Then I had to leave the next morning, but it was ok. That morning I also met Jeff, one of the founders of Amgen, and heard the story of how he was pretty much responsible for getting the manufacturing of Enbrel down. (When I first wanted to go on it, there was a waiting list months long because Immunex, who developed the drug, had manufacturing issues with a protein breaking down. Jeff knew how to fix it, and Amgen bought out Immunex and within a year there was no more waiting list. Yes, he was a bit self-inflating, but at the same time, I think he wasn't...and besides, he raised over $3000 the first day riding, including $600 at a nude beach, and that is on top of the $50,000 or so he raised before the ride even started.)
My bike went on without me, looking very official on top of the Amgen team car. At least one of us did the whole distance.
I spent Sunday morning with my friend Sarita and her new husband Andrew who just moved out to Sunnyvale from CT. They got me back to the airport, I flew home, got to sleep around 2am, had to get up at 6 for work, then tutor for 2 hours that night (I didn't even get to put Andra to bed)...it was CRAZY. But, I got it done, and then went BACK to CA Wednesday.
Rode 3 more days, 67 miles, 88 miles, and 60 miles. I'd never had saddle sores before Thursday. OUCH. Made Friday and Saturday considerably less comfortable, but still loads of fun. We had some long stretches of relatively FLAT road on the last day into Santa Monica, and I just went. It was amazing, windy, a bit rainy at times, just perfect. And the days I missed happened to be the hottest (in the 9os+) and hilliest (and yes, the most beautiful, but I'm trying not to remember that).
It was neat to see a bunch of other riders with arthritis. Some had RA, others had other forms, but we were all athletes who don't let it stop us, and that was neat to see.
8 comments:
Your dedication to make this ride happen is inspiring. Congrats!
glad you wree able to do this!
That's awesome! What an amazing achievement, well done!! I did a 52 mile ride for charity a few weeks ago but this puts me to shame ;) How much training did you do beforehand?
I'm sure it was crazy and hectic, but it sound like it was also totally worth it. Bravo!
AWESOME!!! Congrats!!
I would like to suggest you visit www.roadback.org and look into low dose, long term antibiotic therapy.
There is also a book you can read on the subject. "The New Arthritis Breakthrough, Including Dr. Brown's classic, The Road Back by Henry Scammell"
I can't offer much in the way of info, since I am new to it myself, but I sure wish someone would've told me about it years ago.
Take care,
Gina
I am so happy you made this happen, even when stupid hurdles kept coming up. Sounds like it was a great experience!
I think we're in the same boat lately with the infrequent blogging, but I'll try to follow your lead and create something worthy of recording :)
I'm leaving this comment WAY after the fact (how did I miss this post??) but I just have to tell you how truly proud I am of you for doing this ride and for raising the huge amount of money you did! I feel honored to "know" you, Clare, even if it is only online. And you continue to inspire me more than you know. Bravo!!!
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