Reason No. 15 to Ride

Reason number 15 to ride is you make a difference to people like Virginia Garner and others like her.

Virginia Garner is a blood cancer patient who became part of the LLS family when she was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).  She is now a First Connection volunteer, a vocal member of her local CML Support Group, active in the Light The Night Walk “CML BUSTERS”, a mentor through Team In Training, involved in presentations through the School & Youth program and just an incredible resource!  Here is a recent note from Virginia:

Ten years ago today (April 19, 2009) I sat in an examination room at UCLA as a participant in a clinical trial where I swallowed my first Gleevec pills.  It’s hard to believe that all that time has passed.  I remember having the pills in one hand and a cup of water in the other and chatting with Dr. Sawyers, Ginny the nurse, Van my husband, and Connie my sister-in-law until they lost patience and demanded that I swallow the pills.  When I did, there was a hush in the room that I’ll never forget.  I interpreted it as everyone there wondering what would happen next:  Would my eyeballs fall out?  Would my arms fall off?  Would I descend into uncontrollable fits of coughing?  Of course, what did happen was absolutely nothing, except that I walked out of that room armed with a new hope and on the road to complete molecular remission of the CML that had ravaged my body.  That’s a pretty big nothing, huh?

For over two years now, my follow up tests have come back showing no detectable cancer cells, and I live a full and productive life full of energy and joie de vivre.  These days I gratefully dedicate my time to others going through cancer treatment, whether it is by sharing my story with patients or fundraising for cancer research.  I have the hope that one day all cancers will be obliterated, and more people can live a satisfying and full existence like me.  Life is good!

To learn more about LLS, please visit www.LLS.org.

Can a marriage survive a bike addiction?

Sometimes you marry the perfect match, but yet, your interests drift in different directions. Such is the case with Dave and I.

How did it happen? We were two geeks happily following the path of techno weenies everywhere, downing Jolt Cola and eating Fritos, never leaving our keyboards, never seeing the light of day. Life was good. Until…

I found out about Team and Training. Instantly, I was back in the world of biking – something I had not done since I left for college a lot of years and 3 kids ago. I loved it, the constant joy of being back on the bike, the constant struggle of being back on the bike, I rode every chance I got. I was hooked. Dave, not so much.

Rae joined me in our first Team and Training event and the months of training up to it. Then a few years later, Josh joined in – in fact, he participated in his second event this past weekend, the Tour de Cure. Most of the household was now in the saddle.

My husband was not too enamored of the concept of peddling to get to where he wanted to go. Still, he continued to meet me at Helen’s cycles, eyeing the new models and every now and then looking at a bike for himself. He would talk to the manager and gear techs, making sure I was being taken care of, asking about the new Madone I was looking at, etc. He seemed into it, but I still couldn’t get him on a bike.

I teased him, encouraged him, cajoled him and finally I just gave up. I muttered something about those tech support guys whose only time away from the computer is when they are discussing going to the next level with other World of Warcraft players. He jerked his head up in hurt surprise. “You really think so? You think that is all I am interested in?” Uh oh, I had crossed a line. “Uhm, well…” trying to quickly assess how much damage I had done, “it does seem odd that you keep looking at bikes and talking about wanting to ride and you never do.”. Not knowing when to quit, I continued on, “Dave life is just better when a couple have things in common, things they do together other than raising kids. I know we can’t do everything together, we have to have some interests of our own, but this is something that the kids and I really love and you have to get up in the morning and drive us to training rides anyways…” I whined. “Right,” he responded, “I get up early, check the bikes to make sure they are safe and ready for the road.” . “I know, I know. So if you are there anyways, why not be a part of it?” I asked perplexed. As patiently as a Father to a dolt child, he learned close and softly asked ” If I rode with you, who would be your SAG vehicle?”.

It must have been seconds, but it felt like minutes or even hours passed as I processed this. All this time I thought Dave just didn’t care about it all. The very fact of the matter was that Dave cared a great deal. He cared about us. He has spent the last two and a half years carrying bikes, tires, tubes and basic medical supplies, waiting hours at SAG (support and gear) stops and picking up hurt riders, taking them to safety. His addiction may not be to cycling but it has been to “his riders”.

Sometimes, you marry the perfect match.

There really is no I in TEAM

Quick recap of my Team In Training schedule since my my brother became ill in August: 1 ride. Yuppers, I dropped last season to be with Jack in Cancun and have only ridden one whole time with the new team on their first ride, 9 weeks ago.

These people have no idea who I am other than a name on the email list, and yet, when my brother passed away last week, they sent words of love, support and even attended the funeral.

I was tremendously touched but more importantly, I saw that there is truth in the old phrase, “no man is an island”. We need the support of each other, not just in times of loss but out on the road, working together.

My Commitment Grows

It’s been an eye opening week.

We lost someone that we met through our BNI business group, Phyllis Kaufman. Some time ago, she took a medical leave, and when asked how can we help, she responded that all she really wanted was a call now and then and to be in touch.