The Reason I am Doing It.

It was my brother's idea at first, he told me he had looked into doing a sponsored bike ride in England. The idea was to raise money for leukemia research because our mother had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2005. Since I enjoy cycling, raising money for leukemia research while bike riding sounded perfect. An evening of "Googling" later, I had found Team In Training, a group that fund-raise with endurance sports for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I initially registered for the 2007 Lake Tahoe event, but had to drop out when it became aparent that Mum was losing her battle with leukemia. This year I am back and intent on raising $5000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The event I am training for is a 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe on June 1st 2008. Because of the altitude (6,225ft.) and the distance, training is important. So, every Saturday for 5 months I will be getting up at 6:00 a.m. to join my team for training rides. There will be a lot of hills to climb!


So when the training gets tough, I look down at the top tube of my bike where I carry 2 names that inspire me to push on. The names are, my Mum – Ruth Davies, and my Aunt Meg, both of whom lost their lives to blood diseases. My Mum, as many of you already know, passed away last year from Leukemia (AML). I thank God for the 14 months of remission she had and the last vacation we spent together in February 2006. At the end of 2006, the leukemia returned and this time there was no stopping it. After wasting away, my mother died in April of 2007. Similarly, my Aunt Meg passed away in February of 1993 after an 11-year battle against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What these two women endured is infinitely more than any discomfort I feel during my training.


To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, go to: TNT Donate



Saturday, April 12, 2008

Week 10 - April 12th, 2008 - Distance 63.52 miles

Midweek Training: No Sunday ride this week, my leg muscles were still aching from Saturday's ride. Because of Judy's work situation this week, I could rely on her to pick up our daughter from school. So Tuesday and Thursday I rode to work and back. On the way home on Thursday I had time to add extra miles and an extra couple of hills to round out the day's mileage to 32.33 miles. The fork conversion that I performed on the bike last weekend felt good and didn't change the handling of the bike that much.

Group Ride: Wow! Week 10! I am now half way through training. So far 644 miles have rolled under my wheels since starting training in February!

This week's ride was a really tough one. After last week's ride with 3 significant hills, and coach Andy telling us that this week would have no big hills, I felt sure the ride would be easier than last week, even with the extra miles. What I didn't factor on was the heat! Our ride out from Pasadena started with nice warm sunshine, no need for arm warmers or jackets, but very quickly, by the time we reached Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, the temps hit 90F (that's 32.7C). We passed the Fairplex in Pomona before heading back.

It was a long slog back to Pasadena. Becca, one of the 2 girls riding with the fast group of 6 riders, suffered from heat exhaustion and had to be shuttled back to Pasadena. I was feeling the heat also and was hanging back on the way home. I emptied my water bottles several times on this ride. It was a good job we had 3 SAG stops. The last 10 miles or so seemed to go on forever, every part of me that touched the bike was sore and/or uncomfortable. Fortunately the Tahoe ride won't be hot, we will just have the altitude to contend with.

After I finished the ride it was off to Colin's birthday party (the son of our good friends Russ and Eileen). Where, sadly, I fell asleep!

Fund-raising: After considering it, I have moved the goalposts, since we have raised over $5000 to date. I have now set the target at $7500. How could I not up the goal? It is such a good cause and I have had so many people donate, and what really touches me is when I thank them, they often thank me for doing the ride.

This week I have a fund raiser at The Habit Burger in Simi Valley. My wife has done such a wonderful job of organising the event and promoting it to our friends. So please come on down on Wednesday, April 16th (between 4 and 9 p.m.) to eat with us. You were going to eat anyway, right? Click here for the Flyer

To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or to learn more go to TNT Donate
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