The Road Awaits

Time to go. The road awaits.

As always, the journey to the PMC is different than what I expected. The bike is ready, the bags are packed, the legs have fewer miles than I would have liked. Amy is ready to take up her traditional volunteer role as a crew leader in Bourne, helping tired riders find their dorm rooms, showers, luggage, a spare towel, a cold drink, a sweaty hug!

For me, this great bike ride is no longer about the ride. It's about the experience, the conversations with other riders and the many supporters along the way, and with the survivors.

Last weekend, halfway into a 60 mile training ride, I struck up a conversation with another rider at a popular rest stop in Carlisle, just north of Concord. We had some friends and experiences in common. She had ridden the PMC, supporting her husband who had been stricken by cancer a few years ago. He survived the radiation and chemo and is now cancer-free. But the treatments have changed him and his health has not come back. His work is affected, his life is affected. Call it collateral damage. The cancer is gone but the patient is forever changed. She didn't know if they would survive as a couple.

I offered my assistance, my phone number, and my Livestrong wristband. Then I headed up the road to continue to my training. I rode strongly, motivated by the knowledge that we still have much work to do.

So off I go to ride another PMC, another 192 miles towards the goal of eradicating cancer. We expect to raise more than $31M this year, and my personal goal is to raise $10,000. I'm about a third of the way there, and I'm counting on you to help!

100% of the money raised is delivered to the Jimmy Fund to support cancer research. One hundred percent!

This is why I ride...why I am so passionate about the PMC and raising money for the Jimmy Fund. I do it because I can make a difference...by raising money for cancer research, by recruiting new people to the cause, by showing strength and determination at mile 80.

I can't do it alone. Together we will win.

To donate please visit the PMC website. If you have already donated, thank you!

Time to ride!

Lee

Ouch!

My story, and I'm sticking to it, is that I was hurt during the Tour De France. 14 stitches and the doctor told me to stay off the bike for five days! Wait a minute, other riders in the Tour have broken wrists, broken collarbones...all I've got is a measly few stitches.

The good news is that I will probably have a great scar...one in the shape of a Campagnolo Record 50 tooth chainring on my left calf.

So...I was invited to participate in a video shoot in preparation for the PMC opening ceremony. Six of us spent a couple of hours this morning riding up a long sun-drenched side road, past a young cyclist who then jumped on his bike and gave chase. At the end of the shoot, coming back towards the camera, I came to a stop but didn't clip out.

Crash.

Ouch.

Blood.

Somehow I managed to catch my left calf with my big chainring.

No major damage, except to my ego. The bike is fine. I'm off the bike for five days. Stitches will come out in 10, just before Amy and I head to Kansas City where she attends the annual Silpada Jewelry sales conference and I go biking through rural Missouri.

I hope Lance can maintain his position in the tour without me!

At least I can still fundraise :)

To donate please visit the PMC website.

Time to ride (or not)!

Lee

29 Days and Counting

29 days to the 2010 PMC. $1,598 raised so far, as part of my contribution to the $31M expected to be raised this year for the Jimmy Fund. 192 miles between Sturbridge and Provincetown. 4,500 riders. 2,500 volunteers. 100% of all money raised delivered to the Jimmy Fund.

But the PMC is not about the numbers. It's about an 8 year old girl battling leukemia. She's a pedal partner of one of the teams, and she'll be waiting at the lunch stop to meet the team. They'll be hot and sweaty, and when they sit down to talk with her, they will forget their aches and pains and just have a good cry. Or maybe they'll be strong for her and not let her see the tears in their eyes.

It's just not fair.

Stephen was beating cancer. Holly was so positive in all posts on CaringBridge. Then it came back. He's fighting again.

Another friend doesn't know how long her husband will be around to raise their children. Maybe a year. Maybe 10. She lives with this unknown and deals with it every day.

One of my workmates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer four years ago. She is now the focal point of our riding team and she puts in the miles with the rest of us. She simply refuses to give in to cancer.

This is why I ride...why I am so passionate about the PMC and raising money for the Jimmy Fund. I do it because I can make a difference...by raising money for cancer research, by recruiting new people to the cause, by showing strength and determination at mile 80.

I can't do it alone. Together we will win.

To donate please visit the PMC website.

Time to ride!

Lee