Donald’s Daily Draft

What a ride!  I was so excited to be a part of this awesome event.  If you cycle and you want to help out a great cause you must sign up for 24 Hours of Booty!  I was invited by Brian, a good friend, to join his team, “Do It For Aaron.”  Brian lost his brother, Aaron, to brain cancer.  Brian’s family has always enjoyed cycling and formed the team to honor and remember Aaron and for all those who will face this fight.  
It’s pedaling with a great purpose… 1,200 cyclists helping to find a cure for cancer.

I was also moved to ride in honor of my mom and dad.  They were both diagnosed last year and I am so pleased to report they’re doing well now.  Team “Do It for Aaron” raised more than $12,000 and the event has raised more than $900,000.  Personally, I was able to raise $2,025.00 thanks to all of you and your wonderful donations!

Many of those donations were made in honor of loved ones lost to cancer as well as in honor of survivors.  I wore ribbons with all those names on the back of my jersey.  They were with me for the ride!

  
I pedaled 201 miles along with Brian and four others… which is great because we had a follow up corporate sponsor donating even more money for our mileage.  Of course, I can’t forget to mention our great team captain… the BEST captain out there, Karen Sain. 

Karen and Gary are Brian and Aaron’s parents and I’m so fortunate to have formed a friendship with such a great family.   Thanks so much again for all of your support and I’m already looking forward to next year!     

I’m still working on the video but here’s a slideshow of all the pictures:

Well, tonight’s the night (Friday).  I , along with TEAM AARON, will join hundreds of other cyclists pedaling for a great purpose!  It’s the 24 Hours of Booty.  So far, I have raised $1,825.00 $2,025.00 … THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!  My team is over the $11,000 dollar mark.  Click here to see my personal page. The entire effort now stands at $860,000 $874,137… the goal is 1 Million. 
Again, the 24 Hours of Booty is The Official 24 Hours Cycling Event of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and  it also benefits local cancer initiatives.  I will be riding in honor of my mom and dad who were both diagnosed last year.  I’m glad to report they’re both doing well right now.  I’m pedaling with a good friend, Brian, who lost his brother, Aaron, to brain cancer.  But, we’re also riding for the hundreds of thousands who have faced or will face the fight against cancer.  This event unites people who are passionate about cancer.  It’s about survivorship, knowledge, progress and support.  The 24 Hours of Booty experience represents hope, challenge, remembrance and celebration.  If you can pedal a bike… and you would like to get involved… you can still register for the 24 Hours of Booty event in Columbia, Maryland on September 6th and start fundraising fast!  The deadline to register is August 22d.  Check back Monday for details on our time in Charlotte.  Ride Strong!   

We all have our favorite pro cyclists and maybe because of them a favorite team.  There are great guys in the pro peloton with great personalities.  So, if you could go on a training ride with a pro cyclist… who would you pick?  I’ve always liked George Hincapie.  He’s modest, a great experienced all around rider and certainly loyal.  He’s the only cyclist to ride with eight winning Tour de France teams.  Of course, seven of those were with Lance on U.S. Postal and Discovery.  The other was in support of Alberto Contador and Discovery.  Hincapie’s home in the states is in Greenville, South Carolina.  He’s working on a real estate development there called Pla d’Adet, a 300 acre performance-training village.  You can read more about George in a recent interview with Cycling News.  So, there’s my pick.  Who’s yours?             

Call it a “Mongoose” drug test because the ”Cobra” was caught and taken down.  Apparently, Ricardo Ricco is accused of having a  form of EPO called CERA in his system.  As reported by Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett… it’s a third generation EPO apparently taken in very low dosages. 
Click here for the article on CyclingNews.com detailing Ricco’s arrest, reaction and even more interesting is an interview with a doping expert on CERA or Micera.  Apparently, it’s a drug that just became commercially available this year.

Here’s a description I found on the Roche website: Normally, when the body senses a decrease in red blood cells or a decrease in oxygen, more erythropoietin (a protein produced by the kidneys) is created. This protein stimulates the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the bone marrow which raises the red blood cell count. When this natural mechanism is hindered (as in kidney disease patients), it is necessary to stimulate the receptors to produce red blood cells with agents such as CERA, which will be the first continuous erythropoietin receptor activator, which closely mimicks the body’s natural control of red blood cell production.

Did Ricco think he could just get away with this? Did he think there would not be a test that would detect this particular kind of drug in his system?  This news comes after non-negative test results from two other cyclists… both tests showing EPO. 
I’m glad they’re being caught.  I’m glad the French national anti-doping agency (AFLD) is targeting certain riders in what are/were called random tests.  It shows the system is working but it also shows there are still CHEATERS…  CHEATERS SUCK!  
I have loved watching the Tour this year and I will continue to watch.  I will celebrate the clean cyclists and continue my support for an awesome sport!  How about you?     

The weather is great right now for July, I’ve really enjoyed watching the Tour and I was pumped up and ready to go out for a solid ride.  But to make things even better, a package arrived in the mail from a kind friend.  It held a new and very sharp Team Gerolsteiner jersey.   I, of course, had to take it on its inaugural ride.  The jersey must have had me feeling “SOPRO” because even with a 10 mph (16.09 kmh) headwind and some good hills, I had a solid ride of 31.5 miles @ 19.3 mph average (that’s 50.69 kms @ 31.06 kmh). 
Isn’t it wild how much something like a cool new jersey can motivate us?  Just imagine what you would feel like sporting the Maillot Jaune in the Tour.  Right now Cadel understands! 

