Friday, February 27, 2009

ONE WEEK and counting

Oh my - can you (or I) believe this? In one week I'll be riding. Hard to believe as I sit here at my desk in Asheville. I just finished making some gift bags for a party tomorrow and, a bit earlier, did a display at a new event planning center here. Tonight I go to dinner with my bee keeping friends. The countdown is on, in a big way.

I've started packing. Still have a couple things to get (neoprene booties for me, cat and dog food for the cat and dog). Tomorrow is a work day. Sunday, I hope, is a day with my girlfriend and our dogs and not too many other responsibilities.

My hair, as you see, is SHORT! Two months with no haircut and this is what I now have. It's very fun to play with and I might just keep it nice and short. Who's to say?

Zoom zoom zoom.

Me and my new Jersey!!!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

The link to Google Maps!

Here is the link to the Google Map!!

Monday, February 16, 2009

One step closer

February 17, 2009

Yup. little by little it comes closer and closer and...

Yesterday Howard blessed my bike at Jubilee! (The name of Jubilee! includes the exclamation point, by the way.) Twice, actually. At the early service, he gathered everyone around and said such lovely words and sprinkled my bike and me with water and it was grand and soft too and then quiet and loud and I was dizzy even though it was not a surprise. And then he did it again at the second service and I tried hard to look at all the people there but got dizzy with it all again and really have no idea whose faces, whose eyes I looked into. It doesn't matter. I was there, they were there, and I feel safer.

Then today, a very chilly day, I decided to not ride outside but to take my bike to the Liberty Bikes and Matt took it to pack it up. I bought some new tires - kevlar ones! and a bike bag and a couple of extra spokes and such. Tomorrow I'll go get it and Heather and I will take it to the packing store where we'll send it on its way.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

One step closer.

One step closer.

Also, as of yesterday, I am pretty sure I've gathered over $30,000.00 in fundraising. This is getting to be (it already IS) a significant number. The ovarian cancer national alliance will get a good sized check from us all when this is done.

Did I mention they asked me to be the keynote speaker at their national conference this summer?

And in the meantime, a friend just got diagnosed with breast cancer, another with lymphoma, another with ovarian cancer. There's too much of this. I hope my efforts will make a difference. This is just too much.

Friday, February 13, 2009

The ROUTE!!

So here is the daily schedule. If you live near one of these places do let me know. I'd love to see you!

I'll be posting information about the kickoff reception and the actual ride start in a little while.

In the meantime:

Day Date Location Miles
1 5-Mar San Diego, CA 0
2 6-Mar Alpine, CA 32
3 7-Mar Jacumba, CA 45
4 8-Mar Brawley, CA 67
5 9-Mar Blythe, CA 89
6 10-Mar Blythe, CA 0
7 11-Mar Salome, AZ 64
8 12-Mar Wickenburg, AZ 57
9 13-Mar Phoenix, AZ 67
10 14-Mar Apache Ject., AZ 53
11 15-Mar Globe, AZ 56
12 16-Mar Safford, AZ 83
13 17-Mar Lordsburg, NM 75
14 18-Mar Silver City, NM 47
15 19-Mar Silver City, NM 0
16 20-Mar Kingston, NM 48
17 21-Mar Las Cruces, NM 88
18 22-Mar El Paso, TX 66
19 23-Mar Fort Hancock, TX 47
20 24-Mar Van Horn, TX 74
21 25-Mar Fort Davis, TX 90
22 26-Mar Fort Davis, TX 0
23 27-Mar Marathon, TX 60
24 28-Mar Sanderson, TX 54
25 29-Mar Del Rio, TX 111
26 30-Mar Bracketville, TX 42
27 31-Mar Camp Wood, TX 49
28 1-Apr Vanderpool, TX 39
29 2-Apr Kerrville, TX 51
30 3-Apr Kerrville, TX 0
31 4-Apr Blanco, TX 64
32 5-Apr Bastrop, TX 94
33 6-Apr La Grange, TX 41
34 7-Apr Navasota, TX 69
35 8-Apr Navasota, TX 0
36 9-Apr Cleveland, TX 73
37 10-Apr Kountze, TZ 56
38 11-Apr DeRidder, LA 92
39 12-Apr Opelousas, LA 90
40 13-Apr Simmesport, LA 65
41 14-Apr St. Francisville, LA 53
42 15-Apr St. Francisville, LA 0
43 16-Apr Franklinton, LA 107
44 17-Apr Wiggins, MS 81
45 18-Apr Pascagoula, MS 67
46 19-Apr Dauphin Island, AL 42
47 20-Apr Dauphin Island, AL 0
48 21-Apr Pensacola, FL 68
49 22-Apr Crestview, FL 57
50 23-Apr Marianna, FL 90
51 24-Apr Quincy, FL 51
52 25-Apr Wakulla Springs, FL 48
53 26-Apr Wakulla Springs, FL 0
54 27-Apr Perry, FL 54
55 28-Apr Alachua, FL 83
56 29-Apr Palatka, FL 71
57 30-Apr St. Augustine, FL 47
58 1-May Tour Ends

Friday, February 6, 2009

Sara Moulton

Whewf!

I went to Washington, DC earlier this week and got to speak to an audience of 300 folks about the big bike ride. The event was a fundraiser for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and all the food was provided by my colleagues at Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. Fu-UN!

I had 2 minutes on the program - just enough to give the cliff notes version of my project. I got to set up my bike in a corner of the ballroom, though, and was able to talk to a whole BUNCH of people as they waited in line for some hors d'oeuvres that were being cooked. (That took the edge off, since I then had many familiar faces to see when I looked out over the audience.)

Before the program started, I got a few minutes with Sara Moulton. she's the food editor for Gourmet Magazine and also is on Good Morning America. AND she's the first woman to have had her own show on the Food Network.

Here's that interview:



I hope this works!!!

Thanks for listening, being part of this team, and for trusting that I can do this thing. One month from today I ride!

(Oh, if you would like to donate, THANKS! Write a check to "Jubilee," with "Laurey Bikes" in the memo line. send it to Jubilee, 46 Wall Street, Asheville, NC 28801)

By the way, Jubilee is a church and by making a donation to this ride through them, you will get a note indicating that this is a charitable donation. Once all the money is collected I will send the donation to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (mostly) and to Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (a small amount.)

Ciao,
Laurey