Back in Blonde

Now that I have had 4, count 'em, 4, haircuts since losing it all in December, I decided it was time to play with the color a little. I have always wondered what it would be like to do something radically different than the golden highlights I started doing in college and always feared stopping ("So much grey!" Milla would tsk tsk as she applied the foils, from around the time of my 27th birthday). After being talked out of red by Michael (anti-Ginger bias seems to be not only common but socially acceptable among the English), I decided for something more dramatic than the blonde highlights I had been sporting in my mousy brown base color since late August.

Being released from jury duty a few hours earlier than expected gave me the perfect window - knowing that Milla would probably not support the decision, I decided to cheat on her. Never a true monogamist when it comes to grooming, I headed back to a salon in my neighborhood I had not visited in a year or two.

After talking me out of truly light ("If you go platinum, you'll be in my chair every two weeks," Megan warned), I ended up bleaching it all to a "warm blonde" shade with buttery highlights. A week later, it reads a little too orange to me - I am heading back in to lighten it up again next week. Because why not? It's not like the threat of "what if it all falls out" holds a lot of influence. But I'll turn to my virtual beauty consultants out there in the ether for your thoughts and suggestions..

Cancerversary

In the past 12 months, I have...

• Leaned where to buy the most beautiful bouquets of flowers in New York
• Lived through two "Breast Cancer Awareness" Octobers without letting the color pink nauseate me
  
• Gone from shoulder length hair to a short crop without the use of scissors
• Had my skin pierced with dozens of small needles to stave off hot flashes
• Rediscovered what my ribcage looks like
  
• Undergone the first and second surgeries of my life
• Gone through menopause and come back out the other side
• Discovered I carry a gene that will influence most of my future health decisions
  
• Managed to average just over one blog entry per week
• Gained back all 7 pounds I lost during the chemo-induced period during which I lost interest in sugar and alcohol, plus a few more (I blame all the celebrating since April's successful surgery)
• Lost and then regrown my eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as almost all their other hair on my body
• Grown accustomed to seeing myself without nipples
  
• Bought several fabulous hats and scarves that look even better with a little real hair underneath them
• Confirmed that I have the most caring, loving and generous friends and family that anyone could wish for
• Successfully obliterated a 2.5 cm tumor growing in my breast
• Become comfortable using the word "survivor" to describe myself at last
  

Tour de Pink in Pictures

As predicted, it's been a busy week - getting back into the swing of things at work and home after a few days away is never easy. But my legs are recovering, my bike short tan lines are fading, and I am determined to post up more photos before it gets too late. The leftover adrenaline must be clouding my judgment, given that I am already thinking about doing another ride this weekend - I don't anticipate the seat will be any more comfortable than it was riding home through Central Park on Monday morning, but right now it sounds like a plausible idea.

Apologies if I massacre your name in the captions or just plain don't know it - feel free to drop me a note, or just remind me next year!

Tour de Pink Days 1 and 2

Tour de Pink Day 3

Tour de Pink Finale

In what was possibly the hairiest quarter-mile stretch of our entire 220 mile ride, the Tour de Pink battled its way through Manhattan commuter traffic to our grand finale outside the Fox studios this morning. A balloon arch, free massages and friends and family were there to greet us. As this is television, things weren't necessarily as spontaneous as they had been on the ride ("Group 2, we're gonna need you to ride around the block one more time...and again...") but they were possibly more photogenic, as many of the female riders realized that we weren't working up enough of a sweat to ruin our makeup, so it was a brighter-eyed crew than you might have expected for 7:30 on a Monday morning after a long three day ride (seen here: Jennifer and Jason, both looking rosy, although I'm certainly implying that either had cosmetic assistance!).

The enthusiasm of the crowds and the volunteers also helped add to the festive mood - as did the Au Bon Pain coffee and pink Panera bagels (which were actually really good!) The Fox anchors came out to greet us before the interview, and one even hopped on the chair for a quick pre-interview massage, nuch to the dismay of her makeup woman, no doubt. Although I have not been able to get the video link to work on the Fox & Friends site, Tour de Pink and YSC co-founder Lisa Frank's interview is available there to anyone who is more tech savvy than I am.

After much cheering for the cameras, riding of bicycles around the block and through the balloon arch and taking of official and unofficial photographs, we grabbed our bikes and headed back to the hotel. Having narrowly escaped a few close scrapes with cabs and delivery trucks on our way to the studio, most of us chose to walk our bikes the 5 blocks up Sixth Avenue back to the Hilton for brunch.

Tour de Pink Finale

I promised a lot of people a lot of photos, and I am gradually getting them loaded up. But although some of my fellow riders were witness to my obsessive-compulsive Blackberry checking from the rest stops, I still have a mountain of emails and voicemails waiting for me back at the office that feels only slightly less intimidating than the Grade 3 Eagle's Nest from Day 1 of the Tour. Therefore I am hoping the link to my online album from today will work - check back later this week for more photos from the rest of the ride, and to see if I ever get around to sharing more stories from the road!