Follow the P3C3 team on their ride to Austin!

This is my last post on my personal blog until I return from the Challenge to Conquer cancer. I'll be leaving on Sunday at 3pm for this incredible adventure. Please follow the P3C3 squad on the squad blog site www.ridetoaustin.com.
thanks
jd

Are we ready?

Originally published on the Palmetto Peloton Project's Ride to Austin blog site.

Today was a pretty fun day. I took the day off from work to help with the van shuttle. Seven of us went down to Atlanta to pick up the vans this morning and many people showed up to help out with final prep of the vans.
It was a long day, but very fun. I was able to get to know my fellow riders and support people a little better on the ride down.

The excitement in the air was thick as we got the vans ready for departure. Stickers on the vans to identify team names, magnets in remembrance of those who are gone from us and of those who are survivors and installation of roof racks.

Putting the magnets on the vans really brought home the reason why we are doing this thing. Seeing the names of those people who are remembered by their loved ones was really incredible. I brought home some magnets so I can remember those people for whom I ride as well. I’ll post them on the Team Polka Dot van on Sunday.
Everyone was a little wired because of the taper, but the energy was just incredible. This is going to be a great adventure, and yes, we are ready.

jd – team polka dot

I think I'm in denial...

Originally posted on the Palmetto Peloton Project's Ride to Austin blog site.

I have spent many years avoiding serious emotional expression. I have insulated myself against almost anything. Almost any event that happens, I have found a way to shield myself from the real emotional effects of it. Nothing really gets to me….at least until I got involved with the Challenge to Conquer cancer.

When I began, it was another grand adventure – with a pretty serious commitment to raise some money for this cause. As I sit here tonight, just 5 days before we make our departure, it has become something else.

I don’t have anyone who is very close to me that has experienced the horrible effects of cancer or treatments related to cancer. I sit in my little insulated world without any real clue how difficult it is for those engaged in the battle and the loved ones of those engaged.

What has changed? Obviously, this experience has directly exposed me to people who are survivors, to people who are currently battling and to those who have lost a loved one.

Still, I find myself avoiding the real emotional expression of what I am seeing around me. In the last several weeks, a number of emails have circulated amongst the P3C3 crew about warriors who have fought their final battle and of others who have been called to fight again.

I’m afraid of the emotions associated with this news.

I want to believe that everyone in the world has it as good as I do. I want to believe that cancer doesn’t really affect as many people as it really does. I want to believe that people don’t really suffer through their battles…

Obviously, I’m still not coming face to face with reality. I am still in the denial phase of my relationship with cancer. I’m still afraid of the reality of it.

I only hope I am as strong as our Warriors when it comes time for me to face the reality.

jd – team polka dot

Less than a week to go!

Wow, who would have believed how quickly the last few months would pass. It was less than 3 months ago I promised to become a fundraiser and rider for the Challenge to Conquer Cancer. At the time, I was quite terrified of the prospect of raising $5000 in support of the Palmetto Peloton Project. I can still hear Jeni's advice - Ask everyone!. I did, I asked people I knew, I asked people I didn't know, I asked people I met for the very first time. Many of them responded in a very positive fashion. So positive in fact that I am much closer to my goal than I ever thought I would get in such a short time. I still have some fundraising to do, but I'm close.

What's left is some last minute fundraising followed by the final preparations and the ride. I am unbelievably excited about this little adventure. I've met some really awesome people, and done some really great rides. I'm glad to be heading into the main event feeling well prepared both physically and mentally.

The past week and this weekend was the big taper. We did some good rides even if they weren't of the same length or intensity. Tuesday we met a little early to get the long country loop before it got dark. I had a good time taking Taylor and Gavin to school as we rode perimeter road back to the parking area.

Thursday we rode out of Heritage park. I feel a little guilty about this ride, but not terribly so. The plan was to ride out at a moderate pace, then kick it up on the way back. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but Danielle went off the front, and that set in motion a series of events that ended with me and Perry putting a major hammer down for a pretty nice run to a stop sign.

I had just rejoined the group (after a nature break) when I saw Danielle off the front of the group. Nobody was chasing, so I didn't really think anything about it right away. I was paying attention when Jeni split the two guys leading the pack (later she said they were debating whether to reel Danielle in or not) and start bridging. Not to my surprise, Perry broke from the pack, followed by Taylor, a guy in Timkin kit and Ray (another of my P3C3 buddies). When I saw Ray break from the pack, I decided I would go ahead as well. I broke ranks from the back of the pack, and pushed hard to bridge. As I was approaching the breakaway group, I saw that Jeni had made the bridge and had pulled in behind Danielle. Perry and Taylor also pulled in behind Jeni.

