Bristol to Portland

My dear Ben got up with me at 3:45 AM so that I could catch a 5:45 flight to Atlanta, and then Portland. It was HOT when I arrived, very hot, like RECORD hot! How about try 100. That was HOT. Jennifer, my friend from the Underground RR ride last year met me at the airport and she took me to pick up my bike at the shop where it had been shipped two weeks ago. It was in great shape, no bumps or bruises. We loaded up, had a nice lunch near the shop and checked into the hotel very close to the airport.

Backing up a bit. The flight was great and I had a delightful woman and her sleeping husband next to me. Karla and I talked the whole way. They were going to visit family in Portland. Thanks for making the 5 hour flight seem very short, Karla.

The scenery was spectacular from the plane. Since each seat had a movie screen, I was able to watch the location of the plane all the way out. We passed right over the Black Hills of South Dakota, where Ben and I spent some time on his sabbatical in 2005. Then there were the Tetons with snow on top as well as Yellowstone, several ski areas, and then finally the magnificent Columbia River Gorge. We flew straight down the gorge where I will be riding in four days. I definitely sat on the correct side of the plan. It was a little hazy but I could see a large mountain in the background. I do not know if it was Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Hood, or?. Karla thought it might be Adams, or one of several other possibiltities. Anyway, the very fertile farmland was lovely from the air, with irrigation circles and fields in many wonderful patterns down below us. I was also amazed at the number of wind farms on the bluffs near the river. There were literally hundreds of wind towers.





After getting settled in the hotel, checking out and outfitting my bike with my equipment that I brought on the plane, we decided that it was too hot to go ride. So we sat in the room and talked all afternoon. It was a wonderful catch-up time and I enjoyed it so much. Jennifer was one of my ride partners on the UGRR and we just hit it off well. She will be riding the Northern Tier next summer with Woman Tours. Finally, hunger got the best of us and after a few false starts we had a very nice meal at a seafood place right on the river. After that, I can definitely say that I crashed and burned. After 21 hours up, I slept well, but of course, being on Eastern Time, I woke up at 3:30 AM!!

Fundraising Update

I never thought I would be giving an update BEFORE I even started to ride, but as of yesterday, hospice has already received $5500. I am SO VERY appreciative of all those who have donated to my cause. I can't wait to start riding. Tomorrow morning I fly to Portland. ...back to packing the last minute stuff!

Thank you all so much for your donations.

Newspaper Article

Dave McGee did another great article on me for the Bristol Herald Courier. He has done the articles for all three of my rides and I really appreciate the time he spent on this.

Click here for the article

Return from Baltimore

I just got back from 6 days in Maryland (my hometown-Baltimore) with two of my four brothers and their wives, my parents, and various other family members. An awesome, obligatory crab feast closed out the week and I drove back today! It will be a very busy week, with interviews, posters, maps, and packing. My bicycle arrived safely in Portland on Friday so is ready for me to pick up next week when I arrive. It is exciting and scary to think I will be leaving in one week for my next big ride for Hospice. We will be hosting the staff at our house on Friday evening for a barbecue that will be fun.

Tomorrow is my last day of volunteering at the hospital for about 6 weeks. I definitely miss them when I am gone! Maybe they miss me, too! :-)

Packing up the Felt

It rained yesterday morning and after Graham and Morgan left, the roads were still wet so we did not ride. Ben decided to work in the garden in the afternoon and I wanted to finish signing and writing notes on the 600+ fund raising letters going out later this week. It is amazing to think that I have raised $68,000 on my past two rides. My goal is to reach $100,000 by the end of this ride. Can I do it? I hope so!! With your help, my dear readers, with your help!

So, today I decided I should take one last training ride. For some unknown reason, we have not ridden the mountain yet this year, "the mountain" being S. Holston Mountain. We always seemed to have someplace else that we wanted to ride, the weather was not good, or we were off somewhere riding. I decided this morning that I would ride and try to beat my best time for the 9+ mile climb, with 5-10% grades, and up to 13% in a few places. Ben was doing a locum tenens day at the office so I was on my own. It was a gorgeous day with temps in the low 80's and my ride was great. I did it in 57 minutes to the top and then descended into Shady Valley, TN. That was definitely a PB as my fastest previous ride time was 65 minutes. This is the same ride I did twice on the same day a week before I left on the Southern Tier! Shady Valley was gorgeous, green, and clear. I stopped to have a chocolate milk and then rode back up the mountain and had a screaming descent!

