Day 0, Arrival in Hershey and Rider Registration
Day 1, Hershey Chocolate World to Pottstown, PA
Day 2, Pottstown, PA to Trenton, NJ
Day 3, Trenton, NJ to Highlands, NJ
Survivor Courtney Hagen
Supporter Tim Fives
2007 York Tour de Pink Riders (multiple riders)
All day today, people have been arriving at the Hilton Garden Inn in Hershey PA. The entrance to the hotel slowly filled with bikes luggage and 96 excited riders. After months of training and fundraising, the kickoff is so close everyone can taste it; when they put down the chocolate that is.
After checking in to the hotel, picking up their registration packets (which included our York Tour de Pink jerseys, and helmets and gloves from sponsor Giant) and laying out tomorrow's gear (cyclists are a very thorough group), we headed over to Hershey's Chocolate World for a wonderful dinner hosted by Hershey, topped off with a great selection of Hershey's Chocolate desserts. And quite a few of us took advantage of the the shopping to load up on chocolates to bring home to our supporters. Good thing we're riding 200+ miles in the next few days. As we head to bed for the night, an impressive thunder and rain storm rages outside, but the weather report promises that it will blow over by 6am.
Total distance: 73.3 miles
Total climb: We'll let you know tomorrow after someone downloads the stats from their bike computer.
Total # of hills: Definitely lost count
Total # of killer, "I'm going to cry" hills: 1 = 650 foot climb over two miles
Fortunately, the weatherman was right and we woke up to clearing skies. We started out the day at Hershey Chocolate World where the Hershey company presented the Young Survival Coalition with a check for $300,000. As the 96 riders lined up at the start line, Hershey employees, our family and friends lined both sides of the street and cheered us on.
Leg one had us doing 21 miles, mostly rolling hills, but with one short, steep hill that will haunt us for many rides to come. Rolling into the first rest stop was great, though some of us were reluctant to leave and head out on leg two.
Leg two's 21 miles was very challenging, especially the two mile cimb we began just after mile 30. It was a 650-foot climb over 2 miles and challenged every single rider on this year's tour. Even our champion riders were tired at the end of this day. No rest stop ever looked as good as Rest Stop #2 today.
Leg 3's 15 miles, were easier than the leg 2 miles, but still threw us enough hills to get everyone's attention. After putting in 55 miles, most riders only stopped briefly at rest stop # 3 before beginning the dash for the finish. Promises were made that the last leg was all downhill with a tailwind, which turned out to be not quite the case. The first few miles had ... wait for it ... more rolling hills! Then came the payoff, the last 10+ miles were almost completely flat and many riders really pushed it and hit some serious speed.
In closing, we would like to introduce you to one of our riders: David Brouch is the Walgreen's Sales Team Lead for the Hershey Company and lives and works in Chicago. He is riding in the York Tour de Pink in honor of his sister Cathy Kroe who passed away one year ago last week from breast cancer. Cathy was 45 years old and fought breast cancer for more than six years with an optimism that her brother says touched everyone in her life,especially her two childern, Melissa and Matthew.
David is riding because he wants to continue Cathy's fight and honor her optimism and perserverance, and he would like to help raise awareness of the fact that young women too can and do get breast cancer. David, who is a father of three, conquered the challenge of training for the Tour and fmaily time by riding his bike to work 2 to 3 times per week and hitting the road at 5 am on weekend for his long rides. Along with all his hard training, David has raised almost $8,000 for the programs and services of the Young Survival Coalition, and, through reaching out to his sister's friends and colleagues, he learned from the many, many people who donated in her honor, just how much she was admired by and had touched the people in her life. To read more about David's sister Cathy, visit David's Tour de Pink page.
Here are a fwe pictures, check back tomorrow for more.
Michele Przypyszny, YSC Chief Executive Officer, thanking the Hershey Company for their generous donation
Lining up at the start (and checking for rain!!!)
Our excellent support team at work
Putting in the miles and checking out the beautiful scenery in Lancaster County
YSC founding members Jill Frey and Lisa Frank
Total distance: 85 miles
Total climb: We'll let you know tomorrow after someone downloads the stats from their bike computer
Total # of hills: Not as many or as steep as yesterday, but still enough to get everyone's attention at 9am
Fundraising total as of today: $311,000+
Our day began with a Procolamtion by Pottstown Mayor Sharon Thomas, declaring September 29, 2007, to be York Tour de Pink Day! Mayor Thomas then gave us the official gun start and we were off on our 85-mile sprint to Trenton, NJ.
