Sunday's Tour de Cure

What do you need when you have a slow moving low pressure system advancing upon you from the West and another one moving up from the South? If you are riding with me you also ride with my Weather Team.

Once again the Sisters of Saint Joseph have done a magnificent job of assuring great weather when I ride. The temperatures started in the 50’s and climbed to the 70’s during the day. Clouds? Rain? None of that. Just mostly sunny with low winds. What a day! Thank you Sisters! The rain did come but it was several hours after I finished.

There were a lot of hills on the 67 mile course but with every hill you climb you get to go downhill sometime. My max speed on one downhill registered 38.8 MPH on my bike computer. I know that is probably an average speed for the pros but for this mass in motion it felt great.

Thanks to Wayne Driscoll and his team of volunteers for making a great ride. I look forward to joining them again next year. A lot of work goes into planning and staging an event like this and he did a great job.

Tour de Cure this weekend

It is time for my first charity ride of the year, the Tour de Cure for The American Diabetes Association. I started doing this ride three years ago. The first two years I traveled to Gloucester MA where my friend Bob lives. They have a beautiful ride of which the first third is along the coast with great views of the ocean. Bob, Carolyn, and Linda would seek me out on the course and surprise me.

I am doing the ride here in the Philly area this year. We start at Central Bucks S. High School and head North / East through Doylestown, Lahaska and New Hope before crossing the river to find a covered bridge in NJ. We return across the river and go through Carversville before returning to Doylestown and the High School. My weather team will earn their keep this weekend and I am expecting good weather for the day. I am looking forward to a great 100K (63 miles).

I am close to completing my goal for the ride. I have one matching gift yet to arrive to put me closer to the goal.

There was great news from the medical front a few months ago. One research study found that by removing stem cells from newly diagnosed Type 1 children, treating the stem cells and returning them that in some cases they were able to eliminate their insulin dependence for a period of time. It isn’t a cure and it is a far way off from becoming something which will be released for the general population but it shows that our efforts are paying off.

Ride of Silence

Last night the 2nd annual Ride of Silence was held in Philadelphia. The beautiful weather of the day gave way to a storm front which made its progression through the Delaware Valley at 5PM. At 6:45 the worst part of the storm had passed our area but it continued to rain and have occasional lightening strikes.

In the ceremony prior to the ride a short biography of each of the four people from the Philly area who had died because of automobile accidents in the past year was read. As if the heavens wanted to make a dramatic punch to our event a huge lightening bolt struck horizontally over and in back of the Art Museum. It stretched from West to East and totally filled the sky as one long line. The resulting thunder echoed as it rolled through the tall buildings in center city. It sounded like a series of loud fireworks as it moved through our town.

Because of the rain the ride was shortened. We left the Art Museum and traveled down Benjamin Franklin Parkway to City Hall. We circled City Hall and went up JFK Blvd to 15th Street where we turned to return to the Parkway and the Art Museum.

The Philadelphia Police provided us with a rolling blockade to stop traffic so that our procession would be able to progress without stopping. The sirens of the police cars, as they traversed from the back to the front of our procession, reminded me of what it must have sounded like at the scene of the accidents which took the lives of the riders we honored this evening.

The rain stopped shortly after the ride ended. It was a remarkable experience and I look forward to doing this ride again next year with the hope that we can celebrate that no one was killed in the past year.

Thanks to all of the Philadelphia Police who supported us in this ride, especially P/O Victor Fountain – Bike Cop – and his partner.

Today is LIVESTRONG DAY

LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's (LAF) grassroots advocacy initiative to unify people affected by cancer and make cancer a national priority. In its fourth year, the goal of LIVESTRONG Day is to raise awareness and bring attention to cancer issues on a national level and in local communities across the country. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will have 200 cancer survivors in Washington D.C. calling on their and our representatives to enlist their actions for our cause.

There will be a LIVESTRONG Day event at the Shops at Liberty Place between Noon and 2:30. We will have on display the LIVESTRONG DAY proclamation presented by Mayor John Street.





We also have a Resolution enacted by the full House of Representatives of the Commonwealth and by the Montgomery County Commissioners.

Tonight there will be a Ride of Silence honoring cyclists who have been killed or injured in accidents with automobiles. The ride forms at the Art Museum steps at 6:45. It will leave there at 7:00 and last about 1.5 hours. Come join us and WEAR YELLOW.

LIVESTRONG Day Coupon

LIVESTRONG Day is May 16th and to celebrate we have a goal of registering 500 new LIVESTRONG Challenge participants.

