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Blown Away

"Reaching for the Stars", and "Daring to Dream" have always been slogans that I can get behind...My life has always been about striving to reach for something that my rational mind would not find possible....

For example, I thought that the hardest part of this journey would be to raise enough money to have an impact on MM research.  The program set a goal of $7500.00, which I thought was going to be a stretch...I would need to get 70 people to give over $100.00 each in order to make that happen.

5 days after agreeing to ride, very amazing and generous people have donated over $10,000.00 to my challenge!  I am overwhelmed by the hearts of these people.  I believe that God gives you opportunities to do things, and then, if you accept, blows you away with the results....

This challenge started out with me questioning if I could even do the ride...I was diagnosed with severe hip arthritis last year, and I worried that the the wear and tear would be too much.  That was before I realized that most of the people that would be riding with me have Multiple Myeloma!  I think a little hip pain will be doable...I was concerned about the training time I would need, since I do a lot of travel for my job...this type of ride requires a TON of time in the saddle, and I will be challenged to find that time....The third concern I had was the amount of time I would be spending away from my family.  I don't have tons of free time to start out with, and now much of it will be spent on a bike. This was all before I even considered the fact that I still haven't even found the time to buy a road bike! 

Needless to say I was a good way through talking myself out of doing this....Then I prayed about it....and waited....

I just couldn't walk away from this without trying....I had to call and find out more...

After I got of the phone with the MMRF and registered, the first call I made was to one of my best friends from high school...his mother had passed away from her battle with MM last year.  I wanted to ask for his support, and see if I could dedicate my ride to his mom...by the end of the call, he had sent a request to the MMRF to be included in the ride...Now we are taking on the challenge together.  What a great chance for me to share this experience with someone who has been so affected by the disease...That alone would be enough for me...but I know there will be a lot more that comes out of this journey.  

I just want to make sure that I take this opportunity to have a positive impact on everyone associated with this event...the riders, the contributor, the patients, and my family...You have all inspired me, so I'm hoping I can take this opportunity to do the same for you...

By the way....training today will be an hour interval ride on the spin bike.  2 weeks ago I was happy with a 30min. spin....I've got a ways to go!


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