That being said, I'm well beyond the other 202 miles that I owed you, but far behind on documenting any of it here on the blog. That being said, I'm really sorry but I promise I will be better in the future. Especially since my beautiful bride called me out on it - and in all seriousness, you are donating your hard earned money for such a great cause and deserve the recognition that I promised.
We have had one of the coldest February's on record and the beginning of March hasn't been much better. Last year the average low temp for Jan-Feb was 41 degrees. This year the average high for the same period was 40 for our area. ZOIKS. But with the gas prices the way that they are, I told Sarah that if gas gets anywhere near $4.50 (let alone $5 like they are saying for the summer) I will be investing in some more cold/wet weather gear and plan to bike commute 99% of the time. No sense in paying that type of cents for gas. (Pathetic pun and play on words I know).
That being said, I've gotten some good riding in these days. Especially the past few weekends when we have seen some breaks in the weather. Actually, Sarah helped me recently with some photos when I got back from a training ride because I needed to submit some for a few different reasons. Firstly, there was an Alumni Spotlight article done about my battle and fundraising in our Sigma-Xi newsletter for TKE. I tried to pass on some info to Nationals but no luck. Secondly, my friend Ford works for the YMCA and at his Y they are running the Livestrong at the Y program and wanted to interview a cancer survivor. I'll have to see if anything was posted about me there. Anyway, here are 2 pictures.
I love this family pic!
Rather than rambling too much on here, I'll give a quick foreshadowing to come (and hold myself accountable to blog more). I have updated and also added some organized rides to my summer. Also, some fundraising updates other than targeting family and friends is underway. See what you could do to help us!
Now to catch up on those miles: Thank you very much to those who donated, especially to push me over $1000 for the month of January. Here is who I've been riding for...
My friend from high school and college, Chris, made a donation in honor of his father. Chris's dad is still around and a cyclist himself. He wishes there were rides like these in the Midwest because Chris knows that his dad would want to get involved.
Cosmo is a girl I knew from college. She sent me an extremely compelling story about her Uncle Jim. His cancer was bound and determined to get the best of him and Cosmo knew that all she could do was pray. She said that thinking of our story and all that we are doing now really gave her hope. Well, the last I heard, her Uncle Jim was doing well and the tests were providing the results that they wanted. I really need to check in with her.
A gal that I indirectly met during my cancer experience named Monica has such a huge heart. Her dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 the week after me. So everything that we did with treatment, they did right afterward. It was great to keep in touch with her and hear how her dad was doing, and we developed a great friendship though such an ugly experience - just another way to show how much good can come from cancer. The rat will never get us. Well, unfortunately, at his 3 month check-up, her dad did not have the same message from the doctor that I had. His HL was back...and in full force. Back to the drawing board they went and the medical team hit him with ICE - a very strong chemo. Now all of the tests are underway and they are going through with a BMT. I pray that everything goes well for them and when I dont have miles to dedicate, I will often be thinking of their family.
Natasha is another girl I met in college and is currently a flight attendant. Keeping up with what is going on through social media is how she keeps up with friends. Well, one day she saw a post that I made asking people what they could do - in fact it was Cancer Awareness Day. She made a donation in honor of her Grandpa who passed away not too long ago. In fact, I recall when she posted on Facebook that he passed away and that she knew she would feel his presents when she was flying the friendly skies.
Several others have made donations and have told me that I should just ride for what we are doing. I'm extremely grateful for all of these individuals no matter how large or small the donation was. They include my beautiful bride, Topher (co-worker at Camp Gray), Queenie Knox-Oates from TKE at SNC, Jill Boyle, Uncle Scott, Emily, M&M Vega, Mr. & Mrs. Dougherty, and my parents.
I'm looking for more donors and more reasons to ride. Do you have one? What can you do to help? Every $5 helps.
LIVESTRONG
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