The Timkin guy was another story. He might have made a brief attempt at letting up, but he pulled around the breakaway group and set off at a pretty good pace. Perry reacted quickly and I let my momentum carry me right into his draft. Taylor pulled out with us and held our wheel for a little while. It wasn't long before Mr. Timkin started to let up. Perry then took the lead, and I stayed on his wheel. See, I am learning something - I know how strong Perry is, so I'm going to let him do whatever work he wants to do. I held his wheel until I sensed him letting up slightly.

When I knew he had done what he could do out front, I pulled around and called to him "tuck in here Perry, Let's go!". He grabbed my wheel, and we continued to hammer. I could tell he was hurting by the sounds he was making. I was pretty surprised as I have never known him to display weakness! I kept yelling at him to keep it up as we powered along the road. We saw the approaching stop sign and he kicked into sprint mode. He came up beside me and I continued to yell at him - I was trying my best to provoke him. "You think you got something??" I yelled as I stepped up my cadence to hold his pace. We came across the line together and let up to coast in for the stop. It was a great time. I think the other riders in the group were marking us a little as there was some great friendly competition out there that night. I think we did somewhere around 28-30 miles.

Saturday was the last 'long' training ride for the P3C3 group before we head out next Sunday. We did the 'Sticky Bun Run' from Furman up to the Bakery in Saluda. I was a little concerned about the weather as the forecast called for 60% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. We started out with a few sprinkles, but that was the worst we got.

After we crossed Hwy 25 in Travelers Rest, we were treated to an incredible sunrise. The sky appeared to be on fire. Plenty of clouds in the sky, but they were clearing out and the sun was reflecting off the clouds. Obviously my words do it absolutely no justice at all. I pulled out my camera to snap a photo and wouldn't you know it, the battery was dead and I didn't have my spare with me! No pictures except what I snapped in my head! It was beautiful.

We did the traditional Furman to Saluda route. This did not include any of the optional climbs. The highlight of this ride was the climb up the watershed. Not a terribly hard climb at all. It is sustained and that is what makes it difficult. It can basically be split into three separate climbs - Dividing Waters road, Old Hwy 25 and Saluda Road.

In this group we rode with on Saturday, I am the strongest climber. There are some very strong riders, but something about climbing gets me really pumped and I can ride a pretty strong pace. There was a guy who I had not met before riding with us that day. I wasn't sure what kind of a rider he was, so I had my eye on him. I know Perry, Jeni and Megan, I know Taylor and Bo, Nathan was an unknown. As we climbed dividing waters road, I found Taylor and Nathan riding right up front with me. It was interesting to see how it played out, but more interesting would be the climb up Old hwy 25.

As we turned right off of Dividing Waters, Perry and I were giving tips to Taylor - it was his first time up this climb so we were trying to share our experiences with him. He set out pretty strong and actually led for a while. I took a few minutes to find my pace and let him do whatever he wanted. It wasn't long before I came around him and took the lead. I could hear someone behind me, but I was getting lost in my little climbing rhythm and tried to ignore them. I wasn't sure who it was, but I did suspect it to be one of five people - Jeni, Perry, Taylor, Bo or Nathan. In fact, I wasn't sure that it was only one person. I wasn't going to let it effect my pace though, I just kept my cadence.

There is a section on Old Hwy 25 where you can start to open it up a little. I suspect that this is where we dropped Taylor. I pulled the little breakaway for a while before I decided to see who I was dealing with. I pulled to the left and signaled them to come around. It was only Nathan, so I pulled in behind him to take advantage of whatever opportunity I could get from his draft. He kept a pretty good pace and seemed to be pretty strong during that faster section.

As the grade increased, I saw the chink in his armor. He was a pretty good climber, but I could tell I was stronger. All the riding I have been doing this year has really paid off. I came around him as we approached what I'll call the switchbacks. These aren't really switchbacks in the classic sense, but they are the closest you'll find on this section of Old Hwy 25. Those who know this road will know where I'm talking about. The grade increases as you approach these turns.

It's probably less than a mile to the intersection of Saluda Road once you get through these turns. I know this and I also know that the climbing is done about a half mile or so before the intersection. As I approached the crest of the rise, I clicked up a couple of gears and started pouring on the power. I had already pulled a gap, but I wanted to open it up as far as possible. I pushed up into the big ring and pushed hard until I crossed the small bridge just before the intersection. It feels really good to feel strong at the top of a nice climb - I felt it on Saturday.

Nathan pulled up shortly behind me. Taylor followed not too long after that. Jeni and Perry were riding together and Jeni decided to continue rolling along. As I remounted my bike, I saw Megan round the final turn before the intersection.

