ADA Tour de Cure, 6/9/2013

By Dennis Pedersen

Whew... that's all I can say! After all of the groundwork laying the foundation for the HP Tour de Cure team, making sure HP would host the event at our Palo Alto campus again; helping spread the word in various ways; recruiting key people to help; trying to get HP team jerseys; helping new teammates get up to speed; and much more, the day of the ride itself is a big relief. But I love using cycling as a way to help people, and fighting diabetes with the American Diabetes Association is so rewarding.

Me and Fast Freddie on the Champions Celebration ride.

This year was my 6th as the Captain of the HP team (my 7th tour),  and it was one of the most fun. One thing that made this year so fun was that we were joined by "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez, the current USA Cycling Pro Road Race National Champion! He's a class act who's giving back to the community through his professional cycling career. His mom has type 2 diabetes and that inspired him to sign up.

Fortunately my fund-raising went well and I improved by 40% over last year for $1,499 total -- thanks, donors! Since HP teammate Bill Kacmarsky (our top fund-raiser this year at $2,537.00!) and I had raised over $1000, as we did last year, we could attend the ADA's "Champions Celebration" on May 30th, at beautiful Silver Creek Country Club in San Jose. (Steve Andrews, Jeff Baltazar and Terri Carter also qualified but didn't attend.) The event included a ride with Fast Freddie who had won Nationals just days earlier; that was pretty cool! We rode out at a moderate pace from the Club, and along San Felipe Road, east of San Jose, through some gorgeous scenery. Check out some video I took with my cell phone during the ride (being careful not to crash him out!). Afterward we had good food and drink, raffles, door-prizes and Freddie and others gave nice speeches.

This year I had more support from HP's upper management than ever, with Executive VP Dave Donatelli, Senior VP Stephen DeWitt and others helping to spread the word, and even join the ride! I wish I could say the HP team set new fund-raising records, but it seems we will be a bit short of last year's amazing total: $21,389.76 so far in 2013 vs. $32,626.74 in 2012. But last year's total was a major record; we still did great and the important thing to remember is that we raised thousands of dollars that will help real people living with diabetes. Next year we hope to get HP's CEO Meg Whitman on board!

HP's Meg Whitman and
ADA's Allyson Schloming...
both hard at work!

And there's still time to donate: Click here to help!

While we weren't able to obtain free HP Cycling jerseys for the team, we did offer the option for people to buy their own jerseys at a good price. Still, because the production date was scheduled very close to the date of our ride it was very nerve-wracking and some people didn't get their jerseys until after the ride. The process is complicated and I was forced to balance between available production dates, getting the order placed in time, and not placing it too early so people signing up later wouldn't get a chance to order. All I can say is I'm very sorry about how it worked out.

The Tour de Cure ride was on June 9th and I chose the longest route option: 120k (74.5 miles). That route took me from HP's Palo Alto campus over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the foggy, drizzly Pacific Ocean coast and back. Because of my "Champion" status I had a special gold bib number (they have red ones for riders with diabetes too).

The morning of the ride I left Santa Cruz at 5:00 AM in foggy darkness. I was worried the weather would be the same in Pescadero during our ride. At HP's Palo Alto campus I got ready, had a bite to eat, some coffee, and handed out jerseys to Executive VP George Kadifa and a few other teammates. I had to leave the rest of the jerseys in a box under our HP awning and hoped the others would be able to collect their jerseys themselves. I left a clipboard with their names and jersey sizes, and that sort of worked.

I joined teammates Steve Andrews, Bill Rainey, Paul Roeder and others at the start line for the 6:30 AM opening of the 120k route. We had a few short speeches, from the ADA's Richard Alejandro; Allyson Schloming; and Fast Freddie. And off we rode to the cheers of the volunteers. Paul and I ended up riding with Freddie and the lead pack all the way to the base of Kings Mountain Road. The group was surprisingly well behaved, all things considered, though I joked to him that he really needed to protect his front wheel in this crowd. We laughed.

I usually ride the steep climb up Kings Mountain as an interval, but not this year. Still, I went up fairly fast. But Paul is a fast rider and got to the top of Kings Mountain ahead of me, and while I was pigging out at the first 120k rest station there he took off and I rode mostly alone for the rest of the day. Food really does slow you down!

