How are the ladies doing?

This is the question my 3 year old son Charlie asked me when I called home Monday night. I am one of two support team member for Team 5, the only all women's team participating in the Challenge to Conquer Cancer ride. The ride started Sunday morning in Greenville, SC at the Greenville Hospital Cancer Center. After a few remarks by Ron Jerina and Kevin Dunn, ride organizers, and a prayer by Jonathan Pait, a rider, all 23 riders rolled out at 9:00 AM cheered on by family and friends. The riders would ride a ceremonial 3 miles before Team 1 would begin their first leg of the ride. On Sunday each team would ride 3 hour legs. Beginning Monday each team would then ride 6 hour legs until we reached Austin, TX.

On Sunday morning I met the rest of the team for the first time. I had met Joe J., support team member and Susannah H., rider at the planning meeting a week before the start. Sunday I met the other three riders, Laurens F., Crystal M. and Kerrie S. just before the start. Laurens and Crystal were both cancer survivors. I immediately felt welcomed on the team and knew we were going to have a fun week. After meeting the riders at the 3 mile point we retreated to Panera Bread in Greenville for some much needed rest. Then it was on towards our first transition point in Thomaston, GA. Team 5 would ride its first leg at 9:00 PM Sunday. We had almost 12 hours to get from Greenville to Thomaston. Along the way we stopped in Atlanta and ate lunch at On the Border in Buckhead. From there, I persuaded the team to indulge me by agreeing to a quick stop at my house in Druid Hills to meet Janet, Thomas & Charlie and Janet's mother, Millie. Thomas had even skipped a birthday party to see who his dad was palling around with this week. We had a fun visit and took some pictures. Then it was on to our first transition point. We stopped at a welcome center near Columbus, GA to rest. I took the first of many naps in the van at this point. Crystal & Kerrie took advantage of a wireless connection in the parking lot to post their first blog entry. Soon it was on towards Thomaston to finally start riding.

Planning a cross country relay involves many logistical details. Estimating the probable transition point for each leg is one of the most challenging. The organizers predicted how fast each team would ride and made their best estimate of where the transitions would take place. As anyone who has ever ridden a bike knows, estimating how far one can travel by bike in a given amount of time is very difficult to do with any accuracy. Doing it for a 1,500 mile relay ride is almost impossible.

So for each transition, each team calls the support members for the team on the road and tries to figure out a meeting place where the riding team will arrive at the end of their leg. It sounds simple in theory but it is difficult in practice. For our first transition, we planned to meet 8 miles short of the original transition point. We arrive thereabout 8:30 PM. Apparently Team 4 went off course in Barnesville just before our meeting and did not arrive at our meeting until 9:45 PM, 45 minutes after their expected arrival time. Team 5 rode from The Rock through Thomaston to Woodland in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The section from Thomaston to Woodland was quite hilly. Team 5 rolled into Woodland right at 12:00 AM as a train was going through town.

Team 1 rolled into Woodland shortly thereafter. We wished Team 1 well and soon they were off on their first 6 hour leg. Team 5 went in search of food after midnight and ended up at a Waffle House in Columbus. After that we drove to Mobile, AL arriving around 5:30 AM. We ate a second breakfast at Denny's and then checked into a Fairfield Inn at 6:30 AM. Our first day was finally over. Although Team 5 only rode about 30 miles, we drove from Greenville to Mobile. Team 5 passed their first test by riding their first of two legs all at night. They rode strong and fast and showed that they were up to the challenge.