LiveStrong Training

So today Gerry Remsen planned a training ride for us. He did this for us last year as well. He would organize great long routes for us to ride each weekend. And this weekend was no different. He planned a 60 mile ride which ended up being 63miles, but who's counting? He claims he emailed us the route but I highly doubt it. He knows me too well, and if I had known what we were going to do, I would have attempted to bail. The whole ride was based around climbing. Now, I understand that climbing is a great way to train, but I just suck at it! The ride begins with 7 of us heading out of beautiful Kittatiny. It was a perfect riding day!!! and with our group, it was sure to be a great ride. Once we were far enough from the parking lot, where I most likely would not bail, the phrase "massive climbing" came out of Buz's mouth. ??? What was he saying? and then they told me.....we were going to climb Sunrise Mountain, High Point and Library Hill to name just a few. Gerry was laughing at this point as he could tell, he got me. Then he mentioned that those were just 3 of the 13 climbs he had planned. His laughing was actually a good thing for me since my "what does not kill me, will only make me stronger" attitude kicked in. I was soooo not going to let Gerry's torture training get to me. So I looked at him and quietly said...."bring it on", this of course made Buz laugh. Library Hill wasn't so bad. Catherine and I took the lead up the hill and Gerry complimented us by asking "why was he training us?" :) then over to Sunrise Mountain via Culvers lake. Not the most direct route, but it worked. Now, keep in mind I have not ridden up Sunrise Mt. since 2005 during for race and there was a very good reason for this. Gerry explained that we were going to go up and then down the back side, which I had never done. Cool, spiral downhill cruising! So up we go, Catherine, Eric and I took the lead again. Our legs felt pretty good at this point. I even had enough energy to take some pictures while pedaling. I waited at the top for the group and then we headed down. Gerry forgot to mention that there is this quick incline after a blind bend....this information would have come in handy since Catherine and I were both in our big ring at this point. Ouch! That hurt. So we finally made it out of there....on to High Point. As we rode through Sawmill, we needed to make a quick stop for Gary. His back was starting to tweek out a bit. Go Gerry gave him a big Chiropractic bear hug and stretched it out for him. At this point the comments started to fly...and I will leave it at that. So we made the turn up High Point....we had lost one of riders. He headed home from Sawmill. Catherine, Eric and I were up front once again pedaling at a nice comfortable pace. Then Eric pulls off to make a call. ?? Catherine and I reach the top and even though Gerry told us to head up to the monument, we decided to completely ignore that coaching tip and head down the Sussex side of the mountain. This too was a first for me. I had cruised down the P.J. side before but apparently the Sussex side was steeper. Gerry actually said it was scary steep.....Catherine and I thought it was fun! Buz zipped past me at one point. He later said he didn't know what was worse, riding way too fast or trying to break. Then it was turn off time...onto another hill. Great! From there we rode towards Wantage and Frankford Park. We were running low on water so we stopped at the Fire station where they gave us ice cold water bottles. They rock!! Gary had his wife pick him up at the station because his back was still bothering him. Now we are down to 5 riders. We rode through Branchville, over route 206 and then down towards Buz's house.....then we turned into Buz's house where he fed us lunch and then he to bailed. Our group was getting smaller by the minute! We had about 15 miles to go which didn't seem so bad. Unfortunately Gerry was starting to bonk, and Catherine's knees were starting to act up. The climbing was taking prisoners. We slowed the pace down until we were about 5 miles out at which point Eric and I pushed forward. We finished the 63 mile ride in just over 4hours (of riding) which was pretty good considering the climbs we had done. Gerry gave us an excellent day of training!!! THANKS GERRY!

