From Sean Lamoine – (Team2)
I am really missing the craziness of the ride. Can’t explain it but its like I lived a different life (all of it) in two crazy-packed weeks (best description I can come up with at the moment). Everything seems vivid (more intense) yet dull in comparison to going to Texas. I see a road and I want to follow it. I look at the peak across the lake (17km one way to the top) and I’m thinking your butt is mine next Sunday. Its like I’m jacked up on rock stars and got nothing to do with the energy. Very very wierd; gonna have to figure out how to deal with this soon or its gonna be a long winter; I think I might buy an indoor trainer and post pictures of our ride all over the walls….. Missing my team, etc. Thanks for the experience, in some weird, unexplainable way, it was more than I could have ever dreamed of
Give to Live Ride Summary – From Jody
I always seem to be the last one to say anything…it’s the way I role, need time to put my thoughts together so I can write it the way I would love to say it.
I joined up for this ride in the spring, and although it terrified me to consider riding with a bunch of people who did not know me, it excited me that I was conquering one of my own fears. I have never been a person able to get up in front of the class, or make friends very easily…I just get too nervous. Not only was the physical aspect of the ride something I dreaded to find out I was incapable of doing, but the prospect of spending a lot of time in a group of people I’d never met before scared me more than anything else. I just kept saying to myself that what ever my experience was going to be, it would be nothing compared to a doctor telling me that he’d just discovered I had cancer.
I prepared for the trip the best way I knew how…by biking as much as I could make myself bike…
And now that the trip is over, I feel a mixture of emotions.
I’m proud. Of myself, of the people I rode with, of the people I met along the way who were fighting cancer, who had fought cancer and who loved people they’d lost to cancer. All of these people were smiling…even when they were crying.
I am sad. That the trip is over. That it went by so quickly…even though on days I just wanted my own bed where I didn’t worry if I was drooling in my sleep or snoring so loudly that others couldn’t get any rest!
I miss my team. We were for a short time just like a little family. We laughed, we pushed through difficult climbs, descents, rain, wind, flat tires, sore butts, and put up with one another’s idiosyncrasies…and I have to say I more than once wanted to hug them all for their patience.
This was my team, what I can say about them….
Our Captain Andrea MacKay. Who doesn’t know it but when I talked to her online before the ride she made me feel at home instantly and she made me sooooo glad that there was another girl on the ride that was worried she’d have trouble keeping up! She was strong, and she really impressed me when things would go wrong…she didn’t blow her top or run away from the problem…she sat down and talked about it, pride aside she would humble herself to make us feel better. The problems would be put aside then and we’d all be back to normal, laughing and joking around in no time. There were times when I knew I must have been a part of the problem at hand, but Andrea would always take a situation and start the healing by saying things like “I know I could have done this better too…”
Then our Coach Todd MacDonald. I did not know for the first half of the trip that Todd was the person that actually ran the Give To Live Foundation. I thought he was an employee…so that says something about Todd right there…he’s not one to brag. Over the ride I seen someone who was passionate about the cause. The fight against cancer. Todd pushed me up hills I didn’t think I could climb. I have to say thank you for making me know now…that alls I have to do is find “my 6” and I can pedal however tedious the ride my be…ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP.
Then Yazeed Sobaih…who kindly put all worries or grumblings to rest with a soft voice of reason. I am not perfect by any means and on a bad day Yaz (a.k.a The Yaz Man, The Yazinator, and the Man With The Most Nicknames) would make me see that it was really nothing at all. Yaz kept us on the right track, driving behind us, riding with us, programming the GPS so we didn’t get lost (and it worked…most of the time!). Yaz was also the king of the one liners…he’d drop one on us from time to time and I can tell you…it was then that we usually laughed the hardest! It’s the quiet ones you have to beware of! Lol
Sean Lemoine. Who had a laugh that seemed to burst from his body like a very bright light, and who spontaneously started dancing with waving arms and hoots and hollers at pretty much any given time and any given place for that matter. A master at telling a joke. And someone who could look like he was awake behind those sunglasses when really….he was just about to start snoring. I know we all spoke to him on more than one occasion only to discover he’d fallen asleep. And one more thing about Sean…THIS MAN COULD FLY ON A BIKE. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Paul Condon-Oldreive. More quiet than Yazeed! Andrea said this once while Paul was driving “Todd, stop asking me to talk to Paul to keep him awake! It’s too hard to talk to someone who doesn’t TALK!” Paul was the man we put behind the wheel when we wanted to get somewhere fast! That man can drive! Patient and supportive. I felt I connected with Paul as he was missing his family back home too. Compared pictures of kids, and always gave the “I just called home too…” update.