I love getting out on the road early.  It was just before 7 Saturday morning when I snapped these pics.  It started off a bit foggy and then an awesome sunrise.  It was me, my bike and the road… what peace.  Two (plus) hard hours… 42 miles (67.5 km)… 19.3 mph (31.06 kmh) average.   I had taken the last week off and it felt really good to get back into the spin.  I even hit the hills pretty strong.  I think I needed the rest!

As for my 24 Hours of Booty update,  THANKS so much for your support.  I’m up to $1,575.00.  I can still raise funds now for the entire effort, I believe up until July 25th.  So, I’ll let you all know how much we contribute to the effort of reaching $1 million for the Charlotte, NC Booty event and beating cancer! 

The countdown is on!  I have until Noon today Friday (JULY 11th) to get donations before I ride the 24 Hours of Booty in Charlotte, NC on July 26th & 27th.  
If you haven’t heard of the 24 Hours of Booty before, it is “The Official 24 Hour Cycling Event of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.” 
Last year, my Mom and Dad were both diagnosed with cancer.  So, I thought what a great way to help out. 

I’m riding for my parents, other family, friends and the hundreds of thousands who have faced or will face the fight against cancer.
 I want to send out a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who have already donated and for those who gave in the last 24 hours to get me closer to my goal.  You’ve helped me get to $1,250.00… $1,550.00.  I’m now in that final stretch trying to reach my individual fundraising goal of $2,000.00.

If you are interested in learning more and you would like to help out… I would be very grateful if you visit my personal 24 Hours of Booty donation page.  You can read a brief description of my parents story and make an easy donation right there on my page by clicking on “Support Donald!”

Unfortunately, we’re hearing about this too much these days… especially many of us being so familiar with the Fat Cyclist and his wife Susan.  We must continue this fight by pedaling, pushing for more congressional support, praying and whatever other means we can.  Here’s to winning the fight and finding a cure.  Thanks so much!  Donald 
 

On Friday, I bolted after the newscast so I could make it to The Spin Cycle’s 16th Annual Firecracker 4th of July Ride.  Last year, I took part in the 100k and it turned out to be one of my best 62 mile rides.  This year, I only had time to ride the 50k because I had to head out to the mountains to meet my family for July 4th celebrations there.  So at the start, I found myself toward the front of the 1,000 or so cyclists.  I was just behind the faster pack on the 100k.  Then about 7 miles in, it was time to turn off for the 50k route.   I looked around after a few minutes and I was all alone on the 50k course.  But I was familiar with the rolling roads because it’s exactly where I do most of my training.  I pushed it and averaged 20.5 mph.  It was the first and probably only ride I will ever be the first cyclist in.  The finish was at the Hibernian Pub.  Sorry guys (especially Leslie), I didn’t have a cold pint because it was 9:30am… so I settled for a nice slice of watermelon.
It was a great ride and even better… it raises a lot of money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I talked with the owner of The Spin Cycle, Kevin Coggins, about the ride.
  Check out the video (it actually ends at 1:15 but you can listen to more patriotic music if you want):

This year’s Blood, Sweat & Gears had its ups and downs for me and I’m not talking about the mountains.  The conditions: 80 degrees, no rain (go figure) and winds 10-20 mph.  But don’t get me wrong… the UPS certainly outweighed the downs.  I’m very happy with my ride and, as always, I had a blast. 
It was the 10th Anniversary for the event and the crowd was huge. 

Here’s a shot of the people in front of us… the start line is way up by that blue tent.  And here’s a shot of the cyclists behind us… can’t see the back of the line. 

The organizers say it was the largest crowd ever.  The century was sold out at 750 entries and I believe the 50 miler had close to 500 cyclists.  Here’s a shot of me with buddies Brian and Will, they both ride for the NC State Cycling Team.  That means I saw them for the first two, maybe three miles of the ride and then they were off… too strong for me!

My time was a bit slower this year at 6 hrs 44 mins but my success came with the climbing.  Last year, I had to come to a stop or risk falling over sideways while trying to climb Snake Mountain.  This is the point where the gradient hits 20%. 

This year, I made the climb!  Notice my joy in this picture I took just after the crest:

In my effort to make the climb, I pedaled past so many people walking their bikes or weaving back and forth across the road.  The weavers were trying to make it up foot by foot while doing their best not to fall over.  One guy had stopped and was standing next to his bike with his head down on his handlebars.  He was even swaying back and forth.  I could relate to their pain but at the same time I was doing my best to focus on the road in front of me and to keep the rhythm of turning my pedals over.  Halfway up Snake, my quads started seizing up but I was NOT going to stop.  I kept pushing through.   That was about mile 65, I think.  As I descended, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then my hamstring  locked up on some rolling hills at mile 70.  I stopped, stretched, massaged and was back pedaling a few minutes later.  I could tell the Powerade being served on the course just wasn’t cutting it… not near enough electrolytes to replace what I was losing.  Fortunately, another cyclist who I deemed GREAT gave me four electrolyte pills at the 83 mile mark aid station.  I took off and a mile later my other hamstring locked up.  I stopped, stretched, massaged and was off again for the next climb… George’s Gap (8-9% average gradient).  Thankfully, that was it for the cramping.  I felt a lot better in the final 19 miles.  I even had enough to push it up to about 22mph the last mile and a half to the finish. 
Here’s to next year!