Getting Started

As the snow falls AGAIN here in Massachusetts, I thought that I would take some time to write down a few thoughts and let people know what exactly I am trying to accomplish. As an avid recreational cyclist, and fan of the pro peloton I was looking for something a little more challenging than my weekly rides of 60 - 75 miles around town. I had read an article in Bicycling magazine a few years ago about a ride in France called L'Etape du Tour, which literally translated means "stage of the tour". Each year the organizers of the Tour de France pick the most challenging stage (usually very long with several mountain passes) and tag it as that years l'etape route. They open the ride up to 8500 amateur cyclists from around the world, to try and finish one stage of the actual Tour de France. The article talked about how challenging this ride is every year, but also added how it is the experience of a lifetime. After reading the article I still thought that I wasn't in good enough shape to ride, because I could stand to lose one, two or twenty pounds!

Then the motivation that I needed arrived on my birthday, September 10th. After 3 years away from the sport Lance Armstrong decided to come out of retirement and return to the pro peloton. Not only was he going to return to racing, but he was going to use this as a global platform to bring some much needed attention to cancer awareness. I started to get very motivated, but needed a few things to happen prior to making a commitment. First I would need to return to my orthopaedic surgeon to get the green light to begin training. I had knee surgery in August, and wanted to make sure that I was on track to undertake this mission. I would then wait for the Tour organizers to unveil the 2009 route in October to see which stage the 2009 L'Etape would be following.

On October 15th Dr. Richardson gave me the thumbs up to begin training, and the following week the ASO announced the route for the 2009 Tour de France. They chose stage 20 for this years Etape, which will take place on Monday July 20th. The stage will travel 108 miles from Montelimar to the infamous Mont Ventoux. For those interested in checking out the races official website please follow the link. http://www.letapedutour.com/2009/ETDT/presentation/us/index.htm

As I began logging plenty of base miles on the trainer in the basement, I thought a lot about what I had read about Lance's return. He had been out of pro cycling for three years and in that time 27.5 million people had died from cancer. That means that over the past three years the equivalent of EVERYONE in the state of Texas has died due to cancer. WOW! I was wondering if I could do anything to help the cause. I contacted the Lance Armstrong foundation and set up a grassroots fundraising campaign. My goal is to raise $3500.00 by July 20th. We surely all know someone that makes up that huge number, so let's try to end this once and for all. I am posting the link here to my fundraising page, and will ask everyone to please donate to a very worthy cause. 100% of this money goes directly to the LAF.

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/kschneider

I will try to update this site weekly with pictures, training updates, and our status in our fundraising efforts. Although I have been building a good aerobic base, I will begin official training on the 16th of March.

Kyle