listened.  I was in complete awe of my team.  Then they got out of their paceline and were riding side by side.  I instinctively knew what they were doing.  I knew what the next radio transmission would be.  They wanted Laurens to know they felt her riding with them, that they missed her physical presence beside them, how we are in the fight with her.  This ride, this team….I can’t express how honored I am to be here.  Cancer: it’s UGLY, it has broken us, it has ripped people from us, but….it has brought us together.  I feel so blessed to have these people in my life.  And when I say these people, I mean the entire P3C3 family.  I type this as we head to our transition with Green (Awesome) at 6am.  It’s dark again, it’s raining, we are cranking tunes in the car, singing to “It’s A Beautiful Day” and looking forward to seeing the rest of our family when we get to Austin later this morning.   I can’t wait to hug and kiss each and every one of you.

Love to you all,

Jennifer

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

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

This week we have ridden in the dark…Every ride…that tends to skew one’s perspective just a bit…so put on you soft, plush eye covers and ride in the dark with me, the Slayer, 69, Big Ron, Rachel, Scotch Tape, Joey the Goatman and my wife… and see what the darkness has brought to us…..

Night one the darkness brought us cold.  To-the-bone cold that you have read about in the early blogs.  In that darkness we found teamwork and  hard efforts required to stay warm, to perservere and to defeat the cold inside of us and outside of us.  We didn’t do it alone, we did it together, taking turns bearing the brunt of the cold on the front and being thankful to others for providing us with the relief of tucking in at the back, even if just for a few blessed minutes.

Night two brought us the darkness of monotony. Long, straight, dark roads with no signs of forward progress, no signs of life, no signs of light,  like riding your bike on a treadmill in the dark.  But in the darkness of monotony came the light of comraderie!  We had to transform what we had, into what we needed.  So we sang, we quoted movies, told bad jokes (or at least I did), we lifted each other up. And then from an unexpected place, in an unexpected way (no really it was unexpected), help from friends.  Giving us what we needed to make it to the end of that night.

Night three brought us the darkness of pain and loss. This night we honored those who have been taken from us and those who have beaten cancer.  There were tears, lots of tears, and anger, but also glimmers, however brief, of victory and hope. In that darkness we found strength, courage,  honor and purpose inside of ourselves.  We found  we were not alone, we had angels pushing us forward, we had friends and family needing us to fight for them and we had each other to support, encourage and to push us forward.

When I think of this adventure and the view from the darkside, I remember, “There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.”  As you have read this week, there have been a lot of emotions. So let the transformations begin.

Now it is up to all of you reading this take the emotions from these blogs, these riders, this journey… I challenge you to take your emotions, your enthusiasm, your anger and use it to transform the darkness of cancer into the light of a cancer free world. Donate, volunteer, hug a survivor, visit a warrior, pray, ride, run, sell lemonade, walk, it doesn’t matter what you do…just do something.  Because you never know when your actions are the light someone needs to help them out of their darkness. Together we can take the light of love and action and destroy the darkness of cancer….

The emotion of this trip has been transforming for me and for the whole Mellow Yellow team…and tomorrow..well..tomorrow, we see the light and we are excited for what the light brings!!

RideSTRONG into the light!

Team Yellow is within a day of Austin! Last night’s slog through the LA countryside was actually one of the nicest rides I can remember in years. I dreaded the 12 midnight to 6am shift last year and basically thought it would be the same this year. Not so! The temperature was decent and the mood was upbeat. It started up like any other ride segment. You know, get out there, try to stay warm, get your lights going and work your body into the ride rhythm. Except, on this night we did a dedication portion to the ride. As the team rides a paceline, each time you pull to the front of the paceline for your turn, you name a person you know that has been affected by cancer. It sounds like a drill of memory but became a process of thinking about why we were doing this and how many people have created this affect on why we ride.

I started with a cycling friend name Jackie Whitted. He left to early with pancreatic cancer. He was the biggest George Hincapie fan I have ever seen! He was a rider just like us and would probably be there if he could to support this ride today. I went through my family list (Harrington’s, Sullivan’s, cousin’s. aunt’s, uncles, grandparents…..). I put some unusual names out there like the people of Bogalusa LA that have dealt with a blight of cancer due to environmental issues. Paul Newman and musicians. I left my personal reason for the end (and most importantly as it is Susan my wife but I always think of our 5 year old son as he too is part of this battle!). In what seemed like just a little while we were through with nearly 3 hours of our ride, just saying names and making our pulls in the paceline. Quite amazing and truly surreal.

Last year was the first year. Amazing ride but we were all trying something new and had no expectations. This year is way different. Different people, new course, new people we meet on the road that look at us funny and many that are bewildered by the meaning behind this ride until they look at the magnets and realize that they too are surrounded by Cancer. I think this year has been taken to a new level. For this team, it is not about pace, it is not about hurrying to the next point and not about how great we are climbing. It is simply about the cause.

We wrapped up our dedication portion with the group riding side by side as we named our warriors and our current survivors on the ride. I am not sure I personally considered how hard it must be to be in the support vehicles listening over the radios as the names were being called out for hours. It could have well gone on all day and night from Greenville to Austin. It was quite amazing to the see the light on the back of Scott Schuey’s bike as it rode on the support van in front of us for nearly the whole night. That red light was a constant reminder to all of us of why we ride and a person on the list that was there with us that night.

I am leaving to get some dinner, and go to bed early as we have a 3:30 wake up call to get us going to meet our 6 am transition. It should be our last ride of the process of going to Austin. Friday morning the team will ride as one into downtown Austin and enjoy the fruits of our labor. The sleep should come easily enough as we all are tired and are over 24 hours without sleep. I apologize for my rambling but it is hard to put all of these thoughts together in one page.

Austin, here we come! Thank you to all of our supporters, friends and families who understand why we ride! 

Joey Sullivan

Team Yellow

So, I’m a few days late writing an entry, but I’ve had a hard time writing since I spend most of my time behind the wheel of our team car! I figure my teammates appreciate the fact that I’m not typing & driving!  Here I sit in the Hampton Inn & Suite, College Station, TX (whose general manager deserves a super shout-out for giving us the employee rate tonight!) – having been awake for something like 36 hours. I should probably be napping like Tedd, but I just can’t! I guess I’ll get some good sleep tonight, at least until we have to get up for our 6am transition time!

This has been an incredible experience. I’m several days behind and I’m not going to go back and recreate each day for you, especially since you can read about TeamYellow’s adventures in my team members’ entries. I just need to let you know what an honor it is to be a part of this particular team.  It’s amazing how quickly these people become like members of your family.  We’ve known some of the team members for some time now, but have really gotten to know the others and I can’t think of a better team to be on!  TeamYellow ROCKS!!!!!  

There have already been some extremely moving experiences for me.  The first one was when I turned out of the hospital parking lot onto Faris Road and looked at all of the cyclists and support vehicles ahead of me.  It truly was a sight to behold.  How incredible to have this many people making their way from Greenville, SC to Austin, TX raising awareness and money for cancer research.  Everyone is giving up 8 days of their busy lives for this important cause.  It seems that we have all been touched by cancer in some way – many of us, multiple times.  Next comes the times that our team is out on the road and Scott Shuey’s bike is on top of our support vehicle.  Laurens and I have truly felt like Scott was with us.  You’ve probably all read by now thm and at Scott was one of our warriors who lost his battle with cancer just a couple of weeks ago.  We are taking his bike to Austin with us to symbolize that he is with us.  For whatever reason, Laurens & I really felt his presence the night we were driving down the pitch-black Natchez Trace.  We knew that we were taking Scott along for the ride and that was extremely special.  Lastly (at least to this point) was last night’s ride in which TeamYellow members would ride in the front of the paceline for  a few minutes, sharing with the team via radio, a name of someone they were riding in honor of or in memory of right at that moment.  Ron came on the radio at 1:00 and said that we would be doing this for the next hour.  It lasted over 3 hours and we didn’t get to all of the names on our team van.  It was unreal.  Our team has some very special people on it and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

Spending time with Laurens in the van while the riders have been on the ride has been a highlight.  I didn’t really know her when we started this journey, but now…….We can just look at each other and get the giggles.  We have had tons of fun during these many hours in the van and have lots of inside jokes!   When we get to Austin and participate in the 5K/ride this weekend, I’ve added Laurens to my list of why I’m here, as she is currently going through chemo because her cancer came back.  She’s just a great person to be around!

So…we’ll try to catch some zzzz’s here tonight before heading into Austin tomorrow morning.  It’s hard to believe that this part of the journey is almost over.  Now we have the Austin adventure to look forward to for the weekend.  I’ll try to blog again soon!  Thanks so much for supporting us in this really important cause and thanks for following us!

LiveSTRONG!

Anne

To start I need to let you all know I am beat. That being said please pay no attention to the spelling errors and the emotional rambling.
Over the past 24 hours we have had really high highs and some really low lows. We didn’t get much sleep after our midnight to 6am shift and had a lot of miles to cover. I had visions of a comfy hotel bed dancing in my head. Somewhere outside Jackson MS the van started making funny noises and listing to the right. Yup a flat tire… The hopes of sleep were quickly fading. By the grace of God the man who owned the home we ended up in front of (Fisher) let me pee! He directed us to the nearest Walmart and after Milt’s Nascar style tire change we headed out on our donut. Sleep was getting further away. After more than our share of van hours we Landed in Nachez and put are heads down for a couple hours. We got on the road this morning a few minutes behind schedule but the Mellow Yellows didn’t seem to mind. Getting there safe and healthy is a lot more important than a timeline! The morning rush left me.one glove down so I put on my sad face and was quickly rescued once again by the Mellow Yellows. White hit the road in the DAYLIGHT. It took our eyes a bit to adjust to that big bright spot in the skym. Like I said I am tired. My legs are tired and my lung hurts. My dad was going ti FedEx another one down. Keith thought he had spotted the truck but it was UPS and it nearly knocked Judy off he bikem. The road quickly filled with morning traffic and the White team rolled into our (slow) pace line. Milt rocks! I pulled in behind him and he started to pull! Judy lead the way in amazing stylem. We found our grove. It was a great ride. Bob Cramer joined us on the road for the last few miles. It was pretty awesome. Bob is a real humble guy but man can he turn the crank. Much like the Yellow team we rode today with specific people in mind. When my team said that the first hour was for me (or specifically my lung) I was pretty humbled. We also rode for one of our SAG driver’s wife and brother. Carolyn and John. Don is an amazing guy and the love he shows for his family is an inspiration. We are rolling on to Huntsville to enjoy dinner with old family friends (Ted is going to take that as an age joke isn’t he?). I can not wait to get the heck out of this van. Judy and I have been squeezed in the back for a very long time!!!
So to sum it all up…. Today I felt like Lance sitting behind Big George being pulled through the Alps. It may not have been Paris but pulling into the transition today was its own kind of victory.