Skylands Cycling Vermont Trip

So we just returned from our first Skylands Cycling Vermont trip. One of our club directors was able to get us this ski lodge for a song. So 17 of us headed up to Middlebury on Friday and stayed until Sunday morning. When we arrived the group that had driven up on Thursday were heading out to watch the Jazz Festival. we were able to join up with them after a quick unpacking job and a bite to eat. We had a great day on Saturday which started out with a huge breakfast, with pancakes and scrapple (not sure I would try that again, but at least I can say I tried it) and homemade sausage. Then we all headed out for our rides. Bill and Heather took the climbing route which covered 80 miles of mountainous terrain. It also included a major rain dump. They looked like wet rats when they returned. We on the other hand rode for 32 miles which included some nice hills and a lot of great long flattish passes. Catherine and I took advantage of these and worked on some TT training. Kevin Keane was able to keep up while he rode with 60lbs of added weight, he had his 2 kids in the trailer behind him. This BTW did nothing for our self esteem. We would have this great pace going, feeling good and then we would realize we hadn't dropped him. how is that possible?! He is freaking strong. Afterwards a bunch of us took the kids to the beach with the Kayak and swam and paddled around until it was time to go to dinner with the Skylands Group. We found this great place to eat that had massive beef choices but also had this great salad bar. :) My son Sean only ate the salad bar, which is amazing for him. Heathers daughter did the same. then we headed back to the lodge and sat around until 11pm or so. Dan showed up to hang as well. He and his wife stayed at a hotel down the road. They wanted A/C and with the heat we had, I couldn't blame him. When we woke up the next day, it was raining and all of our plans to ride went out the window. So we packed up and headed home. It took 6 hours with 5 adults and 2 kids in my car. And even though that sounds like pure torture, we had a blast. Bill got me laughing so hard at one point I thought I was going to either drive off the road or bust a gut, but we made it and we can't wait until next year.

2008 Giro del Cielo

This was a very exciting weekend for Skylands and Team Somerset and it went beautifully with the help of many of our club members. The Giro del Cielo has in the past been held as solely a women’s stage race but this year we opened it up to Cat 4/5 men which turned out to be a well received idea. We had 101 people pre-registered for the weekend in varying event combinations. Saturday was our most challenging day with 2 stages, the time trial at Sunrise Mountain and the Crit at the ballpark. The concern I had was that we had to be completely packed up and out of the Skyhawks parking lot by 3pm. We had moved the Crit start time up to accommodate this request, but this meant wrapping up the time trial and setting up the Crit in record time. Well, apparently this was no big deal for we had an amazing crew which broke down and set up by 9:40am. It was incredible.

The times for the TT were just as impressive with the 1^st place Cat 4/5 Men at 15:48, the Women’s 30+ at 16:49, the Cat 3 women at 17:15 and the Cat 4 women at 16:54. We had a total of 66 people race up the mountain with the first racer heading out at 8am. It was an early yet gorgeous morning. And the best part of it was the excitement among the racers. Even with the visiting Bear at the top, we had fun. I am not sure how Lois and Kevin felt about it, but they remained calm.

The Crit was just as exciting with 22 women racing in the Cat 4 race. There were 3 groups which formed during the 30 lap race. Up front were the top 4 winners in a break. Alejandra Madrinan, Chistine Kavanagh, Lenore Pipes and Julie Carson powered around the course, taking turns winning primes (Alejandra won most of them) for merchandise and points. I believe me when I say we had a lot of primes. Apparently there was some chatting on the back stretch as to who needed the Lube or Socks and then they teamed up. The Cat 3 women went off with 10 women, all of whom were strong and determined. The women 30+ were up next and a few of the Cat 3 racers joined in as well. This group included Betty Tyrell and Krista Swope along with Tracey Lea, Jackie Paull and Marie Derosa. Barbara Shweky joined in after finishing her own Cat 3 race. Unfortunately Barbara crashed early in the race and had to head off to the hospital for stitches to her eye brow. She is fine and was able to drive home. Betty and Jackie Paull duked it out during the race but in the end Jackie pulled through for the finish with Krista right behind her. Then the 32 Cat 4/5 men lined up for their turn at the course. It was fast and furious for them and with only a few laps to go one of the leaders, Joe Sieracki went down. The reason is unclear but a blown tire is our theory. He is fine as well. In the end there was a small break away of 2 who crossed the finish line with Douglas Kauffman winning and Eric Salzer coming in second.

