2007 Ride for the Roses - October 14, 2007

I just got back last night from a wonderful weekend in Austin highlighted by a thrilling ride experience Sunday at the 2007 Ride for the Roses.

This was LiveStrong Weekend in Austin and thanks to generous LAF donations made by our family and friends, I was able to participate in a special party Friday night hosted by Lance Armstrong. Our total fundraising for the past year was $10,000! Your support by way of your encouragement, your prayers, and your donations are warmly appreciated.

The party venue was a lodge in a spectacular private game reserve inhabited by hundreds of antelope, deer, cattle, buffalo, and on and on. At dinner I was asked to stand in recognition of my fundraising efforts as LAF president Doug Ulman identified each special guest, one by one. That was pretty cool having a moment in the spotlight among so many accomplished and incredible people.

After dinner (Texas barbecue of course!) we were entertained by country music artist Jack Ingram. Lance got coaxed into playing the drums on the final number. We all learned just how important a competent drummer is to having a graceful ending to a song. It was fun…. and funny.

And then the Sunday ride. Lance had mentioned several times over the weekend how proud he was to bring this year's ride back out west of Austin to Dripping Springs - the very roads where he "learned to ride fast - the roads that made the Tour de France possible." As a Ride for the Roses fundraiser, I was able to take a starting spot close to the front of 2500 riders. At the very front were Lance and a dozen or so buddies who all looked loaded for speed. I figured they would go out in a blur of furious footwork leaving us mere mortals to ride our own merry way.

As we negotiated some turns out of Dripping Springs High School property, I was surprised to still have sight of Lance and the lead pack. My adrenaline pumping of course, I felt like I might be able to handle that early pace, at least for a while, so what the heck - go for it, right!? Indeed! We immediately got into winding roads and rolling hills making the 20 mph pace a big challenge for me. I was concentrating on being safe and was able to move around 40 or 50 riders over the next 4 or 5 miles until I was in the lead 20 riders. Wow! What a rush!

We settled into a two abreast formation and were an orderly peloton pushing up and down the hills. Everybody was being cool , smiling, and seemed content to cruise like this. I was in pure heaven for the next 7 miles. Then there was trouble.

I heard the front yell "slowing!" so I stopped pedaling and lifted my head up. I was surprised to see we were approaching a low bridge where the water actually runs over the road. Lance at the lead slowed everybody way down and we were going to creep across the water at 10 mph or less. But as soon as the first riders entered the wet zone, I hear splat!, splat! Splat! Three riders down out of the first 10 to go across. Lance wasn't one of them.

The rest of us either dismounted or clicked out of the pedals and maneuvered very carefully across the wet section about 15 feet across. The down riders were collecting themselves but with 2500 riders coming up behind us Lance couldn't stop to let everybody regroup. Immediately on the other side of the water was a steep climb - a tough way to get back up to speed and I figured my time with the lead peloton might be coming to an end.

I got on and stood up on my pedals trying to get some speed up the climb but the stronger riders were moving faster up the hill. The orderly two-by-two peloton was totally busted and riders were spread all over the hill. I pushed up the hill and when I got to the top I was finally able to regain speed. By the time I got back to speed, I was probably a quarter mile away from the lead group. I worked hard with some guys to get back to the lead group for the next several miles thinking I might catch back up. It would just depend on how fast they decided to go. Well they were motoring... faster than before.

Checking my heart rate monitor several times revealed the bad news - I was officially in over my head and would not be able to sustain the effort for very long. A few more miles of hard charging with the leaders occasionally in my line of sight, but they were moving further and further away. Eventually I just smiled and pulled back to a sustainable cadence and heart rate. I had a nice chat with Wendy Chioji, the Orlando news anchor, Tour of Hope rider, and active LAF supporter. She was one of the riders who went down in the water. She said she was OK, just wet and muddy, and mortified at having gone down in the lead pack of the Ride for the Roses. But I offered she'd always have a great story to tell.

Approaching the decision point for the 40 or 60 mile route, I elected to peel off for what would be a zippy 40 mile ride - after all, I still had a 9 hour drive back to Tulsa and needed to make sure I had enough energy for that. I also wanted to spend some time back at the after-ride party.

Most other riders I had been riding around were not breaking off for the 40 mile route so at the turn-off I rode by myself for a few miles. I turned around and saw a single cyclist coming up from behind. She soon caught up to me and it was a fellow member of my internet community the Cyclists Combating Cancer, Mary Trufant, aka Mary from Mobile, AL. We rode together for next 12 or so miles. It was a pure pleasure to trade some pulls with her and other times just ride and chat and smile at the scenery of longhorn cattle, sprawling ranches, Texas hills, and clouds pierced by rays of sun. Mary is a very strong rider and soon was cruising up every hill ahead of me. I encouraged her to cruise on because I was going nowhere fast in those final miles.

