Day Two is almost done – Getting home from The Ride to Conquer Cancer

The train almost did me in. I had no idea I would get motion sickness, not having been on a train in 30 years (for those of you doing the math, I was 16. Trust me, it does too add up to 29). I thought it was extremely ironic that I made it over 200K on a bike only to be taken down by a train ride.

Fortunately, I had met some terrific people along the way, Kate and Sue pulled me to the end of the car where we had lots of room, lovely bottles of water waiting for us and time to regroup.

I hadn’t expected all that was done for us. I’m no stranger to corporate sponsors but in this case it was an amazing out pouring. Via Rail donated their trains to us for the trek from Niagara to Toronto. They provided the endless water bottles too.

We returned to the Exhibition Centre and I got my bike and gear. Just then Joe, who I had also met on the second day, promised to see me back to the B&B, making sure the American didn’t get lost along the way.

As soon as we took off, I got sicker and told Joe I would walk. He wouldn’t hear of it. He took my pack, tossed it on his handle bars set about his way, taking care of the US. I could not believe it, 2 days, his own gear and he was still willing to help me out. Just one more incredible story in this whole journey.

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 😉

Oh Canada! Or how I prepared for The Ride to Conquer Cancer.

I often travel to Canada for my business, but this time I went to enjoy a BNI Conference (scored a copy of Dr. Ivan Misner’s yet-to-hit-the-stands book, 29% Solution, thank you very much) in Toronto, and ride with Richard, my Canadian riding partner for the upcoming event.

Richard suggested I leave the downtown hotel once the conference was over and bring myself and the bike over to his side of town. I really didn’t want to move all my stuff but it seemed like a better place to be in terms of smooth operations and such. And you know me, I’m all about the schedule.

Tottenham turned out to be the cutest place in the world with great roads to cycle. On day one we pulled my bike (Trek WSD 1.2) out of the B I G iron case and popped it all together. It was easier than I thought it would be, but I am sure that is because Richard did it for me. After a bit of that, we left the drive and started on our way…. as did the rain drops.

We rode a little less than 2 miles up the road and hit our first hill. It wasn’t Encinal Canyon but it took a little effort. I have to say, hitting a hill with a 2 mile warm up isn’t my favorite thing to do. I used to hear people say “It takes me about 8 miles to really warm up” and I thought, “gee, after 8 miles, I’d rather be in the car” but things are a little different now. The next hill was a bit more difficult which I stormed at a whopping 4 miles an hour. Richard told me those were the hardest hills of the route and I was a little stunned that was all and maybe relieved.

The silly thing is the bike I brought to Canada has a cyclometer set in miles but the one in Los Angeles, is in kilometers. I actually like it that way, because doing the math conversion keeps me busy and I don’t notice other things like being tired on the climbs so much (I still notice).

At this point, the rain was coming down pretty hard and it was getting hard to see. I had already ridden into the dirt shoulder twice and had to stop. It didn’t seem like I would be able to make my way through much more without cycling into a building or off the road. We decided to return and did an honourable 10 miles, knowing that the next day would have better weather.

Day two was planned for 60 km (37 miles). Richard seemed worried about a distance like that for me. I told him he might be right to worry but if I don’t get off my butt for 60 km then I won’t be able to handle next week’s Crusin’ the Conejo at 68 miles (109.5 km). This lazy girl needs to get in gear. Speaking of gears, the chain on this bike is <I>still</I> giving me trouble.

So if you thought I was unhappy about Saturday’s hills with little or no warm up at less than 2 miles, you should have seen me on Sunday when we clipped in and went right to a hill! This day was a group ride with just a hand full of people – 5 including myself – who would be doing the June Toronto to Niagara event with me.

We tackled one hill after another, no flats between but some low grade false flats. Richard and another rider took off like jack rabbits and I was pacing with the other two. One woman had only had her bike out last week since the summer and the man there hadn’t ridden since he was 14, but his father died of lung cancer this past January and he was determined to be a part of this – really touched my heart.

By the time we were about 4 miles in of these hills – oh, did I mention the winds? – I stopped to fumble with something and noticed they were stopping to walk a hill. On the next downhill the winds were so fierce that I could not ride straight into them and was forced into a zigzag. I could not believe that I was doing 7 mph downhill! I told my two riding partners that this was silly and I would ride another mile with them and then turn back to the cars where the hills were more rollers with lesser winds and I could get my miles in.

Not only did they agree, but Richard and his partner had come back, listened to my game plan and did the same. We rode down the road, it was quite an ego boost to the other two who had thought they bit off more than they could chew.  They were able to look back, see what they did and continue on for a bit more cycling. However,  I am not sure what happened after that. We didn’t do much more and then Richard pulled us back to the cars. I am guessing all told, we did about 15 miles that day.

I am flying back today, out of two for two more days without my bike then in meetings aaaallllll of Thursday. Friday is a half day then I leave for the Saturday event. My only hope is that the next hotel has a gym with an indoor trainer. Otherwise I am just a wee bit worried about Crusin’ the Conejo. But you know me, I love a good stress filled week!

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.

Traveling with my bike.

I’m no different than anyone else with a bike. We’ve all spent a chunk of change on our ride. Taking care of it becomes a time challenge among other things. I am terrible about cleaning my bike, degreasing it, etc. Fortunately, I have an extremely knowledgeable daughter who is willing to take care of mine when she cleans hers. Of course mom has to pay the going rate.

We travel for various events – not just biking but golfing in new and exciting places too – which meant we needed a new car to handle the bikes in a way that would keep them from getting banged up like they did with the rack on the back, allow us to have room for luggage AND 3 golf bags, plus let us pop an extra rack on the back in case we needed to SAG. It was quite a site watching me open car trunks, throw in my clubs and see if I could lift a bike to the roof of the car. I refused to test drive or listen to a sales pitch before I was sure it would suit our needs. I should point out here, that I have a very supportive husband who does not ride a bike … ever.

It didn’t stop there. With me getting ready to start working on the June Ride to Conquer Cancer in Toronto, I’ll be traveling there to get to know the routes and spend some time training with my cycling partner there. (very nice guy who is a cat 1 paired with me, a cat 5). I started to worry about my bike on the plane. The airlines helped me get a bike safely to Calgary in a cardboard box but I wanted something more for this bike. This week I bought a Trico Sports Iron Case from Helen’s Cycles with my super Team in Training discount!

I’m pretty impressed with this purchase. It not only is much more secure for my bike than the cardboard box but also a bit shorter in length. This will help me in getting a cab. The wheels on the bottom are small in my opinion but they do work well and the case does not tip to the side when pulling like some rolling bags.

The only thing that might make me happier is getting it out of my living room and into the garage until I am ready to use it!

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.