Day 1: Rock Rapids to Spencer- Wind Swept Fields

Day 1 was quite a day. The pictures are of me and some of my teammates as we set off on our ride and as you might recognize, Lance Armstrong.

I rode well, felt well, but probably should have realized I have six more days to ride. I certainly was not like the average RAGBRAI rider as I averaged almost 18 MPH. Wind was a problem most of the day as I certainly learned the value of drafting. Tomorrow our team captain says we have to ride as group, draft off each other and go no faster than 15 MPH to conserve energy for later in the week. We also need to stop more often, eat more pie and be better advocates of the LAF. I have no problem with any of that and look forward to an easy day tomorrow (assuming I recover tonight!).

Denise and I had the chance to attend a youth event featuring Lance Armstrong. I had the honor of holding the microphone as the kids asked Lance questions and yes, after the event I got the chance to meet Lance and have a chat. Quite an honor, quite an honor indeed. I'll have a number of chances this week to spend more time with him.

To Kathy, Julia and Diane, I thought about all of you today. There are many survivors riding with us who are a real inspiration. LIVESTRONG and keep up the good fight!

Hi to Ben, Ryan and Tyler. Hi also to the Weaton boys. Hi to all at DAHI. Hi to Sam, Jack, Riley and Mae!

Gotta go and get some sleep. On the road by 7am tomorrow.

Best food of the day: hot mini sugar donuts.

See you down the road.

Pat

Ready to Ride

My training is pretty much complete and I proclaim myself ready to ride. After almost 1300 miles on the road with no problems other than the occassional stiff back, there is nothing to do now except pack. What will I bring for the riding part of the week? Riding jerseys are a must and I will bring four including my Team LIVESTRONG jersey, my RAGBRAI 2007 Jersey and my Team WISCONSIN jersey, all shown here. I'll also have 4 pairs of cycling shorts, 4 pairs of cycling socks, 3 types of various creams to prevent and soothe saddle soreness, 4 water bottles, 2 pair of cycling gloves, 2 helmets, 1 pair of cycling shoes and various spare parts and tools in case they are needed during the ride. This will allow me the luxury of only having to do laundry once!

On the fundraising front I have some exciting news. With your help, we raised over $30,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and their ongoing support of cancer, research and awareness. Your generosity made me the top RAGBRAI/Team LIVESTRONG fundraiser. I am not quite sure just what that means, but rumor has it I will be spending some quality time with Lance himself during the week. I will update you as I learn more.

The Dexter Apache Challenge is in the books and the generous folks at Apache were not only the top per capita donors, but also beat out Dexter in total donations raised. Congratulations all you Badgers (and one Hawkeye). We will be up in August to make good on our bet. Thank you everyone for your extreme generosity. I must say I am just amazed by your support.

This will be my last post until RAGBRAI. Starting Saturday 7/21, I will post everyday with pictures and commentaries on all the days events, activities, high, lows, pains, etc. I encourage you to post a comment when you get a chance. I'll respond to all that I get.

Have a great week and I hope I'll see you down the road.

Pat

Go the Distance

RAGBRAI 2007 stops in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the Field of Dreams and the famous line "go the distance". Today I went the distance as I covered 85 miles in my longest training ride yet. I was on the road by 5:30am and back home by 10:30am. I felt good the whole way and getting out early to beat the heat really helped.

My next two weeks will be lighter training weeks as I want to begin to conserve energy for RAGBRAI week. I may actually do a little more running and a little less riding to give my seat a rest. With 1200 training miles under my belt, I feel ready to go.

Apache has taken a rather commanding lead in the Dexter/Apache fundraising challenge. They pulled even with Dexter last week, gave them a quick stare and then sped past them as Lance Armstrong often did to his competition in the mountains. Will Dexter have a response? With only one week of fundraising left, we'll have to see. Overall, my fundraising campaign has gone extremely well and has exceeded expectations.

Once again, THANKS to all of you who have contributed. For those of you still looking to participate, your donations need to be to me by next Wednesday, July 11th at the latest. You know the process by now, cash or check to me or Dale Sue Glass in Fairfield or to Pam Korth in Wisconsin.

A big thanks to my wife Denise and to Chris Brewer at the LAF who were the first to comment on my website. Chris, I am looking forward to meeting you and perhaps spending some time riding together during RAGBRAI. For those of you who have checked out this site, don't be afraid to hit the comment button and send me a note.

