in the pink

It's Breast Cancer Awareness month, so pink is showing up in a lot of places.  If you watch football on Sundays, you've seen it on shoes, gloves, towels, and even penalty flags (though I've been told that last one is going back to yellow to eliminate confusion). Pink is showing up a lot more in a lot of places.

On the heels of this month, actually in early November, there will be a local fundraiser for breast cancer research.  A local retired newscaster Donna Deegan, has beat breast cancer three times.  She's a runner, and several years ago started a marathon to raise money for breast cancer research being done at the Mayo Clinic.  That thing has grown and now, 26.2 with Donna is a nationally known marathon that runners travel to J'ville for each February.  Thousands of runners participate.

About 5 years ago, she started a different event in November to involve bicyclists, called Bike 26.2 with Donna.  It  It started as a 26.2 mile ride.  After the first year, she realized 26.2 miles on a bike really isn't all that for cyclists.  Anyone who rides regularly can do that without breaking much of a sweat, especially in November.  The next year there was a 52 mile option, lapping the 26.2 mile route twice.  Last year the 52 mile route was completely different from the 26 mile route and this year a 110 mile trip has been added, along with the shorter options.  Most of the fundraising is done though registration fees.  It costs $110 to do the 110 mile ride.  You do, however, have the option of asking friends/neighbors/family to sponsor you to raise more money for the cause.

I started a fundraising page and it just sat there, so I let people at work know I was doing the ride to benefit breast cancer research.  The silence was deafening.  No reaction at all.  I told them I would ride 110 miles for the cause.  Some stifled a yawn.  Some didn't bother to stifle  it.  I think I could say 1000 miles and it wouldn't faze them, even though there's no way I could do that in a day.  They know I ride a lot, and if I mentioned any distance, it would go in one ear and out the other.  I stepped up my game and told them, IF they manage to raise a thousand dollars, I'd do the 110 miles in a pink tutu.  All of a sudden there was movement.  Lumberyard John in a pink tutu?  SURE!  We'll chip in to see THAT!  It's not showing up on the fundraising page yet, but one person has started a cash collection in our department, and they stand a fair chance of meeting the goal.  Big winner, even if they don't get there, will be funding for cancer research.

Full disclosure.  The folks at work have never seen this ride (or for that matter I'm guessing, any other breast cancer fundraising event), and this works in my favor.  People dress up in all manner of pink-ness for the occasion.  I belong to a bicycle club that participates in this ride.  The week before, the women of the club get together and make a bunch of pink tutus and everyone in the club wears one.  I wore one last year.  I will this year regardless of the money raised.  That's just a bonus.  Many people of both sexes wear pink bras over their bike jerseys.  There are lots of pink feather boas and pink sunglasses, and pink....just about everything.  By comparison, I'll actually be conservatively attired.  The fact that I'm wearing a pink tutu not only isn't outlandish, it's pretty much expected.  What the work folks don't know not only won't hurt them, but will actually do some good.  Yes, I'm exploiting their ignorance, and their perception that I will be somehow disparaged if I wear a pink tutu, but I'm pretty proud of it.

The fall bike season slowly comes to a close

Some posts come out of a need to say something.  In fact most do.  This one though, is more of a..."I'm still alive and kicking" thing.  Nothing's really new except the Presidential election results and I'd rather not go there..  I'd kind-of like the President to define the word "Forward" for me, because it was his election slogan and nothing in his performance to this point looked anything like how I define the word.  I'm thinking he's not going to comply with my request, so I'm letting all that go.  When life hands you lemons, grab the tequila and salt...and just deal.

The last official fairly large local charity ride for this year came and went last weekend - Bike 26.2 with Donna. Donna Deegan was a local newscaster (she 'retired' to focus on her charity - the Donna Foundation) who is a 3 time breast cancer survivor. I did the ride as part of the North Florida Bike Club team, a group I started riding with in April. the ladies of the club made pink tutus for everyone to wear for the ride and while I'm not really the tutu type, it just sort of fit the day. When I rode up to the bunch of them, a woman declared "You need a tutu!" and it was all over.