Taylor, Nathan and I played king of the mountain on the next climb as well. This time it was Taylor who crossed the state line behind me. I turned around and rode back down to ride with Perry and Jeni. We rolled together for a while before I got sucked in again by Taylor's obsession with competition ;).

We had a really nice (and pretty long) stop at the Bakery. It was really fun just chatting and listening to the chatter amongst the group. Everyone is really stoked about how close we are to this big event. There are some lingering concerns about meeting the fundraising requirements. I'm not the only one who is still a little short. Others are further than I am. I really hope that we all can make our fundraising goals. We only have one week to go.

If you can help, please visit the donation page and help out this cause by supporting me, or Bo and Nikki Zimmerman. We can all use any support you can give. As I said early in my fundraising efforts, no amount is too small - $5, $10 - whatever you can afford. It all goes to a great cause and helps my friends and I meet our fundraising goals. Without your help, our ride is not possible. Thank you to those who have given and those who will.

A cool experience

I can't believe I forgot to mention this in my last blog entry. After making my descent from Caesar's head - on my way back home I had one of the coolest experiences ever while riding my bike.

I'm not positive which road it was on, but I think it was on a section of Hunt's Bridge Road, just after crossing over Earls Bridge Road (coming from Owings Road). There was a nicer house on the left side of the road, with a large fenced in pasture.

Out in this pasture was a beautiful black horse. Don't ask me any other details except (S)he was really a beautiful horse. (S)he was obviously feeling frisky as (s)he frolicked in the pasture. I'm not sure if (s)he heard me or what, but as I passed by, (s)he galloped toward the road and started running parallel to the fence - which ran parallel to the road. (S)he was as close to me as (s)he could get and keeping pace with me. I sped up a little, (s)he matched my pace. I called out to the horse and made what I perceive as noises a person might make to a horse. Can you tell I'm not a horse person?

(S)he matched my pace for as long as the pasture would allow - probably only about 1/8th of a mile or so, just a few seconds really. As I left the horse behind, I called out "Thanks, that was really cool".

Climbing Solo

Today is a big day. This day marks 2 weeks before our departure. According to our training plan this is the last long mileage / hours weekend before we head out (apparently I was wrong about this last week!). For the next two weeks, we'll be tapering to allow our bodies some recovery time before we really hit it hard.

In the last few days, I've had some great rides. Thursday evening, I met up with Gavin and Perry's son Taylor for a little jaunt up and over Altamont Road on Paris Mountain. It was a very straightforward out and back route that I have ridden numerous times. We did the optional climb on Lake Circle Drive and up to the towers before crossing the summit. It's always fun on the descent down the Furman side. At the bottom I turned around and checked my time. I was well rested and thought it would be a good time to see about a personal best on the ascent.

I quickly passed Gavin and Taylor. I was finding my little climbing zone and they weren't in it. I felt really good going past the water tower. There is a steep(er) section there and sometimes if I'm not feeling it, it drags me down. It didn't this time. In more than one spot I kicked up a gear (in one spot I kicked up several gears) to carry as much speed as I could. I pushed through the wall and checked my time - 13:20. This is my best so far. I'm very pleased about that. Our total mileage for the ride was just over 22 miles.

Yesterday, I decided to start with the Sunshine Bike Shop Hour of Power ride. This is a fun ride that ends up being about 30 miles. Usually, several members of the Piedmont Orthopedic Associates squad shows up to this ride. I never really have had a chance against those guys (in the sprints), but I was interested in pitting myself against them after all this riding I've been doing (it's a relative thing right - how far back from them would I be this time?). Unfortunately for me, they were out enjoying their last big event of the year, so none of them showed.

There was a number of regulars who always turn out a good performance. Most notably, Tyler and Art. Phillippe, A co-worker I had recently met was also there along with about 7 other riders. I was very pleased with this portion of my ride. In the sprint zones, I was right up there with Tyler and Phillippe (who is very strong) and Art. At the rock quarry, Phillippe showed how strong he really is by just motoring away from all of us. We had no chance to catch him.

After the Hour of Power ride, I headed up over Paris Mt again. Just past the CVS, I pulled over to check on a fellow rider and saw that it was my buddy Steve. My plan was not to ride too aggressively, so I decided to ride with him. We tacked on about 23 miles together, then the final 3 I rode home. The total on the day was 56 miles.

Last night, I was looking for someone to ride with, but alas, no-one responded positively. I decided then to go ahead with my plan to climb Caesar's Head. However with one small modification - I would ride directly from home rather than starting from Furman. I thought this would add about 20 miles to the total distance.

