Last day of the ride

The last day of the ride was really special. At breakfast Jack Burger surprised us all and met up with us to ride the last day. Jack is my best friends uncle who rode the QMDC ride last year and was the main reason that I got involved with CAF and helped me out with getting my bike from CAF. It was really cool that I got to ride with Jack the last day and made the final ride even more special. The ride itself was fairly short, only 72 miles with rolling hills the entire way. We were scheduled to ride through Camp Pendleton, a military base, but we found out the night before that there was construction going on in Camp Pendleton so we had to divert our route to riding down the I-5 for 8 miles! As we entered the freeway, we were immediately met with a street sweeper that was cleaning the shoulder of the freeway so we were forced enter the slow lane of the freeway to go around the street sweeper! Pretty crazy. The highlight of the ride was the finish, which was an organized so that the challenged athletes that completed the ride rode in last as we were greeted by the rest of the QMDC riders, family and several other challenged athletes. It was the perfect finish to an amazing ride. It was a bitter sweet moment because we had finally finished, but at the same time it was all over.

To celebrate my dad, my girlfriend, cameron, his parents, Jack Burger and his family and Andy went out to dinner at a nice mexican restaurant. I met a lot of wonderful people on the QMDC ride that have the ability to open many more doors for skiing, triathlon and future QMDC rides. Thanks to everyone that donated and made the QMDC a dream come true for me.

Day 6 Marina Del Rey to Newport Beach

The rest yesterday paid dividends for my stump and I was feeling much better this morning. We also were able to sleep in until 830 this morning because the ride was so short today, only 53 miles. The ride was much different than the rest of the days. Today we had to deal with traffic and stop lights for the majority of the ride, the best part was a 5 mile stretch of beach boardwalk just south of our hotel in Marina Del Rey. For lunch today one of the riders arranged for us all to eat at his friends restaurant right on the marina in long beach. All of the stop lights made the short ride more difficult than it sounds because it was hard to get in a groove. The blisters on my stump hurt pretty bad by the end of the ride but I should be ok for one more day! 73 miles tomorrow and we are done!

Last night Floyd Landis joined us to hang out for a little while and he also road along with my group today. For those of you who aren't cyclists, Floyd Landis won the Tour De France a couple of years ago but ended up getting caught doping so they revoked his title and banned him for two years from pro cycling. I guess the only reason that Floyd joined us is because he is dating (might be a stretch of the term if you know what I mean) a girl that is doing the ride this year. On the ride, Floyd and his girlfriend were leading us and they ran a red light and the rest of the peleton and myself stopped for the light, then all of the sudden a mini van made a U-turn at the light and pulled up close to them, turns out it was an unmarked cop car. The rest of us law abiding citizens hooted and hollered from across the intersection as the former Tour De France champ was pulled over for running the light and we all took pictures as we road by.

I forgot to mention that Christian Vande Velde has also been riding with us since Big Sur, he is on the Garmin Slipstream pro cycling team and he placed 4th at this last years Tour De France. He is very nice, down to earth and incredibly fast on a bike. He averages 35 mph on flat ground!!

Day 5

Santa Barbara to Marina Del Rey 89 miles. Unfortunately Andy and I called it quits after 25 miles into the ride. We were both in a tremendous amount of pain to start the day, dealing with blisters on our stumps and many other aches and pains all over. At breakfast we contemplated not riding at all but decided to give it a try and see how far we could get. Unfortunately we had enough at mile 25 of the ride and road the rest of the ride in the van.

The highlight of today was getting to meet Sarah Reinerstein at dinner. Sarah is an above the knee amputee that was the first above the knee amputee ever to complete an ironman competition. She was also on The Amazing Race television show. She said a few words at dinner and signed a book for all of the riders. It was really cool to finally meet her, as I have heard stories about her and her accomplishments but never had the chance to meet her. Tomorrow is a nice easy ride, we will leave at 10 am and it is only 52 miles. YES!!

LONNNG DAY 4

Day 4, from Pismo Beach to Santa Barbara was incredibly long, 123 miles and 10 hours on the bike. I started the day out with some saddle sores and stiffness that have accumulated from the previous days rides. Before lunch we were blessed with winds in our face and a 17 mile gradual uphill climb that ended with a stretch of 25% grade at the top of the hill, so steep that I was almost at a complete stop when one of the ride leaders literally began to push me up the hill. Lunch was 60 miles into the ride at a winery just outside of Solvang. For the majority of the ride we road on country roads, alongside open farm land and vineyards, really pretty. After lunch we had an awesome 10 mile downhill, 3 long uphills and then the highlight of the ride was a steep downhill stretch along highway 101 just north of Santa Barbara. I was able to reach speeds of 46 mph for an extended period of time and it was really rewarding and fun! Towards the bottom of the steep grade I made the turn and was suddenly hit with a strong crosswind that literally moved me over about a foot, luckily there was no one near me and I was able to recover. Just after this at a about the 100 mile marker, Jim, who is a below the knee amputee due to wounds he suffered while serving in Vietnam, was surrounded by bikers on the side of the road, come to find out he had been in a bad crash and broken a rib and separated his collar bone but he is going to be ok. Then at the end of the ride, the ride leader took us on an unexpected detour through UCSB that added on 4 miles to the route. I found out today that no above the knee amputee has ever attempted this ride, I think that makes me dumb, haha. The longest rides are out of the way and its all downhill from here. Tomorrow is from Santa Barbara to Marina Del Rey, 89 miles.