 

 

That came after the 6th annual Bike MS weekend.  It's not their 6th annual, but it is mine.  I've found that over the years, while my enthusiasm hasn't waned all that much, that of my contributing sponsors has, which is understandable.  The first year there was a huge curiosity factor.  Most of my relatives questioned my ability to finish 150 miles on a bike over a weekend.  Now, having successfully done it a few times, they've come to view it as routine...easy for them to say.

 

So given all this, you could assume I've been spending a lot of time on the bike and you'd be right - so much so that I've started saddle shopping.  I boght my current (and probably last) road bike in April of 2010, and it now has a bit over 8,000 miles on it.  After the Donna ride, as I was wiping the road grime off it, I realized my current saddle is getting awfully worn.  The leather is starting to peel and pull away from the metal, so it's looking like time for a replacement, which is new for me.  I've never worn out a bike seat before, but hey, there's a first time for everything.

 

I might also have to actually buy some cold weather bike riding clothing.  In the past I just refused to get out there if the temp was under 50°, mostly because it doesn't get that cold here too often, but now I'm getting less willing to buy that excuse.  Maybe I'll have to ask Santa for some gear.

 

More TV season than bike season:

Best show currently on TV: Big Bang Theory

Second best show currently on TV: Duck Dynasty

early morning update

There's something eerie about being at work early, before anyone else gets here. I have to get some stuff done on the big computer while nobody else is on it, so now's a good time to do that. Once I set it all in motion though, there's not much to do except monitor it, and make sure it's all doing what it's supposed to do, and fixing it if it doesn't.

I figured...good a time as any to do something I haven't in a while - update this place.

First, the wife's condition is good, we think. She's got to do checkups with her doctor, but we're thinking things are looking a whole lot better. She felt good enough to road trip to Pennsylvania the last part of last month/first part of this month.

The trip to Pennsylvania was fun. Spent a few days around Harrisburg, did Hershey Park, and rode bikes with an old friend I hadn't seen in 32 years around Elizabethtown. Then we went to Philly. The youngster had never been to center city to see all the historical stuff - the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc., so we enlisted the help of my siblings as tour guides for trains and how to get around. We did center city one day, and they indulged me on another to go tour the old alma mater. Villanova still has all the buildings that were there when I was a student, but there's a whole lot more now. The place has grown a lot. It was great to spend some time with the family. Trips like that make me wish we all lived closer, but I'm not moving north and they aren't moving south, so...so much for that.

They day after we got back, we lost our dog. A neighbor was keeping her while we were gone, and when we got back, she asked if the dog always breathes really heavy, because she had been the last few days. We said no, and thought after a few days back home, she'd be fine. Well, the next day she was still doing it, so the wife and youngster took her to the vet. While there, she had heart failure and died. The youngster took it really hard. He cried for most of the day...literally. And I mean literally. He didn't stop. We ended up going to the animal shelter and getting another one. It is by no means a replacement, but it is helping deal with the loss, and so far he's a pretty cool little dog. He's very different from our old dog, but he's a keeper.

Now, I'm just making sure I'm ready for this year's MS ride. It'll be my fifth, which is a bit hard for me to believe. To think this all started with me wanting to work off some chubbiness. Four and a half years later, I've turned into a bike fanatic. Of course, I don't see myself as a fanatic. When I talk about it with others though, especially those that don't ride at all, they let me know I am. When you casually talk about going out in the morning for 50 miles, people look at you funny.

The youngster started college last week. Amazing when I think about it, and yet not really. I have to qualify the statement a little. Anyone who read here through the years knows he has, and still does struggle with ADD. When he graduated from high school, I wanted to see the diploma to be sure it really happened. His test scores weren't good enough to get into most schools, so he's at the community college and taking remedial math, english and writing classes. Still, I think he'll be OK in the end. He's actually doing well, so far (I mean, it's only been a week) and even helping some of the other students (and by students I mean girls....cute girls) with homework. We'll see.