As one of the medics on this trek down to Texas, my focus has been on the health and safety of the cyclists and working the logistical challenges that accompanies this adventure. Yes, yes; we’re riding on this trip to raise money for cancer research, but I have never had a close family member deal with the battle of fighting this disease. So, my involvement with this cause has never really had deep emotional attachment… until last night.

After a few mishaps on the first day that kept us medics a little busy, all of the riders have been accident-free and have been working together like a team; focused on a goal with a common mission in mind. I have been impressed by the encouragement passed among and between each of the teams, as they pass each other on the road or meet the next team at the next rendezvous point.

The point that was seared into my memory was the two hours last night that the Green Team spent riding in honor, or in memory, of loved ones have dealt with cancer. So many, many names! Just out of these five riders, dozens of names were mentioned and many lives were talked about as each of these cyclists took their turn “pulling” the pace-line. Each name represented an individual, with a family, holding plenty of memories; and some of them were re-lived by the riders as they rode in their name. And those mentioned are only the tip of the iceberg. There are countless people who are fighting this disease that we don’t even know about; families that are changed by the daily struggle of doctor’s visits, medications, and all of the medical bills.

One of the riders on the Green Team said something that really caught my attention. Well, it wasn’t necessarily what he said; it was the pattern of what he said. As all of the cyclists on this team rehearsed the names of family, friends, and even some strangers that they met, this rider kept naming members of his family who had to cope with this disease. Father, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins- all of them diagnosed with some form of cancer. Any person who had this list of family members would be greatly concerned for their own personal health, and their chances of being diagnosed with cancer. And this rider may have that concern. But this man does everything he can to stay in shape, eat right, and then goes the extra mile by raising money to donate to cancer research… but is that enough? Are we all just beating the wind as we work together as a team in this cause?

Then an astonishing thought struck me. While this rider may appear to have all of the hereditary indications of a fatal disease, and one would only think that his days are numbered, we all need to remember that each person’s days will come to an end. It could come in the form of seventeen years of fighting a battle against brain cancer, only to have your body succumb to the disease; of maybe something as sudden as an aneurysm in the brain, or a car accident. The truth remains, we are not guaranteed tomorrow, so we should focus on a cause, on a mission, on a goal, that will remain past our death, and always live each day as if it were our last.

Anyone, and everyone, has been reminded of this truth in what way or another. My heaven-sent reminder came through the family memories of a loving cyclist on a secluded Louisiana road in the middle of the night.

I’m not quite sure what day it is or where I am, but I am finally sure about why I am on this adventure. I didn’t start out the day with a great deal of purpose. It had been a long night. After driving for hours we were so looking forward to some decent sleep before our shift from 6am-noon. In the blink of an eye we saw our opportunity for sleep “drift” away. We had a flat tire in the middle of Nowhere, Mississippi. With skills that a NASCAR pit crew would envy, our guys had the spare on and we were in search of a new tire. We ended up at a Wal-Mart waiting for a new tire. We waited and waited. We finally ended up at a hotel @ 11:30 and slept 4 glorious hours! After a few hours in the van and a few wrong turns we finally found the yellow team at a McDonalds. We were late for our transition, and we were all frustrated and grumpy. I felt bad that we missed our transition time, but Laurens helped me get perspective and reminded me why we were doing this. I needed to hear that. Then, I pulled out my verse of the day (my daughter hid an envelope in my gear bag with a note to take a card with me each time I rode). Today’s verse John 14:27 which ends with “do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” I let go of my frustrations, and we started on our way, and we rode the first hour in honor of our teammate, Kathy, a cancer survivor. Our second hour was in honor of Laurens, whose attitude and strength overwhelm me. Our third hour we rode in the memory of Don’s (one of our support team) wife and brother. He lost them both a few years ago, and he misses them. A lot. Next I chose to ride and pray for the families of Scott Shuey and Dale McDaris. Both were our warriors who recently passed away. In that hour I prayed for strength for their wives and children. I know there are going to be rough days ahead, and I pray they do not forget that there is the promise of good days too. The rest of my ride I reflected on my dad’s life. He left a legacy. I miss him so much. I hate cancer. I hate that cancer stole him from us. I hate seeing my mom’s heart break. She lost her husband and her best friend. But if cancer had not killed him, my fabulous brother Ron would not have given birth to this life altering Challenge to Conquer Cancer. So, now through my dad’s death, hopefully someone else will have a chance to live. So, Laurens was right, it wasn’t about the ride. (Although the ride was great today)!

Good Morningfrom Monroe, LA. What   a great nite of rest. Jeni even said I snored last nite when we finally went to sleep. For the first time in my life, I actually had dark circles under my eyes yesterday am and I have never experienced before. I work a lot of strange hours and can stay up for 40 hours + but the emotions and reasons for this trip take a toll on you in ways you can not believe. Our team is beyond unbelieveable.Everyone is here for everyone else. For being the stranger from Ohio, I feel like a stranger no longer. Compassion, strength, vigilant, focused, humorous, flexible are the attributes of our team. That does not include just the us on the road but our families and friends at home. Sometimes we anticipate getting to a good wifi connection just to see who wrote and supported us along the way. Your comments are what we need for that extra push.  Thank you, thank you, thank you…. As I was watching the weather channel this morning, watching the weather in Texas today, rain? Rain or not, whatever God has in store for us today, we will hurddle like every other obstical that has been placed before us and will overcome!!!! God’s grace will not place anything in front of us that we can not endure. On the wings of Angels we will fly(ride ) today!!

The pink superhero cape has been in 7 states since Sunday….today reaching Austin will make 8. I think people have misunderstood the reason I am wearing the cape. It is not to draw attention to myself as a survivor, it in part is to raise awareness for breast cancer BUT it MAINLY is because of what is says on the back……it says “HEROES FOR HOPE”…..that is what this ride is about! We are bringing hope for those that have suffered, are suffering, and will suffer! If anyone should be wearing super hero capes it is the riders! But then we thought that if they wore capes they may get stuck in the back wheels and they’d strangle..which would NOT be a good thing. JD said that if they were riding fast enough, the cape would be flowing behind and would not present a problem……that spoken from the guy we are calling SuperMan due to his red shoe covers and red vest he unzipped that looked like a cape flapping behind as he rode yesterday!
RIDE ON HEROES!!!!
sally

Good morning from Alexandria, La! After a great ride on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi, a 7 hour ride to La. and my favorite meal from McDonalds-2 double cheeseburgers, 2 fries and a diet coke, and a good night’s sleep I am ready to go!  We have had so much fun. Our support team, Kim and Jessica, have taken such good care of us.  I feel so very pampered! They lead us and we simply follow. Extremely organized with that wonderful southern hospitality. Can’t get any better than that.  Our ages are so varied on our team.  From the late 20′s to the senior years , we are simply people who were placed together. Now, we are friends who laugh and giggle and make fun of each other.  And, we also ride the bike as a very cohesive team.  I’m an add on to this team. Boy, I am so blessed and privileged to have been accepted by the strict approval  regulations of the pink team.  I do know something, however, I better pack far less next year!  They may not let me in the van!!

On to the serious side of the ride to Austin.  We are constantly reminded of why were here by the presence of Scott’s bike, by my teammate Chase and by Lauren’s reoccurence of cancer. It’s not about the bike.  It’s about trying to understand why it happens to those we love and to so many others in our lifetime.  I thank Ron Jerina for his dream of the ride and it becoming bigger than we ever expected.  We are having so much fun but we never forget why we’re here.  Those who are stricken with this terrible disease are much stronger that I could ever attempt to be.  I will try to use their strength on my rides and keep my focus on the reason why we’re cycling to Austin,TX.

Noon to six today.  May rain.  It doesn’t matter. We are joyful.  God is with us and we are happy.

This mornings ride from midnight to 6AM was the hardest ride I have ever done.  It wasn’t because of the amount of miles we rode because miles were not important.  It wasn’t because I should have been sleeping at the time of our ride because I was wide wake.  It wasn’t because of sore, tired legs because my legs felt the best they have felt all week.  It was so hard because of what Team Yellow did.  At the beginning of every short pull, we would celebrate the lives of the ones we lost to cancer and honor those who continue to fight or who have one the battle.  When it was your turn to pull, you would say who we were riding that part of the ride for.  Joey and I would announce on the radio the name and a little story of that person so the van, who was behind us and our support vehicle, who was a little ways up the road ahead of us who that part of the ride was for.   It was a very emotional ride because it took us over 3 hours to complete the names just from our team.  At one point we got out of our paceline and spread out 5 wide and dedicated that section to our teammate Laurens who was not able to ride on her bike but was on the road with us in spirit as she road in the support vehicle.  We also did it later in the ride for Jeni, Chasse, Dustin, Kathy, Sally and Keith all who are survivors and are participating in the ride.

I am so proud to be part of such a great team.  I will never forget the hardest ride of my life.

Our second ride started out again in the early morning hours. Temperatures were warmer than our first session, but it sure felt cold out on the road.

