Thanks!!

As I said before I had a great ride this year but I forgot to thank everybody that have given me $$$ for the ride. With your help I have raised about 60% with two months left to raise the balance. I'm positive that I will get there and thanks again!

Finished 2010

Just got home a couple hours ago from my annual life experience. There are no words that describe what it feels like to have over 5200 riders and 3000 support volunteers come together for one common cause. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Please take the time to check out the PMC web site and I will try to download some pictures in the next couple days. If you haven't donated to my ride there is still plenty of time, every little bit helps. Thanks also to my fellow teammates and very good friends for such a great ride and to Sharon, Rachel and Kara for always being there.

2010 PMC RIDE

Well, I have done it again, yesterday I signed up for my ninth PMC this coming summer. So many people I know have been affected by cancer during my two years off I felt very guilty that I was not doing something. It will be a fun year since the only bike I own is the steal touring bike that I used on my 1200 mile ride around California with Jake last summer. It is not build for speed but I could give team mates rides if needed!

This year I'm also going to try to post lots of training pictures and some PMC videos so if you don't live in the area you can see what the PMC is all about.

In Memory of Mary

Very sad news to report - my very dear colleague, Mary Ministeri, died yesterday, August 4th, after fighting cancer for almost two and half years. You will be missed.

Training

I have been doing lots of training going for 25 mike rides with the CCSC team on M-W-F, and a 50 to 60 mile ride on Sundays. On the off days I have been taking an easy ride down to my favorite coffee shop for a bagel and coffee. All of the training has been great, meeting new team members and trying to stay up with Otis. Let me explain Otis for you - he is our team leader and he will be 72 years old next week. He has ridden in the PMC for over twenty years and for the most part no one on the team can stay up with him. He is a man on a mission - I can't tell you how hard the man rides and unless I'm drafting (my favorite thing to do) off him there is no hope of staying with him. Jake (16.5 years old) has gone on a couple rides with us and he did give Otis a run for his money. I only hope to be able to ride half as hard as he does at 72!!!!

I must go buy a lottery ticket before my luck runs out!!

In the past month I have won two great prices. The first was a Giant hybrid electric bike that I won at school for $5.00 worth of tickets and the second was an 8x10 shed from Pine Harbor Sheds for $20.00 worth of tickets. One of my summer projects while Sharon is in North Carolina with the girls was to build a shed. Not anymore! I was also looking for a new road bike since all I have now is my touring bike that I used in California last summer. It's got to be the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden but does it weigh a ton. Long story short – sold the hybrid bought a road bike. Total cost - $5.00. Makes me smile and now I can stay up with the team!!

July 4th - No Helmet

Enjoyed a great fourth with my family in Chatham for the big parade. I was shocked to see Billy Starr ride down Main St. without a helmet! Come on Billy, you need to set the bar!

Bike in Shop

The weather has started to improve so I finally got around to taking my bike out of the shipping box that it has been in since last August. Little did I know that while putting it back together I would discover so many problems.

To start there are two broken spokes on the rear wheel. Because the bike has disc brakes and there are no pads to rub on the rim I never noticed the rim being bent. Thinking back to our trip last summer could it be that Jake rear ended me twice while I was stopped? Yes, he rear ended me twice and he just started driving!

One of the shifters that happen to be located on the end of the handlebars just fell out once I put the bars back in place. If that occurred while I was going down the road parts would have gone everywhere.

Lastly, there was a noise coming from the rear wheel while coasting. Turns out the hub has begun to disintegrate and the wheel has to be replaced. Could it have anything to do with a 38 lb. bike, 73 lbs. of gear and a 200 lb. rider? Turns out it's under warranty, thank god.

So, no bike for a week or two - can't wait to start.

The Murphy Family Rocks!!!

Big thank you goes out to the Murphy Family! For the forth year now the Murphy family has come through for our PMC team. They have agreed to sponsor our team fundraiser at the new Harwich Land HO restaurant on Friday, June 25. Please save that date and be prepared to have some fun.

First Day of Getting Ready

Today happened to the second day of day light savings time, it was very dark at 5:15. It is also the last day that I can have two of my favorite food items that are loaded with FAT. Lots of coffee with half&half and sugar and an everything bagel toasted with butter. The things I do for the PMC!

I also think it would be a good idea to take my bike out of the shipping box from last summer and start putting it back together if need to start training.