The last few miles were a great time for me to reflect on why I was there, why this cause is important to me and how many blessings I have in my life. When I came into the finish zone I was welcomed by hundreds of clapping, yelling greeters. I was full of emotion when they handed me my traditional yellow rose and as the cheers died down a lady I had never met yelled "I'm proud of you!". Wow. OK. I think I get that. That's what this is all about. Down the finish chutes, I high-fived Fred Drew another CCC member who was standing with a simple sign he made. It said "We all ride together in our hearts."

That's my ride report for the Ride for the Roses 2007.

As you know, I totally believe in the mission of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The LiveStrong Army is making a big difference in calling for cancer to be a greater national priority. We are voices in helping people battling cancer, influencing public policy and funding community programs for detection and after-care. Providing hope, inspiration, and a strong sense of unity are just the beginning of how cancer survivors benefit from the LAF. Thank you for standing with Ginny and Steve and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Sunrise on Lake Norfork in Central Arkansas

















I finally made it over to fish with Dick Bob on Lake Norfork in north central Arkansas. It was fabulous.

Dick Bob knows trout. We were jig fishing which is really fun - way better than fly fishing. We saw multiple fly fishermen - but never saw them reeling one in. Perhaps we were too busy ourselves. We caught about 75 on Saturday and with a 3rd man in our boat Sunday, we caught well over 150. Probably 75% rainbows, 25% browns, and 3 small mouths to boot. Mostly 12-15 inches - a few smaller that we won't talk about, but a few larger. (Check out DickBobs website on jig fishing: www.zigjig.net )

I caught a fish on my first cast and then from that point on we would reel one every 3 or 4 casts. Many times we would "double up" bringing in two at the same time. We tripled up twice on Sunday when our buddy Danny Petty from Little Rock came up to join us.

Dan reeled in what looked likely to be largest fish of the weekend - a 4 or 5 pounder. It fought hard and long and DB was just about to net it when Dan pulled a little too hard and the ultra-light line snapped.

Check out the picture of Dan sitting down the moment after his line broke. He's not napping - that's what it looks like when a huge charge of adrenaline leaves the body in a flash. DickBob and I determined later, the fish probably wasn't as big as we first thought - closer to 2 and 1/4 lbs. at the most.

Dick Bob has the perfect boat for standing up, seeing in the water, watching your bait work up and down, and often seeing the fish hit it.

A great fishing experience.

I had a safe trip and completed 100 miles today..... But the sub-5 century? Not this time. I'm a little disappointed but not much. This was an awesome experience and I'm grateful to have had the chance to be here in Wichita Falls and to push myself for 5 intense hours.

I came up short this time but i'm knocking on the door of the sub-5. My time on the bike was 5:09. I stopped twice (had to, at miles 50 and 85) for 24 minutes for a "real" time of 5 hrs. and 33 minutes. So there is definitely some work to be done. I'm up for it.

But for now, my century recovery is underway and it involves bobbing around in the pool with a cold pale ale. Life is good.

Live strong and live large!
Steve

This Saturday: Hotter 'n Hell 100

It's less than a week now until I take my first shot at riding 100 miles in under 5 hours at the Hotter 'n Hell 100 mile ride in Wichita Falls, Texas.

I've pondered this feat ever since I first read about it and it has captured my training focus since I finished my first and only century at the 2005 Ride for the Roses in Austin.

Today, I am as "bike fit" as I have ever been in my life and I've pounded out many miles and suffered the sore muscles in pursuit of this goal for well over a year now.

Yet for whatever reason, my training speeds and heart rate metrics simply do not predict success for me on this trip. Even so, I'm going down with my buddy Doug on Friday. And very early on Saturday we will take our place at the starting line among 8000 other riders.

No matter the temperature, the humidity, the heat index, nor the rainfall nor the wind speed , we will click in our pedals and fling ourselves forward and hope for a safe and fast trip.

Just maybe on a good weather day, blessed by a safe ride, with strong intent, and nearly perfect hydration and fueling, I will reach mile 80, check my average speed so far and think hey, I might be able to pull this off. And if I get to that spot, I'll put my head down and summon up the full balance of power to try to beat the clock.

Several internet bulletin boards reveal an active debate over exactly what constitutes a "real" sub-five century and I've read lots of variations of thought. Solo trip or group-aided? With no drafting or drafting's cool so long as you are taking your turn of pulls? Count time for a re-hydration stop or not?

Fact is, there are a number of ways to define your sub-five century and any one of them could be important achievements depending on who you are and how you ride and why you ride. For me it's going to be 100 miles in under 5 hours; total time will include all stops; and will I draft when I need a break or more speed? Heck yes!

