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| Livestrong Challenge Report |
| Friday, August 29, 2008 |
As a cancer survivor it was so inspiring to spend two days around people dedicated to fighting cancer and helping those who are living with the disease. I arrived at the Livestrong Village on the campus of Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA on Saturday and immediately found myself surrounded by people in yellow Livestrong attire. Five thousand of them were there to either ride or run in the Livestrong Challenge the next day, plus there were eight hundred volunteers just looking to be as much help to anyone as they could.
The sign-in process could not have been smoother. With so many volunteers, the check-in line was basically non-existent and I was through it and walking away with my number and all my goodies in a matter of two or three minutes. I took a stroll through the expo to check out the exhibits and wandered around outside where there were more exhibits set up. I spent quite awhile just taking in the ambiance and soaking up all the positive vibes in the air.
Going out to dinner that night was kind of a strange experience for me. To start with it was my birthday and even though there were thousands of my new friends all around, I did not know anyone. Being alone is something I'm very used to since I run, bike, hike, canoe, etc alone all the time. On the other hand, going to a nice restaurant alone was something I can never remember doing before. Looking to fuel up on pasta, the first place I went was a highly recommended Italian restaurant, which was in an old train station they had converted into the restaurant. Unfortunately, the snooty waiter was not able to find a table for one and I was sent away to seek elsewhere for my dinner.
Saved by my Garmin GPS I did find a place to eat. From there I headed back to the hotel to watch the Olympic marathon. How anyone can run 2:06 in the heat, humidity and smog of Beijing is incredible.
The hotel provided a very nice breakfast starting at 5:30AM and when I walked into the lobby at 5:35 the place was already buzzing. Knowing that getting onto campus and into the parking lot was going to be crowded I left early enough to be there more than an hour before the start. Even at that early arrival, there was a back-up getting to parking. As it turned out they had to delay the start 30 minutes because of the traffic jam getting on to campus.
The 100-mile ride is through beautiful country very similar to Dutchess County. The middle 40 miles are very hilly with one hill at 54-miles into the ride that had everyone talking and worrying long before we got there. Since I had done the ride last year I knew about the hill and had geared much of my training this summer for getting to the top. The training must have worked, as I was able to push all the way to the top, passing riders (and some people walking their bikes) the whole time.
The rest stop at the top was great - live band, lots of food and drink and plenty of shade to enjoy a short break. There were eight rest stops on the ride, all sponsored by Power Bar. They all had plenty to eat, a medical tent, and a bike repair tent. There is a competition between the stops to see who gets voted as the best one. This year I only made three stops out of the eight. The last stop I pulled into was Margaritaville, complete with palm trees and Jimmy Buffett music.
The course control was amazing. Almost every intersection (except for small ones in very rural areas) had volunteers. Any intersection that might be even slightly busy had state troopers or local police stopping traffic. They waved us through each intersection so that we rarely even had to slow down.
My goal for the ride was to average around 15mph and finish with a riding time of about 7 hours, not counting the stops along the way, which I figured would add another 40 minutes or so to the ride. It was such a perfect day for riding and I felt so good that I actually completed the ride, including the stops, in 7 hours. Not too bad for a 100-mile ride that included 8800 feet of climbing.
The party afterwards was lots of fun. I ended up sitting at a table with a couple from Calgary, Canada. They had come in with a group of thirty riders and support people. Their group name was Cancervive and they were dedicated to supporting people in Calgary living with cancer. I'm not sure how large their whole group back in Calagry is. What I did learn was that each member had raised $10,000, which they used to build a cancer survivors center to support those living with the disease.
Spending two days surrounded by people with that kind of dedication can be humbling. Despite what anyone might think of Lance Armstrong, his foundation is one of the best things to happen in the battle against cancer. The Philly Challenge alone raised almost $3,000,000.
While I was typing this my latest batch of 100 Livestrong wristbands arrived by Fed Ex delivery. The battle to defeat cancer continues! Why not join the fight? |
posted by Steve @ 9:12 AM  |
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