SEATTLE CENTURY - Great team ride for LIVESTRONG in the Northwest!

SEATTLE CENTURY - "Ride for Livestrong Seattle" cyclists ride for a great cause! 

Wow!  What a fun and exhilarating (and exhausting!) ride!  Time flew - and so did we (!) on the great back routes of the Seattle Century ride last Saturday, July 30, 2011!  The weather was perfect, the company was fearless (!), and the ride was well supported and organized!

Long shadows - early morning start



Mike and Patrick at the start: little did they know what hills awaited them ...

AJ: our powerhouse rider.

 

Calm (and flat) early morning ride along Sammamish River Trail.

  

Riding with the crew - looking serious ...

Pie Stop: one of the great rest stops.  Others included shortcake, handmade sandwiches ... all good.

Picturesque Rest Stop: eating pie in the middle of a farmer's field/lawn on a warm, sunny day. 
Mountains in the background!

Our fearless "Ride for Livestrong Seattle" Riders before more hills ...

If you do the full Century ride, you stop at Snoqualmie Falls.  Gorgeous.  And a welcome cool mist, too.

Four of us - AJ, Robert, Patrick and Mike - at Snoqualmie Falls.



The Finish: we had a reserved LIVESTRONG Table in the beer garden, complemented with a wonderful salmon and asparagus dinner.  And Dave's Killer Bread, too! Awesome.

 To summarize the day's events, there are a few things that need mentioning:  

1. THANK YOU! - to our "Ride for Livestrong Seattle" riders. You are putting a name and face to cancer survivorship in Seattle and the Northwest by participating in this ride, as part of our group. LIVESTRONG kicks in when someone is first diagnosed with cancer - and you definitely kicked in and showed the LIVESTRONG spirit before, during and after the ride.  We raised some money that went directly to LIVESTRONG to help those in need of support.  Your camaraderie this year - as friends and fellow riders - is appreciated and I am honored and humbled to be in your company.
2. THANK YOU - to the Seattle Century and Good Sport Promotion (www.goodsportpromotion.com).  You welcomed LIVESTRONG and our riders with open arms and helped us gain visibility through your website, course and finish area.  To Neil and Ayleen - you have been great to work with, and we appreciated all the help and generosity to make our team feel special.  We look forward to supporting you with more team members next year!  Be sure to support this ride and other Good Sport Promotion rides through the summer months!
3. HOW REWARDING!  I sound like a broken record at times when I reiterate that we ride in support of LIVESTRONG - but on this ride, it totally hit home.  We had many, many people root for us along the route - and had great conversations with people at rest stops and at the finish line about what we are doing, and how to support us.  We talked to cancer survivors, caregivers and those who lost loved ones to this dreaded disease, and let them know of LIVESTRONG's mission and how to contact them for support.  We even had folks come up to us at our finish line dinner table and ask how to join us next year!
4. WHAT A RIDE!  If you haven't ridden the Seattle Century (http://www.seattlecentury.com/) before, please consider doing so next year.  The course is beautiful, the rest stops fabulous, and the finish line festival was top notch.  We stopped at every rest stop and ATE.  We had homemade pie in the middle of a farmer's field.  We had a full-on salmon dinner and beer at the finish! And to top it off, the weather was perfect.  Of course, we were hungry after 5,160 feet of climbing and 100 miles of pedaling- check out the course route and profile here.

It was a fun, thrilling ride - that we're sure to do again next year. 

This is by no means our swansong for 2011!  We intend to keep training and joining rides where we can, with our next main focus on the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Austin, Texas on the October 15-16 weekend (http://www.livestrong.org/Take-Action/Team-LIVESTRONG-Events/LIVESTRONG-Challenge-Series).

Want to join us locally? 
You still can.  Simply join our fundraising team at http://www.tinyurl.com/ride4lssea, then shoot me an email at rideforlivestrongseattle@gmail.com to let me know that you're interested, either through this year, or with our events/rides for next year.   

Want to support "Ride for LIVESTRONG Seattle"? 
You are always welcome to.  Each of our team has LIVESTRONG Grassroots fundraising accounts, and we welcome your donations which go 100% go to LIVESTRONG (click HERE for our team page) . 

You can also sponsor us as you see fit - for cycling-related incentives, support, promotion, etc. - or let us know if there is a cancer-related event in the Seattle area that you think we could help to complement. Drop me an email at rideforlivestrongseattle@gmail.com and let's talk!

Thank you again, everyone -

LIVESTRONG,

Patrick Chatfield

Seattle Livestrong Leader

Team Captain, Ride for Livestrong Seattle