The next morning proved to be as beautiful and fun as the last. Everyone seemed to enjoy the course. “The hills were manageable” someone mentioned “yet hard enough to apply strategy and technique on each lap”. Each category had excitement but for Skylands Cycling, our moment was in the Men’s Cat 4/5 race. John Jackson, Gene Victori, Michael Adsit and Michael DeGeorge all joined the Giro for the last stage. AND they all wore their new kits! They looked great! At this point in the day it was HOT but there was a breeze so that helped. At least I thought so. It was probably different for those racing. The pack went off with our guys huddled in the back half. But then Gene and Keith Licata (from Team Bulldog) made a move… and then there was the final sprint and Gene won! I was getting calls from all the volunteers, who were still marshalling the course, “did Gene win? What happened?”. We were all so excited. Keith Licata came in second place which was great to see as well. John Jackson came in strong in 21^st place and Michael DeGeorge finished his first big race moments behind the main pack. Michael Adsit showed great determination during this race. Kudos to all of them! It was nice to see the Skylands colors out there.

For me this race was a foreign entity. I had never been able to attend or volunteer for any of the past Giro’s. Bob Cary was the one who handled a great deal of the work in the past. Brooke Wilson, from Team Somerset, and I were determined to put this together with as few errors as possible. And so we did but not without help from an amazing group of people. The Skylands Cycling board spent many weeks scouting and discussing road courses and once one was decided on, Dan Mitchell took the bull by the horns and was able to get all the necessary towns to approve the use of the roads. This is not an easy task. It takes time and effort. Well Done Dan! Bob Perlee once again put together a great site for racers to go to for information on the race. This made Brookes and my life much easier since very few questions came our way. Kevin Kielty, who has attended the Giro in the past, was the one I looked to for set-up. He knew what needed to be done and was able and willing to delegate and direct when I couldn’t. We were lucky enough to have Lois Cary on hand as well. As an official she knew it all, calm and collected as always. Thank you Lois for helping out. The man who worked his fingers to the bone during each and every race was Kevin Keane. He handled all the scoring and the video finishes. It was amazing. He was extremely efficient and determined for all 3 stages. His spreadsheet is daunting but without it I don’t know what we would have done. Catherine Babin was kind enough to come out and snap some, what I anticipate to be, great shots of all the races. Gary Worth, Gerry Remsen, Buz Tomasino, Kelley Barrick, Velo Barrick, Brian Gristick, Larry Henderson, Dan Mitchell, Barry Nazarian, Earl Perretti, Heather Labance all came out to volunteer for any duty I threw at them. It was amazing, we had 2 marshal’s at every corner. We had follow cars and lead cars for each group, when 2 were out at a time. Gary’s daughter came out and was willing to help Brooke with anything and everything. It was adorable, as was she. And Team Somerset provided almost as many volunteers throughout the weekend which made everything go smoothly. So my hat goes off to all of you for helping this year’s Giro del Cielo go off without a hitch. Nicely done!! I hope you all had as much fun as Brooke and I did.

If you have minute, go check out the blogs from some of the teams and racers, so far they all have posted some very positive feedback. Many of the racers spoke to Brooke and I after the race and congratulated all of us on a job well done!

Augusta Series Winners 2008

Last night turned out to be just as exciting as we had anticipated. The weather was perfect, the racers were ready and the course was in decent shape (the pavement on one corner is started to pull away). We had a total of 54 racers for the night with 20 or so spectators which made it a great atmosphere for the last race of the series. I hope our new recreational riders who can to watch had a great time. Thanks for joining us and supporting the racers.

On to the results.....

