Tour de Pink, Day 3, Part 1

Yes, I know I still owe Part 2 from Day 2, but given that it is now the end of Day 3, and that tonight's blog is being written from bed instead of the bar, I need to make this one quick and hope my readers will forgive some stories coming out of order.

You know you've put in some hard days when the thought of a 53 mile ride sounds comparatively easy. After a rousing send-off from Trenton's town officials (who have promised us 50 people riding with us out of town and cheering if we come back next year!) we enjoyed a police escort through town and out into New Jersey. The ride leader encouraged us to stay together ("think of the last day of the Tour de France - they all ride in a group, enjoying the experience") which mollified the speed demons to an extent, and made for quite a sight as the 100-strong pink peloton made its way through a bright, crisp morning to Rest Stop 1 20 miles down the road.

Here things split up a bit more, as some riders stopped for a quick water-bottle reload and were off again, and others took advantage of the services of the masseuse and Dr. Mark the chirpractor for an adjustment. Leaving this stop, a group of us fell in with "Team 7," aka Joe's Harem, as "The Major" led a group of 6 female riders 20 miles through headwinds and past traffic to deliver us safely to the lunch stop. This was our last time to be checked in by Charlie, our youngest volunteer and top-notch checker-inner, whose calls of "Can y'all plee-uz sahn ee-un?" will be fondly remembered.

As Team 7 finished lunch ("We're leaving as soon as I hit the latrines," ordered the Major) and prepared to leave, we joined up with another group to ride the last 15 miles to Atlantic Highlands, our last stop before Manhattan. Ignoring a few flipped birds from New Jersey's impatient drivers (Pennsylvania definitely wins the congeniality award!), we rode as a group of 25 or so, led to the finish by the fabulous Sarah (recent survivor and #1 fundraiser - although I think Mitchell will continue to give her a run for her money from now til the end of December) and her wonderfully supportive sister Chris.

From there we boarded buses for Manhattan, where we checked in to the Hilton before heading off to various local bars and restaurants for dinner, and in my case at least, home to sleep in my own bed. Tomorrow morning we start bright and early for our triumphant ride to the Fox studios on 7th Avenue between 48th and 49th Street - look for us on your Fox affiliate between 8 and 9, or come on down between 7:30 and 9 tomorrow to cheer us on if you're in the area!

Tour de Pink, Day 2, Part 1

Part 1, because I am blogging from the bar after another gorgeous, hilly day, and I keep getting distracted. By the fabulous survivors around me doing vodka shots, by the riders talking about tomorrow's course and by the general sense of camaraderie and achievement we are all celebrating as we go into Day 3.

We are at the Marriott in Trenton, a town whose bruised-pride civic motto - "Trenton Makes, The World Takes" - is right up there with New Hampshire's faintly threatening "Live Free or Die" for overall awesomeness. We had a beautiful ride along the Delaware River, past picturesque Bucks County towns (if anyone is looking for a lovely little atelier for artistic inspiration, I highly recommend Lumberville, PA - lots of great real estate available now!) My husband will be relieved and my mother shocked to hear that I managed to make it through New Hope without buying a single thing - although I must admit I was tempted to stop at the little antique stores along the way, as I am my mother's daughter after all.

Tonight's moving, funny and inspirational dinner and awards ceremony deserves its own entry, and I will add more about it tomorrow. But for now, suffice to say that, thanks to a little help from my friends, I was the #3 "survivor fundraiser" with over $9000, for which Giant for Women generously awarded me a $750 gift certificate. Those lines are still open - donations gratefully accepted through the end of the year!

I'm off to enjoy the evening with my fellow riders and survivors, so for now, I am including a couple photos from the road - one of the "Fantastic Five" (Brian, Karen, Chris, me and Lina) who rode most of the day together, and one from the kickoff this morning with Karen and Lina (and Greg from Hershey hamming it up in the background).

Tour de Pink, Day 1

This is the most energizing, exciting, exhausting and inspirational day I can remember. We started at Hershey's Chocolate World (where we also had dinner last night - you should have seen the dessert table!) with a ceremony and presentation of a check for $300,000 from Hershey to the Young Survival Coalition. We were also asked to take part in a few photo ops - one of Hershey's PR people approached a few of us before the ceremony to ask if it would be violating any rules of bicycling fitness to partake of a pink-wrapped and -centered York Peppermint Pattie for the cameras before the ride - as it is indeed one of my favorite candies (apparently also the leading candy for women ages 18-34 - I'm so predictable!), I was happy to comply.

