We Are the Champions, My Friends!

So we should have had some music by Queen playing when we got back from the ride today but in all the other preparations for today’s Victory Ride, the boom box was the last thing we were thinking about.

Today was the day for the First Annual Connor’s Army Victory Ride! After a year of planning, commuting, logging miles and generally driving my poor wife crazy, it came down to today finally being the culmination of all of our hard work. But what is it that Robert Burns said, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft gang agley?” Well, we’ve been watching the weather for about two months (courtesy of Farmer’s Almanac first, then National Weather Service) and up until about two days ago the weather forecast was that yesterday it would be rainy but today would be clear. Well, the weather itself apparently didn’t read the reports because today the dawn came up overcast and the report was for light rain beginning about 10:00 (the start time for our ride) and ending about 1:00 (a little after our estimated end time) with the temperature hovering around 32 degrees.

Due in part I think to the weather forecast and the distance we ended up with 22 people registered for the ride out of the 100 we had originally hoped to attract. We even had two people show up and register on the spot but I think they elected to wait later in the day and do their own 25 mile circuit. Anyway, we still had eight intrepid souls willing to brave the elements – myself, Chuck Gleason, Steve Jimenez, Charles Elioseff, Paul Orzel, Michael Roux, Robert Litzke, and Efrim Sherman. All in all, a stout showing considering it was drizzling as we started out. We were a mixed batch of riders ranging from an A+ rider down to a C+ rider. We just basically stayed together and had a great time riding in the rain. As we started out the temperature wasn’t too bad and I found myself laughing a lot just from the sheer joy of riding and the reason we were doing this.

As we got to Stillwell to start the last two miles to the turnaround point we were deluged by a monsoon rain that caused visibility to go down to about 20 feet – it was rough. And of course, to my own chagrin, it was about 60 seconds after I had just said that it looked like it wasn’t going to rain too badly today. So, between the rain and the fact that the pace had been relatively slow, Chuck and I mashed the gears going up Stillwell. I looked down at one point and saw that I was going 17mph up my daily nemesis! Amazing what a little (okay a lot) cold rain will do for your motivation.

At Syosset High School we had coffee, hot chocolate and donuts courtesy of Howard Feinstein (the parent of one of my students and the owner of a few Dunkin’ Donuts franchises) which was welcome considering the wet deluge we had just endured. We couldn’t stay long, however so we fueled up and headed back – just in time for it to start sleeting! At that point I was warned not to say another word about weather!

The ride back was a little higher paced as we all wanted nothing more than to get back and get warm. I myself lost all feeling in my hands about four miles out from the finish and spent the first hour after we stopped shivering no matter how much hot coffee I drank. But I think I found myself being warmed up by two more important things; the fact that we had just raised over $13,000 for Cancer Research, and that two of my sisters and numerous friends who were all cancer survivors were there to welcome us back. These were some of the same faces that had been motivating me to ride for over a year and as all of our friends and family welcomed us back the feeling that we did something that mattered washed over us.

After my teeth stopped chattering so much, I tried to give a speech to thank everyone for coming, for supporting Connor’s Army over the last year and most importantly to thank my wife for without her this ride would never have happened. However, my thoughts got all jumbled and I had to fight back the tears a number of times because despite having logged over 2200 miles, I felt as if I had done nothing compared to these women and men who had fought and won their battles against this damn disease! I truly feel humble when I compare myself to them – all I had to do was get on my bike, point it in the right direction and keep pedaling. What they have overcome is truly heroic.

It’s for this reason that Connor’s Army will not stop until the war on Cancer is truly won. I won’t be doing the year-long commute/logging of miles (although I’ll still keep riding my bike as much as I can because it’s now who I am), but we are going to continue the “Victory Ride” going each year, adding a longer distance next year and perhaps a kids’ event in the future (maybe in the spring) to the schedule as a way to allow local cyclists a chance to use their passion for cycling to help wage war against this awful killer. Connor’s Army Junior will continue as Sarah has decided to continue her fight and use her bicycle to raise money for various causes. And, perhaps the most important, we are going to spend the next two years gearing up for what we’re calling Connor’s Army XC – our plan to take the whole family on the road in the summer of 2010 as I cycle from San Diego, CA back to Northport, NY. We’ll need sponsors, donations and lots of logistical support but our goal is for me (and Sarah at times) to ride all the way back and raise at least $50,000 for cancer research. So if any of you out there know anyone who might be interested in helping out, tell them to log onto www.Connorsarmy.org and see how they can help with next year’s Victory Ride or with Connor’s Army XC.

Stay well and I'll (still) see you on the road!