The U19 race: It started with 18 juniors which is more than double any one of our other U19 races this season. Mike Fraysee brought a bunch of his boys from his camp, which made the race very exciting. The three main players racing for the podium were Steven Tvedt with 32pts, Max Mancuso with 28pts and Dag Anderson with 24pts. While the boys raced hard as usual the Fraysee boys changed up the usual tactics for Steven which caused him to come in 11th in the pack which did not give him enought points to keep his title. Dag and Max stuck in there with Kevin McGuire and came in 3rd and 4th which bumped them up to top spots on the podium.

1st place: Max Mancuso with 43pts (Upstate Velo, Skylands member)

2nd place: Dag Anderson with 40pts (Somerset Wheelmen)

3rd place: Steven Tvedt with 39pts (Colavita Racing Inc.)

The Masters race: The main challenge here was the fight for third place. Earl Perretti basically had 1st place all wrapped up with a 18pt lead. Vin Mancuso had a secure hold on 2nd place as well with an 11pt lead but John Autore who was in 3rd place and only had a 2pt lead from 4th place which was held by Andrew Buchanan. Now before I continue, keep in mind that although not all of these men race for Skylands, they are all Skylands members who have showed an great amount of respect for one another during the season. And the finish line proved to be as exciting as we had hoped for with David Buegler crossing the finish line first which was his goal the whole season. With his "finally" cry the moment his wheel crossed the webbing from the much delapadated tape, we all smiled for his success but where was Andrew and John.....Here comes Vin....ANDREW and JOHN!! and a few men later we saw Earl. Andrew closed the gap but not by 2. So all places remained the same in the end. It was a great effort by both men.

1st place: Earl Perrtti with 169pts (Montclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

2nd place: Vin mancuso with 155pts (Skylands Cycling)

3rd place: John Autore with 142pts (Montaclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

(Andrew had a total of 141pts, nice job!)

The B race:

Unfortunately the B race contenders who held 1st and 3rd place were un able to attend but there was a threat from Nick Iacovelli in 4th place. John Jackson did am amazing job this year from begininng to end proving what a strong racer he has become. And as I mentioned in my last long email, John missed 6 races due to work yet he was able to maintain top podium position for his return. In the end the 1st place was determined by the number of second places awarded through out the season. John picked up 2 pts on tuesday which tied him with his absent competitor. So Bruce and I tallied up the number of 1st places they each took during the whole season...another tie. So on to 2nd places...Nate had one and John had two. John was the winner!

1st place: John Jackson with 91pt, 2 1st's, and 2 2nd's (Skylands Cycling)

2nd Place: Nate Morgenstern with 91pts, 2 1st's and 1 2nd(Montclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

3rd Place: Doug Allen with 67pts (DKNY)

The A race:

The dynamics of this race were a bit different due to the number of Fraysee kids who were Cat 3 racers. So we sort of had 2 races going on. The kids who were vying to win the nights race and the Men who were racing for top positions for the season. The comment that was made by Glenn at the end of the night was "they picked this year to race like a team..." which is the beauty of this season. Milo had everyone of his teammates working for him, so he could beat Glenn in the final race. Erik Kristiansen, Kevin Keane, Gene Victori, Brian Gristick all gave 100% to box in Glenn, pull or lead out Milo to his spectacular finish. So in the end the break had the kids and the pack contained the season's racers which made the pack sprint really exciting. It looked like a swarm of bees heading to the line with Milo in the front. :)

1st place: Milo Bastianelli (Skylands Cycling)

2nd place: Glenn Babikian (DKNY)

3rd place: Dave Freifelder (Westwood Velo, Skylands member)

This was truely a blast to be part of this year! Thanks for making it so exciting. I can't wait to see what the team can do next year. Keep up the great racing and the fanastic team work. You should all be really proud of yourselves.

Thanks for all the support you all gave me. I really appreciate it!!!

before the final Augusta training race....

