Comedy Night Fundraiser! and more Death Ride training

Ok, so I'm still not so great at keeping this blog updated......I'm already doing better than last year!

Comedy Night Fundraiser!


This Sunday, March 13, I will be hosting a comedy night fundraiser at Bunjo's Comedy Lounge in Dublin.  This year we will have a professional magician/comedian, Timothy James, as the headliner along with John DeKoven and other great comedians.  This is always a fun night - and all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Tickets are $20 at the door, or by donation to my fundraising website.  Bunjo's is at 6513 Regional St in Dublin (in The Willow Tree Restaurant).  I hope to see you there!

Training Update:

What can I say - we're training for the Death Ride!  Our distances are getting longer - we're consistently riding 50 - 60 miles, with lots of climbing.  The last few rides have had 100 feet/mile of climbing - usually an indicator of a hard, mountainous ride.  I had to miss the last team ride - I was actually there, but I had the kids with me.  Their mom had gone out of town on business so the bike ride had to play 2nd fiddle for the day.  It's a shame, because it's one of my favorite East Bay rides - doing lots of the great climbs through the Oakland hills.  However, it's a long season and missing a ride or two is not a disaster.

Fund-raising update:

My fund-raising this year got off to a very strong start.  I'm only about 1/3rd of the way through my address book and we've already raised almost $1,000 (the total on the website does not include checks I've received, and several donors also will get matching funds donated by their companies).  A great start, but not even 1/3rd of what I hope to raise.  For everyone who has already donated, a hearty thank you!  I hope the Comedy Night will put another big dent in the target, and I know everyone will continue to be as generous supporting me as I raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Please consider making a donation to support finding a cure for Leukemia & Lymphoma at my website.

JB

New Year, old resolutions

Part of the 2008 Team in Training Death Ride Team

Wow, it's been a long time since I last updated this - 18 months! Obviously, I'm not the best blogger in the world. Ok, resolution #1 - keep this thing updated at least every couple of weeks.

Resolution #2 is a familiar one - do the Death Ride with Team in Training. Yup, returning for another go at a really tough one day ride. This time around, I'll be an assistant coach. I guess the idea is that I've been through every kind of difficulty on this ride, so I should be able to help the participants through pretty much anything. More info on this ride is here: http://www.deathride.com/

Make your own Countdown Clocks

For anyone not familiar with Team in Training, they are a fund-raising arm of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money that directly benefits patients and also helps fund research. Training programs and coaching is provided to enable beginner and experienced endurance athletes get ready for their events. More information can be found here.

I'll be putting my fund raising page up shortly, and will post the link soon. If anyone is interested in riding with us or maybe doing the Tahoe Century or Seattle to Portland rides, information meeting are happening throughout January. Our season starts up in February, and the training works. In my first year, I went from not working out or riding for 15 years to being in shape for the Death Ride in 6 months. The success rate of TnT participants is phenomenal - in general, a much higher percentage of TnT participants finish events than the overall average.

There will also be hiking, marathon and triathlon teams forming up. I'll be at information meetings on 1/19 at the Orinda Community Center and 1/20 at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. Both will start at 6:30 - come out and say hello and find out more! If you can't make those, there are other meetings happening all month - check out the TnT website for more information.

On a 2008 training ride with Michelle S.

I'll be dedicating this season to a Team in Training teammate from the 2008 Death Ride team - Michelle S. Michelle completed all 5 passes in her first try and is a great teammate. However, Michelle was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and is undergoing treatment. Michelle is always positive and a true fighter - she'll provide the kind of inspiration I'll need as we train on some of the toughest hills in the Bay Area. All the best wishes to Michelle as she continues her battle.

2008 TnT Death Ride Teammates

Michelle S. is on the right

Michelle is obviously a very special person, and I'll be proud to be riding for her this year. I'd also like to remember a couple of other very special people who are no longer with us. The first is Shira, a teammate from my 2nd Team in Training season, who died of complications related to the treatment of her leukemia last year. The other is Mary Buckley, my brother Matt's deceased wife. All will be close to my heart as I train with the team this year.

Resolution #3 - some of you (if anyone is actually reading this after the long break in posts!) may remember that I was getting ready to try my first double century, in Death Valley, back in 2009. That didn't go so well, as the desert conditions got to me and I suffered from cramps in my legs and only did 145 miles. However, I did the Solvang Double last spring and really enjoyed it so I'll go back and try another one this year. I'm thinking about the Central Coast Double, based out of Paso Robles wine country (anyone remember that movie Sideways?). If that goes well, I'll do a couple of more in the fall to get my triple crown (I wanted to last year, but since I was out of work spending the money to do these rides just didn't seem so smart!).

So, for anyone who actually reads this, please consider donating at my fundraising webpage!

JB