Through cycling I have had the chance to meet a lot of great people, and experience things, I would never had the chance to any other way. Today was one of those special days. KC was in town to do a Tour of Hope training camp. I didn't know too much about the Tour of Hope, but when KC called and asked me to ride with the group today, how could I say no? I was really excited. Little did I know what I was in store for...
We left the Marriott Courtyard in Newark at 6:00am this morning for a 70 mile ride. Shortly after getting started the skies opened up on us. We kept driving forward. Through out the ride today I was able to talk to the tour of hope folks, who were all very nice, very fun folks. Mary explained to me what the tour of hope was really about:
The tour of hope is a team of 26 riders selected from over 1100 applicants. The team is made up of 10 cancer survivors, and 16 doctors, nurses, technicians who work closely with cancer patients. These riders will ride in teams of 6 across country from San Diego to Washington DC in 9 days. KC described it as doing 24hr races for 9 days straight. Their goal is to raise awareness of cancer, to encourage folks to learn more about the disease, and to rally for more clinical trials.
READ MORE HERE.
4 hours later we made it home, wet, tired, but smiling. Despite a dreary day, these folks could not be stopped from their mission. Good miles. I was honored to ride shotgun today.
1 comment:
Like someone said "Its not about the bike"
Very nice reports on the Tour de Hope. A good friend of mind was chosen to be on last years TdH team. I rode allot with him as he trained. His son was the poster child for the event - The bald kid Lance is holding in the brochures. I went and did the group ride in DC that happens the day they arrive from x-country. I have to say doing the ride then watching Steve and the team roll in was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. The whole team/event/ride is filled with countless insprirational stories of hope, perserverance and heart.
This year they up'd the mileage on the DC ride to 50 miles and I'm probably doing it on my SS. What d'ya think?
JB
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