Tomorrow is the last race of the Augusta Series and it promises to be a fantastic race!! Our Skylands Racers have had an amazing showing this year with everyone putting forth their best efforts and getting excellent results in the end. Please keep in mind that for these races results are reflected in a variety of ways from the A racers building points to the B racers increasing their stamina during the season. We have watched some of our newer racers go from finishing with a few laps under their belt to being able to compete for the entire...2+ hours of grueling pain that "we" put you through. :) For the more seasoned racers, I hope that these races have assisted in making your racing season more successful.

The numbers: (please note that there was a discrepancy in the B race from the beginning of the season which has been corrected)

The A race: Milo is tied for FIRST place with Glenn from DKNY. This is going to be so exciting to watch. With our Skylands racers ralling behind him and helping him during the majority of the past races, I for one can't wait to see the outcome. I think it is fair to say that the rivalry between Glenn and Milo has been fun and challenging at the same time. During the rain date race both showed with the hopes that the other would not and then they could pass on the race....but this was not the case. Milo had arrived early after work and rolled down his window to ask me if he was going to be racing tonight. I informed him, that if there are racers we will race. So he drove away to endulge in a little nap before the excitment began. A while later Glenn showed up and looked around and smiled a little noticing that Milo was not in the tent we were all huddling in. "So if Milo doesn't show, I don't have to race...right?" His smile quickly faded as I informed him Milo was in the parking lot napping. Luckily the rain stopped at the starting line and they had a great race with rainbows and all. Side bar: Milo missed one race more than Glenn due to work responsibilities. :(

Dave Freifelder who may no longer be a skylands racer, is still a Skylands Member and has shown great skill racing this year. He is currently in 2nd (3rd, depending how you look at it) with 10 races under his belt.

The other aspect which has been fun to watch during the A race is the rivalry between our dueling teams yet all Skylands members. I am reffering to Monclair and Skylands. It has been fun to observe the sportsmanship between all involved. There is nothing like watching Earl zip by with his glasses miraculously staying on his nose while spinning at great speeds. Or when the blues and the oranges race by making up 50% of the pack. But even better is when they all join together to yell at Bruce, while trying to not to pass out, to put up the final lap cards. Who would have thought we could actually hold a 44mile crit?

Now there are 2 people who I would like to mention who have worked very hard this session and are currently in the top 10. The first being Gene Victori. As a Cat 4 he quickly moved into the qualifing status for the A race and even starting out 2 races behind has moved into 4th place (3rd of you count the tie as 1)in the A race while keeping his name in the B race in 20th place. He has raced while fighting a chest infection and has even missed 2 races. Kudos on your determination this year. Your efforts are really paying off. The other is Brian Gristick who is currently in 10th place in the A race and 11th in the Masters, while being absent for the past 4 weeks. I do hope we get one last chance to watch him race. hint. hint.

Kevin Keane and Erik Kristiansen are close behind in 13th and 14th place. Kevin has been an amazing racers in many ways, but one aspect I would like to mention is his willingness to help others during the race. He has given up a couple of races to help new members learn the basics, not to mention giving up riding all together to help with scoring and overall running of the race. Erik, as we all know, is an extremely talented and young racer who casually rolls in just before the "whistle" blows and races while looking like he doesn't have a care in the world all while wearing the most interesting of jerseys.

Andrew Buchanan, Kevin Kielty and Larry Hendersen are the other Skylands racers who have proven themselves once again as all strong racers. Kevin, who was unable to join in the fun during the early part of the season decided to show up for the 7th week and not only did he show up, but he rolled over the finish line in second place behind Mark Light. WOW! Larry, who has been a huge help during the sweeping process of the course during this season (thank you!) has had a great season as well holding at 18th place in the B race and 22nd in the A race and 6th in the Masters. Andrew began the season racing with the B's for the first 7 weeks and then qualified for the A race. He has ridden strong and has placed himself in the top 20 for the A's and he still holds 10th place in the B race and if that wasn't enough, he is in 4th place in the Masters race. Pretty inpressive considering this group of racers has few races contributing to their scores.

