It appears that I've already fallen behind on keeping up with this blog!

Oops! Sorry!

Training is going well, but I have to admit that it's kicking my butt a

bit. As I've mentioned before, I've ridden long-ish distances before, but

I'm definitely not a strong rider. I'll get to my destination, but probably

long after everyone else is there, has had a meal or two, read Les

Miserables, cured cancer, etc. Coach Steve is making sure that we all end

up strong riders in the end. A fantastic goal, but only if my legs stay

attached.

We had our first bucket drive this weekend out at Johnny Pomodoro's in

Farmington Hills. It was pretty fun; the weather outside was pretty messy,

but what made up for it was the steady stream of supportive customers. I

did the 3-5p shift, and we ended up talking to more than a few folks who

were either personally affected by leukemia, had participated with Team in

Training before, or were training for other charities. Overall, we ended up

raising a little over $400! Woohoo!

I did receive some sad news yesterday, which brings to focus the main

reason for doing this fundraising. The mother of an old friend was

diagnosed with multiple myeloma a few years back; after many rounds of

chemo and a bone marrow transplant, she was in remission. She sent me an

email and said that the cancer is back and she's going back in for another

round of chemo. Multiple myeloma is a scary one; the average life

expectancy is only a few years, and there aren't many cases reported each

year.

This is why I'm riding.

I have some more fundraisers coming up I'm pretty excited about - I'll be

posting about them soon. I'm working on a bowling fundraiser (and y'all

know I love bowling), some stuff for March Madness, and some fun for St.

Patrick's Day.

Here we go - my first fundraiser for the new year.

Super Bowl Squares!

Ok - we all know how this works and we all love it. Plus, you don't even need to know anything about football! Personally, I love this fundraiser because I, myself, don't know much about football, but I love watching others win money. Please forward this on to all your family and friends!

Here's how it works... Hit the site at:

http://www.officepicker.com/users/respond.php?game=5479&code=TNT

Buy squares for $10 BEFORE the game starts on 2/6. You can pay by cash (you know where to find me!), or using the "Donate Now" link on the right - make sure you mention "Squares" in the comments.

Next, sit back and wait for your chance to win up to $500 if you win all the parts of the pool!

Prizes work out below, assuming all squares are purchased. If not, it's a percentage of total proceeds:

First Quarter Score = $100.00 (20% of winnings)

Half Time = $100.00 (20% of winnings)

Third Quarter = $100.00 (20% of winnings)

Final Score = $200.00 (40% of winnings)

Can't get better than that, folks. Winnings = half of all total moneys gathered. The other half goes to Team in Training. Everyone wins.

Go here! Now!

http://www.officepicker.com/users/respond.php?game=5479&code=TNT

Welcome!

I am "cycling for a cure!"

So, um... What does that mean?

I am young and healthy, a gift that many others with leukemia, lymphoma, or other blood cancers don't have right now. I'm using that gift to get fit and train to do long distance bike rides to raise money (and awareness!) as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These individuals are standing behind us on every rotation of the wheel, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

So where are we going?

On June 5, 2011: America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride: Lake Tahoe!

http://www.bikethewest.com/AMBBR.html

This is a beautiful, but mountainous, 100 mile ride that can take up to 12 hours to complete. Training will be difficult - I've never done anything close to riding that far OR long, and southeast Michigan is, well... flat. I've done the first 8 miles of this ride before with a friend and I thought I was going to pass out. This will be a huge challenge and I'm up for it.

To help me ride for a cure, please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training. Every donation helps advance LLS's mission, and ultimately, those in need.

I'll be updating this at least weekly (if not more often) with info on the training, the preparations, everyone I meet along the way, etc. It's going to be a fun ride (pun not intended... well, ok... kinda intended). Thanks for your support!

I'm realizing pretty early on that I'm going to need to get a new camera - the old 2 megapixel beast that eats batteries isn't going to cut it... I can't take pictures of everything this way...

Tonight was the kickoff for the 2011 season, which, as we know, is my first. I was pretty nervous getting there since I didn't know anyone outside of the two or three folks that I met at the sign-up event in early January, so i wasn't sure what to expect...

Pretty much as soon as I got in, I met folks that had ridden in past years (along with some of the triathletes and marathon runners... and I'm jealous. I wish I didn't have my hip problems!), and there were a couple of newbies like me. We all meshed well at the table, and I felt pretty comfortable early on - it's going to be a fun season.

I also got to meet our team's "Honored Hero," whose name I won't mention here since I don't know, honestly, how public a lot of folks are with their battles with cancer. He was humble, funny, and truly inspiring: 15 years of battling non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and has done multiple 100 mile rides, as well as several marathons in the past few years. He'll be riding with us in Tahoe, and I'm looking forward to getting to know him. It seemed like I was the only person at our table that didn't know him, so I'm sure that'll get fixed soon enough.

One of the things that really resonated with me throughout the whole kickoff was those diagnosed were not only battling, but training as well. They stood up during the presentation so we could see who they were, and they were all in our groups: aides, coaches, participants. It kinda drives home who I'm raising money for - which was kinda the point of having them all recognized int he first place!

So, first training is at 7am this coming Saturday (Ouch! No... seriously. Ouch). We'll be on the bike trainers and sweating inside while it snows. I think we're supposed to get 3" of snow overnight Friday/Saturday.

Now to see how I'm going to get my bike out of the shed. The last time I tried before the thaw, it took nearly and hour and a half of dragging pots of hot water out to the backyard just to melt the ground enough to get open the shed door... and that was when there was no snow on the ground. I may have to get up at 4:30 to start on that project...