We did it! The Kennet and Avon canal...but we did it our way :) Angemon was recovering from a throat infection so we delayed a day and then took the train to Kintbury. It was beautiful and a beautiful day! We walked about 20 miles to Pewsey and we saw lots of flowers, a stoat and stopped for an ice lolly before arriving at the first canalside pub that we came across. That is where our plans had to change - we couldn't find any accomodation! So I called some friends, they collected us and let is stay over night. Now I have been trying to get out to Wiltshire to visit these friends all year and we have never done it, so this was the perfect opportunity - so we stayed 2 nights :) Then we continued our journey by bus to Melksham (we couldn't get a bus to Devizes for another hour!) and then walked down to the canal and continued our journey to Bath. The weather was perfect - hot and the only times we got rained on there was a handy pub to shelter in for a half an hour and then the rain had stopped. The shoulder is on the end and I am commuting by bicycle again...although very carefully! Next up is Snowdon!

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

Please be generous - this is personal! My Mom is a breast cancer survivor and one of my very best friends is undergoing chemo right now...and I just found out this past week that one of people I have known the longest while I have been in London has also been diagnosed and is fighting. Of course there are all the other people out there with breast cancer that really need all the support they can get and Breast Cancer Care is there for them - let's get it done!

Here is my story:

What I am doing:

This year I am cycling and running to build my strength to so that I can send it to the people that need it. I have sent my strength to my Mom when she was struggling with her health issues, her heart and the breast cancer, to my Uncle, when he was struggling with the death of his partner, and now to my friend MAL, as she goes through chemo for her breast cancer. It is what I do when I feel like I can do nothing else for the people that I love.

Here are the things I am entered to ride/run (and there may be some additions as I go along) to build up the strength:

  -> Wiggle Thunder Run 10K off road run and the Wiggle Enduro 6 mountain bike race (April 26/27, 2008) - DONE!!!!!! Thunder Run 10K - 59:49 minutes, 15 of 21 women. Enduro 6 - 9 of 11 women in the Solo/Fun category, 6 laps. Puncture cost me an extra lap.
  -> Wild Boar 24 hour MTB race - racing as a pair with my good friend Trippi Tucker (May 17/18, 2008) DONE!!!! First in category (mixed pairs) and 6th in all the pairs. I rode just under 75 miles with nearly 12,000 feet of climbing. I suffered from some severe cramp but recovered to ride the early morning laps - I saw the moon set and the dawn rise - awesome! I had three crashes and I have tons of bruises and scrapes, but I am very vey happy with what we accomplished on a very difficult course - lots of fire roads, tons of climbing and the singletrack sections were challenging!
  -> Wales Dragon Ride - 120kms of beautiful road riding and lots of hills (June 14/15, 2008) riding with my good friend Angemon (and she is my support for all my other races!) DONE!!!! We completed the 120kms in 5:40, in the top half of the female finishers but well back on all the fast boys :) We feel great! The weather was fabulous. There is nothing else I would rather have been doing :)
  ->  Walking the Kennet and Avon Canal from Reading to Bath - Angemon and I will be taking to the waterways instead of riding my mountain bike (weekend July 26/27, 2008) DONE!!!! Bontrager TwentyFour12 MTB race - I'm riding the Torchbearer 12 hour as a solo rider 
  -> Climb Snowdon - (mid-August, 2008) 4 of us are set on a climb to the top! We are going on foot, not on bicycle :)  I know, only 1000 meters, but it will still be an adventure and the weather can be changable. It's not going to be the easy route, I promise....

That is over 40 hours of cycling and running! This will be very hard work, no doubt, but it will also be worth it for every sore muscle and every drop of sweat if it helps, even a little bit.

Why I am doing it:

Just over 10 years ago my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lives in the US and I had just moved to the UK - it was hard for us all, but my Mom is made of very tough stuff! She had just survived a heart attack the year before and she had a new battle on her hands... and she won that one, too! I am very proud to know that I have that sort of strength in me.

Last October I was in the US visiting and we were able to celebrate her 10 year anniversary. Woohoo! But just after I arrived back in the UK I received an email from my friend MAL in New York (whom I had seen but a month before) saying she had just had the worst possible pre-Christmas news - she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is now in chemo and I think about her a lot - I send her thoughts of strength to keep fighting, even when she's feeling rotten.

This past week I found out that my friend Pearl is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She is one tough chick, a force to be reckoned with in the London Softball scene and a perennial trooper. When I came to London I was here a month before I was seeking some friends and  a new team and I chose to play with Pearl and the Compadres - they were a great group and it we won a lot of games together. Over the years Pearl and I both moved on to other teams, she was always willing to hook me up with a weekday team and she also got me playing for the GB squad. A couple of years ago we were again playing on the same team and then I left to go travelling last year. I came back this year to find that she is not on first base...she was in the hospital for our first game. The whole team's thoughts were with her and we won the game. Go Pearl, we all love you! So I will also be riding for Pearl this summer to send her strength for her battle.

Breast Cancer is not a holiday, it's a long hard fight and everyone has their own issues....and they need all the support they can get! I remember my Mom getting upset when she realized that she was going to lose her hair - and we have beautiful hair in my family! - I sent her a Liberty's of London scarf in her favourite colour so her head would be beautiful until her hair grew back. I also remember her joking about getting a rose tattoo to cover the scar where they removed the tumour  . My friend in New York is a bit on the gorgeous side - always beautifully dressed and perfectly coiffed. I know she's in a good frame of mind though because she has already told me she would rather be alive than good looking!

Maybe it has been close to my heart recently - with my Mom celebrating her 10th anniversary and my friend receiving her diagnosis - but I have also been reading some touching stories of cyclists riding their hearts out for someone they love that is struggling with cancer (e.g. Scott Nydam going on the attack in the Tour of California for his Dad, suffering from leukaemia). I know I want to give strength not only to the people that are closest to me (my Mom and my friend MAL), but to anyone else that needs a little bit extra to fight this and needs some support. I'm there for you, too! All this activity, I'm as strong as an ox . So you guys can help me out so that together we can all share the load and give strength to the people that need it.

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Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Breast Cancer Care will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Thanks!!!!!!!!