Pelotonia - 8.28/30.2009
Story & Photos by Michele Baber

It was a cold, windy day in late January when Dr. Michael Caligiuri, Director of The Ohio State University-Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, asked me to ride my bicycle as part of a fundraiser for the hospital.  I quickly agreed to participate without asking many questions.  Dr. Caligiuri stated they were still working out the details and information would be coming in the near future. As spring approached, signs started to appear at OSU regarding a bicycle ride fundraiser, Pelotonia.  The adventure begins!  Pelotonia is a grass roots bicycle tour with one goal:  to end cancer.  That said it all, END cancer.  NetJets Inc. stepped up and donated $12.5 million to support Pelotonia's  0perations.  That meant that EVERY dollar raised would go to cancer research. 

I registered for the ride in early April.  They had several rides to choose from 25, 50, 100 or 180 miles. I signed up for the180 mile ride because it would be the most challenging for me.  I've seen firsthand what cancer patients have to deal with every day and the challenges they face. The event then explained that every rider had a minimum fundraising level.  The 25-50 mile riders would need to raise $1000, the 100 mile - $1500 and the 180 mile -$2000.  I thought this is going to be tough with the current economy.  Then, I thought about the cancer patients, just another challenge.  Okay, I can do this.  So, I proceeded to think of ideas to raise the money.  My local pub, The Crooked Nail in Ohio, has a trivia night every other Wednesday night.  I usually just attend but once or twice a year, they ask if I could fill in for the Trivia master.  In April, they asked and I said I would if I could also do a little fundraising.  I explained about Pelotonia and they agreed.  They even donated a ham for a raffle!  Along with some other donations from Spaten Brewery and friends and family, I raised over $130 that evening.   I knew the local TGI Friday's also helped people in their local fundraising activities.  Friday's will donate 20% of the check total prior to taxes to your charity.  I thought this might be less of a burden to some since they would only need to go out to eat.  In theory, it was a great idea.  It didn't quite turn out the way I anticipated since most people forgot what day to go.  Another fundraising activity was to send an email to my co-workers.  I usually try to do one cancer-related fundraiser a year so they have become a custom to my emails.  As always, they answered the call and stepped up to donate!!  Our company also matched any donations over $50 so that helped tremendously.  I was able to reach my minimum of $2000! I also posted the ride with my local bicycle club and gave a brief overview of the ride at one of our meetings. The event was held the weekend of August 28-30th.