It’s interesting how things progress. On the road you feel for yourself , cold and damp. Then, like a beacon, you look ahead and see Scott’s bike up front leading the way, driving the vision of why we ride. I’m getting to old to worry for me, but I ride for the younger people and their children so that they may see the day where cancer does not exist any longer.

As those thoughts were float through my mind, the sun came out showing its warmth and beauty. Our shillouttes drawn across the fields painted by a master artist inspired the team onward. It was a glorious day.

Disclaimer: This is a long one… but I had to share both parts with you…

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!!

The Green Team’s 6 pm – midnight shift…

-Polka Dot WILL meet and exceed expectations…even if they have a run-in with the law.

-Just when you think nothing else can possibly go wrong with Jerry’s bike…it does.

-Natchez Trace farmers again remind me WHY I’m doing this…(see earlier post)

-It’s awfully lonely in the dark with ZERO radio communication…

-Deer are equal opportunity…they also like to sprint in front of bicycles.

-Jonathan Pait can pull for miles and miles….

-Bo Z. “heads to the barn” around 4.5 hrs in…(ie: starts pickin’ up the pace!)

-Nikki Z. only needs one good arm to ride 100 miles!!

-No turns, flat terrain & very little traffic makes for a kick-ass ride…Green Team knocked out 101 miles in 6 hrs!! 

-The Mississippi River is W-I-D-E!!  Louisiana, the Green Team has arrived!!

-The Yellow Team, even with Ron’s glowey-eyed tights, is a sight for sore legs

Until tomorrow…and the midnight – 6 AM shift!!

1.  The KIA bites… Either that or it is trying to eat Bo and Jerry.

2. The theme from “The Natural” is very dramatic and inspiring when you crank it in the middle of the bayou at mile 70… in fact… right now… somewhere just outside of Natchez, MS some deer is busy carving a bat out of a lightning struck tree trunk with its teeth.

3. If you use the restroom at the rear of the bus… make sure a little old lady isn’t checking her mail.

4. Ice is free to P3 in French Camp, MS…  home of a very special warrior.

5. Bob Jones University is not exclusively Baptist… and I won’t get smited by a lightning bolt if I visit.

6. Jerry knows how to sweet talk the best Burger King burgers you’ve ever had out of Burger King’s finest… even after they have closed for the night.

7.  Polka Dot Team… Breakin the law, breaking the law…. breakin the law.. breaking the law!

8.  Big Joe Sullivans Hot Pink Shorts… Breakin the law, breaking the law…. breakin the law.. breaking the law!

9. 95 miles on the Nantchez Trail.  70 deer, 2 armadillos, 1 snake.  73/95=0.76 critters/mile

10. Reuban is the Obiwan of PB&J… 

11. If you ever need a super hero… call Polka Dot’s Sally.  She’s our hero!

12. Johnathan does tricks… there’s the arm pinwheel back stroke at 30 mph on the downhill, the put your let up on your seat mobile stretch, the low riding litter snag, butt wiggle, and my personal favorite… disco Johnny.

13. Team awesome graced the trace faster than a greased pig with a rocket in high gear tied to its tails flying down an icy roller coaster track tryin’ to get home for supper to its mama!

Well if you haven’t read the blog Wanted… then you must. JD said it very well. No need repeating the wonder Officer “Dork” Maningo who decided to COP and Attitude with the CAUSE. Dude?!! Seriously.
I felt my Daddy today. It was a very emotional day for me. I miss him so much. He was my biggest cheerleader. I think I would have made him so proud today hanging with the BOYS. 106 miles 21.6 MPH. That is flying. He was under my wing. I sang him a sweat song as I looked at Scott Shuey’s Bike ontop of the Van…. Lauren I hope that one day you are able to see the impact that your dad has had on us. I don’t know him… I never knew him… I wrote him a letter, I read your Mom’s blogs and made several comments to your Dad’s. It is not easy. It doesn’t ever get easy losing someone as special as your dad. But I can tell you this… the feeling I had today, can not be replaced. I know my Dad is always with me. In my heart and his Spirit, his Drive and Dedication are things he drove into me. So as we pull into the transitions, and as we all read comments from our friends ( Scott B, Sherry, Joe J., Joe B., Sherry, John H., Yogi, Leah, Sue, Dane, Alan, Tom, Morgan, Nicole, Melissa, John D, John S., and Stan. You all keep us going. You make it enjoyable to ride for people here with us that are fighting and for people who have lost the fight but placed their marks in our hearts.
I am so blessed to have friends and family that understand this mission we are on and the true purpose. I am looking forward to what ever the weather holds for tomorrow. Why… because God has me here for a reason. After 119 surgeries, I know why I am blessed to challenge my body this way. To make a difference for others who cant right now. You know what? I am going to think about 2010. And what the ride will be like next year. Because this year is the BEST!!!

What a beautiful day on the Natchez Trace today.  Team Polka Dot started their shift with a great transition from the Pink team who rocked the trace with a super strong ride.  The weather for today’s ride was perfect and we had help from both Arthur early in the ride and Bob later in the ride. 

The Natchez trace is a very beautiful road and very flat!  Team Polka Dot rocked a strong pace for 88 miles before we got pulled over by a Park Ranger!  It was unbelievable that the P3C3 crew traveled along the Natchez trace for our 88 miles plus the 90 miles covered by Team Pink, plus however many miles covered by Team White before getting enough attention to warrant a stop by the Park service. 

The guy was a nice enough guy, but he started out a little gruff.  I think part of it was because the riders thought he was pulling over the bus, so we (ok, it was really Ed) decided to keep riding.  The Park Ranger had to get on his PA system to tell us to pull over.  It surprised the heck out of Jeni, so she stopped while the rest of us continued to ride on.  By the time the rest of us stopped, He had to yell at Jeni to “Come up here!”. 

First thing he asked was if we had a permit!  A permit?  We don’t need no stinkin’ permit (do we?????).  He was mostly concerned by the fact that we were using both a front and rear support vehicle.  His concern was that we were entering a very high traffic zone and the folks headed in our direction would not be able to pass with the very high volume of traffic that would be making their evening commute along the trace. 

Mr Park Ranger’s first suggestion was that we pull over and stop until the evening commute was over.  Team Polka Dot would not let this happen – that is when we started asking what we could do.  Of course, as riders, we were primarily concerned about keeping the wheels rolling.  He explained to us that we could (against his better judgment) continue riding, but we would have to send the support vehicles forward and leapfrog with them from stop to stop.  There was two pull outs nearby – one at 6 miles and one at 13 miles.

He had stopped us at about 445pm and we were scheduled to hand off to Team Awesome (aka Team Green) at 6pm.  We were hoping that we would be able to get at least 110 miles in during this shift, but he put a bit of a damper on that goal.  We stopped for about 15 minutes dealing with Johnny Law, so we considered the turnoff at 13 miles to be a possible transition area. 

Dawn and the Hincapie Bus rolled to the 13 mile turnoff while Sally drove the van to the 6 mile turnoff.  We had plenty of time left in our shift when we passed Sally, so we continued to rock on towards the 13 mile turnoff. 

Traffic was definitely getting heavy – thankfully most of it in the opposite direction.  This did seem to work against us a little as it did make passing us more difficult for those traveling in our direction.  We picked the pace back up a little because it’s just what we do. 

We pulled into the 13 mile turnoff at about 540pm.  We had a choice it seemed – another 10 miles or another 5 (maybe 6) before the next good opportunity for transition.  10 miles in 20 minutes wasn’t going to happen, so we opted for the 5-6 miles.  We kicked it up again and did our best to make good time to the transition area. 

When we pulled in, we were obviously pleased to see Team Awesome (aka Team Green) getting suited up for their ride.  Team Polka Dot rocked 105 miles along the Natchez trace today. 

With the strong results from each team on the Natchez trace, plus our good showing, we made up some miles to get closer to our planned itinerary.  Seeing Bo’s facebook post, it looks like Team Awesome rocked a century (plus?) as well, so that puts us right back on schedule.  AWESOME!!!

Thanks to Sally and Dawn for all of their excellent Support.  They are really taking care of us as we make this journey.

Bo again impersonating Nikki. We’re coming to you live from the Sappy Lounge of Team Awesome Mobile Headquarters here in lovely scenic Natchez, MS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As I ride in front of my team of riders it makes me cry. I witness ALOT in the rear view mirror as I watch to make sure I am just ahead of them to keep them safe from cars that are passing. A few thoughts……

As we passed thru the dark, wet, fog in the freezing cold on Monday I saw it…..”come on…I will pull you….you stay on my wheel and I will get you there…..don’t give in let me help you….I will come back for you and keep you going…..don’t go to far ahead of us……we will pull you back into the pocket to keep you safe…..if you are shivering we will get your warm….” T-E-A-M……I have been shown over and over in the past 2 days what that REALLY means! It touches my heart. It makes me realize that it may take a village to raise a child as they say……but it takes a TEAM to get to get thru 20 degree weather and up huge mountains……it takes a team to get you to Austin, TX ….it takes a TEAM to get you thru Cancer. So far so WONDERFUL!

Being a support person is WORK, but it is a labor of love for the riders that punish their bodies to raise money for this cause! I feel so so lucky to be here!
Nite!

sally
Polka Dots

Barry has logged in finally! It is so awesome to read the blogs of each team and how their rides have gone. I am really honored to be a part of this Pink Team. We have bonded in some serious and funny challenges. The kind of people you can risk your life to help and you know would do the same for you. The riders and crew are inseperable as we strive to carry this message by bike.  We have frozen and thawed, laughed and cried, fought and hugged, yeah sometimes in the same moment.  The reward is in the hope we see on our Warriors along the way.  I was so moved too to see Scott’s bike in the fog with the glowing tail light lit, leading the way when i was cold and feeling selfish for what i was thinking at the time.  My body and mind have worked hard for this trip but my spirit has been renewed as i see the grand scope of the Challenge Thank you to all my friends who have helped us fight Cancer in this way, may God bless you with a Sunrise like we saw today as the fog lifted it was glorious.

