Welcome to the Hershey's Tour de Pink Blog, where we will be posting daily updates and pictures from our ride. Today, October 2nd, more than 150 riders are arriving at the Hershey Lodge for registration and orientation before heading to dinner at Chocolate World, then early to bed in preparation for tomorrow's 85 miles.
Each day a different participant will be sharing their experience and giving your their personal perspective. Thank you to our first blogger for Day 0, Lisa Scicluna, a Hershey Canada Inc. employee and first-time Hershey's Tour de Pink rider. Day 1 our bloggers are Survivors Michelle and Carol from Dutchess County, NY. Day 2 is brought to us by Bob Relihan, a first-time rider, who is riding with his daughter Courtney, who is a survivor, and his son-in-law Alan. The Day 3 blogger is Grant Ross, riding for the first time after two years of volunteering. Photo credits: Volunteer Randall Wolf.
You can also find daily updates at the personal blogs of the Hershey's Tour de Pink participants:
Fatmantraining by rider Tim Fives (Tech wiz Tim will be doing live updates from the road this year!)
Stickboycircusbike by rider Will Maher
Cycling Central by volunteer Randall Wolf
Riding Tour De Pink by rider Pam Reifinger
Riding for the Dash by rider Greg Spears
Watch the video of our Monday, October 6th appearance on the Fox & Friends television show. (View in full screen mode by clicking on the icon just to the right of the red "share" button.)
Our last entry from Carol and Michelle (we sure hope they come back again next year!)
220 miles is nothing compared to the last mile in NYC (and definitely nothing compared to getting through Grand Central with our bikes and luggage--truly a proud moment!) But once again the organization was remarkable (awesome & incredible). We feared our separation as Michelle was in group 2 and Carol was in group 9. But because we are rule followers, we parted ways and went to our assigned groups. Carol's, of course, arrived at Fox News first, but she was there to cheer Michelle through. We both felt quite emotional as the balloon arch came into view. We seized upon our last opportunity to gather Hershey's chocolate, which was plentiful. We loved the warm welcome of all riders joined together again and anticipated getting ourselves on TV. We proudly displayed our survivor asses (our lovely custom shorts with "Survivor" emblazed on the back). Someone stopped by with a wide angle lens to take our picture. We hope she was someone important … maybe with the New York Times.
After waving frantically at the TV cameras, we rode on to Tavern on the Green. It was a chilly ride. We loved our brunch and enjoyed our opportunity to eat once again. Thanks to Karen O. who is going to send out e-mail addresses. We would like to keep in touch with our 2008 TdP pals. We can't wait until next year and are already brainstorming fundraising ideas.
This year's Hershey's Tour de Pink has been a little more special to me than the other two. This year I had the fortunate opportunity to ride in Honor of my wife Gayla. Gayla and I were volunteers in the previous two years. We got to spend our honeymoon on the first Tour de Pink in 2006 and celebrated our 1st anniversary on the Tour in '07. This is our 3rd Tour de Pink and we could not think of any other way or place we would rather spend our anniversary.
Gayla will be a 6-year survivor in December of this year and I wanted to honor her by riding in this year's event. This has been a great experience getting to ride. Riding is a little different than volunteering. As a rider you get to experience how difficult riding a bike can be. As times get tough going up a steep incline you just keep in your mind why you are here. All I had to think about is Gayla and I was doing this for her. For me, it is really special to ride into the lunch rest stop and get to see Gayla's face, it gave me even more motivation. I really admire all who ride. I know everyone has their own reason for participating in the event and each would have a different story to tell.
The Young Survival Coalition holds a special place in my heart, because when Gayla was diagnosed in December 2002 she turned to the YSC website. The YSC gave her so much information and she has made some long-lasting friends from the YSC. The Tour de Pink has gained us both some very special friendships that will last a lifetime. We look forward to returning each year!!
WOW! That's all I can say. WOW! And on so many levels. Personally, I rode more miles today than I have ever ridden before ... except yesterday. And, the country here has been absolutely fabulous. Lancaster County ... covered bridges ... horse drawn carriages ... Valley Forge ... the Delaware River Valley. Around every turn was something beautiful, intriguing or both.
But, the real WOW! was all of the wonderful people I have met. Everyone here has such incredible stories to tell. I am riding in the Hershey's Tour de Pink because my daughter is a survivor. That comes as quite a shock to a parent. And, for a father, what to do? I am not even sure I really understood what it all meant. I am still learning. So, when Courtney called at 11 one night asking me to ride with her, I could only say, "Yes." I have always suspected it was a bar room bet.
But, here I am, with survivors and supporters. Everyone clearly is positive and energetic. I have been so impressed. But, the real lesson for me came on a climb, and I was struggling to keep going. (Have I mentioned I am not a terribly strong rider?) Along my left came another rider; she encouraged me and paced me. And, on the shoulder of her jersey I could see the pink ribbon indicating she was a breast cancer survivor. With all she had experienced, she was able to offer me encouragement. WOW! That's what I have learned this weekend. Survivors are great!
And a second note from yesterday's bloggers Michelle and Carol:
Out of the gate, shortly after trying in vain to be in front, Carol's chain broke. She hadn't even gone a quarter of a mile. Something interesting to note: about one hundred and 40 riders showed great concern, some even stopped. But, one just kept riding, and you guessed it: it was Michelle. In keeping with this entire experience, the support was incredible. The SAG (support and gear) wagon picked up Carol and her bike and transported both to Knapp's Bike Support. They were great, put on a new chain, made a few adjustments and wished her well.
