Doin' the Tour de Pink!

[this is a repost, mostly, of a 2 Oct myspace blog entry. maybe I'll spew on that sometime...]

Well, so here’s my blog. I’ll try to use this space to give updates and maybe some pictures of our Tour de Pink bike trip -- “try” is the key word here…I’ll bring the laptop, wireless card, and cable, and we’ll see what the hotels have. I’m guessing they’ll have free stuff; they’re pretty swank hotels. It also depends on how completely wiped out I am. Honestly, if I have to choose between a hot tub and updating a blog, it doesn’t look good for the blog. :)

If you haven't heard of the Tour de Pink, or wandered in here by accident, you can check it out here: http://www.youngsurvival.org/tour_de_pink/index.html Essentially, it is a network for women with breast cancer that does tons of good for the women who suffer from this disease.

If you want to donate/sponsor me (which would be super ridiculously awesome), you can go here: http://www.active.com/donate/yorktourdepink/pinkARogers It is a fantastic cause, and I'm currently a bit behind in my fundraising - each rider is responsible for a $2500 donation. The deadline for donations is 1 Dec 06.

One thing I really need to do is thank Brent for both the invitation/idea to do this, and for doing so much planning and plotting with regards to our not-completely-simple travel arrangements (rental car, train-arrgh, bike shipping, etc…) We're also taking Sophie, Brent's two year old daughter, with us on the trip so there's a little extra traveling to set her up with grandma and grandpa while we do our biking thing. I've never flown with small children before, so this will be new and hopefully not too exciting...

Here’s a snapshot of the itinerary once we arrive:

Day 0 – 5 Oct
Arrival from Harrisburg (thanks to Brent's brother in law!!) to NYC, bike assembly, meetings and stuff from 6-9 PM.
Park Central Hotel, NYC

Day 1 – 6 Oct -- NYC to Trenton, NJ, 53 miles
Plan – Hershey Times Square Store to load up on chocolate frosted sugar bombs before riding…yeah…! Actually, it looks like we’ll get bused out of there and then take the Sea Streak Ferry at 34th Street and then start the actual pedaling from The Highlands to Trenton, NJ. Staying at Marriott in Trenton. Do Mormons believe in free high speed internet? Let’s hope so….

Day 2 – 7 Oct -- Trenton to Valley Forge PA via Bucks County, 67 miles
This is touted as the hardest day, and Brent did some mapquesting and thinks that this route could be as long as 88 miles. Bit o difference there, so we’ll see. Staying at (get this!) Crowne Plaza in Valley Forge. Whoa…

Day 3 – 8 Oct – Valley Forge to Lancaster, PA, 57 miles
This is the day I’m expecting to bonk, so let’s keep the fingers crossed, yes? We’ll get to visit Brent’s inlaws on this evening, so that should be super cool and Sophie will be there to boost Uncle Adam’s ego a couple notches. Could be staying at either the Fairfield Inn or the Hilton Garden Inn in Lancaster.

Day 4 – 9 Oct – Lancaster to Hershey, PA, 25 miles
This is the big finish day at Chocolate World…oh yeah!

Day 5 – 10 Oct – My mom’s birthday! Woohooo! Fly back home out of Harrisburg PA, happy, sore, and with two bikes and the Sophster.

Thanks for reading....