I took a rest day today to catch up on some things around the house.  Yesterday was the Philadelphia LiveStrong Challenge, which I rode in as a member of Team Fat Cyclist-Fighting for Susan.  I’ve written before about Elden Nelson (AKA “Fatty” pictured above with yours truly) and his efforts to organize teams in all four LiveStrong cities.  Fatty’s wife Susan, who succumbed to breast cancer just a few weeks ago, was in the minds of many yesterday, from the 200+ members of Team Fatty, to the 6000 participants. Together Team Fatty raised over $275,000 dollars and the event yesterday raised about $3 million for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  I found Elden quiet, unassuming and extremely gracious.   Fatty and some other team members passed me on the road and yelled words of encouragement, as did we all as we passed a team member.

Now understand, Fatty has become more than a bit of a celebrity in the cycling/blogging world.  FatCyclist.com has won the equivalent of the Emmy for web blogs and in the LiveStrong community, he’s a person who found a way to give back HUGE!  The four Fatty teams have so far raised over $625,000 dollars for the LAF, so his attendance at the Philly event was a big deal for the general population.  But I’m sure a meeting or event-filled couple of days for him.  Yet with all he went through, Once Elden crossed the finish line, he waited hours for each and every member of Team Fatty to finish.  The sense of appreciation the Elden showed to every person I saw him come in contact with was heartwarming.  We shook hands for about 3 seconds at 6am, and posed for a picture after I finished my 75 miles.  We maybe said a dozen or so words to each other, but so genuine was his manner, that I felt like we were life-long friends.

Mary Jo and I spent Saturday night at her cousin Stephen’s with his wife Maria and daughter Sarah Rose.  They were incredible hosts.  We had a pasta dinner featuring vegetables right from their garden (YUM!!!), and were there Sunday with Maria, as I crossed the finish line.  After we went back to their house so I could shower, I chow’d on leftovers that tasted even better than they did Saturday, which is saying a lot.  Thanks guys, for being so supportive.  You made me feel like I had my own little entourage.

Now on to my ride.  Make no mistake, this one was HARD for me!  I was disappointed when I reviewed my average speed, but the hills on this ride were tough (at least for me).  The last time I did this event, I gave up about 20 miles in, got lost going back and did about 40 miles.  This year, I completed the 70 mile loop (the extra five miles came from the Team Fatty rollout from the hotel to the starting line) which was a major accomplishment and a ride with a much higher degree of difficulty than the American Cancer Society ride I participated in last July.  The ride started off relatively cool, but the weather heated up and was very hot by around noon.

The start line was a cool moment for us all.  As the top fundraising team we were at the “tete de la course” to lead out all the other riders along with some celebrities, including Eddie George (former pro football player) and Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong’s coach).  The ride was unbelievably well-supported and though very challenging, was extremely satisfying to complete.  I’m in for next year, and hope to finish the century (100 mile) loop.

Check out my “Meet the Clan Page for photos taken by cousin Maria (Thanks again!!)