The B and Master race: Nate Morgenstern and John Jackson are neck and neck for first place. John is 2 points behind Nate, a Skylands Member but a Montclair racer, which is impressive considering he missed 6 consecutive races. WELL DONE! Vin Mancuso is 7th place in the B race while holding 2nd place in the Masters race, which explains where his children get their talents. Max is currently in 2nd place in the U19 category. Paul Walsh and Rob Rohel, who may not have been able to come to all the races, raced hard and the results speak for themselves. Joe Skorupa has placed himself in the top 20 of the Masters race while also racing in the B race week after week. A special acknowledement goes out to Gerry Ryerson, for with out him, we would not have all these numbers as easily accessible. He created and gave us this database, which I get ot play with every week. He gave up the first few weeks of racing to help out while resting his shoulder yet he still has maintained this standings in the top 10 at 8th place in the Masters, and in the top 20 of the B's. The last few racers that I would like to mention all share a impressive level of determination. Jon Boub and Eric Stacer have both raced in the Masters and the B race. Eric has focused on the Masters race mainly so he and Dan Mitchell could tag team to help marshal the course. Eric would race the Masters and Dan would race the B race. Eric has worked hard over the last few weeks training for a huge climb that he and Alex Cable were preparing for. Eric is currently in 16th place in the Masters race. Alex, who has only been able to race a few times, in in 18th place in the B race and 20th in the Masters. Jon Boub has proven to be a driven rider who does not quit...ever! He is in 18th place in the Masters and 22nd in the B race. As a new racer, he shows great strength and determination.

There have also been some new members who have ventured out to test the racing waters and to all those members I tip my hat off to you. These races can be very daunting and you have taken the challenge well.

LiveStrong 2007 recap

Once again Heather Radcliffe, Gary Worth and I signed up for a LiveStrong Fundraiser, but this year we were joined by Catherine Babin, Buz Tomasino and Gerry Remsen. As a Team we raised $5800.00 in support of a cure for Cancer. This year’s ride was scheduled for Sunday, August 26th, which turned out to be a VERY hot and HUMID day. Great for Catherine who likes the heat, not good for me or Gerry. But so be it. So we all met for dinner after checking into our various hotels and picking up our packets and swag (for those of us that raised over $2500) on Saturday. This is a good time to mention that my number was 666. Needless to say I got alot of attention because of it. We then had a great time waiting over 40minutes for our reserved table. We finally just took the best option which was 2 tables next to one another. No biggie, but this meant less family style dishes to share. After dinner it was off to bed. Catherine, Heather, her fiancé John and I shared a room which was located right across the street from the venue so we were stoked!! After some basic girl chatter, which I am sure cracked John up, although he did not let on, we went to sleep.

6 hours later…..

Our alarm went off, the phone rang and we were up, sort of. It was like deja vu for Heather and I. We all rummaged around for our gear and headed out to the cars to grab the bikes. We were going to grab food over at the venue, which was so close, did I mention that. It was great planning, if I do say so myself. They had bagels and fruit waiting for us which was great. The 4 of us started making the calls to find the rest of the gang and there they were. Shortly after that we heard “Blake, Heather” and we turned around and once again in the midst of thousands of riders, runners and walkers, Joann Plock found us. She was riding with some old friends of Heathers. At this point it is of course picture time, so Catherine breaks out the camera for an assortment of shots. But then the loud speaker comes on and it is time for the cattle, I mean bikers to squeeze into the proverbial pens. Everyone was segregated by route as usual. We were having so much fun at that point I think we forgot about the 100 miles that we were going to be dealing with in just a few minutes. They had set up a very large screen so everyone could see the speeches made by various people and then…..Lance came on stage and did his thing. Then he put his helmet on and headed out for his personalized ride with a special cancer candidate. Then it was our time…100 milers get ready!

