The Big Day

The LIVESTRONG Challenge event turned out to be everything I was hoping for and more. The morning started off early with the family rising at 5:30am and making it to the festival area by 7am. We had just enough time for a quick family photo under one of the yellow balloon arches before we had to get into position for our respective events.


I made my way over to the 100 mile staging area while Robin and the boys hung out by the stage area, which was not exactly where they needed to be. The 5K run/walk staging area was a few hundred yards and many, many bodies away from there. It turns out Robin knew what she was doing. A few minutes before they let the 100 mile riders go Lance rode less than 3 ft away from her and the boys on his way to the starting line. I looked on amazed and just a little bit jealous. Robin did her part by not interfering with Lance in any way.

The weather was nearly perfect all day. It started out cool, but short-sleeved cool with no need for arm warmers or a jacket of any kind. The San Jose Police closed the entire course for about the first 20 miles which was quite a thrill. Riding through red lights while the officers waved us through and held up traffic was more fun that it should have been. The rest stops were well stocked with natural food as well as the usual chemical concoctions that pass for energy food. I stuck with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and gatorade/water. I had a few rules that I set for myself on this century ride:

1. Be safe
2. Stop at every rest stop
3. Ride at my own pace
4. Have fun!

The roads were crowded at first, which required some attention, but they gradually thinned out the farther along I got. I was tempted to skip the first and third rest stops but I know from previous experience that frequent stops and small bites to eat is the best way to go on a ride of this duration. Riding at my own pace was pretty easy because I'm not into racing as much as I used to be. I saw lots of people go flying by and I caught up to many of them later. Metcalf arrived at mile 67 and there were lots of people struggling up it. I was still feeling pretty good at this point and although I sweated a lot, it really wasn't too bad. Having fun was pretty much a given. My training paid off so I felt pretty strong throughout, and seeing Lance out there, even if it was just at the beginning, was a highlight.

As I neared the finish and realized that I had made it through the day, I started to get increasingly more excited and happy about what I had accomplished. Robin and the boys, along with two good friends of mine, Jim and Wendy Olwell, were waiting for me at the finish. I almost collapsed when I saw them but that feeling wasn't from physical fatigue. It was a good thing I had my bike to hold me up. I wanted to give everyone a hug right then and there but I was a bit too sweaty.


What a great day! We're already talking about next year. In his speech to the crowd on Sunday, Lance said that San Jose set a record for attendance and fundraising for an inaugural LIVESTRONG Challenge event and they will definitely be back next year. It was truly a memorable experience.

Some final stats for the day:

Miles ridden: 95 (not sure if my odometer is off or not)
Time: 6 hours, 44 minutes (including time spent at each of the rest stops)

And overall:

Funds raised: $3570 (not including the approximately $500 of Adobe matching gifts)
Total miles ridden: 674.5
Dollars raised per mile: $5.29

Thank you again for all of your support. I hope you have enjoyed experiencing this adventure with me. Here's one last photo of Robin and I from the fundraising appreciation dinner. Her support of my effort from start to finish was instrumental in helping me reach my goals. Thanks my dear - you're the best!

Pre-day Festivities

Bright and early this morning Robin, the boys and I went down to the San Jose Convention Center to pick up our LIVESTRONG Challenge event materials. They're doing the run/walk so they got timing chips in addition to their event numbers. I got a hat, messenger bag, jersey and two tickets to the fundraising appreciation dinner. I wasn't sure what to expect from the dinner but to say it exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. I was hoping that Lance would get up and say a few words and by the time it was over he had been on stage for an hour and a half, talking about his foundation, handing out some awards and answering questions from the audience. Robin remarked afterward that he comes across as a very down-to-earth person. His demeanor in talking with the folks in attendance belied the level of his fame. You can tell he is even more passionate about his foundation than he was about racing in the Tour de France.

One interesting stat that Doug Ulman, president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, shared with us is that 76 participants were invited to the dinner. Those 76 people represented 2% of the total number of participants in the event, yet they managed to raise 44% of the $1,500,000 raised for the San Jose event. The dinner was a great way to get ready for the task of riding 100 miles tomorrow.

I also managed to squeeze in an 18.5 mile ride today just to make sure the bike and my legs were still ready to go. My final training numbers are:

Training period: 42 days
Number of rides: 23
Total miles: 579.5
Time on the bike: 36 hours and 50 minutes

On the Home Stretch

With only a few days left before the Challenge event the excitement is building. I received an email today inviting me and a guest to the pre-event dinner on Saturday evening. Robin and I are planning to make a fun evening of that. The email indicated that Lance will indeed be addressing the attendees and I'm looking forward to hearing him speak.

We'll be heading to downtown San Jose earlier on Saturday to pick up all of our materials for the event. The street closure signs have been posted in and around downtown for the past week. It's shaping up to be a fun and action-packed weekend.

