Saturday, April 13

We all met in the lobby at 7:15 a.m. to drive to the Run for the Roses. After a little hustle and bustle, we got Betty and Thea's numbers pinned on their Lance Armstrong Foundation t-shirts and off to the start line they went. Jeff & I walked around for a bit and then realized we were just about out of film (of course, there were more rolls in the hotel, but not with us). So Jeff went searching for a convenience store and I scoped out the finish line.

Eventually Jeff & I found each other again and I started loading the new roll as quickly as I could, with Thea rapidly approaching the finish line. Sadly, I didn't quite get the camera ready to capture her actual finish but we got plenty of post-finish photos. Soon after Thea crossed the line, we saw Betty, who found a walking partner along the way. We all cheered as they finished and got lots of pictures.

After we snacked and rested, we walked over to the Wall of Hope so I could take a photo of my note from the night before. This wound up being one of the most poignant times of the weekend, as we all stood around for awhile to read the other messages people had written.

I decided to write another message to honor Steve, my aunt JoAnne's first husband who died on May 5, 1996 at age 35, after a 10 year battle with testicular cancer. My aunt found happiness again and is remarried to Tom, and they have a two-year-old boy, my cousin Nicholas. Jo and Steve's three kids, Scott (17), Christina (16 and newly driving, scary!) and Thomas (15), are growing up into polite and smart kids and I'm proud of all of them. They went through a lot when they were little. Cancer definitely affects everyone in the family.

Betty left me a sweet note on the Wall, which warmed my heart. And near her note to me was one I'll never forget, written by someone who knew a 13-year-old girl that lost her battle. They quoted the girl, who said, "Don't let the cancers in your life stop you from living it." Wow. It left me speechless.

We headed back to the hotel and Jeff & I decided to go on a short ride, mostly to get me acclimated to riding in the heat and humidity. So we pointed the moms towards Whole Foods for lunch and Emerald's across the street for a little shopping and then we drove out towards Amy's house for a ride. I had noticed on Thursday that it had rolling hills, nice views and a wide shoulder -- perfect ride material.

It's a good thing we did this test ride, because I realized quickly that my stamina was not nearly the same in this weather. The heat gave me a quick headache and it was just much harder for me to ride. Also, I got my first flat ever which was also a great relief in my mind because it meant I got it out of the way and hopefully, my chances of getting a flat on the Ride would go down. (Who knows if that is statistically true, but it helped me mentally).

We went back to the hotel, meanwhile Thea & Betty hooked up at Emerald's and headed over to the Expo to save seats for us for the Survivorship Panel. I was really looking forward to this lecture because not only does Lance speak, but last year it addressed many issues that I could relate to. We took quick showers and rushed to the Expo. It was a zoo compared to yesterday when we picked up our reg. packets. Parking was crazy, and the Expo was in a smaller venue than last year and the acoustics were bad.

We found our moms, who used their super-mom powers to score awesome seats, and sat down in vain to hear the lecturers over the din of the Expo. Eventually we gave up and poked around the Expo a little where I found a cool tank top with spaghetti straps AND jersey pockets (you would not believe how difficult it is to find this particular combination at home in California). Note to the LAF: have the Survivorship Panel in a separate room so people who want to listen can hear, and people who want to browse the Expo can do so without tripping over the audience.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel once again to change for dinner with Amy, Cooper and Amy's mother-in-law, Lydia, at the County Line to celebrate Jeff's birthday. Dinner with a two-year-old is always an adventure, especially for the mom, in our case, Aim. Cooper is quite enchanting and a voracious eater, he impressed us all. The County Line did a great job of embarrassing our birthday boy too, with a big ol' cowboy hat and an even bigger fake BBQ rib to hold with his ice cream. This all resulted in one of the best photos from the entire RFTR weekend.

After a quick stop at the HEB (Austin's grocery store) for ride supplies (like pb&j sandwich makings and sunscreen), we went home to the hotel for an early night. Team Jess had a short, final discussion over 40 miles vs. 70 miles and I was finally convinced it was okay and respectable to do 40. I had an outrageous headache from the combo. of heat and overzealous air conditioning, so Jeff gently gave me a Tylenol PM so I'd be certain to sleep well.