The roads started out the same as the year before and then things changed. The 40 mile, 70 mile and 100 mile routes stayed together for the first 20 miles and then the 40 milers split off to head back. Lucky them! It was hot!! We had lost Gerry for awhile. He powered up to the front from the start. At first we hung in there with him, but it was a bit fast for the early stages of our long day. “Pace ourselves” was our motto. The heat was getting to me. But I kept drinking and we would stop and refill our bottles at every other stop, so that helped. We meet back up with Gerry at the second rest stop. It was fantastic how they had it set up. Lots of different options for refueling; banana’s, power bars in ALL flavors, PB&J sandwiches and fluids and gels. Then off we went. Shortly after our departure the hills kicked in. Gerry and Gary decided after the first set of hills that they would take the turn for the 70 mile route and call it a day. Unfortunately we did not know this but we figured it out after making a few calls. So our group of 6 was down to 4. It was a good thing Gerry turned off when he did due to heat exhaustion because the next bit was a killer. Huffs Church road is a 6mile climb….not just a friendly little climb. It’s a cursing, swearing, wishing you were dead kind of climb. BUT we all did it and with some grace still intact. The worst part about the climb was at the top, there were all these chipper people cheering us on. I can honestly say, we all wanted to run them over with our bikes. But then there was a bright side….a rest stop with great food and homemade recovery drinks. There was one more decent climb after that but Buz swore it was smaller so we ventured forward. Buz had analyzed every aspect of the route so he prepared us for all the hills. This was a double edged sword in my mind. Sometimes it is just best to be surprised. Anyway, the last 10 miles were tricky. We were getting tired and our legs were slowing down. But then we saw roads that looked familiar…and then our hotel. (remember how close our place was) YEAH! We did it, we were almost done. Now all we could think about at this moment was how we were going to line up for the finish line and what tasty food we could indulge in at the post event party. Last year the spread was impressive. So we all crossed the finish line together for the photo and then we were cheered on by Gary, Gerry and friends, which was nice. It was a long day and apparently the 40 milers and 70 milers were very hunger because the only thing they had left was beer. I went over to the burger tent to see if they had some buns to naw on and the kid behind the table said they were all out but then I saw it…a cooked burger sitting on the side. It was probably cold from sitting there and no one wanted a cold burger, but guess what? I could care less if it had 4 cold legs growing out of it, I needed food….and a beer. I asked the kid if that burger had fallen on the floor or something, trying the figure out what was wrong with it. He said nothing, but it had been there for a few minutes. I told him to hand it over and I ate it and it was awesome! We were very disappointed by the lack of nourishment available and someone made a stink so they brought in pizza’s. But by this time we were ready to head out and grab a real meal and so we did.

It was a truly suffering experience but it was great to say we did it and why. And we all agreed to come back next year. The tradition will continue.

Thanks to everyone who supported us!

LiveStrong 2006 recap

Philadelphia Live Strong Challenge 2006

Once again Heather Radcliffe and I signed up for a Lance Armstrong Cancer fundraiser, but this year we registered for the LiveStrong Challenge. The Tour of Hope ride was not being held this year. As an added bonus, another Skylands Cycling team mate joined us, Gary Worth. As a Team we raised $4440.00 in support of a cure for Cancer. The ride was scheduled for Sunday, September 10^th, which turned out to be a gorgeous day (unlike the extremely wet non-ride last year). So Heather and I planned our trip with the intention of meeting up with Gary the morning of. On Saturday night I had a wedding to attend so Heather met me at my parents house and we reloaded the car with gear and bikes and headed off to Philly. At this point it was probably 10:30pm and we were both so excited about the fact that the day had finally arrived and that the weather man (who normally cannot be trusted) promised us a great day to ride for a wonderful cause. We arrived at the hotel around mid night, and although we were still excited to be there I think it is safe to say we were a bit silly with exhaustion. Heather had already packed in a full weekend in one day and me the same. So we were ready for our 4 hours of sleep. The front desk attendant at the hotel gave us our keys and pointed us to our room. He could do this because the room was maybe 50 ft from the front door. Coincidently, it was also on the outskirts of the post wedding party. So now the silly’s have worn off and the terror of not sleeping, due to drunken people, settles in. “Ok, let’s check out the sound proofing of the room and move on from there”, we said as we plowed our bikes through the crowd of well dressed intoxicated wedding guests who are now just staring at us. We open the door to our room to find a large board room table and 6 very nice leather board room swivel chairs. “I get the table” I say…..Where are the beds? Panic sets in, knowing the hotel is over booked. Heather notices a door beyond the board room and to our surprise it is a bedroom. We are saved. And it was sound proofed!!!!