Riding south on Skyline Boulevard (HWY 35) I was passed by a Sheriff with his siren on... that's never good. It turned out one of the Tour cyclists got hit by a car at the junction with La Honda Road (HWY 84). I heard that the motorist was confused by the various islands and ramps of the junction. That was scary, and it turned out the rider was badly banged up, possibly with broken ribs. That's the worst I've ever seen on this ride, or maybe any ride ever. I hope he is recovering well... and glad it wasn't Paul.

I descended down HWY 84 through what proved to be very nice weather down to the junction with Pescadero Road. The climb up Haskins Hill was also nice, and I had another long descent to Pescadero. I briefly joined a paceline of riders who however scared me enough that I dropped back and let them power on. Just as we neared Pescadero the fog greeted us and was so heavy my lenses needed wiper blades. Oh well. I skipped the rest station there, partly because they'd chosen a new location and I kind of missed it, partly because I was trying to avoid pigging out too much.

Stage Road, leading north out of Pescadero, is gorgeous, even in the fog. And I rode at a nice mellow pace up and over to San Gregorio (on HWY 84). Another pretty valley with another climb, up to HWY 1, awaited me. The weather was much better just in that short distance, and I dropped down HWY 1 to the junction with Tunitas Creek Road. Up the road a mile or so I stopped at The Bike Hut for another rest station break. Perfect timing for the start up the really long climb up Tunitas Creek Road in perfect weather with light cloud cover keeping the heat away. I went pretty fast, but again not all-out, and even managed to take some photos and videos of the amazingly beautiful redwood-lined creek and canyon.

At the top of Tunitas Creek Road we joined Skyline right by the first rest station again. I had a bit more food, I think in uncharacteristically moderate quantities for me, and took off down Kings Mountain Road at a rapid pace. There I ended up riding with John from Yahoo, whom I had met at the Champions Celebration, and on the ride with Fast Freddie. Nice guy. We ended up riding together a lot of the way from Woodside back to HP, passing tons of other riders along Alameda de Las Pulgas and Junipero Serra.

The turnout for the HP lunch and team photo was lower than usual, even though we had an HP awning this year and the weather was perfect. Not sure why, but I do know some HP'ers had to leave and go to HP Discover in Las Vegas. Senior VP Sue Barsamian even delayed her departure so she could join the ride! Wow! So while our team photo may not look impressive, keep in mind that our HP team had 54 riders, which is still a huge contribution to the Tour de Cure!

ADA's Richard Alejandro, Fast Freddie Rodriguez, and me.

I can honestly say this was the hard-partying HP'ers!

• Bill Kacmarsky: Thanks for doing double duty as HP's representative on the ADA's Tour de Cure Committee, plus raising the most funds of any HP team rider; $2,511.00 to date! 
• Senior VP Sue Barsamian, Senior VP Stephen DeWitt, Executive VP Dave Donatelli, Executive VP George Kadifa, Executive VP Bill Veghte: Thanks so much for your efforts to promote the Tour de Cure. Executive support is vital to HP's ability to give back to the community. 
• John Laforga, Kathleen Lindenmuth, Anita Reid, Glen Elliott, Chris Beauchesne: Thanks for reaching out to offer me a helping hand; I sure needed it! 
• Fast Freddie Rodriguez: Thanks for giving back in this way and keeping it real! 

Thanks again; I am already looking forward to next year's ride!

ADA Tour de Cure, 6/10/2012

By Dennis Pedersen

What a perfect day for a big ride! I really enjoyed this year's Tour de Cure fund-raising bicycle ride, as I always do. This was my sixth year on the Hewlett-Packard team, and my fifth as the team's Captain. As such, my main goal is to grow the team and help them all raise money to fight diabetes... and did we ever! I was not disappointed, as the 2012 HP team set new records in every area!

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) now hosts a "Champion's Celebration" dinner for riders who have raised $1,000 (by May 12th). I am proud to say that five HP riders qualified. It was quite classy and held at Silver Creek Valley Country Club, San Jose. Check out the HP team’s statistics from the last few years:

• 2007: 9 riders raised $4,268.
• 2008: 13 riders raised $8,252.86.
• 2009: 7 riders raised $4,633.00.
• 2010: 27 riders raised almost $20,000, 5th place overall in corporate teams.
• 2011: 34 riders raised $21,508.00, 7th place overall in corporate teams.
• 2012: 71 riders raised $32,626.74, 4th place overall in corporate teams.