I'm riding in celebration of five years of remission from lymphoma. My anniversary month would be more like March 2008, but it's going to be a rather lengthy celebration so I'm getting an early jump on it.

I'm also riding to encourage my friends Jose M., Steve B., and Jim O.

I'll update this blog with the results of my attempt as soon as I can Saturday night.

481 miles in 7 days! Mississippi River – End of Ride

Well I'm back home from one of the most amazing weeks of my life. I can't explain it and I won't try but it has something to do with sharing a challenge, recovery, personal achievement, cycling, and a cause for which I feel deeply attached.

That final day of riding was exactly what we expected - almost 60 miles of challenging hills and a rush of adrenaline as the entire LiveStrong team lined up 2 abreast for the final segment. We rode together into Bellevue Iowa for the grand finish of RAGBRAI and a dip of the tires in the Mississippi River. The town's people welcomed us in and we made quite a bit of noise ourselves as we rolled along.

My heart rate monitor tells me I was burning over 4000 calories per day and in spite of my haphazard consumption of pork and pie, I'm back a bit lighter than before. I also come back a stronger rider. One of my goals for 2007 was to get in the best shape of my adult life and due to RAGBRAI, I have reached that goal. Now I'll leverage this level of fitness for an attempt at a sub-five-hour 100 mile ride in Wichita Texas on August 25. Seems daunting but this is the right time for me to take a shot at it.

Thank you all for riding along with me. Your comments on the blog and via e-mail are heart-warming. I'll post some more pics in the days to come.

Ragbrai Day 6 - Riding with Lance

Over 425 miles completed and only one more day to get to the Mississippi River.

Wow, what a day this was for the memory book. I rode elbow to elbow with Lance Armstrong today. That is something I've anticipated since I bought my first "grown-up" bike after completing chemo in spring 2003.

We chatted briefly while we pedaled. At the end of the chat, he thanked me and I thanked him. We did the cyclists hand squeeze and I pushed on ahead to make room for another rider. He rode with us for just over 20 miles giving many on Team Livestrong similar close encounters. He was very generous and patient with this eager group. To say the peleton was full of energy would be an understatement along the lines of "Ragbrai is interesting."

Lance exited to catch a flight to France. But he had us all on cloud nine. The rest of the day, the main peleton rode proudly 2 abreast, big smiles, and power stroking over the hills. We were welcomed warmly with applause and shouts and hand slaps from the kids in each of the towns we entered. Chris Millard said it was a lot like what they experienced in the Tour of Hope.

Camp tonight has a very strong current of emotion. Lots of goose bumps, high fives, hugs, tears, photos and laughter. Our team captain, Chris Brewer talked about what we had accomplished for the cause by the way we rode and represented the LAF this week. We contemplated our final day and raised a champagne toast.

If all goes well tomorrow we complete the tour with our shortest segment of the week. The finish is supposed to be a BIG hoot. Really looking forward to it.



Team LiveStrong




Cyclists Combatting Cancer members were well represented in team LiveStrong. Here is Jerry Kelly, kathleen Carrico and Me.



CCC members Jim Owens and Chris brewer, our ragbrai livestrong team captain.

RAGBRAI 7-26-07 Day 5

Greetings from Indepedence, IA.

I am waiting in line for a spaghetti dinner. Gosh I hope it is a big serving. I am HUNGRY! And very tired. And a little sunburned. And very content to be right here in this condition.

We did almost 65 miles today and we've started encountering something we haven't seen much of before now - hills. We hear we'll be cranking up plenty more of them the next two days.

I enjoyed another ragbrai "must-do" this morning, Mr. Pork Chop. He serves a giant grilled chop on the road. Wanting to enjoy the entire ragbrai experience, I stepped up. It was delicious and then of course we rode easy for the next 10 miles.

Forecasting rain here tonight. That could be interesting since we are camping. Wish me luck.

Check out lots of great Ragbrai photos at demoinesresister


Team Livestrong lady riders at concert night.


Some of my new Kansas City buddies on a ragbrai beer break.


Rider takes a break for a jumbo fried pork loin sandwich. Make that a double.

RAGBRAI 7-25-07 Day 4

Greetings from the floor of the UniDome in Cedar Falls, IA! It's concert night at Ragbrai!

We cranked out another 70 miles today. The sun was intense so we have to focus on staying hydrated and sunscreened. But today was a great combination of casual riding and hammer down pacelines. We're over half way now and I'm feeling good about being able to pound this out for the next three days. I love cycling.

I especially want to thank everybody who have found time to join me in making a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Together we really are making a difference. Livestrong Ragbrai riders alone, have already raised over $300,000. I've included a photo I just took that epitomizes why we fight. It's for our moms, our dads, our brothers and sisters, and our children.

Blues Traveler is about to take the stage so I'll close for some jam time. More later.