I'm continuing to rack up miles, with a 26.5 mile ride yesterday and a 24 mile ride today. Today's ride was a tough one because I climbed the north side of Hicks, easily one of the toughest hills in the area. I use this hill as a metric of my conditioning. Trying to do Hicks with insufficient miles in your legs is just asking for trouble. Even with 500+ miles in my legs over the past 5 weeks it was still a difficult climb. It didn't help that the only time I had to ride today was at lunch time so the temperature was warmer than I would have liked. It still felt great to be out riding, though, and the past two days brought my mileage total up to 561 with two more training days before the big event. I'm planning to take it easy on Saturday and haven't decided what's on tap for tomorrow. We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning.

I also received two more donations from co-workers and that's always a lift. My fundraising total is now $3,570. I've received more than $500 in donations from fellow Adobe employees, so with our company's generous matching gift program my final total will be over $4,000. I continue to find inspiration in the support I've received. Thanks again to everyone.


Mileage so far: 561
Days left: 2

I Am Ready

The three day weekend provided ample time for riding and I took advantage of it. After Friday's 35.5 mile ride left me feeling completely drained I have to admit that some doubts about my physical readiness and ability began to creep in. I decided to take it easy (easier, really) on Saturday and only rode 26.5 miles. I felt much better and my confidence returned. I still needed a much longer ride to convince myself that I really was ready for doing 100 miles in one day. Today was that ride. I left the house early because the afternoon temperatures have been getting up into the high 80's/low 90's and I wanted to avoid the affects of sun and heat exposure. I left around 8:30 with three energy bars and two large water bottles. I wanted to do 60 miles and figured I would have to stop somewhere along the route to restock my supplies, at least the water.

I rode down McKean Rd. to Willow Springs Rd. Both of these are on the LIVESTRONG Challenge route, though the route inserts quite a few miles in between where I turned to go onto Willow Springs Rd, but I still had plenty of miles ahead of me. Willow Springs Road is one of those lazy, south San Jose roads that I just can't get enough of. It's quiet, secluded, shaded and has plenty of wildlife flitting about. I could ride that road all day and never tire of it.

I then turned north on Hale to Bailey to head back to do Metcalf again. I wanted to do it one more time before the Challenge to make sure I could handle it. I felt really good today and got a kick out of meeting another rider who is planning to do the Challenge next weekend on the way up to the top. After Metcalf it was down the back side and a left turn on San Felipe Rd, another part of the Challenge course. San Felipe is right up there with Willow Springs for enjoyment factor. It's not quite as secluded but still I rode nearly 10 miles with only 1 car passing me. Sheer bliss.

As I was approaching home it was clear I wasn't going to log a full 60 miles, but I knew it would be over 50. I pulled up to the house with my odometer reading just over 54 miles. That will do, I thought. My legs felt great and I could have ridden for many more miles. Forty-six more? Well, I will have more and better rest stops during the Challenge ride, so yeah ... I'll be able to do all 100 next weekend. Bring it on!


Mileage so far: 510.5
Projected mileage: 596
Days left: 6

Go Natalie

I went for a fairly difficult ride this morning: 35.5 miles including two tough hills (Harry and Hicks) and two medium sized hills (Kennedy and Shannon). I then spent the 4th of July with my family and the cumulative effects of the ride and sun really wiped me out this evening. I think I've decided to do a shorter ride tomorrow to recover a bit and then do my long ride on Sunday.

On my ride today I rode past a rather uplifting sight. I don't know who Natalie is, but I'm happy to hear she's joined the list of cancer survivors. Click the photo for a larger version.


Mileage so far: 430
Projected mileage: 531
Days left: 8

A Family Affair

Robin, the boys and I got to talking this evening at the dinner table about the LIVESTRONG Challenge. I mentioned that there is a 5K Run/Walk option that only requires an entry fee (fundraising is optional). Robin thought this was a great idea and it didn't take too much to convince the boys it was something they wanted to do as well. After dinner I quickly logged on to the LIVESTRONG Challenge site and registered all 3 of them before they could change their minds. :-) Now we've got all four of us participating and I'm very excited about that. They will be done with their event long before I return from my ride but they're planning to meet me at the finish line upon my arrival. It's going to be an exciting day and I'm really looking forward to it.

I also made one final plea to a select few of my friends and I'm happy to report that I added another $300 to my fundraising total. Thanks everyone! This brings my new mileage goal up to 579 miles. I'm not really close to that pace at the moment but I do have a big weekend of riding planned. We'll see how close I can get to it. Thanks to everyone for helping to raise the bar.

Almost There

There are only ten days to go until the ride and I'm getting close on my mileage goal. I'm planning a couple of rides this weekend, one extra long, that should get me fairly close to my mileage goal. I want to taper off my riding in the final week so I'm fresh and ready to go on Sunday, July 13th.

I've also got 7 days left to raise funds for the ride, and while I've met my initial fundraising goal I'm still hoping to get a few more donations in this final week. It's a worthy cause and it means a lot to me. I'm very grateful for all of the support I've received so far.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable 4th of July!