Hello everyone I am finally blogging with so much to tell and so little time to give you minute by minute coverage. You have heard from everyone that we rode midnight to 3:00am on the first night and it was the coldest ride I have ever done and I kept praying to baby Jesus whom I met on last year’s ride several times… “please warm up my hands and toes, I promise to never……again” Guess what, he warmed them up but they kept getting warm and then cold again and then I would ask him to help again and promise to change something (those changes are between me and ‘baby Jesus). I would’ve never made it 6 hours in that cold and I felt so bad for team pink that relieved us and for the polka dot team that rode after them. We definately met our challenge on the first night with freezing temperatures but again our angels protected us and guided us to the finish.

Our second ride was from 6:00pm to midnight, we actually saw the light for one hour and then tucked into the darkness for the next 5 hours. We continued to cruise and Ron cues us to turn left and I looked left and yelled nooooo, it was the darkest road ever and we were heading in. This is called something Trace, whatever it’s called the middle of no where to me but trees, us and our Angels woods. Needless to say, I got a little crazy in the head being away from civilization, I am not a fan of the woods, Tedd was trying hard to tell me a ghost story and I would take off from the pack. One time an animal came running out of the woods and I screamed and took off and one time I thought there was a creek in the ditch but no creek just trees, trees and more trees!! Just when I thought my mind was gone the white came hauling past me on the left with the biggest and whitest moon ever and it wasn’t in the sky. Now I know why they are called the “white team” and for the next hour to the finish it was on…..!! I sure do love me some “Miltshakes”!!

We are all having a great time and loving the support from all of our family and friends. I want to thank everyone that donated, it is you that helped make this possible (thank you Ken Smith, Smiley’s). I want to acknowledge everyone we are riding in honor of especially Laurens Flanagan whom is with our team and I found myself wanting to see her on that country road to keep me focused of why we are riding and I find myself missing Dustin and Jeni terribly, hugs to you both! I love to ride, it is riding that I am with my Angels – Deena and Stephanie whom are two of my best friends that have lost the battle. It is on the road that i am one with them and I know they are always with me guiding and protecting me.  Last night was extra special because we had Scott Shuey’s bike on top of our van (Scott lost the battle to cancer a couple weeks ago and he was supposed to be our warrior this year) in his memory and it was awesome and very inspirational.

Got to get some ride before our moonlighting ride!  Love you all!

Beth

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

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

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

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

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

Pink Team checking in with Pink bottoms from 90 miles on the Natchez Trace baby!!!!!!  What a team with a wicked trim paceline burning up the road!  After our transition with White team (who did fantastic job) during our early 2 hr portion of the shift in the dark, we all noticed that somehow the red light attached to the seat of Scott’s bike was turned on and served as another lighthouse for our group.  My crying moment today occurred around 8:15 when suddenly daylight broke, the fog lifted, and a blazing sunrise appeared on our left, while on our right was the silhouette shadow of Scott’ bike atop the van followed by the shadow of 7 cyclist in a line. Cry, cry, and cry good thing I had my nose and face covered with Vaseline for skin protection!

Also shout out to Arthur for pulling me back into the group after I faded on a few hills and all my teammates.  I did a few ceremonial pulls at the beginning of ride and then snapped back to reality and safely tucked myself into the center of the pack.

Now for our team round up:  Keri did the entire ride hammering in the big ring, Coach Barry made sure our form was excellent, Dustin blocked the wind for a 2 mile radius, Ray was a work horse pulling, Jeff was the silent stealth rider, Kim and Jessica kept us in line and for goodness sake would Joe please open up and tell us what he is really thinking instead of making us read his mind.

Ok for those of you shocked at the amount of emotion and thought that I am spewing in these posts – I blame it on sleep deprivation, hypoxia and lactic acid build-up – doubt it was the Corona I just drank!

Pink out!!!!!!!

(Damn, Yellow Team just vandalized our van with yellow paint – revenge is in the air!!!!)

Last night I had another first… I dropped my shorts and peed on the side of the roadm. Not in the woods…6inches off the roadm. I forgot to mention it earlier and I knew my folks would be proud

You can track our Challenge to Conquer Cancer ride at “www.ridetoaustin.com”. You can read our blogs at this site. To see our progress, which is updated every few minutes, click on “route”. After this click on “see them live”.

Our team is in Tupelo, MS this morning and we are heading to Winnfield, LA where our team will ride again in the morning from 6am until noon. Last night they rode the Natchez Trace from midnight to 6am in 40 degree weather.

Your class might get a kick out of tracking our progress. We sould be in Austin on Thursday so look fast.

Love you and looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving.

To all of my relatives and friends who supported my eforts this year and particularly to those I honor and memorialize. I DID IT. 

Obviously at 70 years old I must admit I was a little apprehensive about having to ride 6-hours, midnight to 6AM. 

Riding through the night down the Natchez Trace Parkway, along woth Milt, Judy and Kathy we rode  in three states. (Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi)

Other members of my team will undoubtedly give you many of the ride’s details, I just want to simply say again, ”Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learbning to dance in the rain.”  Although the weather wes dry by cold, I did “Dance in the rain”.  It was an exhilariting experience and my apprehension was quickly overcome with the passing of each hour. For those that I honor and those that I memorialize, “This Joe’s for you”.

As we rode into the transition point with the Pink team, I was overcome with emotion by the well wishes from their entire team. Thank you for the continued support and encouragement that you give me. 

As I finished I prayed and thought, “Surely 6 hours on my bike, in the darkness of night, is much easier than chemo and/or radiation.”

Now it’s off to Louisiana for our first daylight ride, tomorrow, 6Am to noon.

Thank you Jeni, I know the Polka Dot ribbions you put on our van had me in mind.  Love Ya!!

JOE J.

Wow! What a night. It was a rough (but good) one for the white team. Jennifer tried to prepare me for the lack of sleep, but I didn’t believe her! We slept a few hours after our 9-midnight shift, and then we were on the road again. We stopped at the Trek Bike shop in Chatanooga (thanks Kim), and the Golden Corral (thanks Rodney and Hillary), and then started the long drive towards our next transition. We spent the last few hours before our shift in the parking lot of an Exxon station just off the Natchez Trace in Collingwood, TN. The folks there were great! We thought we were going to have to change in the dark on the Trace (at which point Joe offered up his best quote “If you haven’t already seen it, you won’t recognize it”!) About 10:30 we started trying to locate the yellow team. We ran into Laurens and Anne in the yellow team support vehicle. We decided to pay the yellow team a little visit to help them over the hump of their last hour. That last hour in the cold and dark is a rough one. After two drive bys with lots of cheers and lovely show from Milt (I’m going to keep my blog g-rated), we found a good transition spot. Adrenline kicked in as the yellow team pulled in, and we prepared to leave. After counting roadkill the night before (there were 8), we decided to count live animals on this ride. The count was nine with 2 skunks, both who threatened with their tales in the air, but we escaped safely. Who knew Kathy and I could move so quickly! The night sky was incredible. There were no clouds in sight, and the stars were AMAZING! I saw 2 shooting stars. I think they were from my dad, just a little something to keep me going. We struggled through the night, but found things to laugh about. Another great Joe quote was “My booty is squeaking!” He claims he was talking about his shoe covers, but I’m not sure I believe it. I haven’t pulled an all nighter since college, and never on a bike! For me, that was the most physically and mentally grueling ride. I like sleep. I like sunshine. There was none of that. We were warmer than last night, but still cold. We stopped a lot for food and hydration, trying to keep us all going. We also got to stop for photos as we crossed not one, but two state lines (Alabama and Mississippi). We lost a great deal of time on the stops, but the white team endured, and we were so grateful to see the pink team had scoped out a great transition spot with bathrooms (yes divas, I christened at least 4 ditches last night)! They welcomed us with lots of love, and saved their hotel rooms for us. We finally made it to the hotel, and the last words out of my mouth were “I love the pink team!” They saved great beds for us! We are now completely rested (not) with 3.5 hours of sleep. It was great fun to have a gift waiting for us from Sally and the Dots (the polka dot team). Very cute and it really made us smile. We are doing laundry, and packing up. We are moving Scott Shuey’s bike from van to van, so that it is on the road with the teams throughout the trip. That is a very moving sight. When I see his bike on the top of our support van, I am able to dig a little deeper. Thank you to all the cancer warriors for showing us what true strength and courage looks like. It keeps us going.

Last night temps were much better with a sweet 45 degrees. We will take that. Lots of entertainment along the way from our support vehicles (thanks Jen and Joey for the music mixes) but Ron stole the show with his version of Roxanne. Never saw another form of wildlife from that point on.

Now we are on the way to do some need laundry before we begin our Midnight shift. Tedd – tell Grandma we are on our way.

Relentless Forward Motion
Robin Blackburn – Team Yellow

the previous blog by Kathy was from me. I didn’t realize I was loged on under her name. Too early in the morning?? for me to think.
Again I neither deny nor confirm any actions or acts perpertrated to be by me on the Natchez trail

I neither deny nor confirm any statments about me and some act that was supposedly performed by me. 3 skunks, 2 possums, 5 deer, one bobcat howl, 3 shooting stars, and 60 miles later we are thru the Natchez Trace.