Day 2/ 3

Sorry for not blogging last night, there was no computer access, tv or cell phone reception at the lodge in Big Sur. Day 2 went great. I actually felt stronger than I did for day one. The toughest climb was at the end of the ride, a 17% grade hill up to the hotel in Santa Cruz. We got to ride through Monterey and the 17 mile drive. The highlight of day 2 was riding by Pebble Beach and Spanish Bay golf courses, AMAZING! Unfortunately the group that I was riding in was not content with stopping so I was unable to get any photos. Nonetheless, the ride was fun, smooth and beautiful.

Day 3- Big Sur to Pismo, 114 miles, 8000 ft of elevation change. OUCH! This is considered the most difficult day of the ride, good thing for me. I left the lodge at sunrise ahead of my usual group with plans of resting and meeting up with them at lunch because the first 50 miles of the ride was hill after hill down the coast. Incredible views all the way down the coast. Lunch was stationed halfway at Hearst Castle. The highlight of today was my girlfriend sitting on the side of the road with signs as the riders went by. The riders all appreciated the cheerleading and the rest of the riders named her the beautiful pixie. Another highlight was completing my first century ride, 100 miles. The rider leaders organized a toast and we stopped the peletron at 100 miles and acknowledged my accomplishment by raising our water bottles and then they all squirted me with their water and took pictures. Really happy to be done, but really sore as well. Tomorrow is from Pismo to Santa Barbara, 119 miles....

Day 1 SF to Santa Cruz

The first day was awesome. Day 1 was from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, an 86 mile adventure. Although I started the day incredibly nervous and uncertain of what to expect for the ride, I ended the day confident and amazed at how cool this entire group of riders really is. The day started off in style with photos, a great national anthem sung by a fellow amputee, followed by a countdown and then we were off. The first 30 miles or so was led by police escort vehicles until we got out of the city, no big deal. In the meantime I had the pleasure of riding alongside a man named Andy Hatcher a below the knee amputee. Andy is an avid cyclist and former member of the paralympic cycling team. I made it my goal to keep up with him throughout the day, and I did! But I think I may pay for that in the morning. I was able to learn a lot from him. He taught me what it takes to be an amputee cyclist and about the amputee cycling community in general. Over the course of the day I also learned that Andy had lost his leg in Iraq to a roadside bomb and that he began cycling as a means for rehabilitation and ended up falling in love with the sport and the speed.
The ride itself was beautiful! Ocean views the entire way. My group consisted of about 6-10 riders. We stopped for lunch at mile 44 and after refueling and resting I got to get back on my bike when I realized that my back tire was flat…no wonder the last hill was so difficult. Turns out I had a pretty good size hole in my brand new tire. Lucky for me they had mechanics on site that replaced the tire and repaired my flat in record speed. Not more than a mile down the road I noticed a clicking noise coming from my back spokes. Apparently my rear derailleur was bent and it was hitting the spokes on my back tire. So we called the mechanics up and they repaired my bike again. After this we were off and problem free for the rest of the ride. I made it to the hotel got a quick massage, some excellent food and then a great nap. At dinner they entertained us with a Q & A session of the five wounded soldiers that are on the ride. Two are below the knee amputees from Vietnam and three are from Iraq. There are so many cool people on this ride and everyone has a story so I am looking forward to day 2 and the adventures that it has in store. Day 2 is from Santa Cruz to Big Sur, another 86 miles! Good night.

QMDC ride overview

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out my blog and following me along my ride from SF to SD. Also, a huge thanks to everyone that helped support me for the ride, you guys are awesome!!

Details about the ride:
The ride is a fundraiser for the Challenged Athletes Foundation and it is titled the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge, because the goal is to raise a million dollars. There are 100 riders that are supposed to raise 10,000 dollars each. Challenged athletes like myself were only asked to raise 2,500 dollars. The ride is a 7 day, 620 mile trek from SF to SD with several stops in between at nice hotels.

So, tonight I will head up to SF and attend the meet and greet, good thing because I don't know any of the other riders! And then the ride will start tomorrow morning at Embarcadero St in SF and we will ride along the coast to Santa Cruz, a total of 86 miles the first day. I will try and post a new blog each day with details about how the rides go and if possible, maybe even some photos, but don't hold your breath.