4 hours later…..

Our alarm went off, the phone rang and we were up, sort of. We had laid out our gear and food the night before so we didn’t have to think too much at this point. We headed over to the restaurant for our free continental breakfast where we met a bunch of other riders preparing for the carb feast which was about to begin. After breakfast we packed up the car and headed over to the LAF parking lot. Once we unpacked the car we rode over to the registration tent where we picked up our numbers, favors and my fancy backpack (fundraiser qualification), which I love. Then we headed back to the car to reassess what we needed to bring and pin our numbers etc. All of a sudden we hear, “Blake, Heather” and we turn around and in the midst of thousands of riders, runners and walkers, Gary finds us. Ok, it helped that we were wearing our Skylands kits, but still what are the odds. So we met up again at his car and headed back over to the lineup area. Unfortunately we didn’t get further than 100 ft. when I realized I had a flat. Back to Gary’s car we went to check out my tire. Once that was fixed we headed over. The crowds were amazing. It’s 6:30am and everyone was excited and chatty. Then it was line up time for the 2900 participants that attended. They broke it down into 3 groups for the riders. Gary, Heather and I were riding the 70mile category so we were in group 2, next to the 100milers. There was what seemed like thousands to 100milers. Then the time came for us to head out. It was thrilling!

The roads were wonderful and hilly, but good hilly (Long with 5-12%grades). We actually powered up them pretty well. I never thought I would say that but I am. I don’t know if it was the company, the roads or the spirit but we had a natural high all day. In the beginning we were riding with everyone as a long huge pack. But after the first rest stop, which we passed, the group started to thin out. We rode through back roads, main roads, parks/forests and around the center of Philly. We stopped at the 2^nd and 4^th rest stop to refuel and deal with mechanicals. Heather got a flat at the worst part of the ride. We had just finished riding around the river, which was flat and free of traffic. After we crossed over the bridge we were back on main roads which were under construction. They were grading the road so it was somewhat scary riding on, in a large group, with people who may or may not be comfortable on a bike. Anyway, we were finally off the main road and headed up this steep, curvy residential hill. At the top was rest stop #4 which we had decided ahead of time to stop at. I reached the top first (weird right?) and waited for Gary and Heather. Now this in itself was odd to me. But then I saw Gary. Then we waited. Again, this was strange for me to be this far ahead of Heather who is much stronger than I. So now I was beginning to worry. Gary thought she may have had a mechanical. Then we saw her, she looked exhausted. It turned out that she rode the whole hill with a tire that was almost completely flat. Does she rock or what!! Anyway, the mechanic at the rest stop hooked her up with a new tube etc. while Gary and I replenished her water bottles and grabbed some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t think I have ever had a better PB&J in my life. Then we were on our way to the finish line. The last part of the ride was rather hilly but fun none the less. At this point we were passing a number of people who were now pushing their bikes up the hills. I would have to say that this part of the ride was definitely too hilly for the 10/40 mile group which was said to be easier than the 70/100 mile route, but apparently ended on the same path. Everyone still had a smile on their face knowing the end justifies the means. As we crossed the finish line we were still so excited. We did it and we did it together from start to finish. We finished in about 4 hours, including rest stops.

Afterwards we had various people come over to us and compliment us on our kits. We also ran into people who knew us, the club or Bob Cary. We finally sat down with our pasta and salad and drank a free Shiner Beer and then called it a day. It was Great and I think I can speak for all of us…we will be back next year. The only bummer was NO LANCE, but it’s not about Lance is it!

Thanks to everyone who supported us!!