Well what is a girl to say…

White team started out yesterday morning in Chattanooga TN.  We stopped by a bike shop to get something to keep our heads warm.  If you are in Chattanooga check out the new Trek shop.  Ask for Kim… she will take great care of you….  we spent a lot of time inthe van.  Mike and Don took great care of us and made sure we were where we need to be and fed when we got there.  We had both lunch and dinner at buffets.  A first and a second for me.  We rolled out and hit the Nachez Trace.  We spent a couple hours at THE gas station in Collinwood, TN.  Great people.  We had a great time chatting and sharing stories.  We pulled the kits on and headed out to meet TEAM YELLOW!!  Rumor had it that they were cold and tired so we thought we would spice things up a bit.  We drove East to find them onthe Trace.  We saw their headlights coming at us and the next thing I know Milt has his window open and suddenly it was no longer a moonless night!!!!  Yikes…. butt ( hehehe) that wasn’t the end of the light show.. nope we pulled over for a quick change of seats and rolled west to pass them again!!!  Yup you guessed right the window wasn’t the only thing to go down as we passed them a second time!!!  OH MILT!!! ( we have photos).  With everyone laughing we rolled onto our transistion point and waited for Yellow to get in.   We put Scott’s bike up on our van and it was a quick reminder of why we are riding.  My very tired bones were suddenly ready to ride.,  Yellow pulled up in great spirits and gave us a warm send off.   With in a few minutes we were greeted by a possium and a couple of deer.  The wild life seemed like a welcome guest.  A few miles that all changed.  As rolled along we saw a young SKUNK cross in frint of us.  Judy and I realized that it was about to do its best Milt impression and we started to sprint in a style and with the strength that would make Big George proud….. I was off my saddle and leaning over the handle bars like there was a green jersey at stake!!  Luckily everyone made it clear and our Support staff didn’t have to change the locks on the vans… Mike made it very clear that he would leave us in TN if we got sprayed!!!   I can’t say I would blame him.    I got too cold and spent some time onthe bus warming up.  Keith and I talked about how much we missed Kim and then we quickly realized that the skunk might not have been so random!!  Seemed like something she would pull!!!  I rejoined the team amd before we even started peddling a star shot across the sky.  Thanks Kim  I needed that. 

So it was cold, we were tired, we were attacked by wildlife.  A HUGE THANKS to The Pink Tide ( we are in Alabama) for the Hotel rooms…. oh that was the best hotel bed I have ever slept in!!  

So all an all we had a great day… Oh yeah when I talked to Jack yesterday he told me that Miley Syrus lived in TN… he said she had a white house and that I should tell her he said hi!!!   I saw a couple white houses and waved to everyone!!!!

We are getting ready to roll again. 

love the comments   keep them coming!!!

Good night’s sleep, hot shower made me a happy camper.  I was reticent the first 24-36 hours until I bonded with the AWESOME Green Team.
Thanks  to Jimmy GIBSON (Coach extraordinaire) and Karen Gibson who welcomed me to my first cycling family. I may prefer doing challenging local rides to this.  I’d like to train with this in mind though an overnight ride is a more suitable goal at this stage.
Now that I’ve got the hang of resetting and watching the tripometer, I scouted out the turns on unmarked roads; only two errors (so far).   Thanks to Carol Porter,  Libby Evans for traveling tips–throwaway clothes, airborne, sharing room with two gentlemen.  A plug for Jim Cunningham also. At least one of our cyclists rides with him on the A Donaldson rides.

Thanks to Loren Snyder.  I have done better than survive the first 24 hours with his encouragement.

Thank you to LINDA PAGE for several tips and inviting to meet the group prior to traveling.  You forgot to tell me not to slam door closed before Jerry had his hand inside.  He is fine and was a very good sport about what he regarded as a minor injury.

Not red eyes but  ”pink”, not from infection or alcohol (sigh) but from lack of sleep and overexposure to moon and van light.  Well Kim woke us up at 2:30 after returning from her 1:30 pre-driving work-out. Now we are fumbling and packing and starving but ready to ride!

Pink out early!

Lessons learned today:

1. You can lock the wheels up on a 10,000 lb bus… and it won’t produce excrement in Jerry’s shorts.

2.  Broken speedometers have friends… broken odometers, missing road signs, and roads that don’t exist on GPS.

3. Missing bikes create coaching opportunites for team members that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

4. Inside every Mercedes Benz, is a monster truck trying to get out… we have proof!

5. Cancer survivors are everywhere… there’s a very special one in Spencer, TN.

6. Stops at state lines are more beautiful with “moon” light.

7. K,k,k,Kia…

8. Sunscreen is essential… even for driving the bus.

9. Thoughts of the spaces ukuleles will fit into, enter your mind at the oddest times…

10. Super awesome performances spew pink polka dots in Food Lion parking lots…

Today was a tough day with the cold weather and the climbing that we had to do. It was 30 degrees when we began. At the top of the first climb it was 27 degrees with a four mile decent. Tough as it was today…I am told it is a cake walk compared to one round of chemo. Makes you remember what you are riding for. It was an honor to suffer today for a cause I believe in. Thank you Dawn and Sallyfor looking after us today. You guys are great. Roll out at noon Tuesday. Sleeping in . Good night to all.

Team Polka dot rode the first 6 hour shift of the Challenge to Conquer cancer today.  We transitioned from the Pink Team who had done a great job in some very cold conditions.  They looked relieved to be able to get into some warmth.  We (as a group) are slightly behind the planned itinerary, so we actually transitioned about 14 miles outside of Dayton, Tn.  This shift was our big climbing shift.  Team Green had their climbs yesterday; today it was our turn to earn our Dots. 

The ‘planned’ itinerary called for the transition to be in Dayton, Tn, but we’re glad it was not.  As cold as it was, we needed that ‘extra’ 14 miles to just start to warm up our muscles – unfortunately, our hands, feet and faces didn’t necessarily get all that warm.  We pulled through Dayton and the Bus stopped for fuel.  Sally and Team Polka Dot continued up the climb.  This was the first of three climbs for us today.  In fact, this shift is what we have been training for when we did all of those Paris Mt repeats over the last couple of months!

As we made our first ascent, the sun was starting to rise.  What an amazing site to see that orange line forming on the horizon.  Unfortunately, the temperature was not rising with the sun (not yet anyway).  The climb was awesome (hey, I love climbing, so no matter what, I’m going to have positive thoughts about any climb)!  It was the longest of the three and we gained something on the order of 1000’.  It wasn’t really over at the top of the main climb – we had some great rollers as we crossed the plateau. 

The sun was up as we rode those rollers, but still, the temperature was working against us.  As we started our descent, we were rewarded with incredible views of the valley below socked in with fog.  Awesome.  By the time I thought about getting my camera out to snap a photo, the views were obscured by trees.  I think Keith may have snapped some good photos. 

The descent was brutal.  I actually love descending as much as I love climbing, however, this descent was just not fun.  My hands became little bricks that just could not work the brakes.  I pulled a gap on the rest of the crew because of it.  Ed was not far behind, so we stopped before we descended into the fog.  He was frozen as well and he looked like he was not happy. 

Shortly, Jeni and Perry pulled up, and a few minutes later we started rolling again.  I looked back to check for everyone, and Jeni was not to be seen.  I asked Perry what was up and he told me she had gotten on the bus.  I was worried, but knew she was in good hands with Keith, Rueben and Dawn. 

We stopped just a short ways up the road at a McDonald’s to allow everyone a chance to re-gain some blood flow.  Ed and Perry climbed into the van, while I paced in circles around the van.  It turned into quite a long stop.  I checked once on Jeni and was told she was ok, just very cold.

I was looking at our mileage on the day so far – we had covered only about 25 miles in about 2.5 hours.  Then we took this quite long warming break.  I was very concerned that we weren’t going to get 50 miles on the day.  We had a lot of climbing left to go.

After some hot chocolate and more heater time, Perry, Ed and myself re-started our trek.  As we pulled out of the parking lot, I saw that Jeni was still shaking terribly – this after more than 30 minutes in a heated environment with dry clothing and blankets – She was obviously borderline hypothermic.  I am so happy she and the Medics made the choice to put her in the bus.  She now was riding with Sally in our support van. 

So, the remaining members of Team Polka Dot tackled the second climb of the day on their own, with Jeni ‘holla’ing encouragement through the radio to the team.  I did my best to relay that encouragement to Perry and Ed. 

We pushed pretty hard up this second climb.  It too was something close to 1000’ elevation gain, but not as long or as much as the first climb.  We stayed together throughout the climb and pulled to the side at the top of the main climb to allow the traffic to pass.  We were all feeling pretty good at that point and like the first climb, this one rewarded us with several miles of rollers before making the 2^nd descent.  Thankfully, the temperatures were coming up and this second descent was not quite brutal – just tough and again, that is due to the cold. 

A short stop at the base of the descent to allow more cars to pass and we began the third climb of the day.  Authur had gotten suited up and joined us for this next part of the ride.  Really cool that we have been able to share our stages with both Bob and Arthur – the mechanics from The Great Escape in Greenville. 

Arthur helped in pacins us up the climb, but we were definitely slower on this climb than the last.  Team Polka Dot was beginning to feel the effects of the ride.  Once again, at the summit, we entered a series of rolling hills through some incredibly beautiful countryside.  We set ourselves up in a paceline and started knocking out some miles. 

Arthur helped out greatly by giving us some great pulls to allow the three of us some recovery time.  On the radio, I could hear Sally and the Bus talking about our transition with the Green team.  I was a little concerned when I heard that they were still quite a ways behind us at 1140am. 

We discussed our plan of action should they not make it to the transition point on time.  I chatted with Perry and Ed.  Ed said ‘I’m spent’.  Perry and I talked about letting Ed get on the bus while he and I continued, but Keith put his foot down;  “If Ed is spent, everyone is stopping”. 

Turns out we neededn’t have worried.  Team Green came flying by us at about 1150 to set up the transition area.  They were a sight for sore …. legs?  Yes, we were very happy to see them.  They moved forward a few miles and we continued our ride.  We met them at a local grocery store and handed off the baton. 

That was our 2^nd Stage experience.  I really want to say Thanks to all of the other teams for doing such a great job through the night.  It was rough conditions and you all showed your strength. 

One other comment that I think is important.  Seeing Scott’s bike on the roof of the support van really does make a big difference.  I didn’t know him, but the outpouring of support for him and his family by this group of incredible people is very heartwarming.  Having his daughter escort and his Father ride his bike the first few miles at the head of the P3C3 peloton was a very emotional experience. 

