Pedaling to Save Lives!

First, the good news!: I'm 12 years,9 months, and two weeks out from chemotherapy and training for a 100 mile bicycle ride!

I'm training with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us raise funds to research ways of stopping leukemia, Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives as it took my Father's and nearly took mine.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the LLS mission. And, visit my web site often. Check back anytime to follow my progress. Thanks for your support!

art.....

21 June 2008: Started training today. 20 miles on the W&OD bikeway. Went surprisingly well. Met three others in training who also survived blood cancers! Thanks, Will and John!!

24 June 2008: Midweek ride on vacation: Wildwood Crest to Cape May, NJ, and back. 17 miles! Gorgeous weather and doowop music together again!!

28 June 2008: Poolesville loop training ride. Another survivor and other nice folks joined the team! Got lost. 26 mile ride turned out to be 28. Made it! Thanks, Kathy!!

1 July 2008: Training ride with the local group out of Shirlington this afternoon. About 17.6 miles over the rolling hills around Lake Barcroft. Recovered with everyone with good Thai food! Thanks for being such a great coach, Michael!!

4 July 1008: Twenty-two miles from Belle Haven Marina via Fort Hunt Park to Mount Vernon and back. Beautiful day with only a few raindrops to keep us cool. Heard "GO TEAM!" from lots of people along the way!! Thanks, Coach Mike!!

6 July 2008: Easy ride around the W&OD from Shirlington. A dozen miles through rolling hills, beautiful gardens. Total training miles passed 100!

7 July 2008: Thanks, Anonynmous! Much appreciated!!

8 July 2008: Training ride around Lake Barcroft again. Did much, much better: about 3 mph average speed higher than last week. One problem: I bonked. Good recovery thanks to Catherine and Coach Mike. I'm so lucky to have them on my Team!!

10 July 2008: Training ride on the flats around Haines Point in DC. Silly me: forgot my shoes. Did 12 miles in socks and sandals! Thanks Chris!!

12 July 2008: 34 miles around Davidsonville, MD, with a couple of hills and lots of "opportunities!" Made it. Had to walk half of the last hill. Took on all the opportunites! We have amazingly fine and patient coaches!! Thanks, Charlie and Michael!!!!

14 July 2008: Happy Bastille Day. Rained, so no training today.

15 July 2008: Short relaxation ride around Highland Park, NJ. Bumpy roads, so going fast didn't seem wise. More back home tomorrow!

17 July 2008: Dodged a squall coming down the Potomac, which left us with a nice, cool evening to pedal around East Potomac Park. 20 miles at a nice, steady 15 mph went very well! Thanks, Coach Chris!!

19 July 2008: Lovely warm day! 40 miles from Ashburn to near Purcellville and back. Getting stronger and learning more about pacing and nutrition. Thanks, Coaches Charlie, Chris, and Mike!! Great ride made a delightful birthday present. Yup, I'm 62 today! Whod've thunk it?

22 July 2008: Down to East Potomac Park on my own this evening. About 12 miles at 15.5 mph average, so that's improving.

24 July 2008: Rented a nice road bicycle at Key Bicycles on Key Biscayne. Found some bikeways around Kendale golf course. Cut short by rain.

26 July 2008: Got connected to the South Florida TNT group. Great folks!! Did a flat 50-mile ride along FL A1A from Deerfield Beach up into Palm Beach County and back, along the Atlantic coast. Beautiful! Thanks, Coach Mike and Sherrie (Momma Armstrong)!!!

28 July 2008: Nice, easy ride out to the end of Key Biscayne. Had to slow for big, green lizards darting across the bikeway! Enjoyed the ultralight rental bicycle, even if I did fall off it once. No bruises!

31 July 2008: Back to Haines Point for 20-miles at about 15.5 mph average. No bonking. Getting stronger! Thanks, Chris!!

2 August 2008: Lightning, again. Ugh.

5 August 2008: Lightning, again. Ugh.

6 August 2008: 14+ miles on the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Georgetown and back in a little over an hour. Exceptional views near Three Sisters Islands in the Potomac. Thanks, Sharon!!

9 August 2008: 53 miles around the rolling hills in Prince William, Fauquier, and Stafford Counties. A perfectly beautiful day!! Great support from our Coaches. Thanks, Will, Chris, John, Rachel, and more!!!

12 August 2008: My bicycle has served me well for 24 years! It's so worn, it's wearing me out! Went lookng at new bicycles today. Stay tuned.....

13 August 2008: 14+ miles back on the Capital Crescent Trail. Now, over 400 miles in training! Picked up some new folks for future TNT events. Thanks, Sharon!!

14 August 2008: 20 miles: six times around Haines Point. Average speed up to about 16 mph. Getting stronger!! Thanks, Chris and Binni!!

16 August 2008: 50 miles around Charles and St Mary's Counties in Maryland. Just as Coach Mike said, "It's all flat, except for the hills." Thanks, Mike, Will, Chris, Binni, and all our support people!!