Al and Glen, the SAG drivers, forced Carol to ride to the last rider, as they underestimated her ability to catch up in a timely manner. They assured her that it was only 1/2 mile (standard deviation of 2). So, Michelle beat Carol to stop one. Carol was so concerned that Michelle might be overwhelmed with worry that she averaged 20 miles per hour in an attempt to catch up.
We were overjoyed to be reunited at rest stop 1 and head out to Stop 2. Just about when we thought the weather would improve, it got colder and drizzly. And it was a bit hillier than we expected. Our training lacked two consecutive days of long rides, and we felt it. FINALLY, we made it to Rest Stop 2. It was in a beautiful setting, right by a river, with the leaves beginning to turn and the occasional sail boat floating by. We most appreciated Dr. Lori and her Advil. And Michelle used her handy tool kit to fix her computer all by herself!!!!
We really enjoyed having a motorcycle escort for part of the next leg. He warned us of the treacherous descent ahead. We were prepared and can feather with the best of them. So we went straight down, feeling great about our Hudson Valley training. Unfortunately, the true treachery hadn't come up yet: we parted at this point. The descent had huge holes (many thanks to the crew that went out early and marked them all with paint, so we could avoid them). As Michelle came to the bottom, thinking her brakes were on fire, she saw the Medical Van with a biker inside. She was very concerned it was Carol, but, AGAIN, she chose not to stop. After all, this gave her a second opportunity to get to the next rest stop first. Fortunately, it was not Carol in the van. She was behind, having an "over the river and through the woods" experience. It was quite beautiful.
Karen O., riding for her third year in a row, assured us that the end of the ride would be great, and it was. New Hope and Yardley were beautiful. It was a perfect ending to the day. We were very excited to enter the Trenton Marriott and find a table of cheese, crackers, fruit and beer. We now look forward to dinner with totally blood shot eyes and aching legs. Maybe we'll find Dr. Mark for our neck and leg massages to get us ready for Day 3!
We (Michelle and Carol, both survivors from Dutchess County, NY) just completed our first day on the 2008 Hershey's Tour de Pink. It was absolutely an incredible experience. After a great breakfast (at 6:00 am), we got our belongings together and headed over to Hershey World. We managed to get an interview with two local stations prior to the opening ceremony. We were very excited to be the first to line up right in front and center. We are proud to say that we may be in every picture that was taken. We are normally camera phobic, but, somehow, today we wanted to be center stage to catch the moment that represented truly moving on, life after cancer. We were both nervous, but once we started we knew we could do it, and the SAG wagon wouldn't be scraping us off of the road.
Carol somehow managed to be in front riding out of Hershey. She relished the moment knowing that she could later brag that she was ahead of an olympic medalist and a Tour de France competitor, not to mention those highly competitive Hershey employees (minus Mark from San Diego). We were so inspired by the generosity and compassion of the people who came out to support the cause, both the riders and the volunteers. We were equally humbled by the tremendous time, energy and effort that had to go into every little detail and how smoothly everything went.
The ride was beautiful and relaxing, at least for the first 60 miles. We luckily trained in the Hudson Valley and felt confident with the "rolling hills." Our hills at home don't seem to roll, they just go up, steep, for miles. We enjoyed meeting the other riders along the way, especially the first thirty miles. The middle stretch, the riders were very spread out and we went miles without seeing another rider. It was so peaceful. And the course was so well marked, we knew that even we would not end up in another state. The rest stops were incredible with the volunteers enthusiastically cheering for everyone. Karen, Mitchell's wife, is probably more exhausted than any rider. She cheered her heart out, so positive and upbeat, with great energy at rest stop 4, just when we needed that push for the last 15 miles (so they told us, but we think it was more like 25). The most difficult part was the last five miles. We don't recall these hills rolling anymore.
A BIG thank you to the route planners. The sights were incredible. We saw an eagle. We enjoyed riding through the Mennonite community, watching the kids on the playground and seeing them work the fields with the horses. We will mention that the Mennonites use the smelliest fertilizer ever, but the flowers are incredible. So we guess it works. We loved seeing the plentiful farm stands and finding out where Bell and Evans Chickens live. We have many farms in the Hudson Valley, but we don't have the vast open space that we rode through.
Finally, not only were the rest stop volunteers great, but the motorcycle crew was awesome. In fact, we would like just one of them to come home for our continued training. They were critical for our safety, our guardian angels. Coming back after our ride, sore and tired, barely able to carry our bags to our room (where were the bellhops?) Dr. Mark gave us incredible massages. Dr. Mark was blessed with great hands and a kind spirit. We were pleased to meet Dr. Lori and personally thank her for treating us to dinner.
Oh yes, as we pulled up to the Sheraton, just moments apart and we won't say who was first, okay, it was twenty minutes apart and the older survivor was first, the Oakley sunglasses guy greeted us and took our picture in our incredible and awesome sunglasses, which of course are more incredible and awesome because they were a gift from Oakley. Yes, we are learning that being survivors has advantages. But we'll list those on another day if you would like us to.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share our Day One experience. Off to bed to rest up for Day Two.
When the alarm went off at 6:00 am this morning and the sun had not even begun to rise, it took us a while to get our bearings straight. We soon realized it was the beginning of an amazing journey. This was not a regular day for my Canadian Hershey teammates and our families. Today was our chance to start our venture to help make a difference. Two vans full of Canadians left the Toronto area on the first leg of our journey to Hershey, PA. The scenic trek through NY and into PA truly defined the rolling hills we read about on the pre-ride notes. A true challenge!
This challenge, however, is nothing like what the survivors and young women we ride for tomorrow face. Hershey Canada is here, and we are thrilled and honored to be part of this great event.
Thanks for having us and we are looking forward to meeting new friends and creating great memories. The organization thus far has been great, and the memories have started.
