Ornoth

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, message from Provincetown, now that I’ve been here for a while. Finished the ride strong. It was kind of ironic that within the last four miles or so there was a guy who rode next to me who expressed condolences for Bobby Mac. Literally everybody knew him, so it’s not surprising that someone in the cycling community would reach out and say hey. So we had a good conversation there. I finished strong, although obviously really achey. After 290 miles, 125 of them in the rain… or 110 in real rain and another 70 today that were in kind of semi-rain. But a final message of thanks to everyone who has been involved in my ride and my 14 years of participation, allowing me to raise right now about $108,000 total, with a little bit more likely to come, of course. Whether it be the people who supported me logistically, obviously all my sponsors and particularly the good, reliable, generous sponsors, which I’ll talk more about in the eventual ride report, which you can look forward to. Just kind of wanted to leave you with the thought that the money that has been raised — that $108,000 — it’s not just something that has an effect for this year. Obviously it’s funding research, and research builds on research from year to year. So don’t be surprised if the money that people have given me over the past 14 years doesn’t just lead to immediate benefits, but benefits future researchers further down the road. So in a manner of speaking we’re not just spinning our wheels over the course of the past 14 years. It’s been a tremendous accomplishment, and I’ll have more to say about it in the ride report. That’s a wrap-up here from in Provincetown! We’re headed back to the hotel (laugh) and back to the hot tub, which was so beneficial last night. I’m looking forward to it again tonight, as well as some ice cream! Just wanted to express thanks and really articulate it clearly at the end of this long 14-year run that I’ve had. That’s it! It’s been enjoyable. The next thing you can look forward to is my ride report, which will be coming in a couple weeks.

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, I'm gonna try this again, now that were in Provincetown, but I'll keep it short.

Basically we finished at 10:30. That last segment was a little hard because we had a pretty good headwind going out to Race Point Beach and up Route 6 and so forth.

Jay and I finished together. He finished his 3-day trek 290 miles all the way across Massachusetts, having started Friday in New York state; and I finished my 2-day ride, having surpassed the $10,000 mark in terms of funds raised, which is a testament to you guys. I very much appreciate it; I don't have time to tell you how much right now.

Hopefully this recording will go through, because phone reception in P-town is notoriously bad. There will be one more update this evening from Sandwich.

But right now it's all about relaxing and appreciating the wonderful weekend that you guys have enabled me to have. Both in terms of registering and meeting the minimum, but also in surpassing $10,000, which is just ludicrously awesome. I appreciate it, the other riders appreciate it, the volunteers appreciate it, the people lining the route appreciate it, the Dana-Farber people appreciate it... your donations really are valued by a *lot* of people!

And that's a wrap-up from P-town! I'm gonna spend the afternoon up here and head back to Sandwich, and I'll have a weekend wrap-up this evening.

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Hi! Phone reception here in Provincetown is bad, so I'm gonna keep this short. I just want to say thank you to everyone who sponsored my ride and made it possible, because of all the really great work that it supports. I'll have another wrapup update this evening from the hotel in Sandwich, but right I'm now gonna go refuel and meet up with my friends Jay and Sheeri. That's it, it's a wrap. Great finish but windy, and again just a great weekend and ride overall, so thanks!

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay folks, it's 11:00 and I am here in P-town, having finished the 2008 Pan Mass Challenge successfully. Very happy, and the only real snag, which I failed to mention because it happened right after I hung up with you back in Brewster, was I was setting my bike down I actually punctured my big toe (since I'm riding in sandals) with the chain ring teeth, which means I've got to do a little medical attention. I had to get a little bit at Brewster, but still finished the ride and it's fine: it's just a little cut that will need some attention. Other than that everything's happy. Glad to have finished the ride, glad to have had everyone's support and interest over the past eight years in doing this ride and the important work of raising money for cancer. Prior to this weekend I had just exceeded $40,000 in funds raised lifetime, and obviously there's a bunch of people who have still promised donations which I hope to collect and add to that sum before the end of the year's final tally. You can expect an email and travelogue some time soon along with photos, videos, maps, GPS logs, blah blah blah. I hope the live coverage has been of interest and appreciate your interest in reading it and/or listening to it. That's all for here. I may do a text post later in the weekend but this is the wrap up for live coverage from here for this weekend and glad to have had your interest again and your support. It's been a wonderful weekend. We managed to avoid rain except for the commute to the hotel last night, although it's pretty omminous here today. And we have a lot of wind to fight on Route 6. But that's it. Once again thank you to everybody and that's a wrap for 2008!

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Hey final update of the day. I am in Provincetown, where I arrived at noontime after about 191 miles, and that last section wasn't bad at all. I shepherded a couple people home, which I've done the past couple years, which was good. Hung out with Emily and David and also Charlie and Matthew and just a bunch of people and enjoyed a very sunny day. 91 degrees and clear here in Provincetown; absolutely beautiful. And of course I love being out here on the cape. Just absolutely gorgeous, the bay and the ocean. Heading out to the beach today (or this afternoon) but also just want to be sure and thank everybody who sponsored me this year. It's going to be a record-breaking fundraising year and I just want to thank everyone for first of all making my ride possible, but also for allowing me to participate in something that really means so much to me. Because the battle against cancer I see as really, absolutely the most important thing that we as a society can do. So thank you very much for your help, because you played a part in this. And they say that the ride is the reward for doing the fundraising, so I'm honored by your allowing me and helping me participate in this event, because it's absolutely a great event. I think that's it for today; there won't be any more voice posts, I don't think. I may post some additional comments in my journal later, but look for the wrapup email coming out shortly, as well as photos and video, which should be an interesting new addition. But basically this year's event is pretty well done and I'm just gonna go relax now and take it easy, but thank you again for everything. And again it's been a wonderfully successful year: no problems, no aches and pains, and really it just went off fabulously. So that's the story from here, and I'll be in touch again sometime soon, and thank you once again. Bye bye!