Charity Events - 2009 LiveSTRONG Challenge Event Dates

One more question about the dinner on Saturday night, Does Lance Armstrong attend?

One more question about the dinner on Saturday night, Does Lance Armstrong attend?He did last year but I'm not sure if he will this year as he is trainging for the TDF.

Mr. Armstrong up front in yellow from last year:

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/grahny/Cycling/0824080841.jpg

Myself and BF member Tasr caught up to him and the group he started with. I was having a pretty rough day and ended up dropping off at the 20mi mark or so, but I believe Tasr stuck with his group until the first big climb when LA took off.

Unless he's doing the Vuelta I don't see why he wouldn't attend the philly event again since it's at the end of the summer.

He did last year but I'm not sure if he will this year as he is trainging for the TDF.
Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this. The TDF is in july. duh
Here is another pic of Lance on the Philly ride last year. http://www.americanlandscapingco.com/images/lance_on_ride.jpg

Did Lance have a police escort the entire way? Any ideas on his finishing time?

Did Lance have a police escort the entire way? Any ideas on his finishing time?

He finished in 4:45 I believe. I was at the last rest stop when someone there said they got the call he had finished 15min ago.

He had a police escort until around when we caught up to him (15mi?) but the roads started getting narrow and I think they eventually dropped back but were still keeping an eye on things the whole way. I don't remember them being there much after we got in the group. You can see him trying to weave between the escort here (right as we were getting up to them):

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/grahny/Cycling/0824080828.jpg

Those were the only camera phone shots I took (didn't want to be a d*ck). It was pretty cool... my 15 min of fame :D

My wife read on the Livestrong site that Lance will only be participating in the Texas ride in October due to his cycling schedule:(

Has anyone tried using the "Honor Roll" gadget to display donors on a website or something of the sort?

I tried adding it to our teams website however the team honor roll doesn't work...the participant honor roll does, but the team one just doesn't link back correctly...any help anyone?

I've even gone as far as calling Kintera (the company that makes the gadgets) and Livestrong, to no avail...

How come none of the LiveSTRONG charities come to the east, NC or somewhere close?

How come none of the LiveSTRONG charities come to the east, NC or somewhere close?

3 years ago they did 5 LSC's, then the next year went down to 3... they found 5 was too much too manage with their given resources (if I recall correctly) and still maintain the high quality of the events.

The areas they kept the events in makes sense logistically based on population/demographics/etc if you're only going to have a few events. For instance, philly is easy to get to from New England, NY, NJ, Delaware, PA, Ohio, WDC, etc... all areas in the northeast with a high population of cyclists.

The pacific northwest and socal are cycling meccas in the states, so those make sense as well. I think that they should put another one in the southeast somewhere though.

No rides in the Southeast at all? :-( Oh well, guess that one can do without my support. Although there was at least one small Livestrong event at Sharky's on the Pier in Venice, FL this past month that was great - http://www.sharkysonthepier.com/images/Bike_Race/bikerace1_09.pdf may not be a big enough venue to draw the big names, but it's a beautiful route through the barrier islands along FL's west coast.

I wanted to give props to Livestrong, I had a fundraiser and donated the money in the name of the bar where I had it, and Livestrong actually called the bar to thank them:thumb: It really meant a lot to everyone involved:)

Well I just signed up for the 70 mile Philly route and made my hotel reservations...

This will be my first big cycling event ever.

I'm from central Ohio so it will be hard to train for hills other than on my stationary bike with the resistance turned way up.

I know I can bust out 70 miles on flat terrain no problem...

Anybody know of the best day trip from Columbus to try some real hills similar to what I will face?

Welcome Alan! :beer:

Unfortunately I can't offer any advice for the hills other than to pace yourself, spin, and to take advantage of the rest stops. The ride is very well supported and marshaled. Good luck! :thumb:

Hi Alan,
If I remember right I was down around Columbus once and there was a Mohican state park that was kinda hilly? Not sure how far you want to drive but head east towards Wheeling W.V. there should be hills over there.

That's what I do, load up the bike and take it to some hills, last weekend I did a 75 miler on flat ground and a 35 miler with about 2800 feet of climbing. I need to be doing more climbing, LAF says something like 4700 feet of climbing but people on here are saying their Garmins showed somewhere around 8000 feet of climbing.:eek: That's a lot for a flat lander like me. Like Higherground said pace yourself, that's what I really practice when I do hills, before I would go too hard too fast and die:cry:

Good Luck:thumb:

Welcome Alan. I'm in West Central Ohio...Indiana line due west of Lima/Wapakoneta area. You want to talk about flat...lol. I have the same concerns as you but I figure I'll just try to spin up the hills and make some time coming down...maybe.

What ever happens, we're in for a great time I'm sure.

We have a winner... The Hocking Adena Bikeway...

That trail back and forth twice should be pretty similar to the 70 mile Philly ride.

http://www.seorf.ohiou.edu/~xx088/maps/2005map.pdf

Check out the mapped elevation for 1 back and forth...
www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=297412 (http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=297412)

(i love that site...)

To be somewhat realistic and show what's being lost, other seperate choices need to be included such as none - too far away or something similar

Good luck this weekend Seattle riders! :thumb:

Good luck this weekend Seattle riders! :thumb:

Good heads up grahny! Good luck to everyone walking, running, or volunteering. It looks like the weather in Seattle will be better than what we're expecting in the Philly area tomorrow! Have fun, be safe, and please post pics afterward! :beer:

No word from the Seattle riders?

