From Dave and Anne Mitchell - Kathleen is truly our Cancer Warrior!   They had just announced the "Spirit of Survivorship Award".  We  all stood and cheered as Phyllis made the announcement.  There weren't many dry eyes in the house.  The woman next to me moved to the back of the hall to hide here tears, but I was openly crying.

OK, pull yourself together because they are now going to announce the winner of the bike frame, and you are going to win!

There I am sitting waiting for them to call my name so I can go up and pick up the bike frame we were all coveting.  The ticket was pulled and Saul butchered Kathleen's name so badly that few of us "got it".  Then as the audience understood what had happened, again, everyone stood and cheered.

What a moment, and what a perfect memory among all of those other Moab memories.

As Kathleen said, the rides were wonderful.  Thanks to total brain fade, Anne and I arrived a day early and had to leave after the Monday canyon ride.  (I thought the schedule was the same last year when I made the airline reservations.)  So we missed the ride through Arches. A challenge for next year.

Since neither of us had ridden a mile outside since October and I had limited trainer time, I was really worried about just getting through the first 50 mile ride, let alone making it to Dead Horse Point.

Thanks, I'm sure, to Phyllis' work, the silent auction for the event had some really wonderful items including a unique set of stereo speakers for an Ipod that are set up to hang beneath a bike saddle in a seat pack that even includes room for a spare tube and inflator.

This thing saved my neck (and the much bigger thing about 35 inches south).  On Monday, I was dragging.  I could blame jet lag, or the drive down from Salt Lake, or the hiking the previous day, but the truth was I was in miserable shape.  The spare tire around my middle was less like a 700-28 c than a 225x45x16.

To make matters worse, Anne was using her Ipod.  Anne has a beautiful voice and loves music.  That means, when she knows the words, she sings along.  This is really enjoyable when you, too, can hear the tune and join in.  But when all you hear are the parts of the song she knows, it can be a little frustrating.  By mile 40, she was barely sweating, and I was chewing my fingernails to the quick, through my bike gloves.  You can see what a tolerant person I am.  :-)

So, we bid on the Ipod speakers.... and I stood guard so that we could up the bid in case anyone else went over us.  We won and I immediately did a battery run into Moab.

On the tandem, all space under the seats is occupied with other stuff like stoker bars, seat suspension, and a luggage rack, so the speakers found their place on top of the bike bag on the rear rack.  They are wonderful!!!  On the way up to Dead Horse Point, we had people following us just to hear the tunes.  The new tandem was a joy to ride, and we made it to the end, in time to grab lunch, huddle with Kathleen behind a tree to get out of the wind, and join Phyllis for a very uplifting ceremony of pill shooting and champagne tasting!

Like most, we bagged the return ride (30 mph wind gusts the wrong way, snow squalls and cold temps), but I had to leave Anne and the bike at the ranger station/guest facility at the top and hitch a ride to the bottom so I could bring the car back up.

By the time I got back, they had lost electrical power (and heat) so she, a few bikers, and the ranger were huddling in the dark.

On the way down, we tried to motorpace cousin Luke (Bob Shega's nephew) and found that even on the downhills, the cross wind was so bad, he struggled to make it to 20 mph!!  We were very glad to be in the car.

Next day's canyon ride was a true joy, with Sheryl Crowe blasting and another group of riders hanging with us to talk politics and listen to the sounds.

Thanks Phyllis, for all you do to make this event such a wonderful experience.  You are the BEST!

And thanks to all the CCC folks who make me laugh every time I think of them.

From Simon Poulter -  I decided to make this ride the focus of my 50th Birthday celebration.  Instead of a party and gifts I asked that people donate to the Skinny Tire Event.  This outstanding event allowed me to celebrate an important personal milestone while recognizing my father's life long dedication to fighting cancer as a radiation oncologist and the loss of my mother in law to colon cancer.  My good friend and biking buddy Flint Ogle came up with the idea of Team Oscopy to highlight the importance of a colonoscopy in early detection of colon cancer.  The merge of this team concept and my own desire to make a difference brought many friends and family members together either as donors or participants in the event.  It was an experience that I will always remember and would like to thank everyone involved for their support.

The 2008 LIVESTRONG Challenge dates have been announced. The 2008 series will take place in:
    Portland, OR - June 29
    Bay Area, CA - July 13
    Philadelphia, PA - August 24
    Austin, TX - October 25-26
 
If you intend to ride one of these events in 2008, let the Moab Skinny Tire Festival office know by March 1 and we'll notify LAF to transfer any monies raised at the Skinny Tire Festival into your LIVESTRONG account following our event.

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