I was late today to meet up with Jane from TNT, and Murphy was out in full-force: I was late, forgot my water bottles, and I forgot my flat-pack in the car...and I also forgot to strap on my 'lid, so it was just sitting on my head. And when I was riding, I dropped the chain...
Oh well--no blood, no foul, right? And I didn't have any flats, thankfully. I don't like operating without safety margins, though (i.e. my water bottles and my flat-pack).
Statistics:
Distance: 22.18mi
Saddle Time: 1h35m42s
Actual Time: 1h40m
Start Time: 2:00PM
End Time: 3:40PM
Start Outside Temp: 35°F
End Outside Temp: 41°F
Max Speed: 22.8mph
Avg Speed (saddle): 13.9mph
Avg Speed (actual): 13.3mph
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On the Fundraising Front: I want to thank my friends and family for their contributions to my fundraising. In just a month, we've raised over $900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! That's totally awesome, and mind-boggling that people actually care! Thank you everyone!
If you'd like to contribute, please donate here: http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/kentridestahoe
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I would also like to add another person to my personal Honored Teammates. Frank Segundo Rodriguez, my coworker's wife's uncle--whom I've never met--was diagnosed a few weeks ago with a form of Lymphoma. For months he'd been feeling tired and found himself sleeping a lot. He resisted going to the doctors until he'd been urged to go by one of his family, someone who normally never spoke up about those things. So he gets to the doctors and they diagnose him with Lymphoma, and start him on a very agressive chemotherapy treatment schedule, receiving the treatment once every three days. Fast forward a few weeks--he's about to have his last treatment, about to be discharged. Everything's looking good, he looks like he's going to make it. Until...
Last Sunday, he needed to go to the bathroom for a Number Two, but nothing would come out. Instead, he pushed hard and somehow, something started hurting in his bowels. Within a day, he has trouble breathing, his limbs are swollen, and he's got pneumonia. The doctors give his family a choice: they can leave him as he is, and he'll definitely die soon, or they can attempt to operate to find and fix the problem. The second option was extremely risky because he'd already been weakened so much by the chemo that he was given a 90% chance of dying on the table.
They went ahead with the operation on Monday and discovered that his large intestine had ruptured and waste matter was leaking into his abdominal cavity, spreading the cancer and causing massive infections. They managed to repair his colon and they pumped him full of antibiotics. He survived the operation, but just barely. And then his kidneys started having trouble, and his body was not taking to the dialysis machine. Things looked grim...
After a week in the I.C.U., his infections have cleared up and he's in stable condition, and even somewhat responsive to questions, able to blink a little and flex his hands.
Now the doctors want to slowly move him off of life support (i.e. removing the breathing tube to let his lungs breathe on their own), and things are looking promising. But that's the way things go with this disease, this cancer--ups and downs. Fine one day, on the brink of death the next.
And I wish to include Frank Segundo Rodriguez in my dedication for this event. A man I've never met, whose life only meets mine through my coworker and his wife.
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