  On Friday evening, Pelotonia held a kick-off party for the inaugural event which included cancer survivors and riders.  Seven time Tour De France champion, Lance Armstrong, was the keynote speaker.  He gave an inspirational speech to all that attended.  The event was well attended until the thunderstorm arrived.  Everyone left the party to get a good night’s sleep and hoping that the rain would end by morning. Saturday morning was overcast and humid but no rain, yea!  I arrived at the starting area at 6:30am.  We lined up according to the mileage for the day.  As I was waiting for the ride to start, I noticed that many riders had brand new bikes!!  I think the local Trek and Giant bicycle shops had a great summer.  I also decided to move toward the front of the pack to avoid any potential accidents with the new riders.  Lance said a few words of encouragement and then led the 2265 riders through the streets of Columbus and onto Athens. The ride was going extremely well.  I decided not to stop at the first rest stop and continued riding until the second stop at 30 miles.  I arrived there in less than 2 hours!  I checked my computer and my average speed was 17 mph.  Even the hills didn't seem too bad since we had a tailwind.  The next stop was only 13 miles away, I wasn't going to stop but it also served as the lunch stop and the end of the 50 mile ride.  There was quite a crowd waiting for the riders.  They were cheering and ringing their cowbells!!  I ate lunch and was on the road again.  The next stop was another 13 miles.  Again, I didn't feel like stopping but as I rolled into the rest stop area, I heard the next 15 miles were uphill, extremely uphill.  I decided to stop and filled up with Gatorade and water.  As I started the next leg, I thought this isn't too bad, and then I went around the corner.  Wow, this hill was straight up and I couldn't see the top.  Some riders were walking; others were very slow, including those little, skinny racers.  I had decided to bring my bicycle that was equipped with a triple chain ring.  My goal was slow and steady.  I cranked away, one pedal stroke at a time.  I arrived at what I thought was the top only to find out there was another pitch!  My heart rate was red-lining so I stopped for a little bit and spoke with one of the residents of the hill.  She said she wanted to thank me for riding and raising money for the cancer hospital.  Her friend was just diagnosed with cancer and would begin her treatments next week.  One more person who has been affected by cancer.  I got back on my bike and finished the climb, just another challenge. The next rest stop was at the 70 mile mark.  It was at the bottom of a hill but on our way into a nice town.  Talk at the rest stop indicated there were only 15 more miles of hills and then a final 15 miles on a bike path.  Awesome, just get through the next 15 miles and then roll into Athens on a flat bike path.  I can finish the ride at a decent time.  I continued on to the final rest stop.  I was happy to see that a bike path actually did exist and they were not kidding.  I left the final rest stop to start my final leg into Athens.  The bike path was shaded, cool and peaceful.  A nice way to finish a 100 mile day.  As I was riding, I noticed I was getting close to 100 miles on my computer.  I looked around and didn't see any signs of a town.  I passed one of the volunteers on the path and she yelled only 4 more miles until you reach Athens.  Ugh, I was ready to get off the bike at 100.  I rolled into Athens where a large crowd was waiting for the arrival of the riders.  Cowbells were ringing and the beer was flowing, I arrived, 104 miles from the first pedal stroke. The 180 miles riders stayed overnight in the dorms at Ohio University.  Of the 2265 riders, only 500 had signed up for the 180 mile route.  I checked into my dorm room and discovered that I would be sharing the room.  Boy, did this bring back memories of my first day at Purdue University.  Of course, someone had claimed the bottom bunk.  Once again, I was stuck with the modular unit in the room just like my freshman year in college.  It is three pieces of furniture they place in a normal double room to make it a triple room.  The bed sits on top of your closet and desk making the top of the bed about 10 inches from the ceiling.  The only thing I could think of was how I was going to explain my broken body to everyone.  Did you crash?  No, I fell out of my bunk bed!  I decided to take a shower and go to dinner.  They had a ton of food for us and some nice entertainment.  I went back to my room about 8:30 pm.  I was surprised to see that the person who claimed the bottom bunk had left but a new person had moved in.  She didn't claim the bottom bunk so I grabbed it.  My fear of falling off the top bunk ended.  Now, I just needed to get to sleep with a total stranger in the room.  I'm too old for this!  I awoke at 5:30 am and started getting ready. Bob Evans catered the breakfast.  They brought their two doggie mascots, Biscuit and Gravy.  I'm not a morning person but that put a smile on my face.  This was one photo opportunity I couldn’t resist.  I finished breakfast and decided to get going instead of waiting for the mass start.  It wasn't extremely clear what the route would be on the way back until I got started down the bike path and into the first rest stop.  Unfortunately, it was what I suspected, they routed us back the way we came, hills and this time a headwind.  I knew it was going to be a long day. I decided to just take it one leg at a time.  As I came to each rest stop, I thought just 15 or so more miles until the next one.  The hilliest section was as much mental as it was physical.  Once I completed it and arrived at the 50 mile rest stop, I felt a sense of accomplishment.  The volunteers at the rest stop said only 26 more miles.  What, only 26 miles??  I thought it was 30 in order to make it 80 miles for the day.  Remember, yesterday you rode 104 miles instead of just 100.  Great, now I didn't mind riding an extra 4 miles yesterday.  Okay, back on the bike and let's finish this thing.  Although, I thought the last 26 miles would be a bit easier but with the headwind and the hills, it was difficult.  I finally crossed the finish line at 1:30 pm on Sunday.  There was a huge crowd cheering and ringing cowbells.  I finally came to a stop and a volunteer asked if I was okay.  I said yes, just a little tired.  I asked her, “Now what do we do?”  She said, “Grab your bag, eat and go home.”  I thought that was a little anti-climatic.  I just finished this really hard ride, raised a lot of money, and spent my weekend supporting this event and all I got at the end was now you can go home.  I thought it would have been nice to get a finishing medal or a t-shirt.  So, I decided to mosey over to the beer truck.  One nice thing about riding these events, free beer.  I asked the young, cute guy volunteer for a beer.  He asked if I had a good ride.  I said, “Yes, but it was probably one of the hardest rides I have done in some time.”  He then proceeded to tell me that he was a cancer survivor and wanted to thank me for riding and raising money for cancer research.  He then shook my hand and gave me a big hug.  The end of my ride was no longer anti-climatic and who cares about a finishing shirt or medal.  I went home proud to have been part of the inaugural Pelotonia. Many of the oncologists, researchers and support staff at Ohio State either rode or volunteered.  It was nice to see familiar faces on the route and at the rest stops. 

Driven by the passion of its cyclists and volunteers, and their family and friends, Pelotonia's annual cycling experience will be a place of hope, energy, and determination.  Leveraging NetJets' transformational gift, Pelotonia directs 100% of every dollar raised to research.  Please consider participating in this event next year.  We are all touched by cancer is some way.  This year's ride raised about 4.5 million dollars.  Let's end cancer!

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