Okay! Something UPBEAT... I want to introduce you to my friend and Teammate Grace Cassel. One year ago she was undergoing chemotherapy. Grace amazes me. I have learned that persons with cancer have to find that place, that we all have within us, to live with the cancer whichever way it will take them.
Grace is just that, full of grace. She is the "eldest" member of the team and is an inspiration to me. We just celebrated her 58th birthday. Grace has a wonderful sense of humor. More than once I have been grinding up a hill and started laughing at something she may have said earlier. I feel so blessed having met her.

Please review my post of May 9th..........

I just received this email from my friend and teammate Suzie....

In between training, have a toast of champagne for my friend.
Sue B Mumford passed away in her sleep today approximately at 1130.
Services will be Tues. Marc/Fred can you let Jamie know as i cant find his email.
Dont forget why we ride.

Hugs

Bumpster

This week our ride is dedicated to our team honoree Chris States. AND Chris will be on the ride this Saturday. Here is a note from Chris:

"Thanks for dedicating this ride to me. It is such a great honor to be recognized by this team through your commitment to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Society has touched my life through the funding of treatment research and support while facing my personal challenges with Lymphoma. So first I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for dedicating your time and money to this very personal cause.

I passed my 5 year mark this past March of being cancer free from my last joust with testicular cancer and it has been 23 years cancer free from my Lymphoma. Believe it or not these two diagnoses were completely unrelated. My fitness has been getting better and better with each subsequent year from my last treatment. Last year I rode as an honoree with the DR team in an effort to push my physical and mental limits. The tools and skills I learned from training under this amazing coaching staff enabled me to meet and far exceed my personal goals. I am currently training for the DR and the Furnace Creek 508 event coming up in October.

I also wanted to share with all of you what this specific ride (Big Basin) means to me. At the beginning of the season when I was asked which ride I would like to have dedicated in my honor, I struggled with this question for a moment. I reflected over the entire training schedule of last year and I thought of three rides that were very important to me: the Mt. Diablo repeats; the Mt. Hamilton and Sierra Rd Challenge; and the Big Basin ride. I knew I wanted it to be one of these rides because of the significance of the different challenges these rides presented. I quickly realized that the Big Basin ride was the most significant for me, as it was my personal turning point where I knew I was going to be able to accomplish the Death Ride. For those of you who rode with me last year, you know the significance of each of these rides, but Big Basin was the turning point in my confidence.

Each of us will reach this point at some stage of our training so I just wanted to wish you all a great ride on Saturday.

I would like to close by saying how honored I am by each and every one of you for dedicating this ride to me. Thank you! Chris T. States -Live to Ride & Ride To Live!"

Wow.....thank you Chris. I am in awe of cancer victims and survivors.......I don't know what else to say. LET'S RIDE!!! Yippie! I can't wait! Another sufferfest tomorrow! 110 MILES/11,000 ft of climbing! We'll see if I feel the same way Chris did after completing Saturday's Big Basin ADVENTURE. Is tomorrow going to be my turning point?

Tour of The Unknown Coast, was beautiful, challenging, a big confidence builder. Another one for the resume....Avenue of the Giants spoke to me...it was Him, He was all around me. Thank you Father for my blessings. When I was at mile 80, give or take, and standing at the bottom of "The Wall", I thought I might have met my match. But I started up and before I knew it I was at the top looking way down at the little tent at the SAG stop I started at. It was a mile or so climb at 18% grade, the most challenging hill I have done to date. The picture does not do it justice. One of those things, you'd have to be there. I wish you were!!!!

This week the team ride will be in honor of a Team in Training alumni. Her name is Sue Mumford, pictured here in November, 2007. She first participated with the TNT 2001 cycling team. Over the years she has been a mentor, and assistant coach. Sue was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and has been battling it ever since. I say "battling" because that's what it is, a battle to beat it, stay alive, and get healthy again. However, that's not going to be the case for Sue, unfortunately.
Sue married Bob Mumford in 2005, and while they were planning a family, the diagnosis came instead. She opted for full radiation and chemo with success. But the cancer reared it's ugly head again in 2006. The cancer was spreading, she not only was fighting the disease but the complications from radiation and chemo,; such as scar tissue, blood clots, weight loss, and muscle atrophy to name a few. And through it all she has kept her sense of humor.
This past week, Sue and Bob made a decision to have no further treatments and her goal is to be pain free. She is saying her goodbyes. Our team manager saw her on Tuesday. After a few laughs and many tears, Sue said to Merla, "Cancer sucks Merla. Please keep working to find a cure."

Please donate.
www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfNWhitla

Coach Mike is a great guy. He's as mild mannered as he appears in this video. The team will be heading up to Ferndale tomorrow, (Friday May 9th) to ride the "Tour of The Unknown Coast" on Saturday. It's up in Humboldt County, one of my favorite areas of the state. The tour description says..."you will have ridden one of the world's toughest 100 mile courses when you complete this great ride."
I say...BRING IT ON!! I can't wait!