Leg 1's 21 miles, got started with ... what else? ... more rolling hills. Some were longi, some were steep, but fortunately no climbs like yesterday's monster Eagle Peak. The weather was fantastic, sunny, clear skies and slightly cool, a perfect day to ride as we powered to the first rest stop at Unami Park Reservation.
Leg 2's 21 miles gifted us with a huge dowhill where some riders hit 50+ barreling downhill. The countryside that we passed through was beautiful and the more gentle course allowed us to really enjoy it until we got to the lunch stop at Nockamixon Park.
Leg 3 was 18 miles that brought us down to the Delaware river, where the crazy riders who hadn't yet experienced enough pain, started burning up the road with some serious speed. At our third rest stop near mile 60 the river provided a scenic backdrop for more than one photo op.
Leg 4 was approximately 25+ miles. As we approached Trenton on the PA side, we marveled at the river's beauty, and were grateful for our first glimpses of the bridge that we would be walking our bikes across before completing our last 1/2 miles sprint to the hotel in Trenton, were cold beers never tasted so good.
At dinner that night, we sang Hapy Birthday to Glen from our support crew and gave out rider awards. Our top 4 breast cancer survivor fundraisers and the top 4 supporter fundraisers all received gift certificates generously donated by sponsor Giant. We also gave out awards to riders that included: best helmet hair, most helpful riders, oddest bike accessory (and there are some crazy ones out there) and the Martha Stewart award for the most put together, organized rider, our beloved, 3-time rider Ted.
Today's rider profile is Diana Di Mare, a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed at 37 years old. Diana is riding because she is an avid cyclist who is dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer in young women. Diana first became involved with the YSC when she was diagnosed last year in Feburary 2006 and finished and was still in treatment when she rode in her first Tour de Pink last year. For this, her second tour, Diana received an award for being one of the top four breast cancer survivor fundraisers. The YSC's core mission of action, advocacy and awarness is something that Diana believes in and supports by riding in the Tour de Pink, recruiting her friends to ride (she brought along four friends this year!) and by being actively involved in the Northern New Jersey affiliate. To read more about Diana, visit her Tour de Pink page.
Our youngest volunteer Charlie Terrell, checker inner extra-ordinaire
Having lunch at rest stop 2
Crossing the Delaware
Day 2 Start
Pottstown Mayor Sharon Thomas, YSC Vice President Lanita Moss, York Tour de Pink Co-chairs Lisa Frank and Matt Purdue
Getting adjusted from Dr. Mark
Total distance: 55.8 miles
Fundraising total: $314,000+
Another beautiful day for the York Tour de Pink. A send off by the mayor of Trenton and other town officials led off our day, then we all followed our police escort through town to lots of cheers from local fans. Our 100 riders gcreated quite the sea of pink!
Leg 1 was 21 miles and took us through the picturesque town of Cranbury and to our first rest stop. Leg 2 was another 21 miles of sunny skies and gentle hills that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. We were surprised that the miles passed by so quickly and even began to regret that the finishing line was fast approaching. At rest stop # 2 we had our last group lunch and said goodbye to volunteers Gayla and Grant who were heading home (after spending their first anniversary with us!).
14 very fast miles later, we arrived at the Atlantic Ocean in Sea Bright NJ and headed North to Highlands. After more than 210 miles on our bikes, the finish was very sweet. After a few victory laps around the parking lot, some of us just could not quit, we loaded our bikes onto the truck for the ride into New York City. Our fabulous moto crew and most of the support staffsaid their goodbyes and the riders boarded the busses for New York City showers and small group dinners, with strict instructions not to overdo it, as we are expected on the sidewalk at the crack of dawn to prepare for our ride to the finish line and an appearance on the Fox & Friends Morning Show on the Fox News Channel sometime between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Look for our pink peleton sprinting for the finish tomorrow morning!
The Mayor of Trenton addresses the riders before the start
All of our Breast Cancer Survivors lined up for the start
Our moto support team, who kept us safe and made it look easy
Top fundraiser Sarah Lundquist, who is a breast cancer survivor with her fellow rider and big sister Chris