On a different note...

I have no idea what happened, but I started experiencing some pain in my right hip in May. I cut back from ~350 miles a month of riding in the spring to about 65 in June (an easy 1 hour ride once a week to keep me somewhat sane). I also cut back on the cross-training activities like weight lifting and yoga. Any way, last week I thought that my hip felt good enough to start adding more miles in. But then this week, my left hip started to hurt. Yesterday it was so excruciating that I couldn't stand up from a chair for about five minutes. It hurt so badly that I was dripping sweat and feeling nauseous. Sometimes I have had difficulty walking. My doctor thinks it is due to some strained hip ligaments. Since the pain is in the front of my leg and hip, he doesn't think it is neurological in origin. I haven't had any crashes in over a year, and I can't think of what would have caused it. I certainly don't know what would have strained the left side so severely, so suddenly. Any thoughts or diagnoses from the arm chair physicians would be welcome. :)

So, I am thinking of volunteering at the Philly event, and riding the Austin event instead. My questions are as follows:

1) Does anyone know the deadline for switching from Philly to Austin?

2) For those who have ridden the Austin event, what's the course like? Typical weather for that time of year? If anyone has ridden both Philly and Austin, I'd be especially interested in your thoughts.

Thanks for reading, and best wishes to everyone on your training and fund raising! :thumb:

^ Sorry to hear that HG. My unofficial/official diagnosis is a hairline fracture... or the plague (bubonic of course). Hope you heal up and can ride again sooner rather than later!

Grasschopper has done the Austin event I believe, several times at that.

As for switching, I'd just email the LSC folks and find out what you can do...
http://www.livestrongchallenge.org/site/c.frKPI1PAIoE/b.3944493/k.2A87/Contact_Us.htm

Thanks grahny. I tried calling the LAF directly, but I kept getting sent to voice mails for people who are out of the office until next week. I followed up with an e-mail.

I was hoping that grasschopper would chime in, plus I have a few friends who aren't on Bike Forums who have done the Austin ride. (Hey, I keep trying to convert them!)

My doctor ordered an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot in the leg. Surprisingly, at least to me, he didn't order an x-ray. I scheduled an appointment on Monday with a sports medicine doctor for a second opinion. The weird thing is that I can be fine while walking around, but I often feel the pain while sitting down and shifting my weight.

If I actually have the bubonic plague, I'm hoping that it doesn't interfere with watching the Tour this month. I'd be really peeved if I miss the stage to Mont Ventoux. ;)

It's probably from riding a bike like that avatar:eek: No really I am sorry to hear and hope you heal up soon:thumb:

It's probably from riding a bike like that avatar:eek: No really I am sorry to hear and hope you heal up soon:thumb:

And you thought that hitting speed bumps hurt before... :eek:

Thanks, I'm sure that I'll be back in the saddle again. It's just a question of when, and how much.

Everyone ready!!!Good Luck, not sure if I am ready, but as Lance says its not about the bike, it's about raising money for the cause. I was looking at the route on map my ride and it shows elevation around 4000' and the steepest grade at 5% any comments from anyone who has been on it?

Everyone ready!!!Good Luck, not sure if I am ready, but as Lance says its not about the bike, it's about raising money for the cause. I was looking at the route on map my ride and it shows elevation around 4000' and the steepest grade at 5% any comments from anyone who has been on it?

Which route? The 100 in Philly? It's more like 7,000ft and the steepest grade is about 22% (seriously). Short but steep, and the two big climbs average in the 10% range. I've done the route twice... it's fun :D

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=8394427&postcount=52

Which route? The 100 in Philly? It's more like 7,000ft and the steepest grade is about 22% (seriously). Short but steep, and the two big climbs average in the 10% range. I've done the route twice... it's fun :D

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=8394427&postcount=52

How long are the big climbs? There is a 20% grade here that I have done, but it's only about 1/4 mile long

Granny, that is why I posted because everyone on here says 7000 to 8000 feet of climbing. Even when I download my rides from my garmin into map my ride the elevation is always way less on map my ride?

If I remember correctly the first is the longer of the 2 and starts around mile 33. The climb itself is about 4-5 miles long. Not all climbing though, about half way up there is a descent and them more climbing. The second climb is steeper but shorter being 1-2 miles. Looking over my logs from my garmin there is defiantly a spike to 20% on the second climb.

Granny, that is why I posted because everyone on here says 7000 to 8000 feet of climbing. Even when I download my rides from my garmin into map my ride the elevation is always way less on map my ride?My garmin edge 305 had recorded 5758 ft of climbing at 73 miles into the ride. My battery died so I don't know the total but I'm sure map my ride is way off.

Both years of riding, two different garmins, consistently registering ~6,700ft of elevation after importing. The units read higher both times (closer to 8,000 - which is what the route used to be advertised at until this year). I even sent the data to the LSC after they posted the ride was 4,000ft this year (they said they used map my ride). There's always going to be variation based on what's used (topographical data, gps, etc), but personally, I think my garmin is fairly accurate after importing the data. I have yet another new garmin this year, so we'll see what this one does :)

and like Jay68442 said... first 'big' climb starts around the 32-33'ish mile mark and is not that bad if you just pace yourself up it. The 2nd one is about 2mi and steeper and is a lung buster. There is another very short steep climb that hits the mid 20% grade (less than 1/4 mi)... I don't remember where it is though.

EDIT: for the record, I think map my ride's elevation is calculated by monkeys. :D