On the way to The Ride to Conquer Cancer

I signed up for this ride because I am firmly of the belief that cancer does not stop at the US/Canada border. The cause is near and dear to my heart, but this event more so because it does not focus on one exclusive form of cancer – it doesn’t single out the trendy cause or the plight of the moment. The Princess Margaret Hospital is an all cancer facility, with departments or whole floors that specialize in one type or another. Something like this may have helped my father-in-law, who in his 70s passed of a pediatric cancer because no one knew how to handle it. I don’t know, but I’d like to think so.

The extra benefit of the event is the one that has me very excited to be on the plane today. I will finally get to see parts of a country I love and am thinking of expanding my business to.Cycling from Toronto to Niagara will certainly allow me to see a beautiful place and maybe let me know a little more about Ontario.

I’ve hit some snags in the transportation from the city to the event and back again. I think things have been ironed out but we’ll see. It turned out to be a good diversion yesterday, allowing me to go into “Manager Mode” and not stress too much about the event. I had thought that I would be going to the event with Richard and tossing my gear into his truck. Not only am I not doing that but I should have wondered how I was going to get back because he is leaving Niagara earlier than I am and I knew that! No worries, but because I am cycling to the event from the hotel I’m limited on what I can carry as I ride. I’ll have my sleeping bag inside a back pack with whatever clothes may fit. I had to leave my blanket and ground mat at home – we’ll see how I fair the second day. I’m not too worried, it just may give me a few good stories to tell and a badge of honour to go with it.

A not too minor concern is the food/drink powder I’ve packed. As a diabetic who is so far staying off the insulin, I can not afford to reply on the SAG stops for my meals and as anyone knows, your food is your fuel. I’m hoping that all those little bags of powder, nuts and cliff bars will fit in the pack. I’ve done a ride without and walked 17 miles because I bonked. I will make it fit. Lawrd knows, I am NOT tossing the sleeping bag too!  Oh, and to top it off, it’s “that time” – I’m thinking of stuffing the pads into my bra for storage. Who knows, I might make a few friends

Oy, timing is everything.

Last year I had the pleasure of my first Team In Training season by training for 4 months with coaches, mentors and other cyclists working towards what would have been my first Century Ride in Honolulu. The day before our warm up event (Cool Breeze Century), I had to fly to Mexico for the start of 6 months of being all things to all people. I not only missed Cool Breeze but Honolulu as well. Some of you have already heard the sad saga.

My daughter also had a disappointment at Honolulu. She got about 16 miles in and went “endo”, in addition to bounce, slide and roll, taking her and a few layers of skin out of the event.

We consoled ourselves by saying we would tackle Honolulu in 2008. We took on another TNT season and did Solvang 2008 to make sure we stayed focused on our training and signed up for other events along the way. Sign up time for Honolulu is around the bend. *drumroll*

I was floored to find that we would still be on the plane as the sun set and Erev Rosh Hashannah would be starting. There would be no way that I could have family together and start the holiday that begins our year together. We’ve spent a lot of time as a family working on our goals to make a difference to others. It is not just the fund raising but the hours that Dave has spent driving Rachael and I to training and standing in parking lots with Josh until we returned. The days he has run SAG or that Josh could not play with his friends because it would mean that there would be no one to pick him up because Rae and Mommy are cat 5s and generally in later then others, plus other sacrifices that we willingly made. But to give up Rosh Hashannah and perhaps one of the final ones that my parents may be able to join us for.. I just wasn’t ready for that.

So I’m bummed. Add that to next year’s plans, the year of The Great Bar Mitzvah and I’ve come to the realization that I won’t be doing the Honolulu Century until 2010. I had hoped to be a TNT mentor by that year but I don’t think I’ll have enough time with them under my belt. I’ve already learned it is what they see that makes the difference, so being away may really hurt me there.

None of this means I am giving up my other events. I’ll still be in Toronto for the 200 Km event to benefit the Princess Margaret Hospital, among others.

100 Rider spots left!

If you are still thinking joining our Team US Cares (password Kickbutt) for the The Ride to Conquer Cancer, Benefiting The Princess Margaret, June 2008, now is the time to get registered! There are only 100 spots left and Rider registration will close soon.

