Saturday, May 28, 2016

5 Down, 5 to Go


5th Century - The Capital Area Greenway Century May 23rd


Greetings friends & family, I’m overdue for an update on my quest to complete 10 Centuries.  5 down, 5 to go!!!  Since my first ride at the “After the Bridge Run Ride” in Charleston SC, I’ve completed 5 100-mile rides in a space of 7 weeks, one every other weekend.  I’ve had to make one adjustment to my schedule – I did not ride in the 2nd day of the Tour de Cure on May 17th, as I had to attend the funeral of a friend that day – so I created a “Capital Area Greenway Century” and rode 106 miles last Sunday (May 24th) to make up for the miss on May 17th.

The riding has been pretty good, and I’ve only had to deal with one thunderstorm, three weeks ago during the Raven Rock Ramble.  I’ve avoided any significant injuries, and I have to say that as I have completed more rides, they have become a little easier, though I always seem to struggle through the final 10-15 miles.
           
Fund raising is going well and I am VERY thankful for all of you who have made a donation to the cause of curing blood cancers!  A great deal of progress has been made in the development of treatments, but it is still the case that one-third of patients diagnosed with a blood cancer do not live beyond 5 years.

There are two people close to me currently fighting – my Dad’s very close friend Walt, battling multiple myeloma, just received a transplant of his own stem cells, and a good friend of mine has a son named Brandon who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia several months ago – he is being treated with the drug Gleevec, a miracle drug that was developed in part with funding from LLS.

Next Sunday, June 5, I’ll ride in the Fletcher Flyer out in the Asheville area., which will be my 6th ride.

Ride #7 will be the Velo4Yellow ride on July 16th, out of Wake Forest.


As you can see, I am working very hard for a cure!  Please consider making a donation, every dollar goes to help saving lives!!  Thank you again for your support!!DONATE BUTTON :-)

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Ready to Ride.....

Hey Y'all, Happy Easter!

One week from today I will participate in my first Century ride.  The "After the Bridge Run Ride" will be Sunday April 3rd near Charleston, SC.  I'm heading down there on my own on the 2nd and staying in a local Econo-Lodge.  According to my "Map my Ride" app, I have ridden 540 miles this year in preparation for this 1st Century.  This kicks off a rapid series of century rides pretty much every 2 weeks until the Fletcher Flyer in early June, which will be my 6th, out of my goal of 10.

I rode 80 miles yesterday and was able to finish relatively strong, so I am confident that I am ready for next week.  I didn't get as much training in as I intended, thanks to two colds over the last month plus a nagging back issue.

Thanks for your interest and support.  I'm doing this of course to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  You can make a donation to the cause at this link:

Dan's Fundraising Page

Saturday, January 23, 2016

"I Will Ride 500 Miles, and I Will Ride 500 More"

            Greetings and a Happy New Year to everyone!  (The title of the blog post comes from a song by The Proclaimers.)  Where to begin?  It's been a long time since my last post, but in the interest of brevity, I will stick to the main points and current news.  First, I celebrated my 4th 2nd birthday on Dec 21, meaning the 4th anniversary of my transplant.  My health was excellent in 2015 - I don't recall being sick during the entire year.
           
Caught this Musky on a fly rod in Wisconsin, October 2015 
            After the Christmas holidays, just last week, I was in Houston for my 4 year checkup, and the news was again very good - clear CT scan and normal bone marrow biopsy.  I'm told that the longer I stay in complete remission, the lower the probability of relapse.  Dr. Hosing actually told me that from her viewpoint, I did not need get annual bone marrow biopsies or CT scans anymore, unless something in my blood counts changes or I develop other symptoms.  Which means, among other things, that I may not be going back to Houston for a while, maybe never.  I tracked Dr. Keating down at his office that evening around 5:30 to thank him in person again and to say so long for now.  It was a huge milestone in my cancer story.  Most websites still say there is no cure for CLL, but a successful bone marrow transplant definitely walks and quacks like a cure!  I'm inexpressibly grateful to the Lord, my doctors, my family, my friends.
On the Missouri River with Dad, October 2015

              I have been spared, but in 2015 cancer continued to devastate.  I lost several acquaintances last year to various forms of cancer.  One colleague at IBM was diagnosed in June with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and died within 5 months.  One of my best friends had a close colleague taken in November.  St. Jude's hospital in Memphis continues to be filled with young cancer patients.  So I will continue to put my recovery to good use by completing endurance events and raising money for the fight against leukemia and lymphoma.  Last year I executed the "Triple Play", the half-marathon, double century ride, and hike in Yosemite, and raised over $30,000.  I spent time during the holidays thinking about what I might do in 2016, and what came to me is to commit to completing 10 century rides, for a one thousand mile odyssey.   Why?  Well, I like to push the boundaries of what cancer survivors can do, and I want to inspire others - to ride, to walk, to run, to give.
           
             So 2016 will be all about cycling.  I have already ridden 4 times since mid-December, 2 rides of 25 miles and more recently 2 rides of 50 miles.  I will keep track of my training miles too, as I suspect that I will log another thousand miles or more in training.  I have scheduled 8 rides so far:

April 3 -       "After the Bridge Run Ride"       Charleston SC
April 14 -     "Tarwheel Century Ride"            Elizabeth City, NC
May 1 -        "Raven Rock Ramble"                 Raleigh, NC
May 14 -      "Tour de Cure" Day 1                 Raleigh to Sanford, NC
May 15 -      "Tour de Cure"  Day 2                 Sanford to Raleigh, NC
June 5 -        "Fletcher Flyer"                            Fletcher, NC (near Asheville)
July 16 -       "Velo 4"                                       Wake Forest NC
October 2 -   "Bike MS Ride"                           New York City

There are two more rides that I need to schedule in the 2nd half of the year, and I will as soon as the various rides have dates selected and I can finalize the calendar.  I am very excited about this challenge, as it will sustain my focus and interest for the better part of the year - I am glad that you will be with me along the way!  Warm wishes for 2016!