Be sure to enter coupon code LSDAY500 to receive the 1/2 off discount. If you have friends, family members or co-workers who want to take the Challenge, pass this coupon on and invite them to join you in Philly, Portland or Austin by registering on May 16th. Let them know they must enter coupon code: LSDAY500 to receive the 1/2 price discount.

LiveStrong Day this Wednesday

This Wednesday, May 16th, is LIVESTRONG day. It is a day of awareness and grassroots advocacy.

On LIVESTRONG Day, Wednesday, May 16th, 200 LIVESTRONG Army members will be in Washington, D.C., to demand that our nation's leaders invest in resources, treatment and services for everyone battling cancer.

You can have your voice heard here in Philadelphia. A LIVESTRONG Day event will be held at the Shops at Liberty Place, 16th & Chestnut, between 12 Noon and 2:30. Stop by and see us and sign up to make your voice heard.

The Mayor of Philadelphia has proclaimed May 16th to be LIVESTRONG day in the city and I will have something special to show you in the blog on Wednesday.

LiveStrong Day Resolution

Exciting things are happening here leading up to May 16th, LiveStrong Day. In a Commonwealth House Resolution introduced by Representative Lawrence Curry, co-sponsored by 53 representatives and by a vote of 192 to 0 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has designated May 16th as LiveStrong day.

Pictured here is Representative Curry presenting me with a copy of House Resolution No. 269. Please join with me in thanking Representative Curry for his efforts getting the ball rolling and getting this piece of legislation passed in time for May 16th.

A little birdie has told me that there will be a Team Curry participating in the LiveStrong Challenge events on August 26th. Wouldn’t it be great if each of the bills co-sponsors, all 53 of them, could post a team just like Representative Curry’s? What a great sight it would be to see a major showing by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth.

Post your comments, Let’s hear from you.

Sunday on Staten Island

What a terrific day it was last Sunday in Staten Island. We set up the Lance Armstrong Foundation booth and waited for the 5 Boro Riders to arrive. When they came pouring into the park Ann (Region 3 mentor), her husband and son went to the roadway to greet them as well as invite them back to the booth. Gail Unrath Christensen, who is an active Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s survivor, was in the booth working like a woman possessed. "Sign up here for the drawing", "you want a water bottle", "wrist bands, how many"; this was her non-stop mantra for the day.

We had a visit from NYC’s finest. The Police cyclists camped out next to our booth. These are great guys and I believe that they will create a team and come to Philly in August for the LiveStrong Challenge. I need to let the Philly bicycle police know so that they can also team up for the event.

It was a great day. $900 was raised for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and 580 people signed up. Thank you Michael (Region 2 mentor) for inviting me to be part of the day.

Five Boro Bike Tour

This Sunday I will be up on Staten Island helping Michael Wolf (Region 2 mentor) man the Lance Armstrong Foundation booth at the 5 Boro Bike Tour. I had thought about riding in this event months ago but did not sign up at that time. I am glad that I didn’t because it allows me to spend some time with Michael, Ann Brooks (Region 3 mentor) and all 30,000 cyclists.

That’s right! It is not a misprint. 30,000 cyclists on the road all over the five Boros of NYC. If you have a problem getting a cab on Sunday in NYC you will know why.

So if you are in the area please stop by and say Hello. Michael has ordered some neat stuff which will be raffled off so you may even get some great gear.

Today was my first ride of the year. It was for the Horsham Rotary Club and called the Rotary River Ride. Firstly I have to say my weather team Kicked B….. opps sorry Sisters. After two days of heavy rain today was a beautiful day starting off at 50 but warming to the 70’s. Because the weather has been so rotten I have not done as much outdoor riding and it showed. The ride I participated in is 100K (63 miles) long. They had a good mix of hills and a lot of beautiful scenery.

The money raised today will help the Horsham Rotary Club continue the good work they do for the community. One current project is their “Everybody’s Playground”. It is a universally accessible playground. Children in wheel chairs can swing and play just like everyone else. This is a new park they built on land donated by the township.

It is great to help them out by participating in this ride. Motrin for everyone!
Next ride is May 20th The American Diabetes Assoc. Tour de Cure 100K

Gardenia Blooms For Sale

My Gardenia bush has so many blooms I decided to offer them on Craigs List for donations to The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/grd/320453318.html

Rain, Rain Go Away

I don’t like to ride in the rain. Two years ago I was in the Tour de Cure ride from Baltimore to Washington D.C. It rained over 8” that day and the day before. Local police shut down the roads and so I didn’t get to ride. I waited in the crowd for Lance Armstrong to arrive and talk to us. His first words were, “If this were the Tour de France they would make us ride”. Everyone, including myself called out “Let’s Go!” In the picture I am on the left side, front row by the letter 'e' looking up at the sky.