RideStrong P3C3!!!

JD – Team Polka Dot

Well it is almost time to get ready for our midnight to six ride. I was really mentally struggling with this when I realized I’m only facing six hours of fear and uncertainty. How do our warriors, and all others with the dreaded diagnosis face each day? How do Jessica and Christi not obsess on the “spots”? How does Holly deal with the questions about her meds? How did my dad face his final days, hours and minutes? With courage, dignity, and the FAITH of a warrior. This too is how I will face these next six hours. I hope to make you all proud.

This is milt from the white team. we are in Collinwood Tenn. it’s a samll community off the Natchez Trace. The white team is trying to get some rest in the car and in the store where we are camped out. Don’t think the temp will be as cold tonight as last night. Not really coldnow. The teqm is doing great. had 2 good meals meals today to load up on energy. Rest in cars not as good as in a bed. The tickle box got turned over so there went the rest. Something about snakes to see something??? Locals say it is all down hill from here. Saw a deer abdfox on the short time to here. About time to start suiting up so we can findthe yellow people.there!!!!!!!!!!

While we are ones on the road and in view of everyone who passes us by, this would not be possible without two people – Kim & Jessica our Team Pink support people.
These two ladies spent the past 18 hours or so in our team van.
While we are sleeping, they are taking care of business doing our laundry so we will have clean riding gear in the morning.
Unless you are here to see their efforts, you can not appreicate their efforts. They are simply wonderful people to do this for us.
So, a big, big Thank YOU to Kim & Jessica.
To the Herd at Axis, this is a tremendous experience and thank you for the moral support and messages.
Susan, thank you putting up with me as I prepared for this ride.

Ok, this is my first blog after being pestered to do this for weeks now!  Here we are in Tupelo, MS – ANOTHER Stancil family story to tell since so far, my sister lived in Chattanooga and my brother lived near Tupelo and I’ve been pretty familiar with parts of our route.  Everyone on Team Pink thought I was just joking last week when I told them  in an email about the raging water that we would be transitioning beside for our first ride.  Needless to say, at 3AM today, they doubted me no more.  Yes, it was freezing – colder than I thought that it could be in October – and I was just dreading the ride for my peeps.  But of course, they took to the road and handled it like the pros they are.  Ever since I got involved with this group (after admittedly having my arm twisted), I have been nothing short of astonished at their dedication to this cause.  Everyone on this ride and especially those on Team Pink make me proud to be a human being.  Cancer has touched every one of us in different ways and I’m so honored to be part of this effort to actually do something about it.  Can’t wait to get some sleep and get back at it at 3:30 AM when we get up and find Team White!

Sorry for the delay in posting!  On the road since 830pm Sunday night.  Met Chasse and Kim in Anderson for breakfast before we hit the road to somewhere in Murphy, NC for our 3am-6am bike ride.  We drove until 215am to find a good transition spot for the yellow team.  We kept noticing the temperature on the bank signs saying 32 degrees.  Boy, that does sound cold.  Well, when we finally got out of the van and started assembling ourselves for the 3am ride it was mighty cold.  We asked the yellow team what we should wear.  They said”everything you have!”  I wore 4 shirts/jackets on top, 2 pr of wool sox, booties over my cycling shoes and long tights.  Then to top it off I wore Dustin’s arm warmers as leg warmers.  They were XXL and fit great! Off we went into the cold dark night.  The temp hit 28 degrees at 5am.  It always gets colder before the dawn.  We were chilled to the bone.  It felt so good to be finally finished at 6am.  No sleep, only travel to Tupelo,MS for the next 7hours. Now, finally a shower and fresh clothes, lunch at Olive Garden and a chance to regroup!  Until tomorrow at 6am.

As some of you know, I have had major woes with my bike. Kept dropping chains, wouldn’t shift, you name it, it would do it and not correctly. Well, we found there was a problem with the manufacture of the frame.

With only 2 weeks to go, Cannondale was notified of the problem. I let them know about the ride, the cause and the problems. In that matter of two weeks, Cannondale delivered me a new frame, and Bike Worx of Spartanburg had me on the road the day before our ride. What fantastic support! Thanks to Eric and Kevin from Bike Worx, because the first night riding it was flawless.

Those that know me understand that I don’t ride when the temperature is below 70F. Well, I really broke that rule this morning! In the early morning hours of 0300 hrs, team pink took to the road, and it was cold. Bone chilling cold! Temperature hovered around 28F ( not 28C),I put on every bit of clothing that I had. The major body parts stayed warm but the feet and hands were frozen. After our 3 hour ride, it seemed to take another 3 hours to thaw out.

Once off our tour of duty, we piled in the van and drove to our destination for the next transition arriving at 1400 hrs. Looking forward to some good sleep.

Our team consists of a total of 9 people. We were instructed to pack “light”. I guess the definition of light packing defined by a male or a female is quite different. Guys packed one bag – females ? Tight is an understatement in our van.

Looking forward to a little sun tomorrow, even though we are starting out again in the early morn and cooler (read cold, but not freezing) tempetures.

Team pink is a great group to know, be with and ride.

Pink Team finally checking in after 36+ hrs without sleep, 18 hrs riding in van, 3 hrs of bike riding, now with full bellies and checked into a hotel in Tupelo, Mississippi.  Our bodies have finally thawed out but now our minds are frozen shut.  Our ride began in somewhere in a TN park, ask our support person Kim Stancil (she seemed to have spent her entire childhood roaming these backwoods and knew every nook and frozen cranny like the back of her hand) without a map.  Kim said her knowledge of the area had something to do with a moon shining and state lines or something.  Anyway, we became Pink Ice on bikes in the 28 degree foggy night weather and had to pry the frozen bikes out of our hands by transition time. At one point when I was teetering on miserable, I looked up and saw Scott’s bike on our lead van and suddenly it didn’t seem so cold anymore – thanks Scott.  So a shout out to our wonderful drivers-Kim/Jessica, entire Pink riders and ScottStrong for the pull!  Big John and Kevin we missed you!   Pink out!!!!!!

So this morning I logged in as Mike. Imagine his family’s confusion when he started quoting country songs! Oops. Sorry Mike.
The White Team is on the road to the TN AL line. We are hoping that everyone has a safe day on the bikes. So far there have been a few scares but everyone is fine. We grab lunch at a Golden Corral (thanks Rodney), grab some hoods at the Trek store (thanks Kim). Now it is ipods and car snacks.
Hey Leah hug the kids for me. I miss them. They are why I ride.
Roll on!
Kathy

It is a beautiful morning in Chattanooga TN. I fell like I am l living a country album.    I had Georgia on my mind as we got back on the Road again…..  Then I watched as the TN mountainside kept rolling by.   Today we should be heading down to Mississippi (oh we are up to NO good).   Now if we could only get some Sunshine on our Shoulders as we ride on those Country Roads!!

So the White team had a great night and everyone is rested and ready to hit the road again.  I am so proud of Judy!  She road like a champion last night.  Our SAG crew is terrific.   We are packing up the hotel room and getting ready to search Chattanooga TN for some warm clothes.   My friends up north will make fun of me for saying 32 degrees is really cold but when you are descending an 8% grade at 34+miles an hour   32 is REALLY COLD!

Soon we will be Back in the Saddle again!

Mum, Dad and Leah… If the phone doesn’t ring you will know that it it me….

Roll out!

Kathy

In the hills of northern Georgia where the Appalachian Trail crosses Highwayn 76, the White team )Joe, Milt, KAthy and Judy began their first leg of the Challengte to Conquer Cancer.

We were all bundled up to brave the 30 degree temperature. Of we went into the darkness of night in honor of and in memory of our fridns
and relatives. This is truly a great experinece. With my feet getting colder with each pedal stroke and my fingers freezing I kept on. Saying Saying prayers along the way for each of those I honored and memorialzed, I kept reminding myself that since God has thus far spared me from this dreaded disease, this was my tribute to them.

I never realized how cold 30 degrees could be at 10 o’clock in the evening. The bus finally caught up to us and I decided that since wisdom comes with age, I should put on my shoie covers top prevent my feet from getting frostbite.

A little refresyment, a potty break and we were off again. We slid through Hiawassee, GA and on into Hayesville, NC. With each turn of the crank we were getting closer to the witching hour of midnight the end of our first shift. Team Yellow flew by us in thier van shouting words of encouragement and they sped to our transition. The flasing light of our trusty van drive Don was kept in constant sight. Another mile and we are there. Here they are in Murphy, NC. We’ve finished the first leg. I’m little “Tipsy” but Ruben, our trusted EMT, helps me to the vsan gives me a couple of cookies and some candy anmd I’m back to full strength. This was for Chris Force our warrior
Tonight we ride from midnight to 6AM tomorrow. Hopefully the good Lord will give us a little warmer weather.

Joe Julian- Team White ,..ALL IN FOR THE CANCER FIGHT.

