I'm Actually Speechless

Dude, WTF? Even if you are getting paid to wear this, you had have been dissappointed when you showed up for team camp, opened your team kit and saw this staring back at you. And the National Champions on the team wiped their forehead's and thought, "My win at the big dance could not have come at a better time." The bike is pretty sweet, though.

I Want to Hear Your Cancer Stories

I know it seems early to be talking about an event that is still 6 months away. But, with 1500 people dieing EVERY DAY in the U.S. from Cancer, I figure it's never too early to begin fundraising to find more treatments.

For the 4 years I have particpated in 24 Hours of Booty, I've ridden in memory of my Grandmother, Jillian L. Penda, who died of Ovarian Cancer when I was 13. Last year, friends and family helped me topple my fundraising goal and inspired me to ride over 300 miles during the 24 hours. It was a fantastic and draining milestone. For the fifth installment of Jodi's Booty, I've decided to do something different.

The scope of cancer goes well beyond just me and my Grandma. So I am asking my friends and family to tell me their stories. I want to know how Cancer has affected your life. I want to know the names of those you have lost and of those who have survived and of those currently fighting. From now until the start of the event, I will post your stories to this blog and to my fundraising page. On the day of the event, I plan to attach all the names I have gathered to my jersey and I will ride with every single one of them on my mind.

So, if you'd like, please share your stories in the comments section of this Blog or if you are my Facebook friend, leave in on my wall. Don't know what the 24 Hours of Booty is? Check out my Blog from last years event: http://jodiwinterton.blogspot.com/2009/07/24-hours-of-booty-part-1-gypsy-road.html

Care to donate? Visit my 24HOB fundraising page.

Thanks to all of you willing to share:

Squirrel Master (forum member)
I lost my 28 year old cousin Dec 4 2008 from lung cancer, never smoked or worked around any asbestos or any other bad stuff. I think about him every day, and miss him more than anything.

E. Tinker (forum member)
A couple of years ago my wife was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have a milignancy removed...luckily she is very cognizant of her body and noticed the early warning signs before things got to a more serious stage (she caught it at the in situ stage, meaning it hadn't developed further than the first few layers of skin). We now have to be very diligent aboout things like her exposure to sun and checking for any other odd skin growths.Considering that melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer we do live with a certain fear of recurrence...but we've also educated ourselves and familiarized ourselves with the early warning signs so that we can be be proactive and not get caught off guard.

ridenfish39 (forum member)
It (I hate using that word) took,My father at 49 (renal cell cancer) This was 10 years ago and it still affects me greatlyMy fathers mother (pancreatic, I never met her)My mother's sister at 50 (brain cancer) My uncle at 38 (he smoked, lung cancer)My fathers sister shortly after he died (skin cancer)and other people I knew as friends.

BipBip2fast4you (forum member)
My best friend Serge died at 20. I met him when we were 5. We spent so much time together on the way to school, in class, after school, he was always helping me 'cos I forgot my books or so all the time, playing together so often. He makes me discover the 1st pc I've ever seen and much more. Just before dying he was always there for me. I wanted someone who could record a video of me sliding in the snow with my car. He was there in the cold while I, stupid idiot, was having fun. He died a few weeks after that and I can't take the fact out of my mind that may be it was my fault if he got cold and dies so early. I'll never know but I decided that I 'll live my hole life for both of us."Today is the 1st day of the rest of your life, enjoy it." My wife's mum and dad at 58 and 72.2 of my uncles.and so many...A special thought for my cousine Nathalie fighting it at the moment, on her way to win her battle.

Jodi Brenner
My Dad died of Pancreatic and Liver cancer 5 months after he was diagnosed. It has been almost 14 years and it hurts now just as much as it did back then! His brother passed away almost 4 years ago from the same thing... My Dad's name is Joseph Lee Brenner.

Alison Gehringer
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago. She had a double masectomy almost immediately. Right now she's cancer free but it haunts her. Her mother and sister died from cancer. So did her brother. Now her other sister has it. Seriously??

