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.