Challenges

It was a weekend of challenges. The lambs of April gave way to the lions we hoped we had left behind. Saturday dawned grey and foreboding with the sound of a turbine roaring outside my window. It was a howling west wind gusting to near gale force. My step brother, ever the, ahem, optimist, acted surprised when I chased him from his usual dawdling in the bathroom so I could get ready. “It’s a hurricane out there! You won’t be able to walk much less ride!”

I had been looking forward to this ride. I was leading the team on a 50 mile route through the hills of northeast Monmouth County. These are not the looming massifs of the eastern Sierra. They aren’t even the scale of those we rode last week in Pennsylvania. They are simply a ridge of rolling hills reaching two to three hundred feet from the coastal plain. I had planned a route that would take us up every possible ascent there was, a total of 2200 feet according to the elevation chart on Bikely.com. With the team coming to my turf I had decided I would ride to our jump off point. It didn’t take long to feel the effect of the wind. As I leaned into my first turn it pushed my bike upright and I struggled to avoid the curb. I had expected to ride the 5 or so miles in about 20 minutes. I was only a little late but I knew we were in for a workout. The wind can turn a 200 foot rise into a mountain and with the first half of our planned ride heading into the teeth of today’s zephyrs the highlands took on the appearance of the High Sierra in my mind.

As if the wind wasn’t enough for me I had to stir up another challenge last week. It began when I was forwarded a link by our TNT coordinator, Jessica. Our team’s territory is centered in an area served by Philadelphia media. I live on the northern edge, so I get mine from New York. Having grown up on Staten Island I consider myself a New Yorker. I cheer for the Giants, the Rangers and the Amazin’ Mets! While I do not relegate the Eagles to the same hated status of the Cowboys and the Skins, I none the less have little brotherly love for our rivals based across the Delaware. The link took me to Fox Philadelphia's Good Day homepage. The anchor, John Anderson was hosting a young man who had recovered from childhood leukemia. John talked about his own challenge to raise money for Team In Training as part of the Eastern Pennsylvania cycling team. I clicked a link to his bio and discovered that he has been working to help the Leukemia Lymphoma Society for many years. This will be his SIXTH Tahoe ride. Awesome! Fantastic! Having a bully pulpit on a major morning news show, this man has to have a huge amount in his fundraising account. OK, I have to add that I maybe jaded, having been fortunate to have raised an incredible amount of donations in a short time. As I have stated before my colleagues are one of the most generous groups of people you can imagine. When I looked at John’s total I was surprised to find it was less than recommitment levels. The seeds of a challenge had already been fermenting. Here was a chance to help John, help my teammates and most of all help the Society.

I sent an email via LLS and TNT channels and challenged John to catch up to me and to a friendly ‘race' during our ride. I pointed out that I am probably older, a novice at this ride, and a leukemia survivor. I didn’t hear anything right away but Friday I got another link and there in his blog was his response. While it was not an outright acceptance it was not rejection either. We did agree to a inter-city bet of a New York Pastrami on Rye versus a Philly Cheesesteak. How far beyond some words and a small snack for two hungry cyclists the challenge will develop remains to be seen. My ever enthusiastic coach (Frank, the Marquis de Sade) suggested a “Spin – Off” at some visible location to help raise funds and awareness. (Thanks Frank, you just love to see me suffer!) Whatever it is I am up for it. This is not about John or me. It’s not about food or mountains. This is about raising money to continue the battle to cure blood cancers. It is about saving lives and helping others.

We all face our challenges differently and we all have our own motivations, even when facing common goals. I look forward to a friendly competition with John as together we work toward our common goal!

You can follow John’s Fit To Ride blogs here: http://www.myfoxphilly.com/subindex/good_day_philadelphia/fit_to_ride

The challenge blog is here: http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_New-York-vs-Philly/BLOG/228166/80539.html?as=80539