Ride Guides are standing by to help register any of your friends, co-workers and family members. Call today at (416) 815-RIDE(7433) or register online at: http://conquercancer.ca.

Let’s be clear. You don’t have to be rich to participate in The Ride to Conquer Cancer. And you don’t have to be an athlete. Whether you’re 25 or 75, a fitness freak or couch potato, a banker or barista, you can absolutely do this.

The funds you raise will support critical, breakthrough cancer research at The Princess Margaret, one of the top 5 cancer research hospitals in the world.

Solvang Century tips just in time.

My coach and good pal from my last TNT season, Ramon, sent me an email today with his tips for a fabulous ride this coming Saturday in Solvang.

Ramon’s tips:

The ride starts with small hills that slowly get bigger, leading to a fun descent into Lompoc and SAG 1.

Foxen Canyon (mile 90): False flat, easy to over-do it.  It kicks up at the end, so don’t burn out!  Stay at a comfortable pace and don’t feel like you are “pushing” yourself.

SAG 5 (Firestone Winery @ mile 96): definitely keep your stop short, so your legs don’t get cold–there’s a climb immediately.  It’s not as hard as it looks, but easy to psyche yourself out since it you can see people climb it at the SAG.

Crossing Hwy 54 (mile 101).  Short but steep climb just after the highway.  A couple of downhill curves, then a long, gradual descent (yeah!).  A few short climbs, and then back to town.  Easy to be mentally tired, but watch for traffic.  Cross the finish line and celebrate!

Stay hydrated, stay fueled, be safe, chat and have fun.

Step aside Lance, the Tour de Foothill is ours!

Now you have to admit, that unless you work for BNI (which I do), there probably isn’t a whole lotta reason to go to Upland, other than maybe the adult store located there, but we won’t go there now.

Add the Tour de Foothill to your reasons to head on over to lovely downtown Upland.

So, nu? How was the Solvang Prelude?

So, nu? How was the Solvang Prelude?
Rae and I decided we would take it easy after all. Being off the bike for so long didn’t seem like a snap any more and after all, our team was only doing a training ride of 20 miles, so we opted for the 50 miles route.

The ride out of the start was a nice easy flat warm up of about 5 miles or so, a little chilly in the early hours, with most of us piling on the layers. So we’re tooling along, thinking this is lovely, then the hills hit.

What to do? What to do?

So here’s my big dilemma: I have not been on my bike to really prep for this week’s metric. If you haven’t seen a prior post, it’s been only 2 rides since early August, one at 44 miles in September and last week’s 15 miler. Alternately, today Rachael had her first return to the bike since her September 30th accident. She did 20 miles.

The Solvang Prelude metric ride is really important to me as it is a prep for the follow week’s metric

Have I bit off more than I can chew?

Its Friday here in Cancun, just one week away from my first metric, the Solvang Prelude. I’ve been training since the spring

200K for the Cure!

I am so glad I went to the Challenge to Conquer Cancer office. I wasn’t able to make the orientation meeting the week before, so I called them up and asked about flying in the following week for a quick meet and great, with a little info. I could use a little get away time and had a few people I wanted to see there anyways.

Century Rides I Would Like to Try

I also have a goal of golfing the top 100 courses in the world. My thought is to schedule a vacation where I/we play golf at one of those courses and I ride a century the same week.

I did find a two day event in Toronto for June of 2008. The Ride to Conquer Cancer is right up my alley. I’m all for biking for a cause. A friend of mine once pointed out that I have to have a reason for something, I can’t just enjoy it. Somehow I think that is missing the mark. My enjoyment stems from working towards my goal, to make a difference in some small way – that makes me happy.

I am currently looking for Centuries in Ireland and New Zealand (NZ has three of the top 100 courses!), a century around Saint Andrews wouldn’t be too bad either. If I could book this with a BNI event at the same time, that would just send me into multi-tasking event organized heaven.

As far as TNT goes, I’ve got 2008 covered with Solvang (March) and Hawaii (Sept). 2009 brings me Lake Tahoe in June and if I can swing it with my schedule I’ll do Phoenix in November. We’ll see, two fundraising events a year plus my charity golf tournament is a lot more than I have rich friends.