After a send-off from hundreds of employees and supporters, all dressed in pink, lining the starting line and cheering us on, we hit the road. Last night's rain burned off into a partly cloudy morning that turned into a stunning sunny afternoon. We pedaled through picture-perfect rolling Pennsylvania countryside, past farms and homes, through several small towns, and past several Mennonite churches and schools, where the kids waved and cheered for us.

This is an incredibly well-supported ride - we had police escorts through towns, motorcycles blocking traffic at many intersections, and three rest stops with peanut butter sandwiches and all the Lara Bars we could pack into our jerseys along the way (and, of course, more chocolate).

We also had hills, and lots of them. Last night, they had warned us about the two-mile hill at mile 33. I was riding with two women, one from Hershey and one fellow survivor from New York. We saw the ridge ahead and I had a sinking feeling that this was what we were going to be tackling - I mentioned it and they scoffed. But indeed, that was our hill - I was in my easiest gear for at least a mile of it, and kept promising myself I could stop and walk...once I made it to that tree...as soon as I got to that telephone post...when I passed from the sun into the shady spot. But I didn't have to - although I can't say it did anything good for my average speed, I am incredibly proud to have made it to the top, on the bike the whole way. (You can't tell how steep it was from this photo, but believe me, it was steep! I'm pictured here with Karen, who is such a rockstar that she made it all the way to the top, and indeed all 73 miles today, on a fat-tire mountain bike.)

There are 27 Hershey employees who have joined us for the ride, several of whom I credit for getting me through the toughest parts of the day. Bruce and Jim scooped me up when I had fallen behind (although not actually OFF the bike, luckily!) the girls I was riding with due to a little mechanical issue, and led me along at their blistering 20 mph pace for 8 miles or so til I caught up again. Brian came up behind me on another tough, steep section, motivated me to the top, then made the next 6 miles go a lot faster as he asked me about my story. And Lina was a fantastic pace setter and rode with me almost all day, and was certainly the reason that I made it back to the hotel before 4!

I will share more stories tomorrow, but first there are a few people at home who deserve a shout-out - Matt for getting me the awesome bike I am riding, Liz for her secret fundraising initiative today that pushed me up over $9000, Kyle at Equinox for putting me through jump squats and lunges the past 3 months in our weekly training sessions, Annelise and Andrew for being my "big ride" lunch destination earlier this month, and Michael for not minding losing me for a few hours every weekend to ride. And probably most importantly, I'd like to thank the state of Connecticut for being such an incredibly hilly place to train - Pennsylvania has nothing on you!

Tour de Pink, Day 0

Thunder and lightening is raging outside the window of my hotel room near Hershey World as we prepare to take off tomorrow for Day 1 of the 3 day Tour de Pink. Fifty riders left on a bus from New York this morning, stopping to pick up some New Jersey riders along the way, and arrived this afternoon, where we are meeting with the rest of the group - I believe there are about 150 of us in total.

Lots of inspiring stories here - many women who are years out of treatment as well as some who have finished even more recently than I have. Fathers who are riding for their daughters. Brothers riding with their sisters. One woman who have never been on a bicycle until she heard about this ride and started training earlier this year. I suspect I may not be able to keep from crying as the sea of pink jerseys streams off tomorrow morning.

Work has been too hectic to allow me to get in as much training as I would have liked this summer, plus I am battling a cold this week. And oh yeah, I just had surgery 5 months ago, so maybe I should give myself a break and just accept the fact that I will hardly be setting any records this weekend - for me, success will be finishing. But as another young survivor pointed out on the bus this morning, this experience is about far more than the ride. It's about about celebrating our health and strength, raising awareness, learning to trust our bodies again, and helping other young women fight this disease.

And on that front, so far, we have raised over $300,000, with Hershey still to kick in a check for another $300,000. Donations are still gratefully accepted! (In fact, I think the site will be open for donations through the end of the year) I have nearly doubled my original goal of $4000 thanks to everyone's support and generosity, but now you can help nurture my competitive streak - I am in danger of falling out of the Top 10 fundraisers at the moment, and I think hitting $10,000 would secure my place there for sure! So if you have not yet had a chance, please visit my fundraising page.

I will know more after our briefing tonight, but it sounds like Monday's TV appearance has changed - we are now scheduled to be on Fox & Friends between 8 and 9 ET, so please tune in! Also, for any New Yorkers who happen to be working in that area, come cheer us on (and enjoy the pink bagels they will be handing out - I'm sure they can't be as gross as they sound) on 7th Avenue between 48th and 49th. And check back for more details from the road!

