Gentle reader - this post will not be of normal length, for which I apologize in advance. writing on an iPad is not ideal for someone trained to type with ten fingers. It does make me appreciate the two-finger typists among you!
Traveling from San Diego to Pallanza (on the shore of Lago Maggiore) was as non-eventful as any 4-city 22-hr journey can be. I even arrived at Kennedy fewer than five gates away from my departure - that only happens when one is NOT pressed for time. My heart did skip a few....dozen...beats as I waited a RATHER long time for my bike to arrive in Milan. But it did. I met a few of my fellow cyclists waiting for the bus to Lago Maggiore - self-identification was pretty easy with our obvious bike cases. The schlep part of the day began upon arrival at the hotel. Needing to hoist a large rolling duffel plus a fairly heavy backpack into a typical European elevator sized for the Mayor of Munchkin Land and his pet Shih Tzu was not unexpected. The garage for the bikes (and cases), however, was about 1/4 mile away...up a steep cobblestone hill. Seriously? Yep.
Assembling the bikes on the grass in the warm sun was a nice intro. After completing our chores, a group of us inhaled pizza on the piazza (come on, it has a NICE ring) and went off for a wee warm up peddle.
Did I happen to mention the Australians? There's no such thing as a wee warm up peddle! We went along the shore of the lake at a rapid clip, stopping once for a coffee and once to turn around....when we hit Swizerland! On the way back I made the mistake of following a couple of the Aussie boys who wanted to "just go up this hill for a few turns to check it out." 5 km and who knows HOW much ascent later we reached a top. Welcome to Italy.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
PMC 2011- We're still fighting cancer....hard
http://www.pmc.org/egifts/EK0035
PMC ID: EK0035
Why ride a bike to fight cancer? Because it helps.
If you want to stop reading, just go straight to www.pmc.org/egifts/EK0035, donate and we'll call it good. If you want the narration, here you go:
As it has for the past six years, the first weekend in August 2011 will find me pedaling my bicycle across Massachusetts to help find a cure for cancer. The Pan-Mass Challenge raises funds for treatment and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. What started back in 1980 as an event for extreme athletes is now a weekend of heart and soul for a large, diverse group committed to raising the vital funds required to battle the scourge of cancer. The only thing extreme about us now is the breadth of our reach — with riders from 36 states, six countries and all walks of life. And for one weekend in August we come together as family, made powerful by our common cause. Over the past four years the PMC gift to Dana-Farber has averaged almost $33 million a year, with 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar going directly to cancer treatment and research. This year's two-day event goal is $34 million.
But this year will be different. This year I will be riding for Hannah.
Hannah is 8 years old and likes to write and draw. Last November she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Hannah's ALL is the Philadelphia variant, making it even tougher to battle. But the good news is that Hannah's little sister, Fiona, was a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. Fiona is 6 years old. Talk about brave....The current cutting edge treatments for this disease also show what a difference the sort of research that PMC supports can make. Just a few years ago the long term survival rate for children with Philadelphia+ ALL was less than 50%, even with a bone marrow transplant. With new drug therapy, it's about 80%.
I know that I'm extremely lucky to be able to ride my bike to help Hannah, our Pedal Partner (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahhughes). And to help Frank, who was just recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is being treated at Dana Farber. Frank is a 27-year PMC volunteer and the father of FOUR of my PMC teammates. And to help Bruce who, in spite of being diagnosed with a difficult lymphoma for the THIRD time, rode a double century last weekend.
I also know that I'm lucky to have people in my life like you to ask for help. So I'm asking. Please help. Donate whatever you can. Cash. Good thoughts. More cash. I'll keep asking you to give until we're done. We'll be done when there is
NO MORE CANCER.
http://www.pmc.org/egifts/EK0035
PMC ID: EK0035
Thank you so much.
Ellen
__o
_ \ <,_
( )/ ( )
PMC ID: EK0035
Why ride a bike to fight cancer? Because it helps.
If you want to stop reading, just go straight to www.pmc.org/egifts/EK0035, donate and we'll call it good. If you want the narration, here you go:
As it has for the past six years, the first weekend in August 2011 will find me pedaling my bicycle across Massachusetts to help find a cure for cancer. The Pan-Mass Challenge raises funds for treatment and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. What started back in 1980 as an event for extreme athletes is now a weekend of heart and soul for a large, diverse group committed to raising the vital funds required to battle the scourge of cancer. The only thing extreme about us now is the breadth of our reach — with riders from 36 states, six countries and all walks of life. And for one weekend in August we come together as family, made powerful by our common cause. Over the past four years the PMC gift to Dana-Farber has averaged almost $33 million a year, with 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar going directly to cancer treatment and research. This year's two-day event goal is $34 million.
But this year will be different. This year I will be riding for Hannah.
Hannah is 8 years old and likes to write and draw. Last November she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Hannah's ALL is the Philadelphia variant, making it even tougher to battle. But the good news is that Hannah's little sister, Fiona, was a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. Fiona is 6 years old. Talk about brave....The current cutting edge treatments for this disease also show what a difference the sort of research that PMC supports can make. Just a few years ago the long term survival rate for children with Philadelphia+ ALL was less than 50%, even with a bone marrow transplant. With new drug therapy, it's about 80%.
I know that I'm extremely lucky to be able to ride my bike to help Hannah, our Pedal Partner (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahhughes). And to help Frank, who was just recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is being treated at Dana Farber. Frank is a 27-year PMC volunteer and the father of FOUR of my PMC teammates. And to help Bruce who, in spite of being diagnosed with a difficult lymphoma for the THIRD time, rode a double century last weekend.
I also know that I'm lucky to have people in my life like you to ask for help. So I'm asking. Please help. Donate whatever you can. Cash. Good thoughts. More cash. I'll keep asking you to give until we're done. We'll be done when there is
NO MORE CANCER.
http://www.pmc.org/egifts/EK0035
PMC ID: EK0035
Thank you so much.
Ellen
__o
_ \ <,_
( )/ ( )
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Yet Another Adventure Looms Large
In two days I will depart for worlds unknown. No, I'm not traveling to darkest Africa, I'm going to Europe armed with only WiFi-connected devices. I, who am rarely away from some form of telephony for longer than a three-hour movie (and we don't have a lot of those anymore).
Kinda hard to determine whether cycling through the Italian and French Alps or having no phone for three weeks is more daunting.
To the extent that I DO have connectivity, I'll try to post interesting bits here.
Stay tuned......
Kinda hard to determine whether cycling through the Italian and French Alps or having no phone for three weeks is more daunting.
To the extent that I DO have connectivity, I'll try to post interesting bits here.
Stay tuned......
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