And finally, The Tour De France started today. You can catch all the action on the VS (versus) network (channel 72 on Mediacom in Fairfield). American George Hincapie of Lance Armstrong's former Discovery Channel Team sits in 3rd after the first day. The first day of racing was a 5 mile time trial....one of the few days in July when I'll actually ride further than the Tour riders!!!

See you down the road....

Pat

My New Ride

I mentioned in my last update that I had a surprise for this post. As you can see by the picture, my surprise is a new ride for RAGBRAI. Last Sunday I traded in my "old" bike for a new Trek Pilot 5.0 road bike. Why a new bike when I had a perfectly good one to begin with? Three reasons: First and most important, the Trek Pilot has a different frame geometry more suited for middle aged riders like myself. It allows me to sit a little more upright in the saddle even when I am low on my handlebars, which takes stress off my neck and back and quite simply makes for a more comfortable ride. When you are approaching 50 years of age and spending many hours a week on a bike, comfort is pretty important. Second, nothing beats new technology. My new bike has a full carbon fiber frame and fork which makes it very light and strong. The OCLV carbon used in my frame is the same that Lance Armstrong rode in his 7 Tour de France victories. At 17 pounds, my new bike is fast and comfortable, a great combination. And the final reason to buy a new bike (this one in particular)??? Because it is Wisconsin red and white.....enough said!

The Dexter Apache challenge is shaping up to be a real horse race. Dexter got out to an early lead but the folks up at Apache are closing the gap very quickly. Who wants a lunch cooked by senior management worse? Keep up the great work everybody and remember you have until July 15, 2007 to donate (see my "Welcome" post for details). Whether it is $1, $10, $100 or more, everything helps and is very much appreciated. Join the fun and help us beat cancer once and for all! All of you non Dexter Apache supporters have been equally fantastic. Thank you for your generosity.

Despite being gone most of the weekend at a wedding, I had another good training week. I put in 120 miles on the bike which takes my total training miles up to 800. Just for good measure, I threw in 42 miles of running. With 4 weeks until RAGBRAI, I feel great. I'm starting to think I may be able to hang with Lance for more than a few miles.

RAGBRAI week for Team LIVESTRONG is shaping up to be real exciting. In addition to riding with Lance, we will have a couple of opportunities to spend time with him off the bike as well as get front row seats to a concert he is hosting at the UNI Dome. I'll keep you posted as more is announced.

Until next week, take a walk, ride a bike or go for a run. And most importantly, help me help the Lance Armstrong Foundation get a stranglehold on cancer.

See you down the road.

Pat

Back In The Saddle

After being in Las Vegas for a week at a trade show, I finally got back in the saddle this past weekend. It was an important two days as it was my first back-to-back long days. Saturday I rode 70 miles through Jefferson, Van Buren and Washington counties. The last 20 miles were very warm. I was really tired by the end of the ride and was pretty worn out the rest of the day. I was really worried about my 50 mile ride the next morning. Riding in the same heat Sunday, I felt great for 50 miles and I think I solved the mystery of saddle soreness as I had a virtually pain free ride. My legs and lungs felt real strong and I am really encouraged about my fitness and my ability to survive 7 long days in the saddle. I am up to 670 miles of training and have now increased my training goal to an even 1,000 miles.

On the fundraising front, things are going well. Me and my 100 other LIVESTRONG teammates have raised about $150,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation with over a month to go. Personally, my fundraising campaign is off to a strong start. For those of you who have contributed, thank you so much. For those of you still planning on contributing, you still have time. See my "Welcome" post below for details on making your contribution. And by the way, Dexter has the early lead on Apache in the DAHI contribution challenge.

This week's picture is of the back of my LIVESTRONG team jersey. It's what I hope Lance will see most of RAGBRAI week!!! Stay tuned for next week as I have a surprise for my next post.

Finally, I would love to hear from you. At the end of this and each post you will see the word "comments". Click on this and you can send me a comment, question or just some simple words of encouragement.

Thanks again for your amazing support.

See you down the road.

Pat

Challenges

Congratulations to Team Dexter/Apache this past weekend. Lead by team captain Dale Sue Glass, the team raised about $4,000 for the American Cancer Society "relay for life". My wife Denise and I walked with the team for a while. The volunteers, supporters and survivors were all an inspiration. In their own way, they all stepped up and met the challenge.