I am so proud of how the HP team has grown, and how much we've increased our fund-raising. The momentum is palpable, thanks mostly to the help and encouragement of other HP employees, most notably:

• Sue Barsamian, Senior VP, Enterprise Storage, Servers and Networking: I met Sue on a ride last year, and she enthusiastically offered her support for the Tour de Cure. Thanks to her we got HP funding for team jerseys, plus a huge number of new riders.
• Alexa Lallos, Director, Cupertino Executive Briefing Center: She coordinated with me to design and supply the free HP jerseys to the entire team. Woo-hoo!
• Anita Reid, HP's US Wellness Program Manager: She was able to get publicity for the ride with her Wellness programs, and also helped us coordinate two "lunch-and-learns" to help publicize the Tour.
• Lindsey Fish, Cindy Asrir and Bill Kacmarsky: Without them I don't know how I would have managed! They helped me in a bunch of ways, with the two lunch-and-learns, e-mails to employees, general brain-storming and more. Bill also covered for me in the ADA's Tour de Cure Planning Committee.

The custom HP jerseys arrived the week of the ride, so I only had a couple of days to hand them out. I relied on lunch-time handouts at HP's Cupertino and Palo Alto Fitness Centers, and also sent some via Interoffice Mail.

After all that groundwork the ride itself was simply the cherry on my sundae. I just had to get up at 4:20AM and drive through the pre-dawn darkness to the event site in Palo Alto. It was at Lockheed this year, because the usual facilities at HP were being remodeled. I then got some Hobee's coffee cake and coffee, and lined up for the start. Oh, and handed out a few last-minute jerseys and arranged size-swaps. Several of us lined up at the start line for the official 6:30AM opening of the 120k route and were sent off by ADA's Allyson Schloming, Director of Silicon Valley Tour de Cure. It's pretty special doing an early-morning ride like this, knowing it's for a good cause.

I ended up mostly cruising with Glen Elliott (Director, Compensation) and my friend Rob, who donated wine from his winery, Testarossa in Los Gatos, to the "Champion's Celebration" dinner. Rob had crashed on a mountain-bike ride earlier that week and had some huge bruises (and some cracked ribs, it turned out later). But that didn't stop him! And Glen, who I first met on HP's "Bike MS" team last year, turned out to be a super-fast rider, so I was in good company.

So many of my HP teammates worked very hard on their fitness to prepare for this ride. I think there was a record eight of us who rode the 120k route (75 miles, with over 7,000 feet of climbing). And the other routes are by no means all easy either, so people really had to challenge themselves. I like to remind those who are intimidated by the ride that the Tour de Cure isn't a race, and there are routes as short as 25k (15 miles), but that doesn't mean they can't be challenging. It's pretty cool to see people push themselves with such great results and for such a great cause.

I usually hit the first major climb, up Kings Mountain Road, as hard as I can as part of my intervals training. It took me 26:45. We regrouped at the top, at the rest station on Skyline Boulevard. Rob was in pain from his ribs, but insisted he'd do the full ride. The summit was clear and pleasant, so the drop down HWY 84 toward the coast wasn't damp or as cold as it can often be. We turned left onto Pescadero Road and climbed Haskins Hill before resuming the fast descent. We were rewarded with another rest station, in the neat village of Pescadero. I love that area.

We took it pretty easy from there and up Stage Road, drafting the KLA guys a lot. Then up HWY 1 to Tunitas Creek Road for a quick break at the Bike Hut snack shop. The Kiwanis volunteers man these stations, and they are great people. I like to attack Tunitas Creek Road too, for training, so I really worked hard all the way up to Skyline. It took me 33:51. This brought us back to the rest station at the top of Kings Mountain Road. We had some last snacks and flew down Kings Mountain. It's so long and fast that our hands got cramps from braking.

The weather in Woodside was gorgeous, albeit a tad warm, and we started to see a ton of other cyclists from the shorter routes. Definitely a different vibe... they are having lots of fun and decorate their helmets, ride cruisers, etc. We rode down Alameda de las Pulgas to Junipero Serra and... back to the finish at Lockheed. Woo-hoo! I love the cheering volunteers, as if we had just won a huge race! But this is about helping people.

Lunch was quite nice, though for some reason we didn't get an HP team awning this year. Still, a big group of us grabbed a few tables and had an nice, well-deserved lunch. We took some photos but then many of them had to leave for various reasons. Later arrivals also met up there and we took more photos, plus the official team photo by PhotoCrazy (find individual photos here). I have made a Snapfish album of all the photos I took, plus what I could collect from teammates (keep 'em coming; I can add more!). Udi Chatow shared a couple of videos too (here and here).