Ever since then I have a secret team who works to assure that the days I ride will have good weather. They are better than David, Hurricane, Carol and Cecily or any number of forcasters all rolled into one. They are my Weather Team.


These are the Sisters of Saint Joseph who teach at St Luke School in Glenside. From left to right they are: Sister Marie Jude, Sister Sandra Kessler, Sister Michael Eileen, Sister William Adele and Sister Alice. What a great team – and – they don’t even make me stay after to clean the chalk out of the erasers!

Philly's work on the trails

Has anyone noticed what a great job the city is doing on the bike trails. Especially the trail from Forbidden Drive at Lincoln on down to Ridge Ave. That section was looking pretty bad last year and they have done a great job bringing it back to life. The section of the Wissahickon where it turns at Lincoln drive has a small rapids and I think is one of the most beautiful areas of any of the bike trails in Philadelphia. Anyone want to nominate another area?

I do have to say how disappointed I am that someone decided that they needed to tag the new stone retaining wall about half way down the trail. Hopefully it can get cleaned to restore it to the beauty that the city has worked so hard to create.

RoadBikeRider

One newsletter I read every time is from RoadBikeRider.com. Ed and his team do a terrific job of providing relevant information to us. You can sign up for the newsletter at http://www.roadbikerider.com/

From time to time I will highlight a story they have which I find interesting and think you may also. They also have a Forum at http://forums.roadbikereview.com/

Items in this weeks newsletter concern Floyd Landis and Ian Basso's problems. I am glad that they don't test me for TastyKakes and Cheese Steaks -- I would fail every time.

Some other comments worthy of your view are concerning how to ride safely in the street. Under the Headline of Wave, Don't Weave there are several good comments about what I call "Playing in Traffic". I usually ride 3 feet from the curb or side of the road surface. That is the distance from your nose to the end of your finger on an outstretched hand. It puts me close to the place where the cars right wheels would normally be. It does two things.

1. It draws the drivers attention to me because I am in the roadway. They can easily pass and if they get too close I have room to move without going over the handlebars.
2. The road surface, especially if it has been dry and hot for a while, is less slick from the accumulation of oils, etc. because of the car tires "cleaning" the road.

If there is a stretch where there are parked cars with a gap between clusters of cars that are parked I will stay out in the roadway after passing the first set of parked cars rather than move back in to the curb and then back out again at the next parked car. Initially I thought it courteous to move in and then back out but in reality I find that it confuses the drivers. Somehow they don't expect me to move back out when I am coming up on a parked car. I stay out until I have passed all the cars and then move back in. I call it riding consistently and I think it helps the drivers respect my place on the road. It works for me.

Safe Riding

An evening with WHYY

We had a great evening with the people of WHYY Philadelphia's Public Radio and TV stations. Seeing the work that they are doing and meeting their great people affirmed to us that the money we donate each year is well worth the investment. Not a member? Swing over here to become a MEMBER.

I look forward to the possibility of working with these great people.

This Sunday

This coming Sunday is a special day. Father Joseph Murphy is celebrating his 60th year as a priest. He has been an educator as well as a priest. He is truly a gift from God to us. He has a great sense of humor. In his note to parishioners last week announcing the 6:30 AM mass to celebrate his day he said, "Having a Jubilee is like being a corpse at a funeral. One needs to hold the event, but nobody expects you to say very much."

Father Joe, I cannot be at the early mass this Sunday because I will be on my bike but:
This Ride Is For You

And we are off

Tonight is the start of this blog. Somehow I feel behind before I even start!

Speaking of behind
Because of the poor weather I have not been riding outside as much as I should. My first ride of the year is this Sunday. It is a subscription ride; by that I mean you pay money and you ride. It will be a 100K ride for the Horsham Rotary club and surprisingly it is called The Horsham Rotary River Ride.

My legs should be good because when I am not riding outside I am riding inside a couple of times a week. The part of the anatomy which matches the bicycle seat is what, right now, is in the least amount of shape. For those new to riding the training schedules you view all describe your training in hours not miles. You ride so many hours this day, so many the next, etc. Over the weeks you are spending more and more time in the saddle getting that part in shape.

My rides this year are:

Horsham Rotary River Ride 100K April 29
Ride of Silence and LiveStrong day May 16
Tour de Cure for diabetes 100K May 20
American Cancer Society 100 M July 15 Riding as a volunteer safety
LiveStrong Challenge Philly 100M Aug 26
MS City to Shore 175M Sept 29 & 30
LiveStrong Challenge Austin ?

My sponsors are great. Without them and the money they donate to these charities my riding would be meaningless.

The people I dedicate my rides to are great inspirations to me to do more and push my limits as they do in their lives. You will read more about them along the way.