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I'm pedaling every stroke to save lives.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page which I sincerely hope you visit often. I'll be posting updates on a regular basis to post my progress. But be forewarned, I may whine occasionally.

Since I feel like I'm writing my "about me" on Myspace, here goes:

My name is Cassandra Ventura, I'm a senior in high school, my favorite punctuation mark is the semi-colon, I'm addicted to Starbucks, will be a great 1st grade teacher someday, and MOST IMPORTANTLY am completing a cycling century five days before I graduate.

((I really hope I can walk straight when I walk across the stage to pick up my diploma.))

So you may be asking yourself why I'm doing this; after all, I'm only in high school and realistically I should be so consumed by my senioritis that I care about nothing else, right?

Wrong.

There's a long list of reasons why I spend every Saturday and countless miles on a hard bike seat. Here's my top three:

1. It's a fantastic cause. Not only do I have personal connections to it, but everyone does. I guarantee that there is less than 6-degrees of seperation between yourself and a cancer patient. If I can make that fight any easier for someone, I will.

2. You know that crazy long, agonizing time period between applying to college and hearing back from them which seems to dredge on at a slug's pace? I wanted to fill that time period with something productive. I chose TNT. :]

3. I selfishly want a super cute butt for prom.

Here's where you come in:

I can cycle all day, and all night, but without the gracious support and contribution from people like yourself my efforts mean nothing. The money I raise for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society goes directly towards cancer research and patient services.

Did I mention yet that your contributions are tax-deductible? Talk about some incentive, right?

As much as I enjoy my Team in Training events I sincerely hope that one day there won't be a need to raise money for Leukemia research, but instead there will be a cure. You can help be part of that.

Thank you for your time, (I know I'm verbose.)

And thank you for your contributions.

-Cassandra Ventura

Mailing address: 578 Colusa way, Livermore, CA 94551

2/28== Pleasanton Buddy Ride

Boy, oh boy, am I late to set this beautiful website up. So today's ride marked the 4th week of training and I cannot fathom how time went by SOO fast. As always, the ride was beautiful. That's something I particularly enjoy about TNT, I've lived my entire life in the Bay Area and had no clue that these gorgeous landscapes existed. Heck, today our ride took us from Pleasanton to Sunol and almost everything I saw was new for me; the significance of this is that I live within 15-minutes of Pleasanton.

Sunol is officially the quaint little town that I hope to reside in when I'm an adorable 80-year old woman; I even found my future home, (it's name was SunolMates.) How cute is that?? :)

Con to this ride: I have a difficult time sitting comfortably now.

Pro: I can officially handle 28 miles, I was in fantastic company, lunch with the team afterwards was superb, and now I know where my 80-year old self will live...SCORE! :]

Peace & good health- Cassandra

3/7==Sunol Team Ride

Hawks, and eagles, and hills...OH MY!!

How many people can say that they've seen a bald-eagle in the flesh, (or feathers I guess,) AND weren't at the zoo?? Because my team can. :] Today's ride marked our first time dealing with MAJOR hills, and my legs were feeeling it. But the scenery was such a distraction I didn't notice most of the time.

Con to this ride: I need to invest in a thicker shammy- I AGAIN cannot sit comfortably. Yuck.

Pro: Nature. I mean, I saw a bald eagle in its natural habitat, more than one hawk flying majestically through the sky, and was loving every minute... need I say more?

Oh, and the hummus at the potluck afterwards was DE-LIC-IOUS. (Which was an additional bonus.)

Peace && good health- Cassandra

3/14== SF Ride

I'm a pity party of ONE. This week I had my wisdom teeth taken out which was less than a pleasant experience. However, the worst part is that I had to miss the beyond awesome ride this week. My mama was afraid I'd burst my stiches. I'm bummed.

Con: I missed it. (Stupid stiches.)

Pro: I'll be back in action for the team ride in Pt. Reyes. :]

Peace && good health- Cassandra

3/21== Pt. Reyes

You know, normally I focus on the fantastic views or the sense of personal achievement I feel while riding, but not today. Because...

Today's ride provided the NUMBER ONE REASON YOU SHOULD DONATE TO MY EFFORTS: I fell off of a cliff and caught myself on a branch, (in the rain) and still finished the ride with my team while wearing a smile.

Con: READ ABOVE!! :]

Pro: My team of fellow turtles are beyond fabulous. When the above-said event happened they created a HUMAN LADDER and got me back up to the road. How fantasically AMAZING are these people?? :]!!!

Peace && good health- Cassandra

3/28== Goldilocks & the Three Bears

For those of you wondering about my title, no, I am not super clever; there are actually a series of hills in Orinda which are called "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Now, as a future elementary school teacher I think that's rad. :] I did get in about a 36 mile ride today, (which would be easy-peezie-lemon-squeezie if it weren't for those darn hills.) Those are not my favorite things. HOWEVER, due to some technical difficulties with my bike's derailer I'm going to have to ride the Bears another day. Buuummmer. It's all good though, the loop I did with a fellow teammate was just as awesome, (and could be done without my granny gear, which is a necessity until my bike is fixed.)

Con: My derailer is mad at me because of the fall last week, so now I have to get my bike repaired. Boo to that.

Pro: Bonding time with my Turtle teammate, Lisa. :]

((AND the really nice men who helped us with a flat tire and saved the day.))

Peace && SUPER good health- Cassandra

PS- ENJOY THE WARM WEATHER!

4/11== Marin (County)

Good gracious 50 miles is a LOONG way!! I've been pretty lucky so far because I haven't struggled much to keep up with the mileage. And I've been TREMENDOUSLY lucky because my legs have only felt fatigued once all season, (although sometimes my arch-nemesis, HILLS, do get the better of me.) Today, I was not so lucky. There is a BIG difference between 45 and 50 miles when riding. Woah dang.