And last but not least Jamie -I prefer Green but not Teale. A person with a smile as big as the Grand Canyon and as bright as a Texas sunrise. Jamie could fall asleep anywhere at anytime and then wake up and go full throttle….there is no “middle ground” for Jamie…he’s all out or fast asleep. I watched this man bike up a mountain with his shorts down….just to make us laugh. Burnt butt aside, it was funny. A people person for sure Jamie could get any one we met to give a donation, sign our flag, and shake our hands. I cannot remember who said it while we were on the road but it’s true “Jamie, you have the gift for gab.”
Then me…I think I was quiet…when I didn’t get someone in a corner and babbled their ears off….I know I was the one who will probably be remembered for falling off of her bike so much. I’m a klutz…I know it….each fall hurt my pride more than it hurt my elbows, knees, or ass. I was just thankful for each day that passed that I still got invited back out on the road!
A few memories I’ll cherish from the trip:
-Andrea getting the flag signed by the bikers and dancing to Apple Bottom Girls (hope I got the name of the song right after having heard it so many times!)
- Sean dancing on the side of the highway(s) when we were finished a ride or climb.
- Todd and Sean running naked into the Ocean …and then right back out again
- Yaz sleeping with his eyes open!
- Jamie snoring in the back seat
- Paul, Jamie, or Sean behind me saying “Good job Jody…you’re doin’ it…good climb Jody”
- “HOLE!”
- The night in Port Angeles
- The boys in the back seat discussing how they THINK women work…
- Gambling with Yaz in Reno
- Jamie’s hat! (or should I say…Sugar Ray?)
- Todd sleeping in the restaurant ( I need to look at a map and figure out which towns these things happened in)
- Our great little meal at that cute restaurant when we got lost on the way to the Grand Canyon Caverns hotel
- The Red Wood Forest on the California Coastline
- Watching the guys fight the wind on the Coast…it amazed me that there were people capable of doing that
- The climb the guys did up Monitor’s Pass
- Todd running in the rain over the bridge and getting picked up by the cops
- The saying “Team Tree”
- And everyone’s smiles…If I close my eyes and picture each person, I remember their smiles…their tired smiles, their proud smiles, their excited grins…
I have many others, but I cannot keep typing…this has gone on long enough.
To sum it up, I am glad I went on the ride, I would recommend it to anyone, I might again do it someday, and I feel privileged beyond what words can say to have met all of you, my team mates, and all the others that rode with us too. The world can be a better place if we keep trying. And we can inspire others to do good, to feel good, and give hope for brighter days to those who are having a difficult time.
Cheers!
Jody
CNN iReport – Cycle for Life
This article was posted by an iReporter on CNN on October 21,2009
Pics: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-344138 (dreamfreedom)
iReport —
Cycle for Life, Celebrate Life: ‘Vancouver to Austin’ 5000 km for cure is a project of the non-profit organization, GIVETOLIVE, an organization based in Canada whose mission is to raise awareness and funds for charities that are improving the lives of those suffering from unnecessary disease and death, by inspiring people to achieve extraordinary physical and emotional accomplishments. The aim and main objective of this organization is to have a positive impact on the world and on ourselves by encouraging people to :
- Remain Healthy
- Give of themselves
- Push themselves beyond their own internally-set boundaries.
http://www.visionsphotography.com/
These pictures were taken by visionsphotography on 10/20/09 on the bycilists route through Northern Arizona. This is a highly inspirational non-profit working very hard for the common good of all human beings, globally. They deserve applause as they bike for their loved one’s.
Mexican restaurant in Austin (via postie)
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Andrea, pauly and Jen Auffrey – fueling up on some burritos before the start of the afternoon. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Team 2 Day 11 (via postie)
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Day 11 was a fast day. We had a 40k wind at our backs the whole day and we rocked out with our c?@*s out. The team averaged 30k/hour including breaks.
We started our ride in texas coming from new mexico. Despite what I have heard about texans they are great people. They honked at the riders more then any other state and always gave us as much room as they could, which is great for us because we have had a few close calls.