20 August 2008: 14 mile buddy ride from Bethesda, MD, to Georgetown, DC, and back. Exquisitely beautiful evening! Did the round trip in less than an hour! Thanks, Sharon!!

21 August 2008: Back to East Potomac Park with Washington Channel and the Main Avenue docks on one side and the Potomac River on the other. Did this ride on my own. Only 13 miles. Didn't have time for lunch and paid the price. Had a good dinner to get ready for Saturday's 50+ miles!!

23 August 2008: Turned out to be 45 miles of exquisite HILLS. No pain, no gain? Hope so. Thanks, Will, Mike, Sharon, Tara, and many more! Hope to have regular midweek training rides this week and 60 miles on the weekend.

25 August 2008: Thank you, Anonymous #2!!

27 August 2008: Thank you, Anonymous #3!!! Isn't Anonymous wonderful? Back to the Capital Crescent Trail this evening for 14 quick miles. Getting easier! Thanks, Sharon and Chris and Binni!

28 August 2008: Rained out.

29 August 2008: Hey, Anonymous IV! Thank you sooooo much!!

30 August 2008: 62 miles for the Bay Country Metric Century today. Beautiful ride along the Chesapeake Bay and lovely rural countryside. Made it!!

31 August 2008: Relaxed with about 12 miles along the W&OD trail out to the very westernmost corner of Arlington. The old District of Columbia western corner marker remains from when Arlington was part of DC. Lovely day!

2 September 2008: A couple of days to rest up and back to training tomorrow. Just a quick 14 miles on the Capital Crescent Trail. Once upon a time, that would have been hard and slow. We've got great coaches!!

4 September 2008: 20 miles in an hour and fifteen minutes around Haines Point. About 14 mph into the wind; 18 mph before the wind!! Getting stronger!!

6 September 2008: Looks like tomorrow's 65 mile ride will be put off an day due to the storm. Hope we get to do it on Sunday!! $400 to go toward first fundraining goal. Please, pitch in!!

7 September 2008: 66 miles on the W&OD trail from Vienna to Purcellville, VA. Lovely day. Yesteday's storm left lots of leaves and one tree across the bikeway. Remember my first 20 mile ride back in June? Big improvements!! Thanks to Charlie, Sue, and Emily!!

10 September 2008: Nice and easy (now!) 14 miles on the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Georgetown and back. Lovely evening! Thank, Katie!

11 September 2008: Took an extra turn around Haines Point for a total of 24-miles. Been riding with lights these last couple of evenings. Thanks, Chris! Wonderful Coach!!

13 September 2008: Getting there. 78.5 miles from Davidsonville, MD, down to the Chesapeake Bay, looping around and back. No hills, just lots of deep valleys with steep climbs out. Great support from sag folks and coaches. Thanks, especially, to Chris, Sharon, and Charlie!!

16 September 2008: Just 8 miles with some good hills over to the Red Cross for the Arlington Amateur Radio Club meeting and back. First ride at night with new lights! A special thanks to Bonnie for putting my fundraising over the top!!

17 September 2008: Getting closer! 14 easy miles on the Capital Crescent Trail. Thanks, Sharon!!

20 September 2008: 86.2 miles!! Finished with a reasonably good time: about 6 hours, 45 minutes riding time. Yes, my tush is a bit sore and I'm worn. But, with all the hills and the distance, it looks like our coaches trained me well enoujgh to do the 100 miles in a couple of weeks! Training continues. Thanks, Will and Chris and, especially, Charlie for the great food!!

22 September 2008: Bon voyage team get together this evening! Got our racing shirts and other necessities. Thanks to all the wonderful Coaches and Captains who have helped to change me from a couch potato into a speedy spud!

24 September 2008: 14 miles on the Capital Crescent Trail in about 55 minutes! Thanks, Sharon and Madeline!!

26 September 2008: Rain.

27 Septembet 2008: More rain.

28 September 2008: Even more rain. Argh.....

To the good: You all helped exceed my fundraising goal by $500. Thanks so much!!!

29 September 2008: Just a short ride around the neighborhood with a couple of stops at Spokes for a tuneup and other goodies.

4 October 2008: We're here! Nearly 1000 miles of training rides with lots of help from our Coaches and Captains and support from all our Team. Starting out in the middle of Salisbury University, we pedaled out to Assateague Island on the Atlantic coast. Beautiful!! Everyone on our Team finished, even the oldest member (that would be me!). Thanks to everyone for your support and caring and $$$ to support blood cancer research and family services. You're the best!!!!!

10 October 2008: Yes, the 100-miles are done. But, the cancers continue and some wonderful folks continue to add to the fund. A special thanks to the folks at RCI Sound Systems who have contributed as a company and individually. RCI is a very special place to work!! Thanks, everyone!!!!!