From left: Bill Romans, Jerry Huck, Debra Walsh, Sue Barsamian, Glen Elliott, Steve Owens, Hobey Landreth, Stefan Merz, Steve Andrews, Josh Jensen, Dennis Pedersen.

The official photo. 

And remember, people can still donate! The fund-raising will continue for another month or so.

The 2013 Tour de Cure will be on June 9th. I hope to see you there. Thanks again to the volunteers, riders and generous donors!

ADA Tour de Cure, 2011

By Dennis Pedersen

This is my fifth year entering this ride that raises money to help the American Diabetes Association fight diabetes. This disease has increased over the last few decades, as our healthy diet and exercise habits have declined. According to diabetes statistics from the CDC, the percentage of U.S. Population with diagnosed diabetes increased from about 1% to almost 7% from 1958 to 2009. Think of it: Almost 7% of the entire U.S. population now has diabetes!

I'm very privileged to have been able to serve as the HP team captain, for the fourth time. I say this every year, but it bears repeating: This ride is an awesome way I can use my love of cycling to give back to the community... and I love doing it.

In the 2011 ride not only did we grow the Hewlett-Packard team to a new record of 34 riders, but we also set a new fund-raising record of over 21,000 dollars! Terri Carter outdid us all, by raising 2,735 dollars, in her first year on the team no less! And the grand total raised during the Silicon Valley Tour de Cure so far is over 1,000,000 dollars! Thanks so much to every one of you; I'm so proud of what we accomplished together!

HP team statistics:

• 2011: 34 riders raised $21,508.00, 7th place overall in corporate teams.
  
• 2010: 27 riders raised almost $20,000, 5th place overall in corporate teams.
• 2009: 7 riders raised $4,633.00.
• 2008: 13 riders raised $8,252.86.
• 2007: 9 riders raised $4,268.

I personally was credited with raising $1,400 this year; though down from last year it still amazes me. Thank you, donors! And, yes, you can still donate!

My main goal was to grow the HP team and in that I was successful, thanks to so many of you. And I know many of my teammates reached personal goals as well; riding further, longer and faster than they ever thought they could. I personally find those hills much easier when I remember the people we're riding to help, so perhaps that added "lift" motivated some of us. Whatever it took, I'm impressed with the dedication of our riders, and the generosity of our donors and sponsors.

I had to set my alarm for 4:45AM, but I got to HP's world headquarters, on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, in time to sign in, suit up, get some complementary coffee and coffee cake from sponsor Hobee's Restaurants, and line up for the official opening of the 120K route, a bit after 6:30AM (the shorter routes start later). HP teammate Stephen Medina was also there. It's fun to be there for the official opening as they make a point of cheering us on as we ride off.

The 120K route went from the HP campus north on Junipero Serra, then on Alpine Road, Portola Road, Woodside Road... and on to the first big climb, up Kings Mountain Road. It started out just slightly overcast, but it was drizzling slightly from the heavy ocean mist as we got near the summit. That climb is steep! It took me 27 minutes of very hard work to get to the top. But I knew the first rest station awaited me on Skyline Boulevard and that helped to motivate me! I was maybe the 6th rider to the top and immediately started snacking... it's what I do best!

The Tour de Cure is a ride, not a race, but even so some of us like to treat it a bit like a competition. A group of riders from one of the corporate teams, KLA-Tencor (KT Cycle Time), suddenly took off while I was chewing on a cookie, and I never did see them again. So I guess you could say I was in a "chase group" as I flew alone down Highway 84, past the pretty rural scenery. It was a bit drier there too.

At the next rest station, in the picturesque fishing village of Pescadero near the Pacific Ocean coast, the KLA-Tencor team had already left shortly before I arrived. So I quickly gobbled some more food, refilled my water bottles and hopped on my bike for the ride up Stage Road, past the tiny hamlet of San Gregorio, and via Highway 1 along the ocean to Tunitas Creek Road. There I stopped at The Bike Hut, a small snack shop used as a rest station for the Tour that day, before starting the last big climb, up Tunitas Creek Road.

The climb up Tunitas Creek Road, between the massive redwood trees, is steep and it took me 34 minutes of hard work! I was still alone, except for a couple of guys I passed. One of them was a super-fit Master in a "Red Riders" uniform; that meant he was riding with diabetes. It's pretty inspiring that he doesn't let that stop him!