But all in all, it was a b-e-a-utiful ride. I was excited that I started and ended strong. It's never any fun to reach the end looking like you're about to pass out; it's more impressive if you come in with a dazzling smile.

Con: My cheeks are burnt and my allergies are trying to kill me. Boo!

Pro: Can you say, nice weather? ALSO I could be a rap star. :] Today to pass the long, lonely miles I sang funny little raps about the ride. I may not have a future filled with platinum records, but I do have a new favorite "distract your mind from the pain you're in" game. YAY!

As always, Peace && Good Health,

-Cassandra

P.S. And to all high school students like myself, make the most of spring break. :] And please blame my public education for a lack of new postings last week.

4/18 == Novato

Today's ride was by far my favorite of the season. Here's why:

1.) I love riding by water; it's always pretty and is usually accompanied by a breeze. Can you say, awesome??

2.) ROLLERS. Let me explain this one. "Rollers" is just super cool biker jargon for rolling hills. Now, I know, I know, I'm a confusing kid; after all, I regularly refer to hills as my arch nemesis, but rollers are my friend. (For all Veronica Mars fans here's a metaphor for you, rollers are my Meg.) For all other people, here's your metaphor: to me, rollers are equivalent to the friend you had in high school who hung out with people you didn't like== you hated their friends, but thought they were an exception to the rule and were fabulous. I think rollers are fabulous.

3.) The world was in serious technicolor today. It's funny, in a few days I'll be officially confirming my intention to leave California for the rainest place ever, (college,) but today, it was beautiful right where I was.

Pro: Hello, did you read above? :] Also, the pot luck was fabulous and I really do love my teammates. (GO TEAM!)

Con: It's time to bite the bullet and take my bike to a shop. I could only use my middle ring today. NOT FUN. Oh, and tan lines are miserable. I have senior ball in a month and have a million tan lines. Boo.

Peace && fabulous health,

==Cassandra

4/25== Around Town

Best "buddy ride" ever. Why you ask? Because for a few hours it was just my brother, me, our bikes, and some very needed sibling time. Confession: we didn't do the mileage that I should have done, but what can I say, my cocky freshman brother couldn't exactly handle 60 miles. Bug (my little brother) looves to ride his bike and this week I got to teach him all of the great stuff I've learned these past few months. Even if it's only temporary I get to show him up physically, (normally I'm the brains and he's the brawn,) AND I get to enjoy the look of awe and wonderment on his face as I shift into this uberly cool cycling goddess in his eyes. Now, anyone I cycle with for TNT knows I am NOT A CYCLING GODDESS, but to my (almost) 15 year old brother I am. That is pretty frickin' sweet. :]

Pro: My brother is a pretty cool kid. OH!!! And my BIKE IS FIXED, MY BIKE IS FIXED, MY BIKE IS FIXED. YESSSSS!!!! *happy dance* (yes, the caps lock was needed.)

Con: The ride didn't meet my mileage goal, but on the bright side I was a cycle goddess, remember? That totally out-weighs the bad.

As always, peace && fabulous health,

==Cassandra (temporary cycle goddess of my brother's imagination)

5/9== Hello, East Bay

I'm going to keep this short because my ride was cut short. :(

Everyone has one ride that's just less than fabulous, this was mine. I have no one to blame but myself. Why you ask, because I (who knows better) didn't drink enough fluids. After totally bonking and becoming light-headed I had to bite the bullet and call it a day after about 40 miles. However, the part of the ride I did see was GREAT, and I'll definitely be doing that ride on my own now that I have a map.

Con: I felt uber lame for calling it a day early. Dehydration is a meanie. That's right, a meanie. 40 miles was not the day's goal. BUT that just means finishing that ride on my own time is a must. I don't do failure well.

Pro: The mileage I got in was most of the day's climbing and guess who conquered those darn hills? ME. Wootwoot!! Maybe I can be a cyclist after all. :]

Peace && good health,

-Cassandra

5/16== BUSY, BUSY, BUSY MEE

Today is my mama's birthday, my prom, and the 80-miler ride. EEK!

The ride took the team from San Ramon to Livermore and ALL OVER. It was really nice to have ALL of the Turtles there for the ride, (that doesn't happen often.) I'm going to be quick about this since I have some getting ready to do now. :] I love my Turtle Team so much; they're fabulous. We never leave anyone behind which is unique, most teams assume if you're going to ride a 100 miles that you're sufficient enough on a bike to follow a map to the end. That makes my heart hurt.

Con: Livermore is HOOOOTTTTTTTTTT!!! :(

Pro: Our team "turtle call." Love it, love them, love my bike. GO TEAM!

Peace && good health,

-Cassandra

5/23-- Highway 1

Today's ride had great, green, luscious scenery && cool, overcast weather, ((the BEST for biking, no lie.)) Oh, how much can change in 7 days. Last week was a cauldren of boiling heat, today I wore my jacket for the first 60 miles. CRAZYNESS. But more imporatant than all of that is the fact I CAN COMPLETE 80 MILES. :] That fact fills me with joy. Now here's a VEEEERY important question. George Lucas, (yes, THE George Lucas, lives on Lucas Valley Road. Which came first? Did he think it's be cool to live on a street that shared a name OOOOORR did the "Lucas" part come after he did??

Con: One word: chaffing. :[

Pro: great weather, great company, great view... it was all great. :]

**P.S. I have no idea why my page isn't acknowledging everyone's generous donations, but my complete list isn't on my page anymore. :[

So whether my page states it or not, THANK YOU ALL FOR HELPING THE CAUSE. It has been so very inspiring to me to recieve support from so many. You are all helping to make a difference== I'm just riding the miles.**