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, June 8, 2008

Photos

Ride statistics:
Distance 100.5 miles. Time from start line to finish line - 9:10, Time spent cycling (from bike computer) 6:48, average speed 14.7mph, fastest speed 42.8mph! 1,800 riders from 60 regional chapters raised over $7.5 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My total so far is over $9,000 and is likely to reach $11,000 when the corporate matching gifts come in at the end of the month.

June 20th is the last day for me to submit checks (cheques) to be credited against my fundraising total. Final accounting will be at the end of June. Once I get my final total I will post it here.


Here are some photos from my ride on June 1st (The first shot is a composite of the names on my bike, the second 2 shots are of our group pracice ride on the day before) in chronological order. Click on the photos for a larger version!





































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