Ron here from Team Yellow.  After the amazing send off from the Cancer Center we made our way down the road to our first transition spot.  We stopped at Mellow Mushroom in Clemson to fuel up and was joined by Kevin, Lisa, Renee and Dennis.  We had a great time then packed back in our vehicle and drove to Clayton, GA for another stop and saw Team Polka Dot eating pizza at an all you can eat dive.  Ed was definitely taking advantage of the all you can eat because he did not even get up out of his chair to come say hello to us.  Jeni was bouncing around in her cute recovery outfit.  We said our goodbyes after convincing Ed to come out and see us then headed to Murphy, NC where we tried to sleep for a few minutes in front of an ice cream store with a sign of the 10 Commandments and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. We fogged up the windows quickly and Beth started writing “HELP ME” and “HELP ME NOW” on the window.   I managed to get a couple minutes of sleep then it was off to McDonald’s to warm up and change into our cycling gear.  We backtracked to find the White Team so we could plan where to transition with them.  After finding them, we ended right back at the McDonald’s and transitioned at the Citgo station on the other side of the road.  Team White did fantastic and I was very proud of them.  We put Scott’s bike on our support vehicle, put on every piece of clothing I owned and we took off.  The bank sign read 32 degrees but it felt like 10.  Team Yellow worked together well but were too cold to do much talking (although we did complain a little).  The terrain was not too bad, rolling hills with a couple of longer climbs that were not too steep.  We made it to the TN line and stopped to take a picture at the sign.  This probably wa not our smartest move.  When we got back on the bike we had a long down hill and we all were freezing.  Robin was shaking so bad I thought she was going to shake herself off the bike.  We all could not wait to get to a hill to climb so we could warm up but it never seemed to come.  The last hour of our ride seemed either down hill or flat so we never warmed up.  It was a beautiful ride in the dark.  We rode next to the river where the whitewater Olympic competition was held.  We could hear the rushing water on our left and waterfalls on our right so we had to imagine the beauty of it all in our minds and we did.  We made it to transition with Team Pink and began to peel off layers and rack our bikes.  I was so cold, I could not get my shoe booties and shoes off and my regular shoes back on so I asked Jessica and Laurens to help me.  They got my cycling shoes off and tried to get my other shoes on and they did not fit.  They opened up my shoes more and I tried getting my foot in and I could not do it.  After several failed tries it hit me.  I had stuffed the newspaper I keep inside my cycling shoes inside my other shoes.  Once I took the paper out, my shoes fit fine.  I was really getting worried that my foot had expanded twice its size due to the cold but they did not.  We got everything racked and packed gave our well wishes to Team Pink and headed to Cleveland, TN for a few hours of sleep.   

Chasse  said on our ride last year that a bad day on the bike is better than a good day getting chemo.  That has always stuck with me and although our ride was cold and not the best one I have had, we were out there pedaling.  Thank you Scott and Dale for the push on our ride.

Thank you Julie for the goodies.  They are fantastic and I don’t see them lasting all week.

Miss my boys.  Love you guys.  Write me and call me (and mommy).

ScottStong RideStrong LiveStrong

Over and out.

We are safe and getting warm! We will write more about team yellow tomorrow. We need some sleep!

Sunday night Monday morning. Well my team finished their first ride today at midnight. I am so proud of their effort. I think it was everyone’s first real night ride and to boot it was 32. So far I think I am most moved by Scott’s bike. He was one of our Warriors, even had planned to ride pretty recently with us, but cancer killed him just a short time ago. His daughter and dad led us out of Greenville and we are symbolically taking him to Austin with us in the form of his bike. At each transition we are moving his bike to the vehicle of the team on the road. I am a terrible cynic and so often mock symbolic things as “not worthwhile because they aren’t real” but today I think I’m learning not to be so sure of myself in what is “not real” Scott is with us pulling us along in spirit.

Wow! What an amazing send-off. Standing in front of the Cancer Center surrounded by family and friends, it was hard not to be totally overcome with emotions. I could’t hug my children enough. I could see the pride in their eyes. That alone makes all the struggles worth it! My diva girls were right there too! Then as we were about to pull out, one of my students showed up! Thanks Cam for coming. That really touched me.I will do my best to make sure you have A’s in all your classes-I owe ya! It was such an honor to be led out by Scott Shuey’s teenage daughter (he was one of our warriors who passed away a short time ago).Team white started our first shift at nine. It was oh so cold(30′s), and although I thought I was prepared for the cold, I quicky realized I wasn’t. There wasn’t a thing we could do about that, so we dug in and started peddling. Don and Mike did a great job of keeping us safe. We didn’t talk much tonight; I think we were all just settling in and trying to deal with being up past our bedtime! After seeing 8 roadkill, we made it to our expected transition in Murphy, NC. It was great to pull in to the cheers from the yellow team. They are off on their way. We got changed and back in the van. We passed team yellow. They looked good in their paceline, and shared a wonderful view with us-thanks Beth! Now we are in search of a hotel to crash for the night and rest up for our next shift at midnight. Team White is STRONG for the fight!

Those emotions I was talking about… somehow, I was able to keep control of them as we departed from GHS Cancer Center this afternoon.  I was deeply honored by many of my friends who came to see us off this afternoon.  As the riders lined up with the warriors in the front, followed by the survivors and then the rest of us, I actually got a little choked up.  I struggled to keep tears from forming in my eyes. 

As we rode away, through the lines of friends and family who came to show their support, those emotions came on very strong.  What did I say – repeated exposure is going to teach me how to understand and deal with these emotions.  There is no problem there – they keep coming up.

I was very bummed that I didn’t have enough time to get a photo with one of my warriors.  I only met him today for the very first time – He’s a cute little guy only 8 years old.  I think he liked that his name was on both my arm warmer and our team van.  He wanted to take the magnet with him.  It was very touching. 

I hoped to spend more time with my friends who came to see me off.  I’m not even sure I was able to thank all of them.  Time rushes by so quickly – both in life and in this journey on which we have embarked.  Thanks to Yukie for the chocolate chip cookies, to Silvia, Elise, Steve, Hoot and Janet, Gavin, Courtney, Debbie, James, Savannah – you guys made our departure very special for me today.  Sometimes I forget how many friends I really have.  Thanks for reminding me. 

Special Thank you to Gavin for the excellent surprise we found in the team van when we got off the bikes – you’re the man.  Perry says the 2nd tuesday of February will now be considered a national holiday to Celebrate GAFranks day. 

Our first shift on the bike was pretty interesting.  We had to stop many times to allow traffic to pass while we traveled along Hwy 88 and we got a little turned around during our tour of the Clemson campus.  As we turned on to Hwy 76, the wind seemed to kick up a little. 

Thanks to Bob Kramer for riding along with Team Polka Dot today.  He pulled us along at a great pace for a good number of miles. 

We traveled a little over 47 miles in our first 3 hour shift.  That is about what our route planners mapped out for us, so we met our goal.  I thought it would have been easier to cover more miles.  It’s the stops that kill our average pace.  We’ll have to continue to work on that. 

Tonight we are headed to Cleveland, Tn to find a hotel.  Tomorrow starts the first of our 6 hour shifts.  We’ll ride from 6am to noon.  I think it’s going to be cold in the morning, so I’ll definitely be bundled up. 

Good luck to all of the teams out there tonight – Yellow, White, Pink, and Green.

jd Team Polka Dot

It’s 10:30 and we are in Murphy,NC- at the McDonalds. We tried to sleep in front of a pharmacy with a Pilsbury Dough Boy in the window, but it didn’t take long before everyone was giggling. Our team has the midnight to 3am shift. It is COLD- 33 degrees. Joey brought lots of warm jackets and clothes. Thank goodness for Joey.

On our way to Murphy we saw a bear, a lynx, and a cougar. Ok, not really, but we have to entertain ourselves somehow.
Gotta go, Ron says it is time to get ready. Think warm thoughts for us!

Well, we are currently sitting in the IHOP in Anderson,SC.  Carbo and caffeine loading!  Jumbo hot chocolates abound! Will squish,trust me, it is only word appropriate to descibe how we all fit in our van! Once squished, will drive up the mountain to near Murphy, NC – where we think we will transition to start our 3 AM – 6 AM shift. Pink out until later!

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!

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

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

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

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Dustin Retherford

It is hard to believe a year has passed since we left on the inagural Ride to Austin.  New faces, old face, miles of training, pain, laughing, crying, fundraising, loss of friends, remission have all beeen a part of this year.  We have a great group of folks participating again this year and I am looking forward to sharing this amazing experience with them.  There are so many peoeple I want to thank for making this ride happen again. 

First all the individuals who have contributed to our ride. With the economy in the state it is in, I was very concerned with people reaching their fundraising goals but with so many generous people giving to our cause everyone has reached their goals and many even surpassed them. 

Second, our sponsors and companies who gave us items or great deals to help us save on operating cost.  I am sure I am going to forget some but I want to mention a few of them.  The Spa at West End – for the second year Stacy has been a major sponsor.  Hincapie Sports – Rich, Drew and all the gang for the design and deals on our awesome jerseys and for the use of the bus.  Centec for being a major sponsor. The Great Escape – Year two for them also, for sending a mobile bike shop with us in case we have any bike issues and for some great fundraising rides. Dewayne and Will at Hertz for incredible deals on our support vehicles and allowing us to leave them in Austin, Josephine at Thrifty / Dollar Rentals for finding us a super sized van to carry the Team Pink and for a great deal. 

Third, Kevin Dunn and the Palmetto Peloton Project  team for allowing this vision to become a reality.  This ride would never happen without you guys.

Fourth, those who are participating in the ride who help me with so many details.  Nikki, Dustin, Jessica, Renee, Linda, Joe J, Joe S and Tedd.  You guys rock and I appreciate your help.  There are two people I especially want to thank who went above and beyond anything I asked them to do.  That is Laurens Flanagan and Joey Sullivan.  Without you two this ride would never happen.

My family – Jennifer, RJ, Reed and Ridge for you love and support and allowing me to train for and plan this ride.  I am sorry for my grumpiness especially as this ride drew closer.  My mom who made sure the money that was donated went to the correct rider.  I love you guys.

Finally, our warriors, cancer survivors and all those affected by cancer, thank you.  You guys are the inspiration for this ride and will be our tailwind that pushes us to Austin.  We will win this battle one day.

Now it is time to finish backing and spend a few more hours with the family before we push off.

ScottStrong, RideStrong, LiveStrong

Well we are finally in the final steps of getting packed and ready. The van sure seems small for the six of us for four hardish days, but I am going to have to get myself away from my comfort zone of always wanting things to be the way I want them and deal with it all. I need to keep in mind why we are doing this, because as the weeks and months have gone on I have learned it really isn’t easy and there are way easier ways to have “fun” than all the preparation and time needed, but there probably isn’t a better cause, or one that has touched more people. It feels like Cancer is everywhere. You just mention it to anyone and they have multiple stories to tell, if not about themselves about loved ones, friends and acquaintances. The details, crowdedness, time around people really have a potential to get me in a very uptight and bad mood, but this will be a good way for me to learn that it isn’t bad. Our millions of our friends and loved ones and strangers are going through way worse as a part of their everyday life.

