Life IS short. That feeling can be especially prevalent to those who are battling cancer. Life is short. I have been busy all my life trying to cram as much into it as I can to get the most out of it. The result has been a better quality of life, enjoying life, and having met some people who are kindred spirits. I don't know what is on the flip side of this or whats gonna come at me that I can't control. So for now I'm livin'. Like Kieth Urban's song says: You better start living right NOW!!!

That is me and my good friend Suzie. On Saturday we trained out in the Point Reyes area. The weather man said 60% chance of rain....I'm glad we didn't listen to him. It was extremely windy though. We started out from Nicasio and peddled out to the Lighthouse in Point Reyes and back; 65 miles, 4500 ft of climbing. But the hardest part of the weekend was Sunday morning when I had to get out on the bike again for my "recovery" ride. I only did a fast 10 miles, mostly flat, spinning all the way. It's always so hard to get out there after a long ride the day before, but once I'm rollin' I love it and feel good about making myself do it. But the recovery rides are going to have to be longer as the Saturday training rides get longer. I'm only riding about 150 miles a week so far, but that is going to soon change. But like my friend Suzie told me and I told my friend Rich, take it one week at a time.

Okay, Saturday 3/8 Team Ride #4......After another great nutrition clinic, we headed out for a climb up the north side of Mt. Diablo, descending the south side and then out to Livermore. We returned to the starting point at Monta Vista H.S. What a great day for a ride, good weather, awesome SAG support, and of course great company. We rode 55 miles and climbed about 4000 ft. It's Sunday evening as I write this. I did a quick "recovery" ride today before going to church. I figured if I didn't do it then I would not have done a ride today. I am a little fatigued but feel like I'm well on track with my training. Tomorrow morning is Abs Class and Yoga at the Y. Then the rest of the week I will do hill repeats to try and begin building my climbing strength. I find it's a fine balance between eating correctly, training properly and rest. But I love it.

I received a beautiful thank you card from Norma Peddle yesterday. Last year Norma's husband Bill Peddle died of cancer. Bill was one of my honorees for the Solvang Century. Once again I am honoring Bill Peddles memory as well as two of Norma's other relatives that she lost to cancer. Her brother Ronald Leger and her cousin Ann LeBlanc. Norma lost her brother when she was quite young. Ronald Leger was only 8 months old when he past away from leukemia in 1947. Then her family continued the ordeal with her little cousin Ann.

In Norma's words:

My baby brother Ronald died as a young infant of leukemia and my little cousin Ann died of the same at 4 years old. She was a guinea pig with treatment back then because they really had no cure or hope. It was very very sad. I helped my mom, help my aunt take care of her, she was exhausted. The poor little girl went through hell.

Thank you for doing what you do!!!

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Children today are benefiting from the research that is done with the funds we raise. The five-year survival rate for acute lymphocytic leukemia (the most common form of childhood leukemia) has improved from just 4% in 1960 to over 80% today.

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