Tunitas Creek Road ends on Skyline Boulevard, right at Kings Mountain Road at the same rest station as earlier. And by then the clouds had disappeared and the temperature had risen to near-perfect. Ahhh, so nice. A last small snack and I plummeted down Kings Mountain, into Woodside and back to HP for my hard-earned Tour de Cure lunch. Like last year, Wahoo's Fish Taco was sponsoring lunch, but I also had a hamburger in the interests of cultural diversity. Plus some left-over coffee cake.

We had an HP awning with an HP banner at the ride finish, thanks to Jessica Blaine, and some of us from the HP team got to eat in the shade and share our stories. Cynthia Asrir had a tough-luck story; she crashed and got scraped up a bit, but not enough to dampen her spirits and even pose for our HP team photograph, by PhotoCrazy! Mat Waltrip (new to HP from our recent merger with Palm) made a really cool video diary of his ride, what a neat idea! John Laforga, also on his first Tour de Cure, posted some photos, as did returning rider Erika Wilhelm. Thanks folks!



I truly hope that the HP Tour de Cure team will continue to grow to a size commensurate with the size of HP itself, and we can start to beat bigger teams like Lockheed Martin and Cisco... bring it on!

American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure, 2010

By Dennis Pedersen

The American Diabetes Association organizes this bicycle ride every year, in 80 cities, as a way to raise funds to fight diabetes. This disease is exploding across the country and many of us have been touched by it: Friends, family, co-workers, so many are fighting the battle. This ride event gives me a way to use my love of cycling to give back to the community by fighting against diabetes.

This year's ride marked my fourth, and my third term as captain of the Hewlett-Packard corporate team. Last year the team declined in spite of my best efforts. Perhaps the recession was to blame but I took it hard. Fortunately our individual fund-raising went well, as did the ride.

But this year restored my optimism as we set new records in both team size and in fund-raising: 27 members raised almost $20,000, putting us in fifth place overall in corporate teams! I am so proud of what we accomplished! My own contribution was $2,101.06... plus Margaret who worked the event as a volunteer! Thanks to you all! (p.s. You can still donate!)

Oh yeah, the ride... First we had to get up at 4:45AM to get to the ride headquarters at HP in Palo Alto. Margaret checked in for her volunteer duties while I checked in for my ride and got my rider number. The weather was perfect, and, after some coffee and cake from event-sponsor Hobee's, I was ready to attack the first leg of our 75-mile ride.

There were five of us who met up at the start line at 6:30AM for the 120k route: Michael Gaballah, Mark Uram, Andy Clipsham, Nate Binkert and l'il ol' me. We used our fancy custom HP cycling jerseys to spot each other! These jerseys, with the HP "Let's do Amazing" campaign design, were a fun way to raise HP's visibility and our team spirit. We rode off at a nice pace up to Alpine Road and through Portola Valley. Volunteers with flags stationed at intersections, plus adhesive arrows on the pavement, made sure we didn't get lost on the confusing country roads.

I was also using this ride for training, so when we reached King's Mountain Road I hammered up to Skyline Blvd. at the top as hard as I could, passing lots of riders... I'm much more used to being passed, trust me! At the top was our first rest station where I continued my breakfast and texted my progress to Margaret. There was no sign of coastal fog: Perfect weather!

Mark and Michael had to stop for bike repairs, so Andy, Nathan and I were soon dropping down Highway 84 at 40 MPH! Then left on Pescadero Road and up Haskins Hill before descending through the gorgeous redwoods and past small farms and into historic Pescadero town... and another rest station.

After snacking some more we rode out of town on Stage Road in the best of weather, just a bit of wind as we rode over the rolling hills lined with huge eucalyptus trees and pastures. Then through San Gregorio before we turned onto Highway 1 on the coast for about 3/4 mile where we turned inland on beautiful Tunitas Creek Road. We stopped briefly at The Bike Hut for snacks in preparation for the last big climb; about 7 miles of steep road. I used Tunitas Creek for my second training interval. It's amazing how easy these hills are when we ride them to help other people; my legs and soul felt truly awesome!

