We're only gone a short time-- enough time for the littles and middles to feel like it's a "vacation," and enough time for the eldest to re-absorb some good quality closeness with the fam!!
And... enough time for me to accumulate oodles of laundry that will be forever sitting in the laundry room.... This weekend has been long in the making and I am looking forward to every part of it. Seriously. If I can ride 105 miles, I can handle a laundry room filled with laundry!
The fundraising for the ride was easy. By that, I mean that I am truly shocked at the outpouring of support via emails, letters, donations and just locals while chatting. It's incredible. I am not one for soliciting donations, actually, I really am not fond of the door to door or the people outside the grocery store. Sending out the initial email to friends and family was difficult, but it was easier than I expected only because the day I sent the letter was the date Betsey was diagnosed years before. And the 2nd letter went out as a 'Thank You' a month prior to the ride, with significance made to the time.
And even more money came in after that email!!
Charlotte, our JDRF Ride Coordinator, sent an email today wishing us luck. In it she mentioned the amount of money our team of riders raised. I think we are 16 total.
"As a group, you have raised $53,622.32 for JDRF. To give you some perspective, that amount is more than 5 times the amount we raised in total at our Golf Tournament that had over 80 golfers and sponsors!"
And that does not include a big check for $300 I received from my friend/spin instructor/chiropractor today!!! It brings my personal total to over $4000!!!!
I can not say "Thank You" enough, nor does a simple "thank you" truly convey the feelings I have about the support and the encouragement I have received. I have been blessed to be surrounded with amazing people in my life, ones that respect this decision to ride for Betsey, and that are willing to "accompany" me along the way, in spirit, in their hearts. For Betsey. For one of my children.
Is there a word to show my appreciation? I have to think long and hard about it.... Nothing seems appropriate or "good" enough.... somehow, in the coming days, I will put it into words.
The training for the ride was the best. Easier than the fundraising, and the fundraising was easy! Getting up on a regular basis at the crack of dawn to meet whomever.... different men and women daily, sometimes the same people for days at a time. Different activities. Different locations. Different distances for each event, be it biking, swimming or running -- there is no better way to start the day, in my opinion!! And what an incredible bunch of athletes I am fortunate to be in the company of. From each of them I take something; whether it is the drive, their charisma, energy, positive reinforcement, courage... the list goes on and on. I learn from them, grow with them and admire them all.
I am taking tomorrow and Friday morning off. We are VT bound tomorrow and will be prepping for the big event in the coming days.
I've been eating. A lot. The whole carb load thing, I take it to a different level. It's wrong, really. At the grocery store on Saturday, I bought a double layer chocolate cake with those cheesey chocolate puffy sugary flowers set off on the side - cheesy. But YUMMY. I ate 2/3 of it that day, over the course of 5 hours... nibble here, slice there, slide my finger across the frosting as I walked past it because the lid never stayed on tightly, damn thing. And then the next day, I ate half of what was left leaving Speedo a "piece" because if I didn't, and I had eaten the whole thing, I never would have heard the end of it..... when I started to complain my skirts didn't fit anymore!!
I am carb loaded up. I am going to float in the pool at the hotel. F-L-O-A-T!
The ride begins at 7am EST on Saturday. It's going to be challenging for sure and the last 10 miles are up hill. Of course they are. I expect to ride for the better part of 6-8 hours. It depends on the pace our group sets and I'd like to stay with them. I'd love if we all finished together.
I see the forcast calls for rain on Saturday. The irony of that is, rainy days are Betsey's favorite. I'd prefer it not rain the whole time... but a drizzle here and there and a few splashes once in a while are alright. Just not buckets. Until after 4pm.
And we're off......
No comments:
Post a Comment