I See You…..

Just a few more days now.  Tour de Pink is looming.  Do you see it? It’s right there. That huge, pink, fluffy, glittery, loud, pulsating cloud that’s over yonder.  Yup there it is.  And look at it.  Floating there. All smug and mocking me.  ::sigh:: You think I would be a bit more excited and bouncing around with anticipation for the ride.  But no. I’m all puking, sleepless nerves.  ::SIGH::

It’s not a race. I get that. And besides it’s not even ABOUT that. It’s about the cause, the comradery, the other amazing survivors and people I will meet and their stories that I will hear.  But dong this ride, completing ALL 220+ miles has meaning for me. Especially since I’m only a year and a month out of chemo. Especially since a year ago and even up to today my body is STILL recovering from the beat down it took from the “I’m taking the gloves off Jamie” chemo regiment that my oncologist put me on. And especially since I’m not just riding for me, but I’m also riding to honor my sister and her life and fight against the same crappy disease.

So because of how important this ride is to me I’ve been training for 7 long months. I’ve been sure to ride 3 to 5 times a week.  I’ve ridden great distances and climbed big hills.  I’ve cruised along bike paths and hugged the crap out of the shoulder of roads playing keep away with zipping cars.  I’ve gone on my own and I’ve ridden great distances with friends and family, supporting me, encouraging me and cheering me. And in just a few days it will be me and the Tour de Pink. Oh yes.

This past weekend I did 2 rides. 20 miles each.  Saturday’s ride was with my amazing friend Corrine (Who I so want to be when I grow. She too was diagnosed at 29 but after kicking the crap out of cancer she went on to give birth to her daughter and then adopted her 2nd daughter.  Corinne is now 10 years cancer free). We did 20 miles of road riding.  We climbed our way through some hills and worked on improving our speed and pushing hard.  Sunday I road with Kev’s cousin Jen.  We did about 20 miles at a steady pace and chewed through a couple of hills as well.

After my ride on Saturday I took my bike for a tune-up and once over at my favorite bike shop! The people here are just plain amazing.  This is the same shop that I picked my bike up from and anytime I go in with questions or needing help they more than go out of their way to help me out. They always ask how my training is going and wished me luck on my ride when I left on Saturday.  Really, these guys ROCK!

Today I was going to ride but the rain and thunder put a wash on that.  And I was told that I shouldn’t ride tomorrow or Wed.  So the next time I will be in the saddle will be Friday, Tour de Pink day.  Now, everyone is encouraged to come and cheer us along.  You can get maps and info about our route HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.  Making signs, dressing in pink, yelling, cheering singing and screaming is highly recommended.  Hell its mandatory.  Put a smile on my face and come cheer me on cause I’m pretty certain I’m going to want to cry while trying to climb the hills that day 1 has to offer me.

Exciting news about Day 1.  My brother (in-law), Jeff, will be riding Day 1 with me to help pull me along.  Day 1 is the hilliest, longest and hardest of all the days and being the loving, supportive, pain in my ass brother that he is, he decided to bless me with his presence. Oh I am a lucky girl indeed.

Sunday we end in Mercer County Park.  There will be a BBQ and celebrating and hugs and high fives going around. And of course all of you are encouraged to meet us there to cheer us as we roll in and partake in the yummy food!

Monday we will be rolling into the FOX Morning Show Studios where 1 survivor will be featured. So again, you are all encouraged to come on down and cheer and yell, sing, scream and dance, all while wearing pink and holding posters. 🙂

So yeah, I see you. Tour de Pink. You’ve made yourself quite visible.  Don’t worry I probably won’t sleep again tonight.  And if I do I’ll see you and all your 220+ hilly miles in my dreams.  You know, cancer was a walk in the park compared to you.  But I’m coming for you!

Love, Love, Love!

PS… You can still DONATE, so go do that! Please? And thank you!