The great part about the route I would travel is it included three of my favorite climbs - Altamont Rd from the State Park side, Caesar's Head and Altamont Road from the Furman side. My goal was to just have a fun ride. I knew I wouldn't be setting any personal records as I generally ride a fair bit slower when I am by myself - especially on a longer ride.

I finally got out of the house at about 10 till 8. This was a bit later than I had planned, but the bike did need some maintenance and I had not done that the previous night. It was a great morning, albeit a little cool. I started off with my bib shorts, a jersey, arm warmers and the C3 wind vest. I was a little cool for a lot longer on the ride than I thought I would be. I think I would have been comfortable with my long fingered gloves.

I really enjoyed the ride up the State Park side of Altamont road. I pushed a little, but not near as hard as I have done in the past. I found out it is just about 11 miles to Furman from my house by this route. I didn't actually go onto the campus though, I went straight along New Roe Ford Road.

From there, I pretty much took the route we intended the first time I climbed Caesar's Head. It is really beautiful countryside with very little traffic. I had my new camera, so I had to take some photos to test it out....Ok, I'll have to download additional photos later, but here is the obligatory shot at the state park sign.

I checked my time at the base of the climb so I could see how fast I might climb today. I really wasn't feeling it, but part of that is because I didn't have anyone pushing me up the hill. I was surprised though, I still did the climb in about 45 minutes and 30 seconds. I felt good about that.

I took a break to eat half a clif bar and fill my bottles. Then I re-traced my route back to the house. Once you cross Hwy 11, it really is just rolling hills all the way back to Altamont road, but I was not pushing hard. I know I'll have to do better with my nutrition on the ride to Austin. although I did not bonk, I did put my body in energy conservation mode. I spun to take advantage of any downhill and pull my average speed up, but on the uphills, I really didn't push at all. I just kept clicking down on the gears until I had a nice cadence.

I made it to the Furman side of Altamont road, and I knew I was going to be slow. I was so slow in fact that I added about 50% more time to the personal best I set just a couple of days ago! It was good though, just grinding out the climb with a reasonable respiration rate and I'm sure a reasonable heart rate.

I finished up the ride home and looked at the clock on my cyclocomputer. It showed an elapsed time of 5h50m. It also showed a ride time of 5h8m. That means I spent about 42 minutes stopped. Hmmm, I'll have to improve on that. Finally, it showed a total distance of 75.9 miles. This little experience has shown me that even working together as a team, my Polka-dot team-mates and I are going to have a big challenge to travel significant distances in a 6 hour shift!

However, Bring on the ride! I'm ready!.

2 weeks and counting!

Here it is, Sunday, October 4th and we are two weeks away from our departure date. In fact, as I am sitting here, the clock had just struck 3pm. That is our official departure time on the 18th - at 3pm we will leave from the Greenville Hospital System's Cancer Center. The address to the Cancer Center at Greenville Memorial Hospital is 900 West Faris Rd, Greenville, SC 29605.

I ask that everyone - especially those who have donated to Palmetto Peloton Project's Challenge to Conquer cancer - come out and cheer us on as we make our departure. It is going to be a very high energy event. All of our support vehicles will be there, all of the riders will be fully outfitted in their C3 kit. We expect some television coverage as well. There will be parking designated for those who want to cheer us on. Come a little early and find me and my team and wish us well on our adventure.

At 3pm, the entire squad of 27(ish) riders and 8 or so support vehicles will take off for the first leg of our journey. My team has the first shift and we will ride for 3 hours (3pm-6pm). All of the other teams will pull off after about 3 or 4 miles, pack up their bikes and themselves and do whatever they need to do before their own 3 hour shift begins. The Polka-dot team (my team) will pick up the first 6 hour shift starting at 6am on monday morning the 19th. All shifts from then on will be 6 hour riding shifts with 24 hours before the team resumes with another 6 hour shift.

I'm really getting excited about the trip now. I'm still a little behind on my fundraising, but I am getting closer. To date I am just under $4000! I have 60 people who deserve a very special Thank You. These 60 are the people who have made this possible for me by donating some amount to this great cause. Your generosity is awesome.

If you are interested in 'watching' our progress and reading about our experiences, there is a special website set up: www.ridetoaustin.com. You can read about the riders and the support people, see where the riding team is currently located and most fun of all, you can read the daily blogs that each team will be writing. I'll do my best to post in both locations, but I encourage you to visit the ride to Austin site to read about all of the experiences.

P.S. There is still time if you would like to make a donation. Please make sure to select my name from the drop down at the top of the page. .