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



Sunday, May 25, 2008

Final Week!

Well it's finally here. Next weekend is the big ride, 100 miles around Lake Tahoe. This weekend we have no scheduled ride. I spent the early part of the week taking my bike apart for a good cleaning and lubrication - KYCWO - eh U. Geoff (an inside joke - the initials stand for keep your chain well oiled!) I also installed 2 new tires and a new chain.

Saturday morning a few of us decided to do an informal ride out of Woodland Hills. However, after getting up at 5:30a.m. and getting halfway there it started raining quite steadily. I decided to abort the ride. I wanted to keep well for next week and didn't want my bike getting dirty. Later in the day on Saturday there was a break in the weather and I did a 30-mile ride which along with Thursday's ride of 24 miles makes a rather paltry (at this point in the game) 54 mile total for the week! Next week is unlikely to be any better as I am handing over my road bike for shipping today (Sunday). However, my total miles ridden in training for this event exceeds 1,150 miles since February!

Fund raising, This week saw a leap in the total dollars raised on Friday when my cousin David made his donation and then sent out an e-mail to his entire address book. David's mother, my Aunt Meg (see pic), passed away in 1993 from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after a long and courageous battle. The response to his e-mail has been fantastic. In just 6 hours the total jumped nearly $1,000, that's amazing!

I know from the many messages I have received that the donations made are not just about my ride. People have supported the cause for many reasons, in memory of my Mother or my Aunt, or in memory of someone else they have lost that is dear to them. There are some that have family or friends that have beaten blood cancers. Your contributions will increase awareness of blood cancers, assist those who are fighting for life, and some will fund research. I hope someday that there will be more of these survivors.

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