Benita Tahbaz Stokes
I lost my mother on April 18, 2009, three months before I gave birth to my daughter. She was diagnosed in late January and started treatment in February. She was determined to live long enough to see my baby but the cancer was to tough on her. She had emergency surgery in March and just couldn't come back from the surgery. She died in the hospital a month later. I hate cancer and don't want to ever go through that again with anyone. I was lucky that she did get to be with my son for almost three years of his life and she made a lasting impression on him. He talks about her all the time. I just wish my daughter could have also met her. My mothers name is Karin O. Christensen - Thanks! It felt good to write this down. Havent talked much about it.

Sonja Van Holderbeke
My dad died of lung cancer, he was first diagnosed with throat cancer, so they removed his tongue and voice box (it might not be the right word, sorry but i'm Belgium...) he was fine for 15 years till the cancer came back in the form of lung cancer, he died after a very long battle on strong painkillers. His name is Roger Van Holderbeke.

Neil Taylor
I have never suffered personally, but working in Oncology and watching what the families go through deeply affected my attitude towards smoking, smokers. I never pass up an opportunity to chastise a friend or family member for engaging in it. Cigarettes kill 500,000 people a year. Every couple of years we should write our congressmen and senators and ask them to put an end to the Federal Subsidizing of Tobacco farms.

We've All Learned a Lesson Here

Dr. Thompson is cuffed after the guilty verdict. Photo: LA Times

Reading the verdict yesterday in the LA road rage trial of Dr. Thompson, I found myself getting all teary eyed. Not because I was upset, but because for any cyclist who has been hit by a car, or witnessed a cohort being hit by a car, or who has had close calls with angry drivers, the guilty verdict in this case is a long overdue breath of relief.

Car vs. bike encounters rarely go well for the cyclist. Even when the fault lies with the driver, oftentimes charges are not filed against them and they walk without a real form of punishment. Not so in the case of Dr. Thompson.

Dr. Thompson is a former ER physician who lives on a mountain road popular with cyclists. After numerous altercations with cyclists, one day he’d apparently had enough and took his frustration out on Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr. While descending the mountain road side by side on July 4th, 2008, Dr. Thompson drove up behind them, honked, pulled up beside them, exchanged words and hand gestures with the cyclists and then sped up, pulled in front of them and slammed on his brakes. Stoehr slammed into the back of the car and flew over it, landing in front of the car in the oncoming lane. Peterson went through the rear window face first, nearly taking his nose off his face.

Velonews.com did a stellar job covering every minute of this trial. I suggest you read some of the details because the Prosecutor, Mary Stone, was phenomenal in her cross examination of Dr. Thompson and in her Closing Statements as is proven by the fact that the Doc was found guilty on all 6 counts against him: 2 counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving, along with mayhem and a misdemeanor reckless driving stemming from a separate yet very similar incident on a different day with different cyclists that did not result in bodily injury.

Although I’m glad to see the cyclists get their justice, I feel sad for all involved when the rage between cyclists and motorists reaches this point. All of their lives have been affected tremendously. The doc is facing a maximum of 10 years in prison, which he won’t get, but it’s largely accepted that he will do jail time and lose his medical license.

I try to be a courteous cyclist when out on the road. I am not one of the antagonists. Having said that, though, I’ve still had close calls and seen stupid moves by drivers that send me into a moment of rage; curse words flying along with the middle finger as I watch my life flash before me. But, right here, right now, I’m gonna make a promise to my fellow cyclists and motorists – I’m going to do my best to make sure I’m sharing the road to the best of my ability both when I’m on my bike and in my car. I will try very hard to keep my rage in check because, really, what gets solved a “Fuck You” and the finger? Nothing. It just increases the rage. Just look at this case. Could these incidents have been avoided if there had been more understanding on both parts? Probably.

There’s no reason to be the asshole whether you’re the asshole on the bike or the asshole in the car.