Pedal the Cause - Ride Day photos

Photos from the ride day are finally available!  

 I rode downtown with my neighbors.

This was such a fun event, and I'm looking forward to riding in it again next year. Before the ride started, we took a team photo and I ate breakfast.

Breakfast was provided by Whole Foods and Kaldi's Coffee. I had yogurt made from coconut milk, granola, a banana, and almond butter that had been sweetened with honey. That was all quite good. Kaldi's hit it out of the park with their coffee the night before, but the stuff they served the day of the ride tasted like it had been sitting getting reheated and reheated until it was burnt. Yucky stuff. I've been to Kaldi's shop several times, and they are capable of way better than what they were serving on this day.

Finish line photo

My stats for the ride:

Finish time = 1:24:44, 94th overall out of 1,668 fifteen mile riders and 33rd out of 806 females.

Not bad. This wasn't a race, but I did want to finish at a reasonable time. My goals were to finish at least in the middle and to stay on the bike - no walking the bike up hills or stopping for frequent breaks.  I stopped once just over halfway through the route, and I stayed on the bike. I had my bike computer with me, measuring my speed and distance.  When I crossed the finish line it read 16.2 miles.  I don't know if the route wasn't quite 15 miles, or if I got off the route inadvertently for a bit. I had reset the computer right before the ride, and I tried to stay with other cyclists. Oh well. I felt like I could have ridden longer anyway.

It was a little before 11 AM when I finished, and James was there with the kids. I changed clothes, and we ate lunch. Sugarfire BBQ provided the food, and it was fabulous.

James had trouble finding a place to park when he arrived, and he ended up parking in front of a Hooters that was several blocks away from the finish line.  I decided to ride my bike back to the car and get it loaded up while he walked with kids.  I needed to use the restroom before we drove home, but I didn't want to use a Port-A-John again. Those are nasty, nasty places. So, I went in Hooters just to use the bathroom. I had never been in a Hooters before, but I knew that it would be way cleaner than a Port-A-John.

Samuel has been playing with my finisher's medal. He will pick it up and say "I go bike race."  Makes me smile. I hopes he love it as he grows up.  Last Saturday, there was a new section of highway opened up for pedestrians and cyclists. Just four miles there, four miles back. Easy peasy. We decided to take the kids with us in the bike trailer.  What I didn't account for was the 27 MPH headwinds. Oh my word. James had the kids hitched to his bike when we got started. He lasted about half a mile, then I took them. I didn't make it far with them either.  James decided to take the kids back to the car and go to the library while I finished my ride. That was the most awful, difficult 4 miles of riding followed by 4 miles of fast, fun, easy riding.

I got up to 25 MPH without exerting much effort. Even after being out in the cold wind in the trailer, Samuel asked to go back for more.

Taste the Cause

Tomorrow is the cycling event, Pedal the Cause, that I've been preparing for, and this evening we had the chance to go to a dinner that is a fundraiser for the same event. The dinner was called "Taste the Cause," and all the riders got in for free.  Kids under the age of 12 years also got in for free, so the only one of us that needed a ticket was James. We got to try food from several local chefs, and I think we will be visiting their restaurants.

 This was my favorite thing I tried: Roasted Lamb with Pumpkin and Edamame Salad. The lamb was really tender, and the salad was very flavorful. 

 The main thing that Samuel had to eat was Shrimp and Grits. That made me happy.

 He also loved the chocolate coconut macaroons from Cravings Gourmet Desserts.  I thought I'd had macaroons before, and didn't care for them - but these were so good.

 There was a live band, and he got up from our table to dance with his macaroon in his hand.

 The chicken entree that the FarmHaus had available was quite tasty. Samuel enjoyed some of their cornbread.

 Kaldi's Coffee was on site demonstrating the Chemex Coffemaker.  I had never seen this done before, and it certainly did produce a smooth cup of coffee. They were serving some their Kenyan coffee.

 There was a time for cancer survivors to share their stories, and as the crowd clapped for them, so did Eva Kate.

There is a huge wall set up for people to place a sticker and write the name of someone they are riding for.  Jon's name went on my sticker.

Jon is a friend of ours from college, and I just learned this week that he has traveled to Austria with his wife to under cancer treatment. This is his second battle with the disease, and there is a fundraising campaign going on right now to raise funds to help cover his medical expenses. You can read about his story here: Kicking Cancer with the Bufkins. Please pray for healing!

Pedal the Cause is Almost Here!

I'm so excited to be participating in Pedal the Cause this year. I picked up my rider's jersey on Friday, and I got my bike tuned up.

Pedal the Cause is a cycling event in it's 5 year here in St. Louis that raises funds for the Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital.  The money raised will go to fund cancer research at these two hospitals. These are both wonderful institutions, and I've had the honor of serving patients at both hospitals as a pharmacist.  The best calls I ever get at work are from cancer patients who are calling to tell me that they no longer need my services because they are in remission. That is always such amazing news, and how I wish I got more of those calls.  All too many times it goes the other way. Instead of a happy patient on the phone, and I have a saddened family member on the phone telling me that their loved one's disease has gotten worse and they are stopping treatment and going to hospice care. Both phone calls have brought me to tears for two very different reasons. One for joy, and the other for the briefness of life.

I'm only $50 away from my fundraising commitment.  If you'd like help me chip away at that by making a donation towards creating a world without cancer, here's the link: Pedal the Cause Donations. Thank you so very much for your support.

I've had a number of family members who found themselves grasped in the clutches of cancer. Two grandparents, an aunt and an uncle, my husband's grandfather. I ride for them. I ride for my patients. Here's to a world without cancer.