C for the Cure

Exactly one year ago last weekend, Michael and I were finishing a Sunday morning run in Central Park and noticed that Central Park West was eerily quiet. We looked down the block and realized the road had been closed off because Race for the Cure was about to start. We stood at the corner of 81st Street and watched as hordes of men and women in Ann Taylor, American Express and countless banking team t-shirts ran the first segment of the 5K run. We watched for at least half an hour as thousands of people started the race, the ones toward the back walking, carrying handbags, and even talking on cell phones.

Many wore "In Memory Of" placards on the back of their shirts in addition to the numbers on the front. I remember wondering why there were some women at the start of the pack who had five minutes' lead on those following - I knew there were some "elite runners" at the front, but some of the women I saw were doing a 12 minute mile at best. It took me a few minutes to realize that they were being honored as survivors.

This year I joined them. It was not about the money donated (since my primary fundraising efforts are for the bike ride for Young Survival Coalition, although I did raise a couple hundred dollars for Komen). Nor was it about the physical challenge (although Michael and I are both very proud to have finished the 5K in around 27 minutes, about the times we achieved in a couple of races last year).

Rather, it felt important to be a part of it to help raise awareness - after all, it was thirty minutes after watching the start of last year's race, back at home in the shower, that I first felt the lump in my breast and decided to take it seriously. So although when the Cure itself comes along it may be a little late for me personally, I will always be grateful to the Komen organization for giving me the Curiosity to look for and question what I found, and the Confidence to push my doctors not to brush it off.

Shameless Fundraising

It's been 10 months since my breast cancer diagnosis. I'd like to think that throughout, I maintained a brave face. As promised in The King and I, the results of the deception have had the desired effect - the "happiness in the tune" I've been whistling have (mostly) convinced me that I was not afraid.

Many of my colleagues and acquaintances had no idea that I was undergoing chemotherapy from December to March - not totally surprising, given that a good wig, makeup and attitude meant that this is the version of me they saw every (seen here with Mom on Mother's Day, just two weeks after my surgery and two months after my last chemo treatment).

But now is the time in the telethon broadcast when Sally Struthers comes on and the tone turns serious. As many of you know, I am doing a major fundraising bike ride for the Young Survival Coalition at the end of September. The YSC provides research, community and information to women under 40 with breast cancer, and has been an invaluable resource to me in my education and my fight this year. All the funds I raise for the 200 mile, 3.5 day ride go toward the programs offered by the YSC.

Although women under 40 account for a small percentage of overall breast cancer diagnoses, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women age 15-54. While being "young and healthy" when I was diagnosed might possibly have contibuted to making it easier for me to handle some of the nastier side effects of chemo, it also meant that my cancer was more aggressive and further along than it likely would have been if I had been in my 50s. Fortunately my doctors did not blow it off when I mentioned the lump, but a lot of women I have met through the YSC were not so lucky - it's shocking how many of them were dismissed as being "too young to worry about this" when they raised concerns with their doctors, and were sent away. A year or two later with a larger lump, they would finally be sent for a mammogram, at which point the cancer was more advanced than it would have been if they had been taken seriously in the first place.

The YSC works to raise awareness of young women's breast cancer in doctors and the public, and also provides research on related topics that are most relevant for this population, such as risks to fertility as a result of treatment, genetic predisposition to the disease, and long-term survivorship issues.

Many of you are aware of the event and have contributed generously, and I am grateful for your support. I am plugging the ride again in this post because I anticipate a few new visitors to the blog, as I am sending out a broader fundraising email this week. And since I know a few people may be surprised to hear that I was sick at all, this is the "seriously, I was really sick, even though you may not have been able to see it on the surface" photographic evidence taken the day after my surgery (and the day before what little remained of my brows and lashes finally gave up the fight).

They are back, as am I, strong as ever. The support I got from YSC made a big difference to my mental health, and now that my physical health is back, I want to return the favor. If you would like to contribute, please click here.

Assuming that I a) make it in before dark each day and b) am not too exhausted from riding up hill and down dale just 5 months after my surgery, I am planning to blog from the road. Our first day of riding from Hershey, PA is Friday, September 28. On Monday, October 1, we do a ceremonial ride from Central Park to the CBS Early Show plaza for a special appearance around 8 a.m. ET. I will keep you posted on the details in case anyone wants to join live to cheer us on, or to tune in to the show.

And now we return to our normal scheduled broadcast...to include current updates, photos and a travel report just as soon as I can get through my usual 100-item-long to-do list, which now prominently features a few last minute training rides!