Look out Autin…P3C3 is ready to ride!   I am so happy to finally know what face goes with what name.  Spending the day with my some of the other riders was just awesome.   The vans are all here in Greenville, the racks are in place, the decals are on and the beer is on the bus…. We are ready to ride.  Funny how people can go from strangers to family in a matter of ours!!  Let the party begin!!!

I’m Judy, better known as Ron’s sister, and I’m on the white team. I don’t know many of the folks on the P3C3 team. I didn’t do many of the training rides. I’m significantly slower than most of them, and frankly just can’t keep up! But here I am. Almost ready to go, and now I’m going to attempt to come clean. Admitting my weaknesses and fears is not easy for me. After going through a divorce, being a single mom, and having my dad diagnosed with cancer; I learned to hide my feelings and put on a smile. No one wants to see or be around a depressed, angry, weak person. So I stuffed down my fears and covered my weaknesses with food. I’m not quite sure how I thought that was going to help, but it is what I did nonetheless. In 2005, my world changed. My dad died. It was cancer’s fault. My dad was THE MAN! If you knew him, you know exactly what I mean. If you didn’t, you missed out. But if you know my brother Ron Jerina, you have a pretty good idea what my dad was like. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. My dad loved God, loved his family, and loved his life. He REALLY loved life. You know the kind of person I mean, the kind you just can’t help but be happier when you are around them. I covered my grief with more food, and I reached the epitome of unhealthy. Then, God used a song to speak to me. I heard Lee Ann Womack’s song “I Hope You Dance”, and I realized I was choosing to sit out on life. I was completely missing out on the thing my dad enjoyed most…LIFE! I was letting cancer win! Cancer took my dad, and without even entering my body, it was taking me! So I started fighting back. I’ve had two knee replacements and have lost nearly a hundred pounds. I still have more to go (a lot more), but I’m coming clean with my fears. I’m afraid I won’t be fast enough, strong enough, or that my “fake” knees won’t hold up. But what I’m not afraid of is standing up and saying I’m here to do what I can to KICK CANCER’S BUTT! I’m here with my less than perfect body to ride for those who can’t. To fight for my friends, Christi, Jessica and Holly, who are all battling cancer. For my mom, for our warriors, and for my kids grandmother, Ann. I will fight because I can. When I feel like giving up, or complaining, I will carry on with the spirit my own father exhibited when he was fighting for his life. As we prepare to leave, I have to take a moment to thank people who helped me get here, because this is a journey I couldn’t have gone on alone. I thank God for keeping my body strong, despite my best efforts to destroy it. I thank my children, Elizabeth and Andrew, who give up so much of their time with me so that I can exercise and train. They tell me they are proud of me. My “diva” friends (the name we have given ourselves), who hold me accountable to my workouts and never complain (well almost never) when I drag them on another ride or to another triathlon. I have to thank the kids at my school, GMC Charter High School. These less than 200 kids raised over $1,800 last week for the Challenge to Conquer Cancer! And finally, I have to thank my sweet husband, who supports and loves me. So here we come. I’ve come clean with my fears. I’m scared, but I’m determined. Cancer better watch out.

MAY YOU ALWAYS FEEL LOVED
May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with optimism and courage.

Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone.
May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace.
May a kind word, a reassuring touch, a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.

Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

Teach love to those who know hate, and let that love embrace you as you go into the world.

May the teaching of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched and who have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.

May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.

Find time in each day to see the beauty and love in the world around you.

Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way.

What you may feel you lack in one regard may be more than compensated for in another.

What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future.

May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.

Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on an other’s judgments of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

– Author Unknown

I cannot believe it’s almost time to begin our incredible journey from Greenville, SC to Austin, TX.  Yet, here we are…fundraisers done, $7500+ raised, plans for our 2 girls for the 8 days we’ll be gone, and pure excitement in our bones.  The past few months have already been…EPIC – to steal a word from some of the training rides!  I can’t express how much fun it’s been getting to know the fellow riders and support people.  I truly feel that we’ve made some life-long friends through this group.  From all I’ve heard from those who went last year, the best is yet to come.  As great as it’s already been, I’m having a hard time putting my head around that.  For now, I’ve got some laundry, grocery shopping, list making for the in-laws and packing to do.  Even with my lengthy to-do list, I don’t think Sunday afternoon can get here soon enough!
continue reading "Can It Really Be Time?"

It”S here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost time to go!!! I haven’t washed or packed. maybe I have all my stuff. What do I need?? Did my dog chew up my last pair of gloves?? Been working on the lights an batteries. I have been riding on my own lately with an 80 mile ride and a 40 mile ride. testing the back and it seems to be working great. Great article in the Anderson paper this morning. Thanks to Kevin and Kathrine Smith of the Cancer Society of Anderson County for getting it in the paper.

I can’t believe that in only five (5) days we’ll be off on the second annual Challenge to Conquer Cancer Bicycle Relay to Austin Texas.

As the senior citizen ambassador of the riders (for those I haven’t told…I’m 70) I dedicated this past year to getting in both mental and physical condition to be a rider. Last year I volunteered as a support driver and did the Ride for the Roses in Austin. The entire week-long experience was truly one of the most inspirational experiences I’ve had since our children were born.
continue reading "Words from the ‘senior citizen ambassador’"

It doesn’t matter what team you are on.  What color you are.  The Challenge is just a few days away.  I am sooooo excited to be surrounded with the best type of people.  People who want to make a difference.  Making a change in this world for those who are fighting or praying for the fight.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we didn’t have people who believed in change?   Just let the world pass by without noticing all that we have?  Or all that we could potentially have? 
continue reading "Pink Yellow White Green Polka Dot"

I have spent many years avoiding serious emotional expression.  I have insulated myself against almost anything.  Almost any event that happens, I have found a way to shield myself from the real emotional effects of it.  Nothing really gets to me….at least until I got involved with the Challenge to Conquer cancer.

When I began, it was another grand adventure – with a pretty serious commitment to raise some money for this cause.  As I sit here tonight, just 5 days before we make our departure, it has become something else.
continue reading "I think I’m in denial…"

Wow… That’s all I can say.

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

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

Wow I leave NH in less than 40 hours.  I am beyond excited.  This has already been an amazing journey and I haven’t even left home yet.  It was 4 years ago yesterday (10/12) that I lost my left lung.  I needed help walking up a flight of stairs after that never mind riding my bike.  Yet here I am, 40 hours away from the ride of a lifetime.  I am so proud of this entire team.  It is an honor to be riding along side each of you.   While I may be the one on the bike, I am riding for so many family members and friends.  I ride for my Grandpa Smith, my sister Leah, my Mum, for Dad, Rita and Mrs. Morris. I am riding in memory of my Aunt Ann who taught me what it meant to fight and for Kris and Holly who we lost way too young.  I am riding because Kim thought I could and because if she was here she would be on the road next to me. 

I have no idea what the next couple weeks will look like but I want to thank everyone who has helped me get here… oh and Scottie and Kim if you are watching a TAIL wind would be nice!!

Woo-Hoo…

Last night I went to visit with my Aunt Mary Ann at the hospital.  She has been given the harsh news that no person should be given.  She tells me that she has a “mean cancer” that would take a miracle to cure.  She believes in miracles.  I believe in miracles.  We talk about fond family memories and  share updates on kids, family, work etc. and I find that I don’t want to leave.  I don’t want our visit to end.  She ask all kinds of questions about the Ride to Austin.  She knows that my dad is the Warrior for our team.  I share with her that I will be placing a magnet with her name on our support vehicle that will travel with us all of the way to Texas and just like that her face lit up.  She was so honored…so touched.. and all because of a magnet.  As others entered the room she shared this with them.  How could something so small be the best gift I could have given her? 

In just a matter of days we will leave Greenville headed for Austin, TX.    I am forever changed.  With every mile that we cover we are that much closer to a true miracle in finding a cure for even the meanest cancer.

Robin Blackburn – Team Yellow

I was showing my son my teams maps this morning.  I told him that on Fri we would all officially ride into down town Austin and I all of the sudden got choked up!?  I asked that he keep up with us on the blogs/maps and send me messages.  I don’t think he can realize what this trip means to me….to all of us.

While I am support this year, I WILL RIDE NEXT YEAR!  This year I hope to take good care of my Polka Dot team…making sure to have them at transitions on time, and keep them happy while in the van (I’ll try not to sing too much!), etc etc.
continue reading "Can’t wait!"

I am the lucky one.  The healthy one.  The one with a family. The one with friendships that last a life time. 

Why?  Why is that I can be so lucky?  Why am I given more chances then others? 

What is it that drives my heart into the ground everytime I find out someone has been taken to a better place because of Cancer?  Cancer.  Its just never certian. A sure thing. A done deal.  It keeps us guessing.  Wondering. And sharing.  It tells a story, it brings us together. 
continue reading "11 days Wow"

The riders and support team are gearing up for the trip this year, and everyone is busy raising money!

Do your part to help us out here »

This site is being updated right now with more current information. Please be patient with us!

Sponsors and archived posts from last year are in the area to the right >>

There are many reasons people help raise money for cancer research. Just like me, I am sure everyone has been touched by cancer in some aspect. I have listed some of the reasons I am doing this ride.

I ride to remember the friends, family members and colleagues I have lost to cancer. I lost my grandmother to cancer and my mother is a breast cancer survivor.

I am doing this years ride in memory of a special friend that I grew up with. Her name is Lisa McAlister Smith. She was taken earlier this year and entirely too soon. She left behind a husband and two daughters, on daughter in high school and one in college. I am raising money and doing this ride so that those who are surviving cancer can live longer.