After I got home, I took the bike to Hal who packed it up all nice and snug in a box he had given me to save a few weeks ago for this purpose. He did it for free as his contribution to my fundraising! Thanks Hal at Boyd's Bicycle Shop in Bristol, TN. Tomorrow the bike will go to FedEx for the trip to Portland. Reality is setting in...I leave two weeks from tomorrow for Portland, OR. I can't wait!!

Happy Anniversary to Graham and Sherri

Graham and Sherri, my son and daughter-in-law are celebrating their 6th anniversary today. Congratulations and best wishes for many more happy years together! I love you both (and Morgan) so very much!

Morgan

Morgan has been here since Monday and we have had a great week with her. Sherri and Graham are doing such a wonderful job raising her. And talk...oh my gosh, she is just talking up a storm! "go in pool, Nana" and "walk outside in grass, Nana" are two of her standards. "eat" is also high on her list! She is just a delight to have with us. Graham is here now and will take her back to Knoxville tomorrow, sniff sniff. Then I will not see her until September when I arrive back from my fundraising ride for Hospice. What alot of changes I will see then, I am sure!!

Alice

After 16 days, Alice's body has been recovered from 230 feet deep in South Holston Lake. For the family and for us, it is a relief, although so hard. Now everyone can get on with their grief, their celebration of the life of this lovely person who passed from our midst too early, too suddenly, and too tragically. Each day I look at Ben and realize how important love is and I thank my lucky stars that he is in my life.

There are several people I know right now who have been dealt a hand which is not so great, facing terminal diseases. I appreciate every day that I have here on this earth. Tomorrow could be different. Bless all of you, my friends.

Time passing quickly

The time left until my Northwest Loop Ride (NWL) is passing quickly. I am riding as much as possible (it is raining today) and gathering the required gear (I don't need anything new!) The past few days have been quiet with a short trip to Asheville for Ben to enter some homebrews in a competition to be held next weekend. We stopped in at Laurey's, a restaurant in Asheville, to speak to Laurey herself. She rode the Southern Tier this year and I followed her blog! As an ovarian cancer survivor, she raised money for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and will speak next weekend at their annual conference in Washington, DC. You go, girl! Her blog has reflected her difficulties with reentry after the cross country ride and I could certainly sympathize. I had many of the same issues when I returned from the Southern Tier.

Next in line...Morgan (now almost 21 months) is coming to visit from Tuesday to next Sunday. Hooray! I won't see her again until the beginning of September when I return from my ride as I am going to see my family in Baltimore and then they go to the beach so I will miss them all around!

The search for Alice's body was suspended for the holiday weekend but will resume tomorrow. It has been nearly two weeks since she drowned and closure for all the family would be a welcome relief to this waiting and wondering.

Alice Bachman 1954-2009

Well, there was a memorial service for Alice today. The church was packed with friends, co-workers, family, and school friends. It was so hard. Ben's brother came all the way from Nashville for the day. This service was supposed to give closure to all the family who knows she is not coming back but it is hard knowing that she has not been found and that sooner or later, that may happen, opening old wounds and affording us new grief. I have had a much harder time than I would have expected, perhaps because she was near my age, active, happily married, doing a great job with United Way of JC. It is just not right...death at an early age.

Tonight I went on a mountain bike ride with a couple of friends, in the Holston Mountains. The lake where Alice drowned is at the bottom and I had to drive by that lake that took her. Harry, her father-in-law, who passed away of cancer on my Southern Tier ride two years ago loved the ride we did tonight. He was always joking about stopping before the last mile downhill. He stopped at that point and turned around...he didn't want to have to ride back up! I called Jane, his wife on the way home tonight. I was thinking about her, Harry, Tom, and Alice. It is so hard for all of them. We love you, Tom. This should not happen to anyone.