We started our day with a 5am wake up call so we could drive 500k, bike our 116k leg and be in by dark. Yaz-arama and I drove while the team finished the leg in record time and had finished dinner before in was dark.
We had a request when the trip started by jody to hit the ufo museum in roswell. We all agreed, jody included, that it was a poor display but now it is off our bucket list.
When we were in big spring there was a bit of confusion on where our hotel was and when we were in the parking lot figuring out where to go and guy came over to us and was so excited that we riding for cancer and when we told him we came from vancouver he was very grateful and gave us a donation, another plus for texas.
We started to reminisce about our trip and we all are having mixed emotions that it will be over tomorrow. It has been a great journey and we are all proud to be apart of team 2 aka the colbert 7. We are all going to write a note after we are done day 12. Which will include a 10k ride into austin with all of givetolive. We are going to have a police escort and jody said it will be the first time she will be chasing a cop instead of being chased by one.
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For Whom We Ride (via postie)
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Day 11…. Only one more day!
Today our team is riding for Jeffrey. Jeffrey was Sean’s cousin who passed away 7 years ago after a long brave battle with Cancer. He was only thirteen. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Team 2 Blog Day 10 (via postie)
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Day 10 had us starting on the first leg so our team was leaving from the hotel!
We had a long leg and a 6 hour drive to get to the hotel when we were done!!!
We decided to send the boys out(todd, jamie, sean and paul) to get the easy part done(mountain climb) and out of the way. At the top the rest of us got on the bikes to finish the last 70K. It was another great day with us all out there and Yazeed leading the way!!
We headed to Socorro New Mexico for the night and stopped and had supper at a great little restaurant and had more people sign our flag. We are starting to think about what it will be like when we get home. What we will miss about the ride and the 6 other people on our team!
Stay tuned for some top ten lists!! We know one thing for sure… Our van stinks like a mens locker room!
One more sleep till Austin!! Woot Woot Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Team 2 Blog Day 9 (via postie)
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On Day Nine we got up as a group had some breakfast and hit the road!
We booked it to the Grand Canyon! Spent a whole 15 minutes at Mathers Point. Took a few pictures while Jody ran around looking for the washroom!!
Our team had a short distance to ride again and thought score!! We can sight see and then get our leg done quickly!! Ha! Climbing switch back mountains and then having to go down them the other side is crazy!! Believe it or not it is easier to climb up the mountains than go down them… Even Andrea agrees!!
Once we figured out short distance didn’t mean rest day we stopped at a small store and bought supplies! Supplies being food!! Jody made us the most amazing sandwiches!! She truly is perfect.. Makes food AND loves laundry!! 
We all bought what we thought would be 20 or 30 dollars worth of food but only ended up spending a couple bucks each. Come to find out the Guy who rang us in has Cancer and was very grateful for what we are doing! It still amazes us how many honks we get each day because we wrote.. Honk..cycling 4 cancer! At first we didn’t know Yazeed wrote that on the van… We just thought people were being jerks!!
With the Grand Canyon in the rear view mirror we headed out for our leg! Passed a few Subways and Bank of America’s! Won’t look at either the same when we get home. All while teaching Yazeed there is more music out there than bands with dollar signs and Lil in their name… Even introduced him to a little known band from the 60′s.. The Beatles!!!!
Yazeed has been very kind to us older folk and taught us lots!! Never knew Jamie was a BAMF!!!
We reached the start of our leg and shocking… Not a rest room in sight! We have peed and changed so many times on the side of the road that Andrea figures when she gets home she may continue the practice. Much easier than finding a rest room all the time!!
Off we go up the mountain!! We climbed and climbed! Wasn’t as bad as the day the boys reached 8000 feet but it sure was fun!! On the way up we met a reporter from CNN who took photos and a few video clips of us… Take a look and see if you find us on cnn.com iReporter!!!
We then had a 20K adventure to the bottom!! With the small town of Jerome in front of us and the Grand Canyon off to the right down we went… Our brakes were smoking and our fingers sore but we made it down!! It was a fantastic day and a great time to be on the bike!! We had wanted to do a night ride so the last hour of our day we had the stars above and the cars flying by on the left!!
Perfect end to a great day!! We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Camp Verde Arizona and let me tell you it was like staying at the Ritz…..on to Day 10.
Thanks for all the support everyone! Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
