Riding Full Circle

Rana and Her Riding Buddy and Inspiration

It's really no surprise that I started my training rides at the beach. It's one place I can always count on to find peace, serenity, strength, inspiration and courage to make changes. Recently, one of my friends posted on Facebook that she had reinvented herself, again. My response was, "isn't that what's supposed to happen?".

I remember my first time back out on this rock star bike that Giant donated for me to ride the Tour de Pink with. It's sleeker, lighter, tighter and more responsive than any other bike I've ever ridden. So from the start, the pressure was on. That's okay, I usually perform very well under pressure! I headed out to the tip of the Outer Banks, to the wild horse beach in Corolla. And as I rode, I always thought of my friend Julie, who brought me back an orange, women's cut Corolla baseball cap when I was bald from chemo. I wore it all the time, never having been to Corolla, not knowing how much I would end up loving the place, growing, reinventing myself, coming to peace with some things, letting other things go.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I was passed every day! I wasn't breaking any land/speed records here. But I was enjoying the smell of the ocean off to my right, the weight of the salty air settling in and that beach vibe that goes with any sleepy little beach town. I think that's when I decided the type of rider I was going to be. For me it will always be the journey, not the destination.

As I leave Hershey's Chocolate World on Friday morning to start the Tour de Pink and ride the 225 miles that I hope will change the lives of young women diagnosed with breast cancer, I will be looking forward to the journey ahead of me. Yes, I'll appreciate and enjoy the approximately 200 people who I'll be riding with and likely make new, lifelong friends. However, the strength and courage it will take to do this, the inspiration and tenacity I will need, that will come from the team of people accompanying me on the journey.

Thank you for traveling with me.

The Intersection of Dreams and Reality

Tuesday evening the family trekked downtown to the Promise Me book signing at Politics and Prose.  It was important to me that the kids meet and speak with the book's author, Ambassador Nancy Brinker, also the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Based on a deathbed promise made to her sister Suzy who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the tender age of 33, Nancy Brinker channeled her passion, energy, grace, spirit, entrepreneurism and went on to blaze a new trail in advocacy and fundraising.
Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the largest non-profit provider of breast cancer-related funding, generating over $1.5B in the last 30 years.  WOW!  Because of this drive, this vision of Nancy's, I'm here today living my dream.  I was also diagnosed at 33 but 24 years later, there was awareness, research, advocacy and educated medical professionals to support my journey.  This promise from Nancy to Suzy saved my life.  Furthermore, the research funding made it possible for me to not only undergo early stage treatment but to also defy the odds and go on to have two children post-chemo.  This is one of life's inexplicable miracles.
So we stood in line, books in hand, and got to the table where Author Nancy Brinker was signing her book.  She looked up, smiled in recognition and looked at the boys, knowing full well that she was witnessing one of the glories of her work.  She chatted with Aidan for a while, learning about his school, favorite subject, sport and hobbies (he made his mother proud).  She did the same with Ethan as she signed both their books.  These are invaluable keepsakes in our home, inscribed with the phrase "you are a miracle" by the woman who helped make the miracle of their being possible.
I looked on, overwhelmed by how far we've come and how much further we have to go, catching my breath at the intersection of dreams and reality.

The Victory of a Hill

"Climbing hills is hard work", she says, out of breath after racing through another round of hill work on her bike, preparing for the Young Survival Coalition's Tour de Pink www.ysctourdepink.org.  But then again, life is hard work - and anything worth doing, well, ditto.


But a hill is really an opportunity, right? A new perspective.  When you're at the bottom, there is a journey ready to unfold. Climbing up the hill, even out of the saddle, you feel vulnerable, yet strong, engulfed by the power of a potential victory. And ultimately, the top. Seeing the rest of the road unfold before you, perched high above the labor to get to the pinnacle. Knowing what you might have sensed before you started up. But confident that there really "ain't no mountain high enough" that you can't climb it.


Knowing this today is why I ride.