Speaking of challenges, the employees at Dexter in Iowa and Apache in Wisconsin have agreed to a challenge worth every bit of the 500 miles I will ride in RAGBRAI. They have challenged each other to raise more donations per employee than the other. If Apache wins, I will head up to Wisconsin with some Iowa based managers and cook and serve lunch to everyone at Apache. If Dexter wins, Jim Freeze and his managers have to head to Iowa and cook and serve lunch to everyone at Dexter. This one is for more than donations. It is also for bragging rights. So come on everyone, step up and support cancer and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. We can't win the fight without your help. For those of you who have already made a contribution, thank you so much for your generosity. I must say, I am truly overwhelmed.

My training continues to go well. I rode about 150 miles this past week and ran 40 miles. I guess its no wonder why I am falling asleep on the couch at 8:30pm most nights! Yesterday, I rode 75 miles. My longest ride yet. I rode the same route as last week with a loop around Fairfield thrown in to get the total ride up to 75 miles. It was a great day to ride, and I felt good all around. Next weekend I plan on doing a 70 miler and a 50 miler on consecutive days to see how I respond to back-to-back long rides.

This weeks picture shows off my new RAGBRAI 2007 cycling jersey. It came a few days ago with all my credentials for the ride. Very exciting! Now all I need is for my Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG jersey and my Wisconsin Badger jersey to arrive and I'll be all set. And yes, I would wear a Hawkeye jersey one day during RAGBRAI if I had one.

Well that's all for this week. Get out for a walk or go for a bike ride and LIVESTRONG!

See you down the road.

Pat

Questions and Answers

Its been about two weeks since my last post and I have had a lot of questions about my RAGBRAI ride. I'll get to some of those in a moment, but first, an update on my training.

Today I did my longest ride yet. I covered 70 miles in a little less than 4 hours touring through the southeast Iowa towns of Birmingham, Stockport, Lockridge, Brighton and back to Fairfield. Rain threatened the first couple of hours but after that, it was real nice. As Lance might say, it was a good day in the saddle. My legs, lungs and heart felt great. Most important though, my saddle felt pretty good. I'm up over 400 training miles now and about halfway through my minimum training goal. Now on to some questions:

What kind of bike do you ride? As you can see by the picture, I ride a Trek 2200 road bike. It is made out of high alloy aluminum and carbon fiber. The wheel sets and tires are made by a German company named Bontrager and the mechanical components are made by a Japanese company named Shimano. The most important part of the bike is my saddle. It is made by an Italian company named Fizik (pronounced "physique") and I am starting to get real comfortable in it. My bike weighs about 19 pounds. Trek has made the world's best bicycles for over 30 years including every bicycle rode by Lance Armstrong during his seven Tour de France wins. I wear cycling clothes by Pearl Izumi including shoes with cleats that lock into the pedals and gel padded gloves to absorb road shock. And of course, I wear a helmet, made by Bell.

What do you think about when you ride? Work, friends, family, how much I am going to enjoy a cold beer when I get off the bike. Today I thought about many of the people I know battling cancer. I thought about my cousin Diane who is doing great and starting to put cancer in her rear view mirror. I thought about Julia Burt, a close family friend who is fighting a tough bout with cancer. She has just finished up a very aggressive schedule of chemotherapy. Julie, you are in our prayers and we think of you often. I thought about the Dexter Apache employees who right now are battling cancer. You guys are in our hearts and prayers. And I smiled when I thought about our survivors. Continue to LIVESTRONG you guys!

What route are your riding in RAGBRAI? The route and everything else you would want to know about RAGBRAI can be found at www.ragbrai.org.

What can you tell me about the Lance Armstrong Foundation? Everything you need to know can be found at www.livestrong.org.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the LAF on behalf of my ride. Your generosity is overwhelming. Keep your support coming and remember, either Dexter Apache Holdings, Inc. or myself will personally match all donations.

Check back in a week or so for my next post.

Until then, go for a ride, just for the health of it.

See you down the road,

Pat

P.S. Thanks to all the riders and walkers who participated in Dexter Apache's first "bike to work Friday". I'll see all of you and hopefully more next Friday.