We were then back at King's Mountain rest station (more food, burp). Margaret texted me that she was serving hot dogs back at HP; I doubted I'd have room for them! We rode back downhill and into Woodside where it was getting over 90 degrees. What a contrast to the pleasant coastal weather: We were glad we did our big climbs in the cooler temperatures, unlike many of the riders on the shorter routes. We rode onto Alameda de las Pulgas and back on Junipero Serra to Page Mill Road; we could almost smell the Wahoo's fish tacos awaiting us!

It's always special to ride under that balloon arch at the end of the ride to the cheers of the waiting volunteers, and teammate Erika Wilhelm took my picture! Time to party! I found Margaret busy in the lunch line so I grabbed some food and listened to teammate Tony Prophet (our own HP SVP!) address the crowd. Then some socializing at our HP awning followed by our team photo. (My photos here.)

Riding to help others. What a neat way to spend the day!

ADA Tour de Cure, 2009

By Dennis Pedersen

The American Diabetes Association organizes this fund-raising ride every year and this year I was once again captain of the Hewlett-Packard team. While I felt I did a better job promoting than before, the team was only half the size this time and so was our fund-raising... I suppose the economy didn't help, but I was still bummed. This year I dedicated my ride to my wife's aunt Rosa, who passed away from type II diabetes just two days before my ride... we went to her funeral the Wednesday after. But I'm happy to say that many friends, coworkers and family donated to the effort against this increasing disease. Thank you everybody!

My teammate John and I both signed up for the 120K route (78 miles), so it made sense to carpool and do the ride together. I knew ADA had signed up some good sponsors, including Hobee's who supplied their delicious coffee cake! So I didn't have to eat breakfast at home... but I still had to get up at 4:45AM to make the 6:30AM opening of our route (the shorter 25K, 50K and 75K routes opened later).

Even though I rode almost 70 miles in the Pescadero Road Race the day before (and got dropped from the furious pace!) I was hoping to get in some long intervals during the Tour de Cure... It's not a race, but that doesn't mean I can't hit the big climbs hard. I was dubious that my legs would be up for the task though, and figured that mere survival would be hard enough, but it was my goal. Then I could give my legs a well-earned break on Monday!

After a nice warmup through Portola Valley we turned through Woodside to get to King's Mountain Road. I pushed myself at a hard "L4" pace, just short of my endurance race power. I couldn't believe how good my legs felt as I powered past other riders with John holding my wheel. Maybe the rest station at the junction with Skyline Boulevard, with more treats, motivated me! I sure didn't feel like I was well into a 150-mile weekend.

It was very cool to see the many "Red Riders;" people with diabetes who joined the ride anyway, with careful attention to blood glucose levels en route. Sure makes my ride seem easy!

After flying down HWY84 we turned onto Pescadero Road and up Haskins Hill; the same climb that killed me in the race the day before. It's much nicer at a sane pace! Then we dropped into pretty Pescadero town for another rest station stop. Yummy. We tried to make good time so we set off quickly and up another reminder of my race; Stage Road. Ugh. But again I felt good.

Next up for me was the steepest and longest climb, up Tunitas Creek Road on the way back up to Skyline. Before the road went up there was a small rest station set up in a really neat red and white-striped shack with a cool steel sign reading "The Bike Hut." It was built as a place for cyclists to stop and refuel on this cycling popular route. The weather was pretty nice and blue sky was peeking through as I started my next interval. I powered up Tunitas Creek almost as hard as I did earlier on King's Mountain, even though it was 35 minutes long... but this notoriously bumpy road has been repaved and maybe the smooth asphalt helped.

At the Skyline rest station again, I was amazed that I still felt good, and after John and I dropped back into Woodside we were dodging big crowds of riders from the shorter routes on Alameda de las Pulgas. Much more of a party atmosphere! And the party continued as the volunteers cheered us upon our return, which was lots of fun for we racer wanna-bes!

We got back to HP a little after 12:00, earlier than last year, so we rode 4 hours and 55 minutes at an average speed of 16 MPH. I burned 2749 calories. This year the HP team had an awning with nice HP banners (thanks Jessica!) and it served as a meeting point for us as we swapped stories and enjoyed fish tacos from Wahoo's.

Another bright spot was HP Vice President Joe Beyers' visit to accept a jersey signed by 3-time Tour de France winner and ADA promoter Greg Lemond himself! That was a real morale booster for me. Thanks Joe! Getting support from upper management is key to building a strong team.

With all of your help I hope to ride again in 2010 and make the team even more successful! And if you missed this year, it isn't too late to donate. Thanks!